The winter of Frankie Machine

87

And now he knows that Fortunate Son is behind all this.

Because no wise guy in the world was ever low enough to kidnap someone’s daughter.

It would take a politician to do that.

But who do you trust?

Normally, if a family member is kidnapped, you go to the FBI, but you can’t do that, because the fedsare the kidnappers.

Or a wise guy would go to other wise guys to get justice. That’s how this whole thing of ours started anyway, wasn’t it? Ma figlia, ma figlia -my daughter, my daughter. But you can’t do that, because the other wise guys all want to kill you.

Go ahead, kill me, but let my daughter go.

But they won’t do that, because the wise guys have been corrupted by the politicians.

Lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

The irony is, I could have killed Mouse Senior’s kid and Billy Jacks’ kid-they were both in my sights and I let them walk. But I didn’t, because I’m a father, too, and it just isn’t done. It just isn’t done.

So who do you go to? Who do you trust?

You’ve always been able to trust yourself, but can you trust yourself to gun down the army they’re going to bring, and keep Jill safe in the process? Maybe, maybe in your prime you could have done it, but you’re twenty summers past your prime. You’re old, and you’re tired, and you’re hurt.

You can’t trust yourself to do this.

So where does that leave you?

More important, where does that leave Jill?

The answer is too awful to contemplate.

Face it, Frank says, there is only one chance, and it’s not even a very good one.

But it’s the only one.

Reluctantly, he sets down his gun and picks up the phone.