GARY WAS ON HIS THIRD bourbon. But it was going in much more slowly, and he showed little effect from the first two. I had my second beer.
“So where do we stand?” Gary said.
“What’s the E stand for,” I said.
“E?”
“As in E. Herzog.”
Gary looked at me for a long moment.
“Oh, shit,” he said.
I waited.
After a while, Gary grinned at me.
“Okay,” he said. “You’re smart. That dumb stuff is just a ploy.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But what I’ve done so far doesn’t prove anything.”
“You think?” he said.
“Your big mistake was trying to tail me. If you hadn’t made it, I would have had a much harder time finding you.”
“You spotted me following you the other day and turned it around and followed me.”
“Yep.”
Gary shook his head.
“Amateurs and professionals, huh?”
“What’s the E stand for?” I said.
“Elliot,” he said.
“Is Elliot Herzog your real name?” I said.
Again, Gary grinned at me.
“One of them,” he said.
I nodded.
“So what are your plans,” I said, “for the ladies who employed me?”
He smiled.
“Abigail, Beth, Nancy, Regina,” he said. “The gang of four.”
“Are they the only ones with whom you are at the moment practicing your profession?”
“Not hardly,” Gary said.
“Maybe you should plan to stick with them,” I said. “And leave my gang alone.”
He picked up a butter knife and tapped a little beat on the table with it while he looked at me.
“I got no reason to change my plans,” he said.
“I’m supposed to give you a reason,” I said.
He shrugged.
“What are you gonna do?” he said. “These ladies are willing to pay because they don’t want their husbands to know. That hasn’t changed. None of them will press charges. If you tell the cops or whatever, every one of them will deny that they ever had anything to do with me.”
“I could keep punching your lights out,” I said, “until we reach an agreement.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he said. “I have a sense that it might not be your style. But say it was. If you did it once, okay, I’m sore for a few days. I might be tougher than you think I am. And when I felt better, I’d get hold of your employers and they’d call you off, for fear I’d expose them.”
“And if they didn’t?” I said.
“I’d expose them,” he said. “They’re not the only fish in my creel, you know?”
“I don’t seem to terrify you,” I said.
“I been living this life for a long time,” he said. “I’m pretty light on my feet.”
“And the cops don’t terrify you,” I said.
“Nothing much does,” he said. “You got the tab on this?”
“Sure,” I said. “Expense account.”
“Sort of like me,” he said, and stood up.
“See you around,” he said.
“Yep,” I said.
He picked up his shopping bags and strolled out of the lounge. I watched him go and smiled. I kind of liked him. I picked up his butter knife by the blade and slipped it into my coat pocket. Then I paid the bill, tipped handsomely, and strolled out of the lounge, too.