“Dick, it’s V. I.”
“Vic! What the fuck are you doing calling now? Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“Four-thirty-five. I’m down at your office and a couple of cops want to arrest me for illegal entry. I thought you’d like to put your two cents in first.”
There was no extension in the room. Arlington had sent Miniver scurrying down the hall to find a line he could listen in on. I heard a click just then as he came on.
“Damn right I do. What the hell are you doing in my office?”
“I felt so bad about spoiling your shirt this morning that I just couldn’t sleep. I thought if I could take it home and wash it for you, you might forgive me. Of course, ironing isn’t my strong suit, but maybe Teri would do that.”
“Damn you, Vic!” I heard a muffled voice in the background, and then Dick, softly, saying, “No, it’s all right, sweetheart. Just a client who’s gotten herself in over her head. Sorry to wake you up.”
“The lady says you won’t pay her child support,” Miniver interjected on his line.
“I won’t what?”
“Dick, if you keep shouting like that, poor old Teri’s never going to get back to sleep. You know, the back payments you owe me for little Eddie and Mitch. But I looked in your Diamond Head file, and found that you had more cash than I ever dreamed of. I haven’t been able to buy myself new shoes because every dime I make goes to feeding your two little boys, but if you could spare something out of Diamond Head, well, it would make a big difference.”
There was a long silence, then Dick demanded to talk to the officer without my being on the phone. Miniver, to make sure it stuck, had me bring Arlington onto the line‘. Dick seemed to be asking if I had been searched, because Arlington said all they’d found was a gun.
“He wants to talk to you again.” Arlington jerked his head at me.
“You don’t have any proof,” Dick said peremptorily when I was back on the line.
“Sweetheart, you’re always underestimating me. I smuggled it out of the building before the cops showed up. Believe me, I could be showing it to my newspaper friends by this time tomorrow.”
He was so quiet I could hear the Oak Brook birds begin to tweet behind him. “You still there, Officer?” he said at last. “You can let her go. I don’t think I want to press charges at this time.”
Miniver and Arlington were so disappointed at not being able to arrest us that we cleared the building as fast as possible. I didn’t want them to dream up some secondary charge, like impersonating an electrician. The police followed us to the Nova, and then tailed me closely until I had passed the La Salle exit on Lake Shore Drive. They finally got off at Fullerton.
We rode up to Belmont, where I turned into the harbor and cut the engine. The eastern sky was already rosy with the coming dawn.
We grinned at each other, then suddenly both began laughing. We laughed until our ribs ached and the tears streamed down our cheeks.
“What do we do now?” Mr. Contreras asked when he’d recovered from the fit.
“Sleep. I can’t do anything else without a few hours in bed.”
“You know, doll, I’m so… I don’t know what the word is. I don’t think I can sleep.”
“Wired,” I supplied. “Yeah, but you’ll crash pretty soon and then you won’t be good for anything. Besides, Peppy needs you. What I think…”
I squinted at my watch. Five-fifteen. It was early to call anyone, but I didn’t want to go back into our building alone right now. My own apartment should be secure, but if Vinnie was tied into Chamfers at all, he could let a whole gang into the building to waylay me. Or worse yet, my neighbor. I was damned if I was going to cry for help to Conrad Rawlings. That meant I needed to turn to my friends the Streeter Brothers. They ran a furniture-moving business, but did a little security work on the side.
As it turned out, I didn’t wake Tim Streeter. He and his brother Tom were already up, getting ready for an early breakfast before starting a moving job. If I could wait until six he’d be able to bring a crew of five over to my building on their way to the move.
I was ravenous. We whiled away the time at the all-night diner where we’d stopped last night. Mr. Contreras, who hadn’t thought he was hungry, packed away three fried eggs, hash browns, a side of ham, and four pieces of toast. I stopped after two eggs and the hash browns. I hoped no one was going to jump us: a full stomach isn’t the best preparation for battle.