46

Charley entered Eduardo’s apartment as bland as a Reblochon cheese. He had repeated the mantra “It’s only business” more than three thousand times inside his skull in the past four days. He had said it aloud to Mae over and over again, but she was taking the whole thing as if she had grown up in a square family and didn’t know what he was talking about.

After he had taken Eduardo’s call at the office, he had gone home, taken Mae into the study, turned on the record player and the TV to foul up any bugs the FBI had put in the room, and told her how Rocco had made his real move. She collapsed in his arms. He held on to her, staggering a little because her dead weight was as unmanageable as a drunk’s; then he dumped her on a sofa and went to the bar to get her a shot of brandy. By the time he got back with it, she had come around.

“I gotta go to Eduardo’s,” he said. “We gotta get the money together. The point is, it’s all settled.”

“Get a grip on yourself, Charley. You’re beginning to sound like some street creature again.”

Eduardo had already started the four Barker’s Hill brokerages assembling the bearer bonds. He played the tape of Rocco’s call back for Charley. They listened intently, side-by-side.

“You know him better than I do, Charley,” Eduardo said when they came to the end of the tape for the second time. “How reliable is he?”

“Rocco is good at his work. There’s no flash with him. He’s steady and he made a good plan.”

“How is Angelo?”

“It’s slow but he looks a little better.”

“How is Mae?”

“Well, you know. Women.”

“Maybe you’d better put someone on buying a new Dodge van. Or maybe I’d better call Lee in Detroit and ask him to fly one in to be sure it’s gray and brand-new.”

“Give him my best.”

“That’s it then. We’ll have all the bonds packaged and assembled by Friday morning. The Dodge van should be here by then. I’ll have them load in the basement at Lavery, Mendelson downtown on Saturday morning. They can bring the bonds right down to the garage in their basement.”

“That’s good,” Charley said.

“You’ll have the fake demands in the mail Saturday. You and Mae will go off somewhere Rocco tells you to go, and the FBI will follow you out. By the time you get back from wherever it is, I’ll have the twins back with their nannies at Sixty-fourth Street.”

“Please God.”

“Don’t believe it that the FBI has been called off this thing.”

“No. I only called Heller so Mae would feel better.”

“That’s it then.”

“Except for one thing,” Charley said.

“What?”

“Claire Coolidge wants to get married.”

“How do you know Claire Coolidge?”

“Eduardo! For heaven’s sake! I gave her to you.”

Eduardo’s eyes flickered, but he gave no other sign that he had heard. “How can I marry Claire Coolidge or anyone else?” he said evenly.

“Not you, Eduardo. She’s in love with a fellow her own age. She couldn’t find the heart to tell you, so she asked me to tell you.”

Eduardo flared. “How does she know you in your new—uh—style?”

“The ballet. Being on the board of the ballet goes with the job I inherited from you. She knows we both serve the same company, so she asked me to tell you.”

“I suppose she wants money.”

“I don’t think so. She just wants to make it as easy as possible for you.”

“Who is the man?”

“What’s the difference? He’s maybe thirty years old. You aren’t going to compete with that.”

“Well, I have to get used to it just the same, don’t I? What do you want me to do?”

“Get used to it; then, after you get that settled, call her and give her your blessing.”