Hey There (You with the Gun in Your Hand)

Sixty-three

We put Caitlin back in with Tony and took the money out into the hall. When I picked the three envelopes up from the table Tony looked like he was going to cry.

Out in the hall we were joined by Larry Bigbee.

“What’s up?” he asked. “Did you get what you want?”

“Not yet,” I said. “Can we keep them in there a little longer?”

“Hey,” Larry said, “be my guest. It’s a slow night for cheaters and drunks.”

He turned and walked off down the hall.

“What do we got?” Jerry asked.

“Caitlin was wrong. Tony doesn’t know where his brother is. Apparently, they’re not that close. But he does have a phone number.”

“Will he call ’im?”

“He’s the little brother,” I said. “He’s got a lot of resentment. Plus he wants the money and the girl all for himself.”

“That dame’ll eat him alive.”

“I know,” I said. “And she’d end up with the money.”

“So what do we do? Pay ’im?”

“String him along,” I said. “Get him to call his brother and either find out where he is or arrange a meet.”

“Then what?”

“I’d make a phone call,” I said, “but I have a feeling we need quicker action than that.”

“You got action pretty quick last time.”

“Somebody just had to go to the bank,” I said. “This needs something more personal.”

“I’m with you, Mr. G.,” he said. “Whatever you wanna do.”

“Ordinarily, I’d call the cops and hand this over to them.”

“But the cops are lookin’ for us.”

“I know,” I said. “Hargrove would be in too much of a hurry to bury us to listen to what we have to say.”

“So it’s you and me?”

“I guess so,” I said, again aware of the weight of the gun in my pocket-the gun I had not yet had a reason to use.

“How do you want to play it?” Jerry asked.

“I’d like to set it up someplace familiar,” I said, “but somehow I don’t think Walter’s as dumb as his brother, Tony.”

He nodded.

“We’ll have to give him something to say that his brother will buy.”

“Like what?”

I started pacing the hall. “Gimme a minute or two …”

When we went back inside, I explained to Tony what I had come up with.

“If I do this I get the money?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“And what do I get?” Caitlin asked. “This isn’t fair, Eddie.”

“Relax, baby,” Tony said, putting his hand on her arm. “You get me.”

I saw her arm jerk, as if her first instinct was to pull away, but she caught herself, leaned into him and smiled.

“You’re my man, baby,” she cooed to him.

Tony puffed out his sallow chest, looking inordinately proud of himself.

“Get me a phone,” he said to me.

Tony made the call while I listened on an extension. I asked him if his brother would hear in his voice that he was lying.

“Shit, man, I been lying for a living for years,” he assured me.

The phone rang four times before a man answered….

“What?”

“Hey, bro.”

“Tony? What the fuck you want, man? Where are you? With that crazy bitch?”

“Hey,” Tony said, “don’t talk about my lady like that.”

Walter snorted into the phone.

“Don’t make me laugh, Tony. That bitch is bad news.”

“Yer just jealous.”

“Oh yeah, about you and that little girl? I’m busy, Tony. Why’d you call?”

“We made our buy.”

“What? You mean the Sammy Dav-You sonofabitch! I told you-”

“I know what you told me, but we got our price. Seventy-five grand.”

“Seventy-five! That’s chickenfeed compared to what we’re gonna get.”

“Yeah, well, you get nothin’ without a buyer.” Tony looked at me, smiled slyly, and nodded.

“And you’ve got one?”

“Yah, big brother, I do. That go-between the nigger picked.”

“Listen, he’s got your money. He wants to meet and he wants the pictures plus the negatives.”

There was silence on the other end, and except for the fact that I didn’t hear a click I thought he might have hung up.

“Little brother, if you’re fuckin’ with me-”

More silence.

“Okay, set up a meet.”

“I want a piece.”

I started toward him. Tony waved me away.

“I want a piece, Walter. Yer gettin’ a lot of money.”

“You’ll get a piece, Tony,” Walter said. “I promise.”

“Okay,” Tony said, “write this down….”