I'm a fool to kill you

SIXTY-FIVE

‘Ah, stupido!’ Momo said, suddenly. ‘I forgot the vino. I’ll be right back.’

He jumped up and hurried back to the kitchen, leaving me and Danny alone.

‘Nice to see you, Mr Davis,’ Danny said.

‘It’s Sammy,’ Sam said. ‘Damn, but this is good. Ya gotta give it to Momo, he can cook.’

‘What the hell is goin’ on?’ I asked.

‘I’m not sure,’ he said. ‘I came to town, found the hotel Ava said she woke up in, started askin’ some questions. When I came outside three of Giancana’s men were waiting for me and brought me here. Momo wanted to know what was goin’ on and I didn’t see any reason not to tell him the truth.’

‘Good.’

‘They put me in a hotel. Momo says I’m his “guest”.’

‘Could you get up and walk out of here if you wanted to?’ I asked. ‘For that matter, could we?’

‘To tell you the truth, Eddie, I don’t know if I’d wanna try. But the food is great!’

I put some spaghetti in my mouth and I had to agree with him.

‘I don’t know what’s goin’ on,’ Sammy said. ‘Frank only asked me to meet you at the airport, told me what to say. Do I want to know more?’

‘I’ll tell you later,’ I promised.

Momo reappeared, carrying one of those bottles of Chianti with wicker on the bottom, and four glasses.

‘Here we go,’ he said, pouring the glasses full with a flourish. ‘Now, enjoy, and we’ll talk.’

He sat down and took a huge forkful of pasta in his mouth. I decided to let him chew and swallow and start the conversation himself.

‘So, I hear Frank’s wife, Ava, has been havin’ some problems,’ he said.

‘Um, ex-wife,’ I said.

‘Basta!’ Momo said. ‘When you marry, you marry for life. Frank and Ava, they are — how do you say it? — caldo. Hot? They are hot.’

‘Yes, hot,’ I said. ‘Hot for each other.’

‘Esattamente! Like you say. Anyway, your detective friend, Danny, tells me she has lost forty hours.’

‘That’s right.’

‘And woke up in a hotel here in Chicago with blood on her?’

‘Yes.’

‘Terribile,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘And I got a call from Jack Entratter about two Chicago guys who came after you and Jerry in Vegas.’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘They ended up dead which, I hope, is not a problem for you.’

He shook his head with his mouth full, chewed, washed it down with some wine, and then said, ‘No problem for me, Eddie. A problem for whoever sent those stronzo after you.’

‘And do we know who that was?’ I asked.

‘Not yet,’ Momo said, ‘but we will, and soon. I will find out. Meanwhile, you finish eating. Later, we go to the Chez Paree and listen to Sammy sing, eh?’

‘Suits me,’ Sam said. ‘I’ll get you the best table in the place.’

‘Then I put you in the same hotel with Danny and in the morning you go home. Leave this to me. Frank should’ve called me right away.’

‘I don’t think he wanted to bother you with this, Momo,’ I said.

‘E una sciocchezza!’ he said. ‘Nonsense. It was not him, it was her. That one never liked me.’

I knew that was a fact, but I didn’t say anything.

‘Mangiare!’ he said. ‘Eat up! Then I will have Vicenzo take you to the hotel to change. Tonight we go out, tomorrow you go home.’

I liked the sound of that because it meant if we were going home, we’d be alive.

Unless, of course, we left in a box.