Hard-Boiled Immortal (The Immortal Chronicles) by Gene Doucette Read Free Book Online Page A

Rocky?” Vinnie asked.
    “Of course I would.”
    “No, no that’s not gonna work,” the boss said, shaking his head.  “Vinnie might be a damn idiot, but he tells me he overheard you and some dame talking about going to the feds, and we’re not okay with that.  Granted, we could have perhaps approached the matter with more subtlety, but that don’t change things all that much in my mind.  So where are you hiding the girl, Mr. Rocky?  And don’t tell me she ran out the back because we were watching.”
    I looked down.  It seemed inappropriate, having her stand wearing only that coat, like she was showing up at the door in a negligee.  But she gave me a little nod, so I figured it was okay.
    “You got her rattled with all the shooting.  Can’t blame her.  Come on honey.”  I extended my hand for her to stand.  She gave me a private eye-roll before getting to her feet.
    “What’s going on, Rocky?  What do these fellas want?”   She slid in with my arm around her like it was the most natural thing in the world.  Felt good too, having her there. 
    Lucy gave them the doe-iest doe-eyes anybody had ever seen.  You’d have sworn she was the most innocent girl on the face of the earth, regardless of how nearly naked she was.  But it was clear nobody was buying the act.  Problem was, most people—regardless of gender—would have been in hysterics after that show of gunfire, and she came off like we’d just met an encyclopedia salesman.
    “I don’t know, baby ,” I said.  “I think these guys are just confused.”
    “She’s the one,” Vin said.  “Asking too many questions.”
    “Well…” the boss said.  He looked her up and down in a way that made me want to punch him in the jaw.  “Ain’t you a sight?”
    “ Aww, thanks, mister.  But I don’t know what you boys are talking about.  I just stopped by here for a little nightcap with Rocky.  What kinda questions you mean?”
    “A nightcap, huh?”  The boss eyed what she wasn’t wearing.
    “Maybe a little more than a nightcap, but what’s it to ya?  That’s no reason to go around shooting up a place.”
    “No, it isn’t .  But you see miss, we procured some items from this establishment, and then sold those items and made a little money from them, and we’d rather nobody knew about that little arrangement. Vincent, who I think you met earlier this evening, helped with the procurement.  He’s a suspicious guy who doesn’t want to go to jail for trying to make an honest buck, as I’m sure you understand, so when you started whispering in his ear he got to thinking maybe we had a problem.  He heard a similar bunch of disturbing details just before running down the street and placing a call to me.  Now we have a different kind of problem, because even if Vincent here was completely wrong about everything else, it turns out—according to your boyfriend here—I’m standing in a bar owned by the Outfit, with two witnesses what don’t work for me that have seen my face.”
    He took a look at his two gunners.  I’d been keeping an eye on them myself because it’s never a bad idea to keep track of the guns in the room.  Their expressions hadn’t changed at all.  I was pretty sure they were either stone deaf or didn’t speak the language.
    “I’m sorry, you seem like a classy dame and I’m sure this Rocky here is a stand-up guy, but my boys here are gonna have to shoot you.  Then I figure we’ll have to torch the whole place and work on our alibis.  If Jimmy Ricca owns the dive it’ll get chalked up as a hit on him, that’s how I’m seein’ this.”
    Something about me, and bars and Chicago always seem to add up to mobs, guns and fires even tually.  It made me think I should choose a different city, provided I figured out a way to walk out of this one on my own, which was a tall order under the circumstances.  I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to convince Vinnie or his boss that I was immortal and