The Most Dangerous Dame

Greco massaged his throat with a wary glance at Ben the Bear. “You’re tooting the wrong ringer here, boys. I don’t know nothing about a beef with Flacco. You see my operation? Small fries. I ain’t got the manpower or connections to tussle in the big league. And you think I wanna cross Moe Flacco? What kind of a suicidal mark do you take me for?”

“The kind that doesn’t show up at important events.” I gave him my most disapproving stare. “Moe’s daughter was buried today. You weren’t there, were you? Seems like a pretty disrespectful move for someone who claims they don’t want any unwanted notice by New Haven’s most powerful kingpin.”

Greco’s eye twitched. He cut a glance at Ms. Sinn before answering. “I had some issues to take care of, see? Important business.” He turned to Ben the Bear. “You’ll tell your uncle, won’t you? No disrespect was intended. I swear on my mother’s grave.”

Benny stared hard at him. “So you weren’t the one that tried to ram us off the skylanes tonight? That what you’re saying?”

Greco’s frown of confusion practically distorted his face. “Whaddya talking about? You were hit tonight? I swear I didn’t have nothin’ to do with that.”

I sighed. “Ok, Oscar. We believe you. Sorry to disturb your evening. Just the normal shakedown, you know how it goes. You don’t mind if I pick up my bean shooter, do you?”

“Go right ahead, Mr. Trubble.” Greco sounded immensely relieved. “You will give Moe Flacco my regards, won’t you? I’ll send him some flowers or something. You know, to make up for my absence.”

I slipped the Mean Ol’ Broad in the holster under my arm and handed Benny his Mauser. “Yeah, we’ll tell him something, Oscar.”

“Seriously? You do that for me and I’m in your debt. Come by anytime and I’ll set up a line for you, free of charge.”

“That’d be great, Oscar.” I spoke to Greco, but my eyes were on Ms. Sinn, who gazed back with just a hint of amusement. I tipped my Bogart as we made our way to the door. “See you around.”

I patted Ben the Bear on the back as we strode down the hall. “Nice move back there, Ace. Didn’t know you had it in you.”

He paused, then gave a wry grin. “I didn’t have time to think about it, Mr. Trubble. I just got angry, was all.”

“We’ll make a bruiser outta you yet, kid.”

He took a backward glance. “So why are we hightailing it out of here, Mick? You had him on the ropes back there. He’d have given you anything you wanted.”

“Wait for it, Ace.”

Benny stopped in mid-stride. “Wait for what?”

“Mr. Trubble?”

Ms. Sinn’s voice was music to my ears. She glided our direction, every swaying step guaranteed to steam up a man’s eyeballs. “We need to talk.”

“Ms. Sinn, is it? Is that your first or your last name?”

“It is.” She offered a coy smile.

I grinned in response. “I got all I needed from your boyfriend there, Ms. Sinn. What could you possibly wanna gab with me about?”

Sinn’s voice was unruffled. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s my employer. Right now he’s scared witless wondering if he’s a dead man or not.”

I shrugged indifferently. “The world won’t miss him either way. A gal like you can do better than a weak sister like Greco, and you know it.”

Her large doe eyes met mine. “All you need to know is everywhere I am, I’m right where I’m supposed to be, Mr. Trubble.”

“Like right now.”

“Like right now.” She smiled again. “We can’t talk here. Meet me in neutral territory somewhere in an hour and we’ll chat.”

“How about the Gaiden?”

“That’s not exactly neutral, Mick. That’s your territory.”

I winked at her. “Not to worry, I’ll keep you out of harm’s way. We can be there in fifteen minutes.”

“An hour, Mick. I have things to do.” She gave me a last lingering smile before sashaying back down the hall.

Ben stared that direction like a bear at a hunk of fresh steak. He whistled softly. “I don’t know about you, but I think I could drink her bath water and die happy.”

“Clean the slobber off your chin, Ace. If there’s one thing you gotta learn about dames, it’s this: never trust one that looks as fine as Ms. Sinn does. You’ll be in a world of trouble every time.”

“That one might be worth a little trouble, Mick.”

“Then you’re in the right place. Trouble is my business, remember? So when business is trouble, then business is good. Let’s blow this can house before Greco rediscovers his manhood and tries something stupid.”

“You still think he tried to bump us off tonight?”

I shook my head. “He’s an empty suit. Sinn is the brains behind his operation, which makes her even more dangerous than she looks. I don’t see her angle in attacking Flacco, but I aim to find out.”

“At the Gaiden?”

“Yeah. It’s where Scarlett found me before she died. If Sinn had anything to do with it, meeting there might rattle her a bit. I want you to get lost in the crowd, Benny. Find a quiet spot where you can see what’s going on, but I gotta deal with Sinn on my own.”

He looked at me askance. “What’s with all the caution, Mick? She’s just one chick.”