Kent Conwell - Tony Boudreaux 09 - The Crystal Skull Murders by Kent Conwell Read Free Book Online Page B

this case, huh?”
    “I hope so. He knows what’s going on in his world. If
any of those guys, Fusco, Eisen, or Romero are thinking about moving into the area, he’ll know”
    “All right. I see what you’re getting at. If they’re not
coming into the area,” she said. “That means they’d
have no interest in burning down the club, which in turn
would eliminate the theory that someone was trying to
teach Getdown Joe a lesson”
    I grinned at her. “Good thinking. That would support
the idea that the club was torched to cover the murder.”

    She thought for a moment, then remarked, “But still,
why would they have even made a contact if they
weren’t interested?”
    I was beginning to like her. “They might have been at
the time. But, that, my dear Sherlock, is what we have
to find out.”
    Her eyebrows lifted when we pulled into the Green
Light Parking garage. I explained, “Danny’s office is
on the sixth floor. We’ll park down here and take the elevator.” I stopped at the gate, and a neatly dressed man
in a business suit came out of the small office. “Hello,
Tony” He glanced at Doreen and nodded. “Miss” He
indicated a slot next to Danny’s limo. “You can park
over there. Danny’s on the way down.”
    As we pulled into the parking slot, Doreen said, “I’ve
never seen a parking lot boy dressed in a business suit.
He was certainly polite.”
    I chuckled and opened my door. “Just one of your
thugs, that’s all”
    She looked around at me in disbelief. I nodded.
    At that moment, the elevator doors hissed open and
Huey, aka Godzilla in a gray pinstriped suit, stepped
out followed by a grinning Danny O’Banion.
    Doreen came to stand by me at the tailgate of the
pickup. She gasped at the out-sized bodyguard. “WhoWhat is that?”
    I tilted my head toward her and whispered, “That’s
Huey, Tony’s valet”

    She arched a skeptical eyebrow.
    Danny waved and called out, “Tony boy. Great to see
you.”
    He grabbed me in a bear hug. “You’re looking great.”
He pulled back and eyed the Band-Aid on my forehead.
“Looks like you forgot to duck, huh?”
    Before I could respond, he turned to Doreen. “And this
is the young woman you told me about” He offered her
his hand. “You said she was bright, but you didn’t tell me
she was also beautiful. I’m Danny O’Banion, Miss-”
    With a knowing smile on her lips, Doreen cut her
eyes at me, then focused on Danny. “Patterson, Doreen
Patterson, Mister O’Banion. And Tony didn’t tell me
you could put out such beautiful malarkey.”
    Danny roared. “I love her, Tony. This one is okay”
By now, Huey had opened the limo door, and Danny
took Doreen by the elbow and ushered her into the rear
seat of the limo. “Go around to the other side, Tony,” he
called over his shoulder. “Or we’ll leave you behind.”
    “Where are we going?” I asked as I slammed the door.
    “Where else?”
    “County Line?”
    “You bet” He scooted around in the seat to face
Doreen. “You like barbecue?”
    I don’t know if Danny noticed it or not, but the look
in her eyes didn’t match the smile on her lips. “Love it.”
    “Then you’ll like this place. Best barbecue in the
state. Isn’t that right, Tony? Hand me a beer, Huey. How
about it, Doreen? Want one? Bud Lite?”

    She eyed the can distastefully. “Perhaps later.”
    Danny shrugged. “Tony?”
    “Not right now. I’ll wait for the barbecue.”
    He chuckled. “Still doing the AA thing, huh?”
    “Yeah. Doing okay for the most part.” I grinned
sheepishly. “Sometimes I fall off the wagon, but I’ve always figured it was a sin to drink anything but cold beer
with good barbecue”

     

Danny kept up a steady stream of chatter all the way
to the County Line Barbecue, innocuous chit-chat
about her work, his travels, and half-a-dozen inane subjects. Doreen held up her end of the conversation although it seemed to me that most of her responses