Dead Ball by R. D. Rosen Read Free Book Online Page A

going to.”
    “What’re you tryin’ to do, man, invade my life?”
    “No, I’m trying to save it.”
    “Let’s get out of here. Mr. Levy said to meet him in the parking lot in fifteen.”
    “I want you to make a second list.”
    Cooley rolled his eyes.
    “This one’s got your habits on it. You jog? Good. Put it down, including the route. You play miniature golf? Good. When and where? You gamble? Fine. I want to know who your bookie is.”
    “I don’t gamble,” Cooley said flatly.
    “Moss, anything you’re used to doing, you’re going to stop doing until your streak is over. Let’s be optimistic and say you break DiMaggio’s record. You’re twelve games away. That’s two weeks. We can do that. We’re going to change your life fast so that you don’t have to think about it. You can get back to the game and let me do the worrying for you. Okay?” Twelve games away from the record? It was a vast distance—unthinkable that his luck would hold out—and Harvey was calmed by the thought.
    “Okay.”
    “One other thing.”
    “What?”
    “Your girlfriend.”
    “Cherry Ann. What about her?”
    “Does she live with you?”
    “No. She comes over a couple of times a week. I go there some. But we get together at odd hours. We both got night jobs.”
    “Let me ask you a question, Moss, and don’t take it personally.”
    “Go for it.”
    “Are you just getting laid, or is this a love project?”
    “A lot of the first and some of the second. She’s not some bimbo of mine. She’s a student at Johnson and Wales. She’s studying to be a chef. Open her own restaurant.”
    “Do you trust her, Moss?”
    “Meaning?”
    “Can she keep a secret? Would she ever betray you?”
    Cooley furrowed his brow. “What kind of question is that?”
    “It’s a good one, Moss. A young woman is dating a famous ballplayer making several million a year. People might offer her money for information about you or your whereabouts. I’m talking about tabloid journalists, or even worse.”
    “I don’t believe she’d ever do that.”
    “It’s hard for the best people to keep their mouths shut about knowing a celebrity. Especially about sleeping with one. I’m just being realistic. Do a lot of people know you see each other?”
    “I haven’t seen it in the papers, if that’s what you mean. We’ve only been dating since May, and we’re very careful.”
    “Does she know about the death threats?”
    “No. I’ve just told her I get letters.”
    “What about the jockey?”
    “Haven’t told her that yet.”
    “Where’d you meet her, Moss?”
    He hesitated slightly before answering. “At Teasers.”
    “Teasers?”
    “It’s a strip joint in the Jewelry District.”
    “She likes to go to strip clubs?”
    “She doesn’t like to go there. She works there.”
    “Great,” Harvey said.
    “It’s not what it seems. She’s not the person you see up there.”
    Harvey didn’t want to touch the philosophical and ontological edges of that one. “I’d like to talk to her.”
    “She’d never be involved in this shit.”
    “Not knowingly. Look, Moss, I don’t know about cooking school, but a strip joint’s not the kind of place I’d want to have my name bandied about, and frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s been boasting about you.”
    “She’s just stripping for money. It’s not her life.”
    “Moss, it’s not like it ever occurred to me she was doing it for the dignity and self-fulfillment. Look, tomorrow’s a night game, right?” Cooley nodded. “Maybe you, Cherry Ann, and I can get together in the late afternoon before you’re due at the park?”
    “I’ll try.”
    “Meanwhile, don’t mention the lawn jockey to her. Don’t say anything about me, either.”
    Cooley nodded reluctantly. “I don’t like this.”
    “Whereas, of course, I’m really looking forward to spending the next couple of weeks wondering when someone’s going to jump out of the bushes and attack the two of