“I worry from ten till five, myself,” Jake said, easily. “But I see what you mean.”
“Okay, then let’s not assume that May is harmless. If she’s intending to take a crack at me, 111 make damn sure she changes her mind.”
Riordan nodded good night then and Noble escorted him and Denise to the elevator. Jake made himself a drink and grinned at Niccolo. “You can take your foot out of your mouth now,” he said.
“How the hell was I to know the damned idiot was Riordan’s son?” Niccolo said, good-naturedly.
Noble came back and glared at Niccolo. “You might have ruined everything,” he said.
“Oh, hell,” Jake said.
“Maybe it doesn’t matter,” Noble said. “The old man took it pretty well. Let’s forget it and get down to work. Any ideas, Jake?”
“We don’t have anything to go on yet,” Jake said. “Ill get on it tomorrow. Now I’m going to try to find Sheila.”
“What do you think about May?” Noble asked, as Jake went to the door.
“Hard to say,” Jake shrugged. “I want to talk with her first. However, I’d make a guess and say she’s liable to work herself into a nasty corner if she goes ahead with her book.”
He waved goodbye to Niccolo and walked down to the elevators.
Chapter Two
From the Executives’ Building Jake crossed the boulevard to Dave’s Radio Bar. Inside it was warm, noisy, and crowded, but there was no sign of Sheila.
Dave came to meet him, a disapproving frown on his face. “She left for home about an hour ago,” he said.
“Did she seem annoyed?”
“Oh, no,” Dave said. “She liked sitting here alone and being wolfed at by a lot of characters.”
“Okay, I’m a cad,” Jake said, and walked back to the phone booth. He dropped a nickel, intending to call her but then he changed his mind and dialled another number. The voice that answered was intimate in a brash, challenging manner.
“May?” Jake said. “This is Jake.”
May was having a party, as Jake had already guessed from the sounds in the background. She insisted he come over immediately. Jake promised to be there in half an hour.
Leaving Dave’s, he took a cab to the near North Side apartment where Sheila had moved after their separation. He rang her bell and when the buzzer sounded went up the stairs.
Sheila met him on the landing. He had a good view of her slim legs as he ascended the last flight; but he noticed that one smartly shod foot was tapping significantly.
“This is no time to be unreasonable and female,” he said. “Noble caught me before I got away from the Club.”
“You say ‘Noble’ as if he and God were interchangeable ideas,” Sheila said drily. “But come in.”
Jake put his hat and coat on the back of a chair and joined her on the low couch before the fireplace. Sheila had managed to make the place reflect something of her own personality. There were fresh flowers in a squat copper vase on the coffee table, and the shelves flanking the fireplace were lined with well-used books. Several vivid modem paintings with comparatively non-frightening subject matter brightened the flat gray walls.
“Do you want a drink?” Sheila said.
Jake raised his eyebrows. “Your tone lacks cordiality. You’re not pouting, I hope.”
Sheila smiled. “I don’t feel cordial, but I’m not pouting. Whiskey and soda okay?”
“Fine.”
Sheila made two drinks in the kitchen and brought them to the coffee table. There was an unconscious grace in her movements that Jake enjoyed watching. She was slim, with dark hair which she wore in a page-boy, and gray, candid eyes. She had an easy elegance in her manner, and good humored intelligence in her features.
She sat down and tucked her feet under her, while Jake sipped his drink and relaxed.
“What was on Noble’s mind?” she said.
“A new account. Dan Riordan, the wheel, is in trouble. You know about him, I suppose. Anyway, he obviously made some bad gun barrels and is going to need a break in the papers. The government is looking into his contracts.”
Sheila lit a cigarette. “And you’re handling the account. Does that make you feel warm and cozy inside?”
“It doesn’t make me feel anything in particular,” Jake said. “Lawyers defend criminals, don’t they? We’re merely defending Riordan from an unfavorable treatment in the press.”
“The analogy stinks.”
“So it does,” Jake grinned. “But let’s talk about something serious. We still have a date, and there’s plenty of time. How about going to Dave’s and drinking some raw, green bar whiskey?”
“All right. Let’s get out before Noble whistles for you again.”
Jake got into his coat while Sheila went into the bedroom to freshen her make-up; and when she came out Jake saw that her mood had changed, that her temporary annoyance had vanished. She had struck a pose and said, “Let’s be gay and mad. Mad!”
Jake smiled pensively. “Why you left me I’ll never know. We always had fun, didn’t we?”
“Yes, but you drank too much,” Sheila said. “Also you pulled too many deals like tonight.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Jake said irritably.
“Not at all,” Sheila smiled. “I wanted to be a wife, but you wanted a drinking companion.”
“Good God,” Jake said. “You sound like some creature who’s just been dragged to civilization from darkest suburbia.”
“Also, I never got adjusted to your working for a fraud like Gary Noble,” Sheila said.
“Dear, you’re beginning to rave. You work for Gary too, remember.”
“I handle an honest account, the only one he’s got, I could add.”
Jake shook his head as he followed her down the stairs. “I may be insensitive, but what the hell is so wrong with Gary? He’s a public relations man, and he’s a fathead, and he has a dull, acquisitive attitude about money, but outside of that he’s not too bad.”
“Well, let’s not quibble about it,” Sheila said. “You asked me why I wanted a divorce and I told you.” Outside they walked the half block to Lake Shore Drive to catch a Loop-bound cab. The air was cleanly cold and a sharp breeze was coming off the lake.
Sheila moved close to him and hugged his arm. “I’m in the mood for Dave’s,” she said. “It’s a perfect night for a warm, mellow bar.”
“Oh, damn,” Jake said, and tried to sound surprised. “I just remembered. We’ve got to make a stop. You know May Laval?”
“I’ve avoided her at a few parties.” She let go his arm. “You just remembered, eh?”
Jake waved to a cab. “Word of honor, this won’t take a minute.”
They climbed into the cab and he gave the driver May’s address. He turned to Sheila but she was gazing with pointed absorption at the lake.
“Now is this an adult reaction?” Jake demanded.
“What’s so wonderful about adult reactions? We had a date, remember?” She looked at him coldly. “First you stand me up for Gary Noble, and now you’re dragging me to May Laval’s bordello like a piece of baggage. What sort of reaction, adult or otherwise, do you expect?”
“Do you think I enjoy this sort of thing?” Jake demanded.
“Of course you do. That’s one of the reasons our marriage never grew into a rose-covered institution. What do you have to see May Laval about?”
“May knew Riordan during the war. She kept a diary during that time which she now intends to make into a book. Riordan is afraid she’s going to tee off on him and that, plus a Senatorial investigation, is just too much of a bad tiling.”
“This is getting lovelier by the minute,” Sheila said.