"Goodis, David - Black Friday" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goodis David)

"I could use a smoke," Hart said.
Frieda was helping Paul into another room. The blackhaired man who was not good-looking took a pack of cigarettes out of a coat pocket, flipped the pack so that two cigarettes jumped out, extended the pack to Hart. The good-looking one struck a match.
Hart took smoke in and let it out. "Much obliged."
Then they ignored Hart. They faced Charley and the good-looking one said, "Well, we're already packed."
"You can unpack," Charley said. "We got Renner."
"Where?" the gobd-looking one asked.
"In the alley," Charley said. "I knew I hit him, but I didn't see him drop. When we got up there we couldn't see him. We went out on Morton Street and we didn't see him there either. Paul didn't like Morton Street and I was afraid too, so we went back into the alley and talked it over. Finally I said he had to be on Morton Street so we went out of the alley again and we tried the other side of Morton Street. Then we came back to this side and we saw this guy with him. This guy saw us and started to run. We ran after him and when we got up to Renner we stopped just long enough to see if he was finished."
"Was he finished?" the good-looking one said.
"Yes," Charley said. "He was all done, so we kept running after this guy and finally we got him in a back yard. Paul had to go and get tough so this guy gave Paul a knee."
The good-looking one turned and looked at Hart. "Where did you get connected with Renner?"
"I don't think he was connected with Renner," Charley said.
"Maybe he was," the good-looking one said.
"Listen to Charley," Hart said. "He's got the brains."
The good-looking one made a fist and showed it to Hart. "How long since you've been to a dentist?"
"I'm sure he wasn't connected with Renner," Charley said. "He was just curious. But I'll make sure anyway. As long as we got him here we don't need to worry about it."
"Did you get the case from Renner?"
"I got the case," Charley said. "I didn't get it from Renner. I got it from the guy."
"What do you mean you got it from the guy?"
"This guy took Renner's wallet."
The good-looking one turned to the one who wasn't good-looking and said, "Give me one of your cigarettes."
Hart took off his overcoat and arranged it neatly over a chair.
The good-looking one pointed a lighted cigarette at Charley and said, "You've got to face things, Charley. This guy was connected with Renner. The wallet proves it." He turned and placed a clean hand with manicured fingers on the shoulder of the other man. He said, "Maybe Rizzio here has an outside connection. How do we know?"
"That's a nice thing to say," said Rizzio.
"I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, Rizzio," said the one who was good-looking. "But here's a game where we've got to close every opening. Maybe I have an outside connection. Maybe Frieda. Maybe Myrna. Maybe even Charley. You see what I'm getting at? Who would have thought Renner would pull something like that? If we're going to get dividends out of this we can't let any openings stay open."
"There's a lot to that," Charley admitted. "I'll take one of your cigarettes, Rizzio."
Hart walked around them, took one of the chairs, sighed as he relaxed in it. He leaned an elbow on the table and sat there watching them.
Charley showed him the revolver to remind him it was still around. Then Charley turned to Rizzio and said, "Where's the car?"
"Where I parked it," Rizzio said.
"Go upstairs," Charley said.
"What's upstairs?" Rizzio said.
"Take a look at Paul," Charley said. "Then come down and tell me what condition he's in."
Rizzio walked out of the kitchen.
Charley and the good-looking one stood there smoking and looking at each other. After some moments they both turned and looked at Hart. Then they looked at each other again.
"What do we do with this guy?" the good-looking one said.
"We talk to him," Charley said.
"I'll talk to him," the good-looking one said.
"Don't get tough with him, Mattone," Charley said.
"Why not?"
"If you get tough with him he'll hit back."
The good-looking one started to rub a fist, grinning at Hart and saying, "I like that. I like when they hit back."
"If he hits back you'll lose your temper and kill him," Charley said. "I want him alive for a while. Maybe he's got some talent we can use."
"Are you trying to sell me something?" Hart said.
"Let me hit him once," Mattone said. "Just to give him the idea."
Charley worked the cigarette for a lot of smoke, got it out slowly at first, then steamed it out in a sudden volley. "Look, Mattone, I said I didn't want you to hit him."
Charley started to walk out of the kitchen. Mattone touched his arm and said, "What about cops?"
"There were cops."
"They see you?"
"We heard whistles."
"They'll be dragging the neighborhood," Mattone said. "As long as we're packed already--"
"No," Charley said. "We stay where we are."