CHAPTER SIX
My 'missing person' is no longer missing. Danny Messer's face looks surprised that I know who he is.
"How the hell do you know who I am?"
"Your girlfriend hired me to find you."
His face softens. "Lindsay?" For a second he forgets he's holdin' me and my secretary at gunpoint. I can tell from his voice he sounds like he's missed her. "How...uh, how she's doin'?"
"About as well as can be expected, considering the man she loves is bein' chased by Sassone." I look at him. "Any chance I can get ya to put your gun away? I don't work for Sassone, and I'd like my secretary in one piece. Nobody in this town makes coffee like she does."
Stella snorts. "My coffee, Flack?"
Danny tucks his gun into the waistband of his pants. "Yeah, yeah, sure. No problem." He looks at Stella. "Hey, sorry about all that."
He's rewarded with a slap across the face."Go to hell," Stella tells him.
"Think I mighta deserved that," Danny acknowledges, touching his cheek gingerly. She glares at him, and then turns her gaze to me. If looks could kill, I'd be wearin' cement shoes in the East River. "And you can join him there, you ass."
With that, she storms out of the office. "See you tomorrow!" I call to her.
"Ha!" The door slams. I stare at the door in confusion. I hear the outside door slam shut as well. I know I did somethin'...I just ain't quite sure what. Dames are complicated.
Danny looks at me. "I think she likes ya."
"What are you doin' here, kid?"
Danny starts pacing back and forth. "I seen you down at Sassone's today. Then I seen you goin' to Lindsay's place. I also followed you to my place." He looks at me. "I wasn't sure whose side you were on."
"Well, now that you know I'm not out to bury you, take a seat, kid," I tell him. "Let's talk about your situation."
Danny takes a seat- in my chair. I open my mouth to object, but aw, what the hell. I sit in the other chair. "So you must have some kinda death wish, kid," I tell him. "Turnin' snitch on Sonny Sassone?"
"Hey, I ain't exactly a high-class citizen," Danny says sharply, "but I do got some sense of right and wrong." He looks at me. "Have you seen the woman I'm gonna marry some day?"
I nod. "Yeah, she's a real looker."
"It's not just that," Danny says. He leans in close like he's got this big secret he wants to share with me. "I mean, hell yeah, she's a looker. But she's so much more than that, you know? She's got class. She's...she's got a fire. I mean, I dunno what the hell she was thinkin' when she met me, y'know? She could have any millionaire in the whole damn city. But she sees me walkin' down Fifth Avenue..." He spreads his arms. "I still ain't figured it out."
I smirk. "Damn, son, you're turnin' me on to your dame."
He raises his eyebrows. "You know, I still got the gun."
I start laughing. "You're all right, kid. So you're gonna turn in Sassone and endear yourself to your girlfriend, that's your plan. Move out west, get away from the chaos that is New York City."
He looks at me. "What, you read minds too?"
I toss him his notebook. "Somethin' like that." I prop my feet on my desk again. "You take great notes, Messer."
"You read it?"
I shoot him a look. "I had to make sure you were worth the length I'm stickin' out my neck for. Thanks to you, I got myself in Sassone's sights, too."
He seems to consider this. "Point taken. Yeah, that was the plan. I love New York City. I am a New Yorker, born and bred. And I seen what he's been doin' to this city. I seen too many of my friends from back home get mixed up in this crazy racket. And I love this city too much to watch a nightcrawler like Sassone ruin it."
I smile. "You're okay, kid. So then our plan is to get you in to protective custody so you can testify against Sassone."
"No!" Danny shoots straight up in his chair. "The damn cops? No, no way."
"So I'm right," I say. "All of Mac Taylor's boys aren't bright upstandin' citizens."
He looks at me like I'm an idiot. "Do you know how many of them frequent a Sassone-owned establishment? Think Taylor's about the only one that don't."
I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. Damn, this complicates things a little bit. Clearly, then, police protection is not the best place for Messer. Not if Sassone's got Taylor's boys on his payroll. I turn him in to the cops, Sassone'll have his fingers on a chopping block inside o' half hour. "Then what we need to do is catch Sassone in the act. Something even that oily sonofabitch can't weasel his way outta." I look at him. "This is the part where you tell me somethin' big is goin' down."
Danny leans back in the chair, propping his feet up on my desk as well. I have to smile. Maybe before he gets on the train out west, I buy this kid a drink. "As it happens...Sassone's got a warehouse over on the East River. Now, I ain't exactly sure what's in there, but I can tell you it's completely illegal...and he plans on movin' it all out on the next boat."
I whistle. Damn, can this kid deliver. First the notebook, now this li'l tidbit...He's a private eye's dream! "Drugs? Guns?"
Danny shakes his head. "I dunno for sure. Maybe both. Hell, maybe he even threw in a couple cases of booze. Either way, I think that's what would do it."
I nod. "Hell yes, it would. Shipping the stuff is as illegal as drinkin' it all." I whistle again. "We'd need photos...manifests...shipment route map..."
"Most of his boats are laid out the same," Danny tells me. I look at him curiously. "Had to go on one, once. I think I delivered Enrique Salvatore his lunch one time."
I snort. "Lunch?"
He grins back at me. "Don't ask, don't tell."
"All right, all right. Hate that mobster code of ethics," I tease. "Would you happen to know when he's moving this out?"
"Tomorrow night. Like I said, I think I know my way around his boat enough to know where all the good stuff'd be at. Shouldn't be hard to get on, get a few pictures and get off in time to watch Sassone stroll on board to survey the merchandise." He spreads his hands. "Snap a few more pictures and arrest his ass."
"Sassone'll be on the boat?"
Messer nods. "He likes to check it all out before sendin' it off, the cocky sonofabitch."
"All right, then." I reach across the table, offer my hand to the kid. He eyes it. "Let's get that cocky sonofabitch."
Danny Messer grins from ear to ear as he shakes my hand with a firm grip.
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Author's Note: The first 35mm camera wasn't invented until 1923 or 24. Not good for a historically based-fic taking place in '22, but I figure if the movies can have some anachronisms, then so can I.