The Cold Six Thousand (60 page)

There’s the key. It’s her. It’s Arden Breen Bruv—

The lock clicked. The door slammed. There’s the pause. There’s the gasp.

She dropped her keys. She scraped a match. She’s scheming. She’s lighting up. She needs hand props.

Littell heard her foot scuffs. High heels tapped hardwood. Littell smelled her smoke.

There—she’s behind you.

“It’s not what you’re thinking. There’s an explanation for all of it.”

His neck went warm. He felt her breath. He stared at the lights. He hid from her face.

“Carlos protected you before Dallas. I protected you after. You went back to Carlos and started spying on me.”

Jane traced his shoulders. Jane traced his neck. She probed. She worked his kinks. Geisha/spy/whore.

“Carlos found me
after
Dallas. He knew I had to be the Arden at the safe house. He lied to Pete and pretended that he didn’t know who I was.”

She probed. She worked his neck. Call girl/liar/whore.

“Carlos was hiding my husband. He said he’d hand us up to Jimmy Hoffa if I didn’t report back on you. I’d had a thing with Jules Schiffrin, and Carlos told me about your Teamster-book plan.”

Her hands
worked
. Her voice
worked
. Concubine/whore.

“But I loved you, and I loved our life, and I loved what you’d done for me.”

She traced his neck. She kissed his neck. Mob slattern/whore.

“Yes, I went through your things. But I didn’t tell Carlos that you were stealing from Howard Hughes, or that you were sending money to the SCLC, or that you sleep with Janice Tedrow when you’re not sleeping with me, or that you hoard these pathetic mementos of Robert Kennedy.”

Littell rubbed his eyes. Streetlights blurred. Littell gauged the drop.

“You’ve got a file. You’re too good not to have one.”

Jane dropped her hands. Jane went through her purse. Jane dropped a key in his lap.

“The Encino B. of A. You can have it. That’s how much it means to me now.”

Littell squeezed the key. Jane kissed his neck.

“I loved my father. That rumor that I hated him was nonsense. Danny and I didn’t kill him. Jimmy Hoffa did.”

Littell rubbed his eyes. Jane leaned in. Jane rubbed her tears on his neck.

“This all goes back to Jimmy and the Outfit. I was going to complete my commitment to Carlos and go to the FBI. I was going to give them everything I had on every Outfit man I knew, and try to cut a deal to save you.”

Littell rubbed his eyes. Littell rubbed his neck. Traitor/spy/whore.

He stood up. He turned around. He
saw
Jane. He made fists. Her eyes were wet. Her cheeks were wet. She’d trashed her makeup.

The phone rang. He stared at Jane. Jane stared hard back. The phone rang. He stared. He saw:

New gray hairs. New face lines. Neck veins on a roar.

The phone rang. He stared. He saw: One hip cocked/those cheekbones/her pulse on a roar.

The phone rang. Jane broke the stare. Jane walked and got it. She said, “Hello.” She trembled—pulse on a roar.

He followed her. He stared at her. He saw her neck veins and cheek veins. He saw her pulse on a roar.

She turned away. She cupped the receiver. He walked around her. He grabbed the hall phone.

He heard a man. He heard “run.” He heard “blown with Littell.” He heard the man falter. He heard Jane get strong.

She said, “Run.” She said, “Hush now.” She said, “Carlos
will
care.”

She hung up. The line-click boomed. Littell dropped his phone.

He walked over. He saw her eyes start to dry. He saw her pulse ebb off that roar.

“Were we ever real?”

“I think we loved risk more than we ever loved each other.”

“You were always an Arden. You were never really a Jane.”

(Vietnam, Laos, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Bon Secour, Bay St. Louis, Cuban Waters, 4/1/66–10/30/66)

G
hosts: Arden-Jane and Danny Bruvick.

Wayne watchdogged Danny. Danny called Arden-Jane. Arden-Jane left Ward Littell. Wayne stuck with Danny. Wayne wet-nursed Danny. Wayne worked to save Ward Littell.

Pete said guard Danny. Pete said release him. Pete said cut him two days’ slack. Call Carlos then. Say Danny booked. Cite parts unknown.

He did it. He stayed with Danny. Danny boozed. Danny reminisced.

Danny loves Arden. Arden loves Ward. Arden loves Danny half-baked. Arden works for Carlos. Arden spies on Ward. Part-time spy/full-time lover/long-distance wife.

Wayne
got
it:

Danny was weak. Arden was strong. Arden hooked him on the Life. It all pertained to Teamster shit—embezzlement and flight.

Wayne waited. Danny waited. Arden came by. She chain-smoked. She den-mothered. She fussed.

She knew it was over. She said it: “I’m tired of running—and Ward knows that.”

Wayne left the boat. Danny cast sail. Wayne killed two days. Wayne called Carlos up.

He said Danny split. He said Danny took
Tiger Klaw
. Coward Danny—scared of scalp runs/scared for his life.

Carlos yelled. Carlos fumed. Carlos made vicious threats. Wayne tracked newspapers. Wayne logged updates.

Tiger Klaw
drifts.
Tiger Klaw
runs aground. Danny and Jane are
nowhere. Carlos stays mum. Carlos stays clueless. Carlos does not brace Pete. Carlos does not brace Wayne.

Pete clued Ward to Arden. Pete bucked Carlos. Arden ran to Danny. They ran to their death. They held in strong. They did not rat Pete and Wayne. Pete and Wayne would have heard otherwise.

Pete loves Ward. Ward loves Jane the ghost. Pete knows they’re dead. Pete never says it. Dead women fuck him up.

Pete loves Barb. Pete rotates home. Pete stays off rotation. Barb lured him home. Ward licensed him in.

Pete bought the Golden Cavern. Pete bought his own hotel-casino. Eldon Peavy had syph. Eldon Peavy sold cheap. Eldon Peavy dumped his fruit bowl.

The Cavern welcomed fruits. The Cavern housed fruits. The Cavern rejoined Tiger Kab. Fruit drivers drove fruit tenants. Fred T. bugged the rooms. Fruit moths were drawn to the flame.

Dirt accrued: Fruit dirt/hip dirt/pol dirt/fruit celebs/fruit hipsters/fruit politicos.

Pete installed “Swinger Suites.” Fred bugged the walls. Pete drew non-fruit biz. State legislators/junket groups/Shriners on toots.

Pete accrued dirt. Pete accrued straight dirt and fruit dirt. The word spread—the Cavern’s hip—dig the straight-fruit détente.

Biz boomed. Pete stored dirt and made money. Pete reprised health-wise. Pete looked good now. Pete restored his bad pump.

He stopped smoking. He dumped weight. He chewed gum incessant. He worked incessant. He ran the dope biz. He ran Tiger Kab. He ran the Cavern. He refurbished the lounge. He shot Barb a permanent gig.

Milt C. gigged with her. Milt did topical shtick. Milt had a puppet. Said puppet was a hairy ape. Milt called him Junkie Monkey. Junkie Monkey ragged celebs. Junkie Monkey ragged fruits. Junkie Monkey perved on Barb B.

Barb drew biz. Milt drew biz. Pete made
more
money.

Sonny Liston loved the Cavern. Sonny moved in. Sonny hid from his wife and helped Pete.

Sonny roamed the casino. Sonny made dope collections. Sonny muscled deadbeats. Wayne ran with Sonny.
They
made dope collections. Their reps drew heat.

Their reps clashed. They were salt-and-pepper. They were black-black and white-white. They prowled West LV. They talked Wendell Durfee. Sonny ran riffs. Sonny ran theories. Sonny dug that nom de pimp:

Cassius Cool—the ex–Wendell Durfee. I calls him Cassius X.

Wayne rotated. Wayne ran Saigon to Vegas. Wayne ran due west.

He cruised L.A. He stalked Wendell Durfee. He prowled Watts. He drew hate vibes. Call them riot aftershocks.

He hit pimp bars. He polled pimps. He polled whores. He got zero results. He palmed cops. He bought jail checks. He logged rumors. He got zero results. He prowled south. He tooled main drags. He watched faces. He got zero results.

He braced street creeps. He passed out cards. He logged jive. He got pushed. He got shoved. He got spit on. L.A. was L.A. He had no rep.