Cold Night (Jack Paine Mysteries) by Al Sarrantonio Read Free Book Online

once in the face and once in the stomach. He groaned and leaned back against the stairs but then he found strength and tried a weak punch at Paine's head. It missed, and Paine punched him not too hard in the groin and that was it for his resistance.
    Paine pulled him by his shirt into the living room. There was only one light on; the rest of the house looked dark except for the kitchen. Paine pushed him into a square overstuffed chair and pulled up a matching chair. There was a sofa made in the same cheap square style, and a coffee table that looked like it came with the package deal. Hartman was bent over, trying to breathe.
    "I didn't hit you that hard," Paine said, pushing him back up into a sitting position. Hartman looked at him as though he had hit him plenty hard.
    "Where's your jacket?" Paine asked. Hartman pointed weakly to the kitchen. Paine found the jacket thrown over a straight-backed chair. He went through the pockets but found nothing. When he came back into the living room Hartman was sitting up on his own but still looked hurt. "The other joker has the gun?" Paine asked. When Hartman said nothing Paine went over to him and balled his fist under his eyes.
    "You don't tell me, I hit you in the hangers again," he said. "I used to be a cop but I'm not anymore, so I can do whatever I want to fuckheads like you and not much will happen to me."
    Hartman looked surly but said, when Paine cocked his fist back playfully, "He's got the gun."
    "What's his name?"
    Hartman took a few breaths and then said, "Childs."
    "Does he have a record?"
    "Couple of years."
    "What about you?"
    Hartman stared at the floor. "Same."
    "How long have you worked for Paterna?"
    "A while."
    "I don't give a shit about you," Paine said, "or about your friend, but I don't like being shot at. Not even if it's for fun. Answer the next question carefully. Do you know anything about Morris Grumbach?"
    Staring at the floor, Hartman shook his head. "No."
    "You never heard Les Paterna mention him?"
    "I just work for Paterna. He tells me and Childs what to do. Most of the time I don't do anything. Today was the first time he ever really asked me to do something."
    Paine felt like hitting him again. "Is that why you enjoyed it so much?"
    Hartman was silent.
    "I don't want to see your fucking face again," Paine said. "And I don't want to see your friend's face. Tell him that if I see either of you around me I'll break both your backs. You can tell Paterna that, if you want to. If you're aching to be bad boys again forget it, because you're the kind of scumbags that'll never get it right."
    He went to the front hallway and looked at the spreading stain on the rug and the can lying edgewise, empty.
    "Sorry about the beer," he said.

NINE
     
    W hen his key was halfway in the lock he heard voices inside his apartment. He put the key all the way in and slowly turned it, then pushed the door open an inch at a time. The voices were not in the front room but somewhere in the back. Lights were on all over the place. He left the door open behind him.
    He heard Ginny's voice. It went high and she was laughing. He walked into the front room and saw that the bedroom door was closed. Two coats, a man's and a woman's, were on the floor where they had missed the arm of a chair. Next to the chair was a paper bag filled with folded paper bags.
    Ginny laughed, and then a man laughed. His voice was low-pitched. He laughed some more and then he said something that Paine couldn't hear. Ginny laughed again. Then there were other sounds and Ginny stopped laughing.
    Paine heard her moan. The man's voice became more insistent behind the door and then Ginny was breathing loud and hard.
    Paine stood frozen. He heard his own bed move, heard the creaks he heard every night when he went to sleep in it. Ginny gasped, the man grunted and then Ginny began to make little "ah" sounds in her throat. They came one after another. Paine felt numb, but despite this he began to count in his head.