I'm a Fool to Kill You (19 page)

The three of us had braced ourselves, so damage from the impact was negligible.

‘Stay in the car!' I shouted to Ava.

Jerry was out, and I got out a split second later. The men in the other car threw a monkey wrench into our plans by recovering more quickly than they should have. They weren't out of the car but had guns in their hands – big ones.

‘Get down, Mr G.!' Jerry yelled.

If I got down that would have left Jerry to face the two armed men alone. I remained on my feet.

The man in the driver's seat aimed at Jerry without even opening his door. He was going to fire through the windshield. Same with the second man, only he was aiming at me. We weren't going to get a chance to ask these assholes anything.

I raised my little gun to fire, but Jerry was much quicker on the trigger.

Jerry fired four times. There was no point in doing less, not when two men were intent on killing you. I'd learned that much from him.

The windshield starred, the cracks traveled to both ends, but it remained in place.

Jerry ran to the driver's door, yanked it open and pointed his gun. I did the same on the passenger side. Both men were dead.

‘Sorry, Mr G.,' Jerry said.

‘For what?' We looked at each other through the car.

‘Killin' 'em before we could talk to them,' he said. ‘But they were pros . . . sort of. They had their guns out already.'

‘Sort of pros?'

He straightened and we looked at each other over the car.

‘If they were real good they wouldn't have followed us into the parking lot,' he said. ‘They woulda known somethin' was up by then.'

I leaned on the car. Jerry reached in and took out their guns, just in case. He set them on top of the car. .45's, like his.

‘We gotta go through their pockets,' he said.

‘I know.'

‘I'll do it if—'

‘No,' I said. ‘I've got mine.'

We both leaned back into the car and relieved the bodies of their wallets and whatever else was in their pockets. We left the change. We'd look the stuff over later. I was about to withdraw from the car when I noticed the right hand of the passenger. He wore a silver ring with a snake on it.

‘Jerry.'

‘Yeah?'

‘His hand. The ring.'

‘Yeah?'

‘These are the two guys who put the cab driver in the hospital.'

‘That's not good,' he said.

He walked away from the car. I started to, but at the last minute took the ring from the dead guy's hand and put it in my pocket.

‘What about the trunk?' I asked.

‘It's a rental, but there's no harm,' he said.

He pushed the driver's wallet and things across the top of the car toward me, then grabbed the keys from the ignition and we opened the trunk. It was empty as a rental car's trunk should be. No luggage, no nothing, just a spare and a jack.

Jerry slammed the trunk.

‘I'll check the back and then we gotta get out of here,' he said.

‘Right.'

He opened the back door and searched the back seat, sliding his hands into the cushions. Nothing.

‘That's it,' he said.

We turned back to the Caddy, and Jerry looked down at where it had come in contact with the other car.

‘Sorry, Mr G.'

‘We can get it fixed.'

‘Then let's get out of here.'

As we walked back to the car Ava opened the back window and asked, ‘Can I get out now?'

‘No!' we both shouted.

FIFTY-TWO

W
e didn't talk on the way back to the house. Jerry pulled into the driveway and turned the engine off.

‘Still think you oughtta build a garage, Mr G.,' he said. ‘You got a driveway, but no garage. What's that about?'

‘I'll give it some thought.'

At that point Jerry looked in his rear view mirror and said, ‘Mr G.'

‘What?'

He was still looking in the mirror so I turned in my seat and looked. Ava was sitting there, just staring straight ahead. I wasn't even sure she was breathing.

‘Ava.'

No answer.

‘Ava!'

Still no answer. Her face was white as a sheet, her eyes slightly unfocused.

‘She's in shock, Jerry.'

‘Whatta we do?' Jerry asked. ‘Take her to the hospital?'

‘There would be publicity.'

‘We could give a phony name.'

‘She's Ava Gardner, Jerry,' I said. ‘Somebody's gonna recognize her.'

‘So then what?' he asked.

‘Let's get her inside.'

‘Should I carry her?'

‘I think she'll walk.'

We got her out of the car and walked her inside; Jerry really impressed me. He spoke to her the whole way. ‘Don't worry, Miss Ava, everythin's gonna be OK. You're gonna be fine.'

Obviously, Ava had never seen a shooting before. I knew how she felt. After my first I shook for days. We got her inside and wrapped her in a blanket to keep her warm. Then I got a bottle of bourbon out, poured her a small drink and both me and Jerry a big one. Jerry fed her the booze like she was a child, and immediately the color began to come back into her face.

‘Ava? Sweetie?' I said. I slapped her face lightly and her eyes fluttered. ‘Ava!' I snapped.

‘What the hell—' she said, and pulled the blanket tighter around herself. ‘I need another drink.'

I poured her another but this time I let her hold it and drink it herself.

‘What the hell happened?' she demanded. ‘What the fuck happened back there? All I know is there was a lot of shooting.'

‘Don't worry about it, Ava,' I said. ‘It's over.'

‘Did you kill them?' she asked. ‘Did you actually fucking kill them?'

‘Yeah, Miss Ava, I killed 'em,' Jerry told her. ‘They went for their guns. I had no choice.'

‘This is crazy,' she said. ‘What if they weren't really following us? What if they were fucking innocent?'

‘Ava,' I said, getting right in her face, ‘they followed us to an abandoned parking lot and pulled their guns. Believe me, they weren't innocent.'

‘Oh God . . . this is my fault.'

‘I think you need some sleep,' I said.

‘Sleep? It's early. It's fucking day time, for Chrissake.'

‘You need a nap,' I said. ‘Have some more.' She finished the drink she held in her hand and I took the glass away. Then I walked her into the bedroom, laid her down on the bed, still wrapped in the blanket. In minutes she was asleep.

I walked back to the living room, where Jerry was having another drink.

‘This sucks, Mr G.,' he said.

‘I know it, Jerry.'

‘How the hell did they get on to us so fast?' he asked. ‘Somebody's talkin'.'

‘Who?' I asked. ‘Not you, not me. Not Ava. Not Jack Entratter.'

‘Not Mr S.'

‘Not Dean.'

We stared at each other.

‘Too many damn people already know what's goin' on,' I said. ‘What if one of them just . . . slipped?'

‘But . . . who?'

I thought for a moment, had another drink, then closed my eyes and said, ‘Shit.'

‘What?'

‘Ava asked me if she could call her sister.'

‘You said no, right?'

‘Right, but the look on her face . . .'

‘What about it?'

‘Damn it, Jerry,' I said, ‘what if she already did call her?'

FIFTY-THREE

‘
W
e need to get out of here,' I said.

Jerry and I were sitting in the kitchen. We had the items we had taken from the dead guys spread out on the table in front of us, and we had coffee cups.

We went through the wallets, found Chicago driver's licenses for each man – Aldo Camanitti and Tony Del Grosso – but there was no guarantee that these were their real names. They each had over two hundred dollars and several books of matches in their pockets from local strip clubs. One of them had a hotel key, but there was no telling which hotel. But since only one of them had a key they must have been sharing a room.

They each had plane tickets from Chicago to Las Vegas. They arrived the night before on a red-eye. Somebody had sent those two jokers to Vegas in a hurry.

‘Two guns from Chicago on a red-eye,' I said. ‘We gotta get out of here, Jerry, before somebody comes lookin' for these guys, or sends replacements.'

‘Hold up, Mr G.,' he said. ‘Nobody's gonna replace 'em until they're found. We're OK for now, but I agree we gotta get Miss Ava outta here soon.'

‘Yeah,' I said, ‘soon, like tomorrow. But first we gotta find out if she did call her sister.'

‘She was still asleep last time I checked.'

It was later in the afternoon, and I could hear Jerry's stomach growling.

‘That diner down the block still open?' he asked.

‘Yeah.'

‘How about I go grab us some food?' he asked. ‘I think better on a full stomach.'

‘Fine.' I gave him some of the money Ava had given me. ‘Get whatever you want, bring me and Ava some burgers and fries.'

‘High class lady like her must be useta eatin' better than we been givin' her,' he said.

‘She hasn't complained about the food yet, Jerry.'

‘Maybe I'll bring her a club sandwich,' he said. ‘Classy people like club sandwiches.'

‘Whatever you think, pal.'

He grabbed my car keys. The Caddy had driven fine on the way home, betraying no damage other than some scratches to the back.

As the front door closed I thought I heard Ava stirring in the bedroom. She had been asleep for about three hours. I got up and walked to the doorway. She was moving around, then suddenly the blanket spread open and she rose up into a seated position.

‘What the hell happened?' she asked.

I entered the room and approached the bed. She looked better, more color in her face and focus to her eyes.

‘You went into shock after the shooting,' I said. ‘What do you remember?'

‘I remember Jerry shooting the shit out of those two bastards,' she said. ‘Did you fire my gun?'

‘I didn't have time,' I said. ‘Jerry was too fast.'

I had the distinct feeling that she was happy her gun hadn't killed anybody.

‘Don't look at me,' she said, suddenly. ‘I must look like shit.' She leaped from the bed, ran to the bathroom and slammed the door.

I walked to the door and said, ‘Jerry went for some food.'

‘Good,' her muffled voice said, ‘I'm starving.'

That, at least, was a good sign.

‘I'll see you in the kitchen.'

No answer, so I left the room.

When she came into the kitchen she had applied her make-up and combed her hair, was still wearing the sweater and jeans from that afternoon but was barefoot. I couldn't help thinking, the Barefoot Contessa is barefoot in my kitchen.

But I had to put aside all my feelings for Ava – lust, affection, awe – and be kind of tough with her, because I needed to know.

‘Ava, some coffee?'

‘Sure. Where's Jerry with that food?'

‘Any minute.' I poured a cup of coffee and she sat at the kitchen table.

As I slid it over to her I said, ‘I have to ask you a question.'

‘Go ahead.'

‘You told me this morning you wanted to call your sister,' I said. No comment. I went on. ‘I have a feeling you already called her.'

She stared at me, then lifted her chin and asked haughtily, ‘What if I did?'

‘Then you may have almost got us killed today.'

She tried to hold my eyes, but in the end she looked away and bit her lip. I gave her a minute. Yeah, I know. Real tough guy.

‘OK,' she said, looking at me, ‘OK, I called her yesterday.'

‘Did you tell her where you were?'

She hesitated, then said, ‘I didn't tell her I was in your house.'

‘But you did mention Vegas.'

‘Yes.'

I shook my head.

‘She wouldn't have told anyone,' she said. ‘I swear!'

‘She might not have to, Ava. If someone is lookin' for you bad enough, they may have bugged her phone, or her house.'

‘Jesus,' she said, as that realization set in. ‘So it might be my fault those two men are dead?'

I was afraid she might get upset again. If she went into shock this time we might have to take her to the hospital.

‘Ava, those men got themselves killed,' I said. ‘Anybody who pulls a gun on Jerry is an idiot.'

‘Eddie . . . I'm sorry,' she said, sincerely.

‘I know, Ava.'

‘So now what?' she asked.

‘Tomorrow we'll find someplace else for you.' At that moment I heard Jerry come in the front door. ‘Right now, we eat.'

FIFTY-FOUR

‘
S
hould we warn Bappie?' Ava asked while we were eating.

‘I don't think so, Ava,' I said. ‘She's probably not in any danger. If they bugged her, they know everything she knows, and they realize she doesn't know much.'

Ava looked at Jerry for reinforcement. He looked at me for permission. I nodded.

‘Mr G. is right,' he said. ‘She's OK. Just don't call her again.'

‘I won't,' Ava said. ‘I just . . . I didn't want her to worry.'