My Brother's Keeper (22 page)

‘My fault, Hesh. She was with me.'

‘A lot of good that does.'

‘You had Joey here.'

‘Joey?'

‘He's a good helper.'

‘He's a good eater.'

‘And that's why you love him.'

‘Loveable. Yes, he's a very loveable man.'

Lou smiled and Joey looked around the side of the newspaper he'd been holding in front of his face. He closed the paper and folded it in half and reached for a cup of coffee.

‘Well, she's all yours now.'

‘Good. She can clean up. Bus the tables, get the dishwasher going and then start on the counter.'

‘See what you got me into,' Maggie chimed in.

‘More like what I got you out of.'

Maggie took off her jacket, hung it up and tied an apron around her waist. She began clearing tables, pocketing a couple single dollars. Lou sat next to Joey at the counter. There were only a couple of other people left in the place, two women Lou recognized as employees from the liquor store in the strip mall around the corner. They were both middle-aged. One was black with a red hue to her skin and one was white with red hair. They were both wearing striped polyester pants suits and had blue nametags pinned to their chests. They were looking down the counter at Joey and Joey was staring back at them as if he was trying to read the names on their nametags.

‘I heard back from Candy Bell.'

‘Glad to see you weren't wasting any time.'

‘No comment.'

‘What'd she have to say?'

‘She wants to meet. Seems like she might have a lot to say but wasn't going to say it over the phone.'

‘Why do you suppose that is?'

‘Well, let's put it this way. When I mentioned the Haggertys, her voice got that little quiver in it and I'm not talking about a scared quiver. I've never known Candy to be scared of anything. It was an angry quiver, angry like if there was something in her hand, she'd throw it at your head. And if you knew Candy like I knew her, you'd better duck.'

‘Where does she want to meet?'

‘The Taurus Club. In Delaware.'

‘Delaware?'

‘Says she can't afford to be seen talking to me. Said she'd meet us at the Taurus Club in Wilmington around five. It's right across the street from the Wilmington Trust Bank. Can't miss it, she says.'

‘Ex-call girl, ex-stripper doesn't want to be seen in public with ex-cop. That's good.'

‘We all have a history, Lou, especially me and Candy. It's common knowledge in certain circles. She's just protecting her interests.'

‘And isn't the Taurus Club private?'

‘She says to tell the doorman we're there to see her. It won't be a problem. We buy her dinner; she tells us what she knows. And we're out of there.'

‘Great.'

The Taurus Club sat in the middle of Fayette Street across from the bank, right where it was supposed to be, with a big black bull hand-painted onto the tile façade. The bull looked ready to jump down and gore someone through the chest. Its broad black head was bowed; its horns were long and curled and smooth with a glistening point at the tip. The silver handles of two jewel-encrusted swords protruded from its arched back and its brows were deeply furrowed as if it were in excruciating pain. The ring in its nose pierced two red flaring nostrils and all four hooves of the animal were off the ground as if it had been drawn leaping into the air, its eyes glowing in the night like two sparkling emeralds.

Lou couldn't help but sympathize with the portrait of this animal on the wall, the wretchedness of the beast plain on its face, animated and alive like a tattoo on the skin that moved and flexed and twitched with the striations of the muscle underneath. Whoever drew it meant for it to be seen that way, that it should be examined and understood, the agony evident in this most sensuous of creatures. And everyone passing through that door would look at it and feel its power, perhaps even fear it. And by the end of the night they would need more than a few drinks to erase it from their memory.

Lou and Joey had both worn sport jackets for the occasion and they tugged at their ties nervously, obviously uncomfortable with the formality. Lou unbuttoned his jacket and gave their names to a hostess in a long black dress that clung to every curve of her narrow frame. She was all business.

‘Ms Bell was just a little delayed. But she wants you to know she's on her way. Would you gentlemen care to wait at the bar?'

‘Not a bad idea.'

They preferred the bar to the dining room and by Taurus Club standards it was probably where they belonged. The drinks were overpriced but they didn't have to wait long. Candy Bell arrived without much pomp or circumstance. The door came open with a rush of air and she appeared in a brushed wool pants suit, black over white, with zebra stripes and a matching waistcoat and black gloves and boots and a small purse that she held by the handle at her side as if it was a mace. She noticed Joey at the bar and with the slightest nod of her head made him understand they were to meet at the booth she'd reserved in the back.

‘Thanks for coming, Candy. Sorry about all this. You know how it is.'

‘It's Candace, Joe. Please. And I do know how it is. Believe me, I'm not here to do you any favors. But if I can say something that'll put Brian Haggerty away . . .'

‘Ah, you remember Lou Klein, don't you, Candy? We were on the job together back in the day.'

‘Doesn't ring a bell.'

‘That's good. Yeah, I like that.'

Lou took a sip of the beer he'd brought with him from the bar and set it down. Joey did the same and they both leaned across the table. Candy pulled a pack of cigarettes from her purse and lit one. She took a long drag, blowing the smoke into the air. She let the cigarette rest in a gold ashtray.

‘What we were hoping is that you could tell us something about Valerie Price. You know what I mean. The kind of stuff you can't read in the papers. Joey says you got started at the Arramingo Club so you might have seen things you weren't supposed to, or heard things. There are still a lot of rumors going around and we figured you might be able to help us separate fact from fiction.'

‘Joey, tell your friend here that if he doesn't shut up real soon this is going to be a dinner for two. And the only thing I'll be talking about is how you used to chase me down Woodmere Avenue in your skivvies.'

‘Shut up, Lou, and let the lady talk.'

‘The first thing you guys ought to know is that Valerie Price wasn't the only girl to get something going with William Haggerty. He was the owner and he liked to sample the merchandise. None of us are naïve, so you guys know what I'm talking about. We did what we had to do. I'm a much different person now than I was then.' She took a quick drag on the cigarette and waved over a waitress, a young woman in black tights and a white button-down, tied in the front. ‘Well, maybe not all that different, but I am in a different place in my life. I'll be honest: I didn't like Haggerty, the old man or his son. Brian wasn't as bad as the old man. I'll give him that. But it doesn't change the way I feel.'

The waitress stood by waiting for Candy to finish her sentence. The menus still sat in a pile at the edge of the table. The dim lighting in the booth obscured their faces and the waitress seemed well versed in avoiding eye contact, making the patrons of the Taurus Club feel anonymous, which was the way everybody wanted it. Candy ordered the shrimp salad and Lou and Joey ordered blue-cheese burgers and sweet-potato fries. The waitress grimaced and wrote it all down without looking up from her pad.

‘I take it Valerie Price played it a little different.'

‘That's one way to put it.' She took one last drag and snuffed the cigarette out. The waitress brought over a bottle of white wine and poured a few ounces into a glass with a long, thin stem. ‘Valerie was beautiful and smart but she was reckless. She had a plan and it was a good plan. Most of the girls had the same plan. Hook a rich guy.' She took a sip of the wine, trying to look dainty with her pinky finger curling over the table. It was a good act. ‘Some girls become cheerleaders and go for a big-ass pro football player. And some girls prefer to take their clothes off. They just like politics better than sports. Some girls are faster workers than others but the end result is usually the same.' Candy took another sip of her wine. She seemed thirstier this time. ‘Valerie had a wild streak. She would drink and she was out of control. Her eyes would go black and fuzzy like she was gone somewhere; another fucking planet. But William was definitely taken with her. Everyone was. That was part of the problem. She spread herself too thin and pretty soon all the boys are fighting over her.'

‘I didn't think Haggerty was the type to let a woman get to him.'

‘I didn't think so either. Until he showed me otherwise.'

‘Showed you how?'

‘You see this scar on my lip?' She pointed to a slight discoloration on her upper lip. If she hadn't pointed it out Lou never would have noticed it. Seeing it now, he noticed how the orange light from the ceiling seemed to catch it just right, a blemish on an otherwise perfect set of pink lips. He noticed too that Candy Bell never once smiled. ‘I called Valerie Price a whore. I told him she'd fuck anybody with a hundred-dollar bill in his pocket or an ounce of coke to put up her nose. I told him she was after his money and doing a pretty good job of getting it. Other than being naked in bed when I said it I didn't think my comment would have much of an effect on him. He wasn't much of a listener and he was used to girls looking for a piece of the action. But he flipped out. Didn't say anything. Just slapped me across the face with the back of his hand.'

They all sipped their wine. Candy's salad came and she laid a napkin across her lap, stabbed a baby shrimp with her fork and pulled it off with her teeth. She chewed silently while Joey and Lou fumbled with their burgers. For a few minutes all that was heard was the sound of silverware scraping against the porcelain plates. Joey filled their glasses with wine.

‘A lot more to the story, though. Huh?'

‘Yeah.' Candy took another sip of the wine. She held the glass aloft, looking through it, the two men following the movement of the glass in her hand. She caught a glimmer of herself in the thin glass and the bittersweet aroma of the alcohol seemed to catch in the back of her throat. She replaced the glass on the table. ‘Nobody was surprised that Valerie ended up dead. But William – that was a shock.'

‘People assumed he was untouchable.'

‘As you said, there were a lot of rumors floating around.'

‘And then there was the truth.'

‘Yes, Mr Klein. The truth is that Valerie got herself pregnant. Whether it was on purpose or not, I can't say. Who was the father? The assumption was Brian Haggerty since officially the two of them had been an item for a while. But who really knew? Could have been the father just as easily as the son. And there were a lot of big shots in and out of the Arramingo Club back then – lawyers, judges, politicians, cops – and Valerie had her turn with most of them.'

Lou turned a wary eye toward Joey and then back to Candy.

‘What about Jimmy Patterson?'

‘What about him?'

‘Did he go in there?'

‘He worked there. And when he wasn't there on business, it was pleasure.'

‘Was there anything between Jimmy and Valerie?'

‘You know damn well there was. Jimmy couldn't keep it in his pants any more than Joey could. You're all the same. Believe me, I understand. It's human nature. But Jimmy was the jealous type, to say the least. He'd get drunk and the wheels would start turning. He'd start thinking, Valerie Price in his head. Then he'd get angry and all hell would break loose. He was in a tough spot, a cop working for William Haggerty on the side. His sister trying to climb the same ladder he was on. It was only a matter of time before someone fell off.'

‘Looks like they both went for a fall.'

‘Franny was good. I'll give her that. Anyone who gets what she wants and doesn't have to take her clothes off to get it.'

‘But Jimmy wasn't crazy about the idea.'

‘He didn't approve of her relationship with Brian Haggerty but he had no one but himself to blame. He practically handed her over to him. Got her a job. A kind of nanny for Valerie's kid. But she didn't stay a nanny for very long; she had her sights set a little higher. Maybe Jimmy figured if Brian went for his sister he'd have Valerie to himself. Maybe he just wanted to be part of the family. Who knows? No one can say what's going on inside a person's head, especially when there's a woman involved.'

‘Or in their heart?'

‘Please don't get sentimental on me, Mr Klein. Lou. These people, every last one of them, were heartless fucks. Their idea of love was a stiff prick and the almighty dollar.' She pushed a lock of bleached blonde hair off her face and threw her head back and looked Lou in the eye. ‘Anyway, Valerie decided to put the squeeze on the Haggertys. And I don't blame her one bit. She had them by the balls. She was pregnant and she had a big mouth. Either Brian stepped up to the plate on his own or an arrangement was made.'

‘What kind of arrangement?'

‘Brian and Valerie were quietly married. Valerie seemed to have just disappeared and a lot of the girls were saying she lost the baby. Then I heard the baby was born and arrangements were made to have him taken care of. Valerie wasn't exactly the mothering type.'

‘Is that where Franny came in?'

‘Haggerty paid her to watch the kid. Jimmy set it up. But like I said, it didn't last too long. Pretty soon Franny and Brian and Valerie's baby were playing house and walking around like they were a happy family.'

‘Sounds cozy.'

‘William didn't seem to mind. He could have Valerie whenever he wanted.'