Dream Town

Chapter 45

With a gun wedged against his spine, Archer could smell the stink of his own fear, along with the heavyweight cologne Little Tony had smeared all over himself. They traversed a long, dark hallway, and passed through a door, which Little Tony closed behind them.

There were two other people in the room. One was the young Chinese woman from the Jade who had directed Archer to the bar using the same words: “That way, honey.”

The woman was dressed in canary yellow. All she needed was a set of wings and she could simply fly away from all this trouble, thought Archer.

The other person was the one Archer instinctively kept his eye on.

Under the weak light the scars on Darren Paley’s face seemed electrified. He was dressed in a dark suit and tie. His white shirt seemed heated and shiny in the light. A white pocket square was set just so. A new-looking fedora lay on the table beside him. Archer could see the hump of a gun under his jacket. Up close he indeed looked to Archer like a rattler: lean, curled, and deadly serious, with eyes that never forgot anything they saw. And the man’s warning rattle was echoing in Archer’s ears like cannon fire.

He was smoking a cigarette and tapping a finger on the table he was seated at, with the woman beside him. He hadn’t once looked at Archer.

“Him?” asked Paley. “This the guy?”

At first Archer didn’t know who he was speaking to.

Then the woman nodded. “Yes. He is the one that night.”

“You’re real sure?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“Thanks. Beat it.”

The woman quickly rose, passed Archer and Little Tony, and left the room. She never once looked at Archer. He figured she was the kind who didn’t like being around dead people.

That way, honey.

As soon as the door shut, Paley motioned to Little Tony, who pushed Archer forward and forced him into the chair facing Paley.

The man methodically smoked his cigarette down while Archer watched. He had known men like this before. Nothing ever hurried them. They took everything they did seriously; it required that level of thought and attention because if they made a mistake they would no longer be alive. And every single one of those men Archer knew had been either a soldier or a crook.

Paley crushed the butt of his smoke into the ashtray and finally looked up at Archer. “You know why I had the skirt here?”

“To identify me.”

“Yes and no. Yes on the ID. I had other people I could have used, but she saw you up close. I like to be sure because I like to be fair. I’m not doing nothing to nobody that they don’t deserve because I don’t want nobody doing that to me. I take my lumps if I earned them.”

“The guy outside the Jade saw me.”

“And he also let you get away. So he couldn’t ID you. That’s why I brought the skirt here.”

“Then he’s dead?”

Paley gave Archer a look like he thought that was quite obvious.

“What was the no part?” asked Archer.

“That dame and her kind don’t mix good with the white folks, but I need them to do the work that needs to be done. Now, you got to earn the respect of the Chinese, or else scare the shit out of them so they don’t try and cross you. I prefer the scare route myself. So if I prove my seriousness to her, then she gets the word out to the guys who are maybe thinking of taking what don’t belong to them. Then those guys stop thinking that way because they don’t want nothing bad to happen to them.” He paused and gave Archer a look that did nothing to bolster his confidence about leaving here alive. “Just like I’m sure you don’t.”

“That’s right.”

Paley moved his head from side to side. “Kraut tried to break my neck during the war. Gutted him with his own knife. Gets sore when the weather changes. Desert air seems to help.”

“Yeah, I got some of that, too.”

“You’re a PI. You’re trying to find a broad who’s gone missing, and you’re trying to find out who plugged a PI named Bender and dumped his body at the broad’s house. Am I missing something or is my line pretty straight?”

“You’re doing okay, actually.”

“Thanks. I came from nothing and never went to no fancy schools, and here I am surrounded by all these rich, educated people. It can intimidate a man.”

“I would think it would be the reverse.”

Paley gave him a knowing look. “You would think that, wouldn’t you? Now, I can intimidate people. When the stakes are really high. That’s when I’m in my element, so to speak. I don’t care how much they got in the bank, or how famous they are, because I mean what I say and I have the facts on my side.”

“I can understand that.”

“I could tell you stories of grown men you see in the movies all the time playing these big, tough guys, who have sat in rooms like this weeping because they were afraid of what I was going to do to them. It’s a very heady experience for a guy like me. I mean, I look up to these men. I consider them heroes. But when they’re not in front of the camera they’re nothing but scared little fuckers because they did wrong. And they have to be held to account for that, and they know I’m the guy to do it. Do you see what I’m saying?”

“I see what you’re saying.”

“Now, you came to my place of business and caused me a lot of problems and cost me one of my guys. Your bill is very long and it’s come due.” He tapped the wood. “Now.”

“But it’s not just me. The LA County cops are investigating all of this, too.”

Paley put up a hand. “Let’s leave the cops out of this. They’ll do what they have to do, but not more than that. We both know that, right?”

“And I thought everybody was cleaning up their act.”

“They are. Hell, most of the mob left LA and came here. Easier pickings and even that element don’t like to slam their head against a brick wall. Now, they’ll go down there and horn in on some of the crummy card club action or the ponies, but that’s not really over the money. The money is right here. But they do it so the boys in LA don’t get too comfy. You know the name Sammy Rummel?”

“Mickey Cohen’s lawyer. Got knocked off in Laurel Canyon a few years ago.”

“As an example of what I’m talking about.” Paley adjusted his cuffs. “Now, as far as my business goes, I’m sensing the presence of some third party that ain’t supposed to be there. You know anything about that?”

“Third party?”

“Yeah. Let me explain. If I expected to get a hundred packages of something and I only get seventy-five, that’s a problem for me. But then the next week the difference gets made up and then maybe I get more than I thought I’d get. The next week, the same shit happens.”

“So what’s the problem if it evens out in the end?”

Paley shook his head. “If they could only get me less than x one week and then get me more than y the next week, something fishy is going on. It makes me feel like they could get me z anytime they wanted, but maybe they don’t because they’re feeding another hungry mouth. And I’m losing money because of it. And I do not like to lose money. It’s an obsession with me.”

“So that’s where the third party comes in?”

“Now you’re catching on. But you obviously know nothing about it.”

“I wish I did.”

Paley gave him another knowing look. “Yeah, I bet you do. Now I just need to find out where along the supply chain somebody else might be at the trough drinking my stuff.”

“Does Bernadette Bonham know anything about it? I saw you two talking outside of the Jade.”

As soon as he said this, Archer regretted it.

The scars started to twitch. “So she let you follow her to my place?”

“She didn’t let me do anything. I’m good at my job. She stonewalled me on everything, so I decided to see where she was going.”

Paley lit another cigarette and sat back. “Good, Archer, good. You told me something I didn’t know. That’s valuable to me.”

“So, do I just get to walk out of here?”

“No, Archer, that’s not what I’m saying. You knew that as soon as Little Tony got the drop on you, didn’t you?”

“I guess I did.”

“But you bought yourself some time. Not much, but some while I check out what you told me. And then maybe you get to walk out of here.”

“Are you serious?”

“No, Archer, I’m lying to your fucking face. Why? It’s just my nature.”

Archer wasn’t fast enough.

The butt of the gun came down on his head, near where he’d been sapped before. It didn’t hurt any less the second time around. He slumped forward, hit his chin on the desk, and fell sideways to the floor.

When Archer came to, all he could see was black. And he thought he was dead. And that he was in hell because heaven was not supposed to be dark and he could hear no angels playing their harps. When he reached out, he found he was encased in some sort of scratchy material, like burlap. It was close to his face and it was difficult to breathe. He had the sensation of movement, and, coupled with the sound of a motor, he knew he was in a car, probably in the trunk. He pushed against the material but it was so close to him he couldn’t get any leverage.

Then the sensation of movement stopped. The engine died. Doors opened and closed, and footsteps headed his way. There was another sound as the darkness became just a shade less black. The trunk had been opened. Archer’s adrenaline kicked into a higher gear and his breaths started coming more rapidly, as he sensed the end of his life drawing near.

Hands grabbed around parts of him and he was lifted out and placed on the ground.

A voice said, “Shoot him in the head and do it quick. We got to dig the hole deep. Critters around here.”

Archer instinctively started to kick and beat against whatever was holding him. He heard a laugh. “Hey, look who woke up.”

Then the laughter died and shouts took their place. Archer flinched when he heard the shot. Then he heard several others. There was a grunt, followed by a flow of expletives. More shots. Then a car started and he could hear the wheels grinding into the dirt. A few seconds later all became quiet.

Something seized him and he fought against it once more.

“Just hold on, Archer. We got you.”

Archer immediately relaxed at the words because he recognized the voice.

A knife bit carefully into the fabric around him, cutting an opening near his head. A light was shone in his eyes and then the beam was reversed and he was looking at a familiar face.

Willie Dash said, “How many times am I going to have to save your ass, son?”

But then Dash smiled, and Archer could see the sense of relief on the man’s features.

Still, it didn’t come close to the one on Archer’s.