Charlie Hustmyre - House of the Rising Sun

LaGrange took a sip of his drink. “What do you think about Salazaar getting blown away like that, right after the job?”

Ray dragged on his cigarette and took a slurp of Jameson. “I’ve been thinking about that.”

“You think it’s a coincidence?”

Ray shook his head. “There’s no such thing.”

Ray dashed under the awning that overhung the front door of the House. It was 7:00 PM and pouring rain. Ray was soaking wet. He had just run from the parking lot two blocks away. Once out of the rain, he doubled over and braced his hands on his knees. He felt like throwing up.

The new doorman gave him a concerned look. “You all right?”

“Just trying to catch my breath,” Ray wheezed. He recognized the doorman from behind the downstairs bar, one of the backs. He didn’t look Italian enough to stay up front for long. Tony was big into the Guido thing. If you didn’t look the part of a Hollywood wiseguy, you couldn’t front for the House.

To Tony Z., image was everything. Which was why he put Hector, who didn’t have an ounce of Italian blood in him and who didn’t know calamari from catfish, as the front man, because he looked the part. Except now Tony needed a new front man because Hector wasn’t coming back, ever.

As soon as he was able to breathe, Ray stood straight and fished a cigarette from the pack in his pocket. He stuck a butt in his mouth and flicked his Zippo but couldn’t get it to light. Finally, he waved the lighter at the guy standing by the door. “You got a light?”

The doorman shook his head. “I don’t smoke.”

Ray pulled open the door.

As he stepped inside, Ray almost bumped into a tall brunette wearing a dark fur wrap. She had a pile of hair stacked on top of her head, held tight by a diamond-studded clip, or what looked like diamonds. The clip resembled a crown and would have given her a kind of fairy-tale princess look if it hadn’t been for the painted-on leather pants, spiked heels, and push-up blouse under the wrap.

She smacked her gum a few times, then held out a set of keys to Ray. “It’s the maroon Jag.”

He looked around, thinking she must be talking to someone else. She jingled the keys at him.

“Are you talking to me?” he asked.

“You do work here, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then I need you to pull my car around.” She flicked at the fur wrap. “I can’t get this wet.”

He pointed to the keys in her hand. “If you’re in Shorty’s lot, you’re supposed to leave your keys with him.”

“I’ve been shopping. My car is loaded with bags, and I’m not leaving my keys with a nigger.”

“Who the hell are you?”

She shook her head and gave Ray an exasperated sigh, letting him know she thought he was an idiot. “I’m Priscilla Zello. If you work here, then you work for my husband.”

Ray jammed the unlit cigarette behind his ear. He had heard that Tony Zello’s wife used to be a swimsuit model. Looking at her, he could believe it, but it just proved that no matter how good the outside looked, the inside could still be rotten.

“You’re married to Tony?” he asked.

She smacked her gum and nodded.

Ray laughed in her face. “That explains a lot.”

Then he stepped past her into the House. Behind him, he heard her jaws flapping, something about getting him fired.

On the second floor there was only a light crowd at the gambling tables. Most of the club’s regulars were night owls. Ray found Tony leaning against the bar. Tony eyed Ray’s wet clothes and hair. “Somebody piss on you again?”

“Fuck you, Tony.” Ray stood next to him and peeled the damp cigarette from behind his ear and stuck it in his mouth. “Give me a light.”

Tony pulled a lighter out of his pants pocket and handed it to Ray. A gold-plated Zippo with a big “Z” on the front, the “Z” set with diamond chips. Ray turned it around in his hand and read the inscription on the back, “Happy 40th, Tony.-Pris.” It was gaudy enough to be something Elvis might have kept in the jungle room.

Ray lit his cigarette, then handed the lighter back.

Tony tossed the gold Zippo up and then snatched it out of the air. He held it out so Ray could admire it. “Nice, huh?”

Before Ray could answer, Tony said, “Still, she bitches about my smoking. Says it ruins all her clothes.”

“Did she give you a black velvet portrait of herself, maybe something in leopard skin?”

Tony stood straight. “Hey, asshole, that’s my wife you’re talking about.”

“I know,” Ray said, taking a drag on his cigarette. “I ran into her downstairs. I had to explain to her why I wasn’t going to run out in the rain and pull her car around for her.”

Tony nodded. “She likes to be waited on. What she doesn’t know is that fur is a fake. If she gets it wet, it’ll turn white.”

“Apparently, she has a problem with black people.” Ray stared at Tony. “I wonder where she picked that up?”

Tony jammed the gold lighter back in his pocket. “You said you wanted to talk. So talk. I got things to do.”

“I just got back from Hector’s apartment. I saw his girlfriend again and his sister. They say he’s dead. He was found shot in some dump on Chef Highway.”

“I know,” Tony said. “I’m the one who shot him.”

“You what?”

“You heard me.”

“What the hell for?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“You shot Hector by accident?”

“No, I didn’t shoot him by accident. I shot him on purpose. Killing him, that was an accident.”

“What did you mean to do?” Ray asked.

“I just wanted to talk to him.”

“So you shot him?”

“He was trying to get away.”

“You shot him in a motel?”

Tony nodded.

“What the hell was Hector doing out there?” Ray said.

“Looks to me like he was hiding, probably laying low until the heat-”

“Wait a minute,” Ray said. “How did you know he was there?”

Tony glared at Ray. “Don’t interrupt me.”

Ray didn’t say anything.

“You mind if I finish?” Tony said, sounding like the asshole he was.

“Go ahead,” Ray said, biting his tongue on what he really wanted to say, which was Go fuck yourself.

“I told you before, Shane, the street never lies. Everything you need to know is out there. You just got to know where to look. I heard that little fuck Hector was holed up out in the east, so I went looking for him. And guess what? I found him.”

“Too bad you didn’t question him before you killed him.”

“I told you, I didn’t kill him on purpose. I went there to talk to him. But as soon as me and Rocco stepped inside that rat hole he was in, the little piece of shit bolted for the back door. I popped one at him, just trying to wing him, but I guess I missed.”

“Missed?”

“I don’t mean I missed him, missed him. I mean I missed winging him. Must have hit an artery or something, maybe his heart.”

“You went there to talk to him and you accidentally shot him in the heart?”

Tony shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Did he say anything?”

“He didn’t have time.”

Ray shook his head. “We’re supposed to be working toward the same goal here, Tony. I’ve been looking for Hector for two days. But you found him first, and you killed him before he could say anything. Someone with a suspicious mind might think that was a bit too convenient.”

Tony stepped toward Ray and jabbed a finger in his face. “Watch your mouth, Shane, or I’ll close it for you. Just like I did to your little friend Hector.”

“He was the only lead we had.” Ray decided not to tell Tony about Winky or Scooby.