Robert Randisi - I'm a fool to kill you

‘Napolitano,’ Jerry said. ‘That’s the name I got.’

‘When?’

‘Yesterday,’ the big guy said. ‘I didn’t have a chance to tell you.’

‘What did you hear?’

‘Just that the two guys I wasted worked for Napolitano.’

‘And what do you know about Mr Napolitano?’

‘That he ain’t as big as he thinks he is, and won’t ever be,’ Jerry said. ‘Eventually, Mr Giancana’s gonna have him taken care of.’

‘Well,’ I said, ‘now may be the time.’ I looked at Ava. ‘What do you know about Vito Napolitano?’

‘I’ve been trying to remember ever since you said the name,’ she said. ‘I remember a handsome young man — but I remember a lot of handsome young men. Oh, I can’t believe this!’ She held her head in her hands.

‘Take it easy, Ava,’ I said. ‘I don’t think you killed him.’

‘That’s not what I mean,’ she said. ‘I spent so much of the time I was married to Frank trying to get him away from those men. I can’t believe that I did something to get myself involved with them.’

‘Don’t be hard on yourself,’ I said. ‘If you were so drunk you lost forty hours, you can’t be held responsible-’

‘Oh, but I do hold myself responsible,’ she said. ‘After all, I’m the one who apparently went on a goddamned bender. Sex, booze and, who knows, maybe drugs, and I get involved in the murder of some would-be Mafioso’s son? What the fuck is wrong with me?’

I looked at Jerry, who seemed about to speak, and shook my head. Then I jerked my head to indicate I wanted him to walk outside with me.

‘Jerry and I are just gonna have a look outside, Ava,’ I said.

‘I’ll do these dishes,’ she said. ‘Might as well make myself useful.’

Jerry and I went out on to the deck.

‘What are we gonna do?’ he asked.

‘We can spend the night here,’ I said. ‘If Napolitano doesn’t hear from his men by tomorrow night he might send more. We should be safe tonight.’

‘What about the window?’

‘I’ll have Jack Entratter send someone out here to replace it. Maybe even dig out these bullets and fill the holes. But I’ll tell Tony what happened, anyway. He has a right to know.’

‘About the bodies we buried?’

‘No,’ I said, ‘I don’t want anybody to know about that. That’s between you and me.’

‘I agree.’

We were both raking the landscape with our eyes while we were out there.

‘Just to be sure,’ I said, ‘maybe one of us should stay awake tonight. We can go four hours on, four off.’

‘Suits me, but where are we gonna take Miss Ava tomorrow?’ he asked.

‘I hate to do it,’ I said, ‘but maybe the Sands will be the safest place. According to Jack Entratter, we just have to wait for Momo to take care of things for us.’

‘What’s that mean?’ Ava asked. We hadn’t seen her come to the door.

I looked at her. ‘Apparently, Giancana is gonna take care of Napolitano.’

She came out on to the deck.

‘But that wouldn’t help me,’ she said. ‘I want to know if I killed that man.’

‘Ava-’ I said.

‘I know you don’t think I did, Eddie,’ she said, ‘but that doesn’t mean I didn’t.’ She put her hands on my chest. ‘I still need to know what happened!’

I put my hands on her upper arms and rubbed them.

‘OK, Ava,’ I said. ‘We’ll find out for you.’

I took the first watch, sitting on the sofa with Jerry’s.45 either in my lap, or on the cushion next to me.

It seemed to me I hadn’t done all that much for Ava, except run her around L.A. and Las Vegas. If wise guys from Chicago stopped coming after her it would be because Sam Giancana put an end to Tony Napolitano. But if I could find out for her who actually killed Vito Napolitano, and prove to her that she didn’t do it, then I would have done something real for her.

Of course, if Giancana killed Vito to get at Tony, and then later killed Tony, he wasn’t about to admit any of that to me. But then I didn’t really have to prove who did kill Vito. I just had to convince Ava that, during a drunken black out, she hadn’t.

I picked up Jerry’s.45 and walked to the front window — the one without Jerry’s cardboard patch. I didn’t think the two goons Jerry had killed had help out there, but if they did we had to be aware and ready. There was plenty of moonlight and I could see the front of the house clearly. Then I walked to the kitchen door and looked out. The lock had been shattered by a kick. Jerry had found some tools the same place we found the shovels, and nailed it shut.

Satisfied, I got some water from the tap, carried the glass back to the living room with me and sat down on the sofa with the gun on the cushion next to me. We were taking a chance that I was right, that the two dead men were working alone, and that no one would come looking for them for at least a day. I was ready, though, in case someone kicked in the front door.

My four hours were about up and I was in mid yawn when Jerry came walking in, looking refreshed. I knew from past experience that he could operate on remarkably little sleep.

‘Hey, Mr G,’ he said. ‘Why don’t you turn in?’

‘Jerry, there’s a chance Hargrove will be waitin’ to catch me at the Sands,’ I said.

‘So if he catches you, he catches me, is that what you’re gettin’ at?’ he asked.

‘Pretty much.’

‘I’m sure you can get us into the Sands without goin’ through the front, Mr G.,’ he said. ‘I got lots of faith in you.’

I stood up, and his.45 changed hands, as did Ava’s little gun. We decided not to let Ava hang on to it herself. Less chance she might shoot one of us.

‘I hope I can earn your faith, Jerry,’ I said.

He grinned and said, ‘Hey, Mr G., no worries. You already have.’

We packed up the next day, locked down Tony’s house. I took his key with me so I could give it to Jack Entratter. I wanted Tony’s house back to normal before I returned the key to him.

As Jerry drove us back to Las Vegas with Ava once again riding shotgun, I told them I had come up with a better idea.

‘Better than the Sands?’ Jerry asked.

‘Hargrove may have the Sands bein’ watched front and back,’ I said.

‘Looking for you?’ Ava asked.

‘He knows how to find me,’ I said. ‘If he tracked Jerry from L.A. to here, he could be lookin’ for him there.’

Jerry looked at me in the rear view mirror.

‘How’s he gonna do that?’ he asked. ‘Track me, I mean?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said, ‘but just to be on the safe side I’m gonna call Danny when we get near town.’

‘The handsome private eye?’ Ava asked. ‘I’m going to stay with him?’

‘Not exactly,’ I said.

On the outskirts of town I had Jerry pull over at a pay phone. If this was going to keep up I was going to have to get a phone put into the Caddy. On Jack Entratter’s dime, of course.

I called Danny’s office and Penny put me through along with a little flirting.

‘I need a favor,’ I said.

‘Name it.’

‘I put Ava at a house in Lake Mead owned by Tony LaBella,’ I explained. ‘She was there with Jerry while I was in Chicago with you. Last night, they found them.’ I hadn’t even mentioned to Danny, when we were flying back from Chicago, where I had stashed her.

‘Uh-oh,’ he said, ‘does that mean what I think it means?’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘it was a mess and now we’re on the road.’

‘Where are you going?’ he asked.

‘That’s the favor,’ I said. ‘I need someplace safe to stash Ava.’

‘Mine?’ he asked.