The Cold Six Thousand (62 page)

Carlos found Danny. Carlos found him with Jane.

That was theory logic. It was buttressed by facts. It was shaped by news clips.

She was dead. He mourned her. He worked with Carlos. They both kept mute. Carlos said nothing. Pete stayed mute. They both misread it. They both called it this way: Ward doesn’t know what we know.

I know
. I did the logic. I dream the gist.

Carlos kills flamboyant. His teams pack power tools. Carlos kills slow.

Chainsaws/shears/drills. Lathe chisels and fungo bats.

He dreamed it. He heard it. He saw it. He slept with it. He lived it. He didn’t drink. He didn’t seek numbness. He didn’t anesthetize. He worked. He maneuvered. He hidey-hole stashed.

He hit the bank. He grabbed Jane’s file. He studied it: six folders/typed notes/comprehensive.

Jane
knew
him. The file
nailed
him.

She predicted his embezzlements. She tracked his travels. She surmised his bank accounts. She critiqued his technique. She guessed at amounts. She assumed his guilt tithes.

She prowled his papers. She linked facts. She extrapolated lucidly. She prowled his trash. She studied said trash. She corroborated spectacularly.

She nailed his target businesses. She estimated profits. She ball-parked skim flow. She predicted overhead. She guessed launder fees. She calibrated foreign currencies.

He
devised the fund-book plan.
She
ran up to speed.

She tracked his travels. She tallied phone calls. She tracked his lies and omissions.

She nailed it:

The Hughes incursion. The full trust breach. The Boys sell Drac Las Vegas.

Casino profits/cash-flow charts/skim currency/front men/hidden points/rigged prices.

She took common knowledge—Hughes wants Las Vegas—she tracked back inductively.

The text jumped. The file nailed Jules Schiffrin. Jane knew Jules. Jules revealed things unwittingly. Jane extrapolated. Jane thus ascribed:

Jules builds the pension fund. Jules builds dummy books. Jules builds the “real” book scam.

Details. Facts. Guesses. Assertions. Astonishing—all
new
text—things
he
didn’t know.

The text jumped. The file nailed Jimmy Hoffa.

Jimmy killed Arden’s father. Eyewits spieled facts off-the-cuff. Jimmy cut management deals. Jimmy ordered beatings. Jimmy ordered hits.

Jane was smart. Jane
allegedly
hated her father. Jane lied. Jane drew heat off Jimmy. The file was Jane’s revenge: long-standing/long-planned.

The text jumped. The file nailed the Boys.

Carlos/Sam G./John Rosselli/Santo/Moe Dalitz/hoods in K.C.

Details. Facts. Rumors. Assertions.

Per: Hits/botched hits/extortion. Judges bought/juries bought/cops purchased wide. Rackets developed/rackets ditched/rackets reborn and revised.

Astonishing. Incendiary. Densely inclusive.

Jane builds a testament. Jane grows weary then. Jane gets tweaked and runs.

Jane holds the file. Jane forfeits it. Jane pays off her Dallas debt. Jane pays him for two years as “Jane.”

Her testament.
His
now.
His
safeguard. Tell Carlos. Tell
all
the Boys:

I’ve served you. I’m tired. Please let
me
run.

He picked a bank in Westwood. He rented a stash vault. He stashed the file. He mourned Jane.

He dreamed. He saw icepicks and drills deployed. He prayed. He tallied his dead from Big D on up.

He stole. He bilked Howard Hughes. He tithed the SCLC. He mourned. His grief transmogrified. His hurt grew into HATE.

Carlos killed Jane. His hate bypassed him. His hate bypassed all the Boys. His hate dispersed and coalesced. His hate found Mr. Hoover.

He watched him
.

Mr. Hoover spoke in D.C. Mr. Hoover wooed the American Legion. He watched. He stood at the back of the hall.

The hall roared. Mr. Hoover sailed clichés. Mr. Hoover attacked Dr. King. Mr. Hoover looked old. Mr. Hoover looked frail. Mr. Hoover spewed HATE.

Littell watched.

Mr. Hoover ceded irony. Mr. Hoover ceded taste. Mr. Hoover relinquished control. Mr. Hoover spewed HATE. It was unassailable/unvanquishable/unmediated.

Littell gauged it.

Mr. Hoover was old. The world outgrew him. He outlived his reign of control.
His
hate dispersed.
His
hate coalesced.
His
hate found Dr. King.

Littell gauged
his own
hate.

He lived by hubris. He overcommitted. He outflanked
his
sphere of control. His hate dispersed. His hate condensed. His hate scattergunned. He outgrew his world. He retained his ideals. He outgrew his love of intrigue. His hate dispersed and coalesced. His hate found John Edgar Hoover.

He acted on it. He acted passively. Wait. Do nothing yet. Let Mr. Hoover HATE.

Let the world rock. Let Dr. King meld with Bobby. They have bold designs. They despise the war. They may collaborate.

Dr. King planned revolt. Lyle Holly detailed it. Littell destroyed Lyle’s notes. Let Dr. King live the notes. Let Dr. King act
non
passively.

Peace broadsides. Voter drives. Antislum campaigns. Revolt in its early stages—planned through ’68.

Wait. Do nothing yourself. Let Mr. Hoover HATE.

His hate burns. His hate shows. His hate discredits him. Dr. King plans. Dr. King schemes. Dr. King’s status grows.

Don’t push
too
hard. Don’t push
too
fast. Don’t strain credibility. Let the world rock at its own pace. Let some things go.

LBJ fights his foreign war. Mr. Hoover approves. LBJ pushes civil rights. Mr. Hoover fumes silently. Mr. Hoover spews hate.

LBJ might assess him. Edgar—you’re moribund. You’ve got to go.

The war will extend. The war will divide. The war might derail LBJ. Bobby might run in ’68. Dr. King might downscale his agenda. Bobby might endorse it.

He watched Bobby. He read the Senate Record. He tallied Bobby’s votes. Bobby was smart. Bobby never said “The Boys.” Bobby hated circumspectly.

Hate strong. Hate brave. Don’t hate like Mr. Hoover.

Mr. Hoover called him. The phone rang in mid-July. Mr. Hoover stirred some fear.

The spot tails were gone. He
knew
it. He was safe per Chuck Rogers. He was safe per Lyle H.

Still—Mr. Hoover stirred fear.

He was brusque. He was rude. Howard Hughes and Las Vegas—update me on that.

Littell said Drac’s crazy. Drac fears state taxes. Drac’s booked a whole railroad train. Drac trained to Boston. Drac brought his Mormons. Drac booked a floor at the Ritz.

Drac wants hotels. I’ve braced the
registered
owners. It’s pro forma. The Boys have the points. The Boys will rig the fees.

Mr. Hoover laughed. Mr. Hoover schemed. Mr. Hoover promised a no-skim-bust policy. Let’s not stir enmity. Why stir publicity? Why sully the Count and his kingdom?

Littell digressed. Littell said Drac has a plan. He’ll hit Vegas in late November.

The red tape will clear. He’ll have his cash. He’ll storm the DI then. He’s booked a floor. He’ll bring his slaves. They’ll bring his blood and dope.

Mr. Hoover laughed. Mr. Hoover probed:

I pulled some bugs. I pulled some taps. A House Committee made me. I got a tip: Lyle Holly braced Bobby. Lyle sent him a posthumous “confession.”

Littell feigned shock: Not Lyle H.! Not our WHITE RABBIT!

Mr. Hoover probed. Mr. Hoover ranted. Mr. Hoover steamed. He disdained WHITE and CRUSADER. He dissected their “twin moral voids.” He blasphemed WHITE the betrayer.

Littell assessed the rant. Littell concluded: He doesn’t suspect me/he buys the “confession”/he buys the “betrayal” that way.

Mr. Hoover digressed. Mr. Hoover attacked Dr. King. His HATE showed. His HATE beamed. His HATE crescendoed.

Littell said let me help. You know I have documents. They detail my “Mob donations.”

Mr. Hoover said no. Mr. Hoover said it’s too little. Mr. Hoover said it’s much too late.

Littell heard hate. Littell heard resolve. Littell knew this: He’s got new plans. He’ll escalate.

Mr. Hoover signed off. Mr. Hoover omitted:

Mail-fraud news. News per one arm of BLACK RABBIT. A big success/gloat-worthy. A telling omission.

Littell translated said omission. Littell knew this:

He’s got new plans. He’ll escalate.

Wait. Do nothing. Let his hate show. Let his hate self-indict.

The Boys had plans. It’s time for relocation—Sam G. leaves custody.

Littell drove him home. Sam packed his bags. They flew to Mexico City. Sam bought knickknacks. Sam bought a house. Sam discussed his schemes.

We buy the ’68 election. We throw it to
our
candidate. He takes our cash. He bows. He obeys. He pardons Jimmy Hoffa. He lets us expand. He ignores our colonizations.

We move south. We colonize. We plant our casinos. Let us thrive—don’t fuck with said colonies—right-
or
left-wing.

Memo:
We
buy the candidate.
We
buy the bulk of him. Drac supplies 25%. We collude. Drac gets perks—time will determine which or what.

Jimmy’s through. He’s dead on appeals. He’ll be jailed next spring. Let him stew. Buy a candidate. Elect him.

Said candidate waits. Said candidate pardons Jimmy. We get one pardon. We get one colony policy—per nations right-
or
left-wing.

Cuba was left-wing. They couldn’t plant casinos there. Their plant targets were all
right-
wing. Think back. Go back three years—fall ’63.

The hit plan’s on. The Boys are mad. The Boys want their Cuban casinos. They tried to kill Castro. They indulged covert ops. They failed.

Sam enlists Santo. Santo lures Johnny Rosselli. They brace the Beard. They make nice—
please
return our casinos. The Beard says no. They clip Jack. The world rocks and sways.

Then to now—plans crass and audacious.

Like the war—Big Pete’s preferred misalliance.

He met Barb for lunch. They met once a week. They discussed it. Barb hated the war. Barb felt new love for Bobby. Barb assailed Pete.

Barb talked political. Barb talked lounge gossip and segued. Barb said “exploitation.” Barb said “mass murder” and “genocide.”

Barb was moody. Barb took pills. Barb anesthetized. They discussed Pete’s business. They discussed Pete’s compartments.

Barb temporized. Barb straddled fences. Barb compartmentalized: I love Pete/I hate Pete’s business/I hate Pete’s war.

He
loved her. Wayne loved her. She knew it. All men loved her. He told her. She knew it.

She said I like it. She said I hate it. She said I outgrew it late.

She knew Jane left him. She didn’t know details. She teased him per Janice. He told her flat-out. He played it blunt—Janice was diversion.

Janice was sex. Janice was style. Janice was will bravura.

Wayne Senior beat her. Janice still limped. Janice still got cramps. Janice still shot scratch golf. Janice still played A-club tennis.

She charged the net. She limped. She cramped. She slammed shots. She made points. She won by attrition.

She rebuffed Mormon goons. Said goons were putting feelers out. Wayne Senior misses Wayne Junior.

She replied one way. Her words were Get Fucked. It was her one response verbatim.

He liked her. He loved Barb. He loved Jane.

Barb got dreamy looks. She hid from Pete then. He envied her looks. He envied her sedation.