You've got Barb. Jane is dead. Ward knows it. Ward said it once. Ward said Jane left me. Ward stopped short then.
Ward knew Jane's backstory. That scandal file told him. Ward could fill in the rest. Arden runs to Danny. They set sail. Gulf waters entice. They're tapped and tired-long years of flight.
Ward lost a woman. Carlos lost a boat. Carlos lost a spy. Carlos lost Danny. Carlos _killed_ Danny. Carlos dropped _la Causa_ flat.
The new boat bored him. The boat runs bored him. It was gadfly shit. The runs bored Pete. The runs vexed Pete. The runs stressed his pump.
Coast prowls and gun transfers-too easy. Raft runs and scalp hunts-light counts.
It's 1/66. Pete gets frustrated. Pete sends Flash in. Flash is Cuban. Flash is dark. Flash fits right in.
Flash tours Cuba. Flash meets Fuentes and Arredondo. They hit the hills. They tour kampsites. They see kadre gun-stocks.
Big kampsites. Big personnel. Big inventories stocked.
They lead a raid. They run sixty men. They blitz a Militia camp. They flank in. They lob shells. They pop bazookas. They run in under cover. They flank wide. They throw Zippo flames.
They killed eighty men. They lost three men. They shaved beards boocoo. Pete loved it. Pete revived behind it. Pete dropped pump weight boocoo.
Weight was weight. Shit was shit. Work was work. The docs said don't smoke. He did it, The docs said eat light. He did it. The docs said work light. He said Fuck You.
He worked the dope biz. He worked Tiger Kab. He worked the Cavern. The Cavern pandered. The Cavern rocked.
Hipsters loved it. Hipsters dug Milt C. and Junkie Monkey. Horn dogs loved it. Horn dogs drooled for Barb B. Sonny Liston loved it. Fruits loved it. Fruits swished in and Liberace'd.
Wayne Senior came by. Wayne Senior waxed nice. Need some help? Call if so-I know grind-joint casinos. Pete waxed nice. Pete said sure-I'll do that.
Wayne Senior came back. Wayne Senior lost money. Wayne Senior talked.
Life's cruel. Life's odd. Ward Littell's with my ex. How's my son? I know he's tough now. I know he works for you.
Pete waxed nice. Pete waxed bland. Pete waxed noncommittal. Wayne Senior talked. Wayne Senior talked truce. Wayne Senior said I miss my son-I know he's been wiiiiiild places.
Wayne Senior waxed anxious. The word was out-Drac's on his way. Drac the bloodsucker. Drac the Mob puppet. Drac the greedy centipede.
The prelude ran long. Pete worked it for three years. Pete notched some gooood benefits.
You're forty-six years old. You're a killer. You're a frog arriviste. You're rich. You're worth two million legit.
_Pas mal, mais je m'en fous_.
Preludes and fringe benefits. Money and debits. Barb and white horse. Barb and ennui. Barb and Vietnam.
They played a game. He got her nude. He got in tight. He checked her arms. He checked her veins. He checked her toes. He tickled her all over. He checked for needle tracks.
None.
It's contained. I control it. I taste little drops.
He checked her ankles. He tickled her. He traced her veins. She touched him. She pulled him in.
The game helped. The game hurt. The game took him back:
It's hot. His heart rips. He leaps for her shoe.
92
(Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Boston, New Orleans, Chicago, Mexico City, 4/1/66-10/30/66)
Mourner. Lover bereft.
She died. She left a file. She left a legacy. He tracked her southbound. He ran logic.
Logic:
Otash sees the scandal files. Otash spots Carlos and Jane. Otash calls Pete. Pete doubts Jane. Pete's doubts pre-exist. Jane runs. Jane finds Danny Bruvick.
He called airlines. He checked flights. He found the name Arden Breen. She flew to Mobile, Alabama. She flew to Bon Secour.
Logic:
Pete had Gulf ties. Pete ran guns. Pete gigged from Bon Secour. Pete interceded. Pete bucked Carlos. Pete made Jane run.
Carlos found Danny. Carlos found him with Jane.
That was theory logic. It was buttressed by facts. It was shaped by news clips.
She was dead. He mourned her. He worked with Carlos. They both kept mute. Carlos said nothing. Pete stayed mute. They both misread it. They both called it this way: Ward doesn't know what we know.
_I know_. I did the logic. I dream the gist.
Carlos kills flamboyant. His teams pack power tools. Carlos kills slow.
Chainsaws/shears/drills. Lathe chisels and fungo bats.
He dreamed it. He heard it. He saw it. He slept with it. He lived it. He didn't drink. He didn't seek numbness. He didn't anesthetize. He worked. He maneuvered. He hidey-hole stashed.
He hit the bank. He grabbed Jane's file. He studied it: six folders/typed notes/comprehensive.
Jane _knew_ him. The file _nailed_ him.
She predicted his embezzlements. She tracked his travels. She surmised his bank accounts. She critiqued his technique. She guessed at amounts. She assumed his guilt tithes.
She prowled his papers. She linked facts. She extrapolated lucidly. She prowled his trash. She studied said trash. She corroborated spectacularly.
She nailed his target businesses. She estimated profits. She ballparked skim flow. She predicted overhead. She guessed launder fees. She calibrated foreign currencies.
_He_ devised the fund-book plan. _She_ ran up to speed.
She tracked his travels. She tallied phone calls. She tracked his lies and omissions.
She nailed it:
The Hughes incursion. The full trust breach. The Boys sell Drac Las Vegas.
Casino profits/cash-flow charts/skim currency/front men/hidden points/rigged prices.
She took common knowledge-Hughes wants Las Vegas-she tracked back inductively.
The text jumped. The file nailed Jules Schiffrin. Jane knew Jules. Jules revealed things unwittingly. Jane extrapolated. Jane thus ascribed:
Jules builds the pension fund. Jules builds dummy books. Jules builds the "real" book scam.
Details. Facts. Guesses. Assertions. Astonishing-all _new_ text-things _he_ didn't know.
The text jumped. The file nailed Jimmy Hoffa.
Jimmy killed Arden's father. Eyewits spieled facts off-the-cuff. Jimmy cut management deals. Jimmy ordered beatings. Jimmy ordered hits.
Jane was smart. Jane _allegedly_ hated her father. Jane lied. Jane drew heat off Jimmy. The file was Jane's revenge: long-standing/long-planned.
The text jumped. The file nailed the Boys.
Carlos/Sam G./John Rosselli/Santo/Moe Dalitz/hoods in K.C.
Details. Facts. Rumors. Assertions.
Per: Hits/botched hits/extortion. Judges bought/juries bought/cops purchased wide. Rackets developed/rackets ditched/rackets reborn and revised.
Astonishing. Incendiary. Densely inclusive.
Jane builds a testament. Jane grows weary then. Jane gets tweaked and runs.
Jane holds the file. Jane forfeits it. Jane pays off her Dallas debt. Jane pays him for two years as "Jane."
Her testament. _His_ now. _His_ safeguard. Tell Carlos. Tell _all_ the Boys:
I've served you. I'm tired. Please let _me_ run.
He picked a bank in Westwood. He rented a stash vault. He stashed the file. He mourned Jane.
He dreamed. He saw icepicks and drills deployed. He prayed. He tallied his dead from Big D on up.
He stole. He bilked Howard Hughes. He tithed the SCLC. He mourned. His grief transmogrified. His hurt grew into HATE.
Carlos killed Jane. His hate bypassed him. His hate bypassed all the Boys. His hate dispersed and coalesced. His hate found Mr. Hoover.
He _watched_ him.
Mr. Hoover spoke in D.C. Mr. Hoover wooed the American Legion. He watched. He stood at the back of the hail.
The hall roared. Mr. Hoover sailed clichйs. Mr. Hoover attacked Dr. King. Mr. Hoover looked old. Mr. Hoover looked frail. Mr. Hoover spewed HATE.
Littell watched.
Mr. Hoover ceded irony. Mr. Hoover ceded taste. Mr. Hoover relinquished control. Mr. Hoover spewed HATE. It was unassailable/unvanquishable/unmediated.