Everybody Kills Somebody Sometime

Fifty-three

By the time they put me in a hospital bed, my hearing had started to return. However, when Detectives Hargrove and Smith entered the room I had a miraculous relapse.

“Can you hear me, Mr. Gianelli?” Hargrove asked.

I heard him, but it sounded as if he was standing at one end of a tunnel, and I was at the other. But I just stared at him and shook my head.

“Your doctor tells us your hearing loss is temporary,” he went on.

That was good to know, but I didn’t let on that I’d understood him.

“I think he’s fakin’,” Smith said, glaring at me.

“The guy got blown up, Willie,” Hargrove said. “Somebody put a freakin’ bomb in his car. The doctor said he’s deaf.”

“Temporary,” Smith said, “the doctor said it was temporary. What if he already has his hearing back and he’s scammin’ us?”

Hargrove looked at me. I tried to stare back at him with a look of total innocence on my face.

“You wouldn’t do that to us, Eddie, would you?” he asked.

“I’m sorry guys,” I said, and shrugged.

At that moment the doctor walked in.

“Come on, doc,” Detective Smith said. “Can he hear or can’t he?”

“We’ll know when he tells us,” the doctor said. “Right now I need for you gents to leave.”

“Okay,” Hargrove said, “but we’ll be back. After all, we have to find out who tried to kill him.”

“I’m sure he’ll be glad to help you with that when he can,” the doctor said.

The two detectives left, Smith tossing me one last hard stare. The doctor approached the bed and looked at me curiously. He was in his forties, with steel-gray hair and eyes and a strong jaw. I was sure he made all the nurse’s knees weak when he walked the halls.

“You’ll have to talk to them eventually, you know,” he told me.

“I will,” I said. “How did you know?”

“Experience,” he said. “Let me take a look at you.”

He used a light to check my ears and eyes.

“You have a concussion,” he said. “We’re gonna keep you here all day and overnight just to be on the safe side.”

“Fine with me,” I said. “Can I have visitors?”

“Who’d you have in mind?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Frank Sinatra?”

He laughed.

“If Frank Sinatra walks into this hospital I’ll let him visit you,” he said, going along with what he thought was a joke.

“Fair enough,” I said.

“My name is Montgomery,” he said. “If you need anything that a nurse can’t give you ask for me. I’ll be on until six. I’ll look in on you before I leave.”

“Thanks, Doc. And thanks for not tellin’ the cops I can hear.”

“Well, I wasn’t really sure, was I?” he asked. “I assume you’ll be ready to cooperate with them tomorrow? I mean, you do want to find out who did this to you, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah,” said. “I just need some time to think.”

“I don’t believe I’d need time to think if someone had put a bomb in my car,” he said, “but it’s your call.”

I looked at the phone on the table next to me.

“Can I use that?”

“Why not?” he asked. “You’re going to be paying for it.”

As he left the room I leaned over, picked up the phone and set it on my chest. I dialed Danny’s number, and when Penny answered I didn’t tell her what happened. I just asked for Danny. When he came on I gave him the news.

“What the hell,” he said. “Are you okay?”

“I was deaf for a while, but it’s comin’ back to me,” I explained. “I scammed the cops, though, into thinkin’ I was still deaf.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “I guess I’ll have to think about that.”

“Well, I’ll come over and help you think,” he said. “You want anything?”

“Just don’t bring any flowers.”

After I hung up on him I dialed the Sands and asked for Jack Entratter. When I told him what had happened, he exploded.

“What the fuck is goin’ on?” he demanded. “Somebody put a fuckin’ bomb in your car?”

“Looks that way.”

“You stay put,” he said, “and do what the doctors tell ya. Don’t worry about nothin’. The bills’ll be paid for.”

“Thanks, Jack.”

“I’ll be there in a little while,” he said. “I got some calls to make. You’re done with this, Eddie. You hear me? You’re done.”

“No, Jack, wait-” I started, but he hung up.

Physically, I felt pretty good. I had a few aches and pains, but nothing was broken. And I knew a concussion wasn’t life threatening. I’d known enough football players who’d gotten five or six during their careers. And boxers. One wasn’t going to kill me.

My hearing was getting better by the minute, which was a relief. I probably could have gotten out of that bed and walked out of the hospital, but I didn’t want to-not just yet. I needed someplace quiet and safe to think, and this was as good a place as any. If I wasn’t going to back off, then I needed to plan my next move.