Sharky's Machine

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The high energy from the fight and the cold wind biting at him kept him alert. He found the main body of the lake and drove maniacally down its winding byways, keeping in the centre of the lake to avoid debris along the shoreline. It was almost an hour before he saw the green light blinking on the end of the marina dock.

He pulled alongside and got out, tying the front of the launch down. It was easy to find Fat Boy’s car, at that time of the. year there were only half a dozen cars in the lot. He cranked it up and sat huddled in the front seat. A wave of dizziness shook him. Hell, he thought, I’ve come this far, don’t let me pass out now. It passed and he flipped on the heater switch, slammed the gas pedal to the floor. The car screamed out of the lot.

He drove the seventy miles back to Atlanta in less than an hour.

All the lights in the house seemed to be on. Livingston had the front door open and was standing just inside it, his gun out, before Sharky got out of the car.

‘Hold it right there,’ he yelled.

‘It’s me — Sharky.’

‘Sharky! Goddammit to hell, where you been? Where’s The Nosh? What —,

Sharky reeled into the light from the doorway and Livingston swallowed the rest of the sentence.

‘Jesus Christ, what happened to you?’

‘You’re not gonna believe me when I tell you. Is she all right?’

‘Sure she’s all r……

Sharky stormed past him and into the house. Domino was coming out of the bedroom, her eyes puffy from lack of sleep.

‘Oh, thank God,’ she said and then her face registered the shock as she saw his burned-out eyes blazing with pain and fury, his cheeks mottled with a two-day growth of beard, his shoulder ravaged and bleeding, the torn edge of a bloody rag hanging from his fist.

He stood in front of her, his body shaking from hypertension, fatigue, and anger.

Livingston kicked the door shut and put away his gun.

‘What the hell happened, Shark?’ he asked.

‘The Nosh is dead,’ Sharky said. ‘They got him the same way they got Tiffany. Sawed-off shotgun...’

‘1 gotta call Friscoe right now. They been lookin’ for you two all night.’

‘Don’t call anybody yet.’

‘Where have you been?’ Domino said. Tears were building up in her eyes.

‘Where have I been? I’ll tell you where I’ve been, lady. My best friend was ambushed. I been beat up, kidnapped, hauled out to a goddamn Chinese junk in the middle of the lake, had my finger chopped off by three wildass China- men. I’ve killed four people, blown up a boat, stolen a car. Shit, I’ve had a great night! And you know why? Because they want you, that’s why.’

His eyes danced crazily in his head.

‘We’ve got to get you to a hospital,’ she said.

‘A hospital. Shit, I don’t need a hospital. I need answers. Who do you know has a Chinese junk? Who do you know has Oriental assassins doing his dirty work? Who do you know digs Chinese orgies? Your pal, Confucius, that’s who. You lied to me. Told me the bastard went to Europe. Why? Don’t you see it? He’s the one behind it all, the one who’s trying to kill you!’

He ripped the bloody bandage off his hand and held it out in front of her, the burned stump of his finger a foot from her eyes.

‘Look at it. That’s what they did to me.’

She moaned and turned her face to the wall. He grabbed her by the shoulder and whirled her around. ‘Look at it. Don’t turn your face away from me. That’s what your life cost. That and a little guy who never hurt anybody in his life ended up on a stinking tenement floor with his face blown off. And Tiffany, what about her?’

‘Please stop,’ she cried.

‘Me stop? These are the bastards you’re protecting.’

‘Slow down, Shark,’ Livingston said, moving closer to him.

He turned to his partner and said, ‘The crazy thing is, we had it figured right, Arch. We were right on it. Scardi, the rip-off in Italy, Scardi’s connection here. We had it by the ass.’ Then he turned back to Domino. ‘And we would’ve tied it up if you hadn’t lied to me.’

‘No.’

‘Bullshit. You told me that creep went to Europe, that he couldn’t have had anything to do with It. If you had given me his name, levelled with me, The Nosh would be alive now. We could have taken the son of a bitch last night. But I trusted you. You told me. . . I believed you. Should have known better. Should have. . . Goddammit, are you so much in love with him that you’re willing to —,

His fury exploded and he lashed out at her with the back of his good hand, slashing her across the face with such force that it knocked her back against the wall. Livingston grabbed his arm.

‘C’mon, pal, you’re acting like a jealous lover, for Christ’s sake.’

Sharky leaned against him. His hand was throbbing and he had a splitting headache. Was that it, was he jealous? He shook his head violently.

‘No, nothing like that, nothing like that. Too many lies. Nobody’s what they seem. All lies!’

‘Shark, I gotta get you down. You need —‘

‘I need Scardi. And the motherless son of a bitch that brought Scardi in. I want them and if we can’t take them legally, I’m gonna rip that cocksucker’s heart out with my bare hands. I need to get even!’

He had turned back to Domino, glaring at her. Here was a Sharky she had never seen before. Gone was the roguish smile, the rough charm. In its place was a raw power that frightened her. Stripped of any elegance, finesse, cleverness, or caution

He leaned against the wall, his knees shaking, turning to mud, his body wracked with chills, his mind teetering on the edge of insanity and bent on destruction, his strength coming from an almost carnal need for vengeance. The room began to swim around him.

He looked back at Domino.

‘Who did you tell?’

‘W-w-what?

‘Who did you tell? You told somebody about me. That’s how they knew. They were after me, goddammit. Don’t you get it? They suckered me by setting up my best friend. They told him it was all right if I came with him. Not Arch, not Papa, or Friscoe. Me.’

He jabbed his wounded hand at her. ‘You blew the whistle on me. You gave somebody my name.’

He was shaking almost uncontrollably and he began to sweat again.

‘They were gonna cut them off. Those crazy goddamn monkeys were gonna cut all my fingers off, one at a time, until I told them where you were. Can you believe that, hunh? Cut off all my fingers. Now what’s his name?’

‘Please,’ she said. She was crying hard. ‘Please, let us help you.,

‘Only one way to help me. Gimme the name. Just say it.’

His fingers pressed into her arm.

‘DeLaroza,’ she whispered. ‘Victor DeLaroza.’ It was all happening too fast. Could Donald also be part of ii? Of course — he had to be. It was Donald she had given Sharky’s name to, not DeLaroza. And yet, could there be an explanation? She needed time, time to reason it out.

Sharky began to sag, like a drunk losing control. It was almost an anticlimax, hearing it. ‘Shit,’ he said inanely. ‘Wouldn’t you know it? I never even heard of the motherfucker.’ He looked at Livingston. ‘You gotta promise me, Arch, promise me you won’t go after them without me. Tell Friscoe, tell him nobody’s stealin’ my melons this time.’

‘Sure, Shark, just take it easy.’

‘Promise me, damn it.’

‘I promise.’

‘Don’t let him flush it at roll call. Make him hold off, okay?’

‘Right.’

‘All I need.. . see, I need. . . couple hours’ sleep. .

He took a step towards Livingston and his legs went. He sagged into the black man’s arms.

‘Shit, where’s everybody going?’ he said and passed out.

When Sharky awoke the first time, Twigs was sitting by the bed with his black bag open, taking his blood pressure. Sharky looked around the room and it was filled with fog. Vaguely, faces appeared and disappeared through the mist.

What the hell you doin’ here, Twigs?’ Sharky said. ‘Am I dead?’

‘Not quite. But I can’t remember anybody recently who tried any harder.’

‘I’m okay. Just, uh. . . just . Tired?

‘Yeah, that’s it.’

‘Sure, just a little tired. In a state of shock. Blood pressure reads like a basketball score. Nothing at all.’

He took a hypodermic needle out of the bag.

‘Whatcha gonna do?’ Sharky said fuzzily.

‘Antibiotics. Also got to get a little snooze juice in you.’

‘Doandothat. . . gottastay. . . wake. ..‘

‘You got someplace to go at five in the morning?

‘Nawbdystealenm’melons...’

‘Sure.’

‘Right here, buddy.’

‘Doand. . . nuthin . . . outme. . ...‘

‘Right.’

‘Is be going to be all right?’ Domino said.

‘He’s got the constitution of a horse. Didn’t lose as much blood as I thought. Just keep him warm so he doesn’t go into shock. If he makes it until noon he’ll live forever.’

‘I’ll keep him warm,’ she said.

He felt the needle enter his arm, felt the warmth from its fluid flooding his body. The room did a Little dance for him and he faded out again.

He was dreaming. A crazy dream without form, Faces floated in and out of focus. The Nosh. The fat man on the junk. And Domino, like a face looking at him through smoke. He was on fire. And then suddenly he felt cold and began to shiver.

‘It’s all right, it’s all right,’ she said, and he opened his eyes. There was only one light in the room, a lamp in the corner. He had a hard time separating light and shadow. Another chill passed over him.

‘Easy,’ she said. She was talking softly and he felt her hands moving over his body.

‘Cold,’ he said.

‘It’s alcohol,’ she said. ‘I’m trying to break your fever.’

His lips felt scorched and his throat was like dust. He could hardly swallow.

She put her hand under his head and lifted him halfway up and held a glass of cold water against his lips. He gulped at it.

‘Not too much,’ she said. She reached over to the night table, to a bowl of ice cubes, and wrapped one in a washcloth, holding it against his lips.

‘Just suck on it,’ she said, and lowered his head back to the pillow.

She poured more alcohol in her hands and spread it on his chest, .moving her hands easily and lightly over his hot skin.

He closed his eyes. The fire was going out. He could feel it leaving his body.

‘Hey,’ he said, without opening his eyes.

‘Hey,’ she said back.

‘Sorry.’

‘For what? Saving my life?’

‘Slapping you. Dumb move.’

‘Please, it’s all right.’

‘No. I think....’

The words drifted off, as thou,1 he had fallen asleep. She touched his cheek, then his forehead. He seemed cooler. She started to move away but his fingers closed on her wrist.

‘I thought you were asleep again,’ she said.

‘No. What I think. I think maybe it was jealousy.’ ‘Sharky, you don’t —,

‘You gotta understand about 1’he Nosh. He shouldn’t have even been —‘

She put her fingertips to his lips.

‘Don’t, please. Arch told me abut him. I’m sorry. I’m so very, very sorry.’

Tears flooded her eyes and she turned her face away from him. Her throat started to close up and she knew it would be difficult to say any more.

‘Point is, gotta stop them, okay?’

‘Oh, yes.’ She leaned back towards him and the tears dribbled down her cheeks and fell on his chest. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. Then he reached up and brushed them away with his thumb.

‘Don’t.’

‘I want to tell you about it. You have a right to know. It was like’ — she swallowed and wanted to stop crying but the tears kept coming — ‘it was like...’

He pulled her gently down until her cheek lay against his chest. The tears poured down over him.

‘He was very good to me. For a long time. And I felt. . . I couldn’t believe he could.. . could. .

‘All I wanted was the name. What happened. . . what was between you.. . none of my business.’

‘But I want it to be.’

‘Baby, I don’t care.’

‘Oh, God,’ she said. ‘I just want it to be over. I want it to be over with them. I don’t want to see Neil again. I —‘

He rubbed her neck with a weak hand.

‘Soon.’

And he fell asleep again.

The room was dark. She had turned out the light. He reached over and felt her beside him and sighed.

‘Do you need anything?’ she said.

‘Feeling better,’ he said. ‘Just pooped. What time is it? He felt her hand cross his chest and she moved close to him. For the first time he realized they were both naked. He put his hand on top of hers.

‘Don’t worry about the time.’

‘You feel good. Soft. And warm.’

He felt her cold hand on his forehead.

‘You’ve still got a little fever,’ she said. ‘But it’s going down.’

‘Yeah.’

She moved her hand on top of his and closed her fingers around it, squeezing it. Her head moved closer to him. He could feel her hair against the side of his face and he moved it closer to her.

‘Thanks for taking care of me,’ he said.

‘Ummm.’

‘Shhh.’

‘No.’

‘Go back to sleep.’

‘I want to tell you. I, uh. . . before I flake out again.

About The Nosh. It’s okay. Everything just got screwed up.’

‘Please. Go to sleep.’

‘Yeah. That time in the market, when I first talked to you, I, uh...’

He moved his head closer to her, and lying there in the lark, he began to drift again and a moment before he fell asleep he said, ‘I love you.’

A light awakened him the next time. It was a thin shaft coming from the bathroom. He held up his wrist, but his watch was gone. Water was running. He stirred, reached out for Domino, but she was gone. Then he saw her, standing naked in the doorway of the bathroom, a washcloth in her hand.

‘Your fever broke,’ she said. ‘I’m just drying you off.’

She came to him, sat beside him, put the cold cloth on his forehead. She leaned over him, her breasts crushed against him. She kissed his throat, then his dry lips. Then she slipped into the bed beside him.

The shot was wearing off. Sharky forgot the pain in his hand, the fever, how tired he was. He put his arm around her and kissed her and she reached around and stroked his back and slid her hand down over his buttocks and drew him against her.

She smiled. ‘I think you’re recovering,’ she said.

‘If I’m not, this is as good a way to go as any.’

‘Better,’ she said.

She slid her leg up over his hip, moved her hand around her back and down between her legs and touched him, stroked him, held him against her, and began moving slowly back and forth.

This time Sharky didn’t fall asleep.

‘What time is it?

‘Four-thirty.’

‘How long have I been laid out?

‘That’s a terrible way of putting it.’

‘Yeah, right. How long have I been knocked out?

‘Almost twelve hours. How do you feel?’

‘I think I may be able to get up.’

‘You did okay a few minutes ago.’

‘I mean on my feet.’

‘Okay, want me to help?’

‘1 need a shower.’

‘1 gave you an alcohol bath for the fever. You smell like a baby.’

‘Need a shave.’

‘I shaved you.’

‘Need some decent clothes.’

‘Arch went by your place and brought some over.’

‘I sure rate, don’t I?’

‘Urn hm.’

‘How about Friscoe? Papa?’

‘They’re waiting out there for you, in the living room.’

‘Are we still in the ballgame?’

‘Do you think Arch would break a promise to a sick friend?’

‘Tell them I’ll be out in a minute.’

They assembled in Hazel’s living room. All of them looked better. They had cleaned themselves up, had a little sleep, and recovered from the initial shock of The Nosh’s death.

Sharky was wearing his only suit, a tweed, with a fawn- coloured shirt and a dark brown tie.

‘How come you brought my Sunday suit?’ he asked Livingston.

‘You’re going to a party.’

‘A party?’

‘We got a plan,’ Friscoe said.

‘A plan?’

‘You got a little catchin’ up to do there, Sharky,’ Friscoe said. ‘First off, this DeLaroza ain’t your everyday garden variety squirrel, know what I mean? I mean, this guy’s big potatoes. He’s powerful. He’s got half the world by the ass. He’s untouchable. And he’s Siamese twins with Donald Hotchins.’

‘The senator?’

‘Who’s about to announce that he’s running for president,’ Domino said.

‘Jesus! What did we get into?’

‘Well,’ Friscoe said, ‘that depends. On the one hand, we may come out with the roses. On the other hand, we may come out with our foot in a bucket of shit, pardon the French, ladies.’

‘Somebody catch me up,’ Sharky said. He was still feeling weak, like someone who has slept too long.

‘Okay, I’ll do the honours,’ Friscoe said. ‘First, see, we know we can pin Scardi to the Tiffany killing if we can collar him. Also The Nosh. Although we ain’t found him yet, I think we can peg that one on him too because of the m.o. By the way, I scored a few baskets myself last night. That fag movie actor was makin’ the bets at the Matador Club? Nailed his ass, too. Had him under the lights all fuckin’ night, pardon the French, ladies, and about nine this morning he starts singin’ like Frank Sinatra. What it was, see, he was puttin’ down bets for this guy Kershman who works for DeLaroza. A big shot. So we get our hands on this Kershman, we may be able to tie the can to DeLaroza’s tail. Incidentally, there’s another tie-in. The car you pinched to come back here with is registered to this Kersh.man.’

‘You got a description?’ Sharky said. ‘What’s he look like?’

Friscoe took out his notebook and flipped through several pages. ‘Here we go. Five-seven, two-ten, getting bald, slobby-lookin’ guy, according to this actor. The actor, Donegan, he does the gay joints, picks up fresh meat, and delivers it to this Kershman’s door, for which he gets paid more than you and me together. How do you like them apples?’

‘I think we may have a little trouble as far as this Kershman’s concerned,’ Sharky said. ‘If it’s who I think it is, he’s at the bottom of the lake with a hole in his head.’

‘He was one of them?’ Livingston asked.

‘A guy who fits that description was running the show. A real pig.’

‘Neat,’ Friscoe said. ‘See, the problem is, right now we ain’t god diddly shit to tie this DeLaroza to anybody. Everything we got, okay? is circumstantial. We know he knew this guy and that guy and he was here and he was there and he owned this and that and the other thing. But nothing we can hang our hat on. Unless we grab Scardi, see, and he sings, DeLaroza’s walkin’ free from where I’m sittin’. He’s like, once removed from everything that came down.’

‘Who owns the junk?’

‘DeLaroza’s corporation. But he can always lay the whole thing off on Kershman. We need corroboration somewhere in here.’

‘Who did you tell about me?’ Sharky asked Domino.

For a long moment they stared at each other. Domino felt his eyes burning into her soul.

‘Donald Hotchins.’

Sharky whistled. ‘So he’s in it, too. And he’s running for president?’

‘Yeah,’ Friscoe cut in, ‘but also, shit, pardon the French, ladies, see, that’s another thing, it’s like a goddamn Chinese wastepaper basket. Domino was with Hotchins the night Tiffany got snuffed. Obviously he didn’t know what was comin’ down at that point. He must’ve got into it, see, after he got back.’

‘You were Hotchins’s mistress?’ Sharky said to Domino.

‘Kind of.’

‘Neat company you keep.’

‘The pits,’ she said.

‘Has anybody figured out why they were after you?’ Sharky asked her.

Livingston said, ‘We got a couple of ideas. The way we put it together to here, Corrigon must’ve got on to DcLaroza some way. Flow, we don’t know. Domino thinks the hit may have happened in front of DeLaroza’s building and she saw Scardi putting Corrigon’s stiff in a car. It was Halloween night, so the time jibes.’

‘I think it was more than that,’ Domino said. ‘I think they were afraid of me because of my association with both of them.’

‘So, where do we stand?’ Sharky said.

‘Where we stand, we ain’t got nothin’ on Delaroza. We can put Scardi under if we can collar him. Hotchins? So far all he did was blow the whistle on you and fuck around a little. Sorry about that, little lady, but you know what I mean there. Anyways, we can’t get to DeLaroza right now and if we turn this case over to that retard Hanson, he’ll shit purple apples. The case’ll flush and DeLaroza and Hotchins’ll walk. We got to tie these three bastards together and make it stick.’

‘We got a plan,’ Livingston said. ‘Actually it was Domino who came up with it. DeLaroza has this amusement place inside his building. From what we hear it must be something. It’s been on the TV news all day today. Tonight’s the grand opening, a costume thing, see, with the big shots goin’ formal. Now, supposing Domino shows up there. She has an invitation, so getting in is no problem. And maybe when they see her, they’ll make a move against her.’

‘This was your idea?’ Sharky said.

Domino nodded.

‘It’s too risky.’

‘That’s what we all said.’

‘Thing is,’ Friscoe said, ‘if Kershman is out of it like you say — that leaves us in the shit pile with no flyswatter. And if they get smart and get rid of Scardi, we can’t stick them for even runnin’ a stop sign. The best we can do, we go to Jaspers, lay it all out for him, give it to the Feds, and hope to hell they can make something out of it.’

‘No way!’ Sharky snapped.

‘So, her idea’s the best thing we got goin’ there, Shark,’ Friscoe said. ‘After tonight our string’s run out. We’re on borrowed time right now. Anybody tumbles to that junk, Abrams’s body turns up, school’s out.’

‘So what are we gonna do,’ Sharky said, just stand around and hope they make a move?’

‘We freak them,’ Livingston said.

‘How?’

‘I’ll let them see me, then duck back in the crowd,’ Domino said. ‘If I do it often enough, they’ll have to do something. I’ll be in costume and you’ll be in your Sunday suit with a little mask on. It’ll be kind of fun.’

‘Fun! These people don’t play for fun.’

‘Right,’ Friscoe said. ‘And judging from some of their moves the last few days, they ain’t afraid to take big chances. Sharky, you stick to her like Elmer’s glue. We’ll have you wired, and Arch and J will be in the lobby if anything breaks loose. Papa’s gonna try crashing the gate so he can back you up. Anything happens, we’ll be in there like the fuckin’ Marines.’

‘I don’t know. . .‘ Sharky said.

‘Well, let’s make up our minds, troops, because we got about two hours to show time. After that, it’s give it to Jaspers and collect unemployment.’