Cogan's Trade

“You brought him in,” Amato said. “I asked you all kinds of things about him, you remember. You said he was all right. Remember that?”

“I made a mistake,” Frankie said. “How the fuck’d I know this was go

“You used to hand me a good deal of shit about the Doctor,” Amato said. “He was all my fault.”

“He was your mistake,” Frankie said. “I did a lot of time for your mistake. Now what I want, I don’t want to get dead for my mistake. I tell you what, we get this straightened out? You can give me all kinds of shit if you want. I know it. I didn’t know he was motor-mouth, but I brought him in and he was. Okay, so what do we do now? I didn’t know he was go

“You’re sure about this Gill kid,” Amato said.

“I’m surer about him’n I am about fuckin’ God,” Frankie said. “Ever go the zoo, see an ape? That’s Ke

“Ah,” Amato said, “well, at least he shouldn’t be too tough.”

“He did work for Dillon,” Frankie said.

“Wyatt Earp did things for Dillon,” Amato said. “The way I get it, I seen him myself, don’t forget, don’t matter what anybody did for Dillon. Dillon’s go

“You remember Callahan?” Frankie said.

“No,” Amato said.

“Sure,” Frankie said, “the lawyer, there. Used to work for the man some times. Car blew up.”

“Right,” Amato said.

“Ke

“That happened,” Amato said, “we’re i

“That’s how I found out, it’s Ke

“That’s an awful way to do a guy,” Amato said.

“Callahan’d agree with you,” Frankie said, “lost most of his stuff in that. Blew his ass off, for one thing. Would’ve gotten all of him if he had the door all the way closed, he hit the switch. China told me: ‘Ke

“I better have Co

“That’s an idea,” Frankie said, “and if it don’t go off, have her drive over and start mine for me. No, but we got to think of something. I thought, the first thing I thought of, we oughta take Russell out. That’s the very first thing I thought of to do. I don’t like it, I never did nothing like that, but that son of a bitch, if I’m in the hole, he’s the one that got me there, and I could kill him for it, I really could.”

“That go

“No,” Frankie said. “He already did the damage anyway, and if we put him to sleep it’ll just prove it to everybody, that we’re the guys that did it. One way or the other, he’s go

“Plus which,” Amato said, “I wonder if they’d do it, the way things’re going right now. Too much noise.”

“They’d do it,” Frankie said. “We got to start being very careful and looking around and everything.”

“No,” Amato said, “nope, I can’t figure it. It was Trattman’s game got hit. It was Trattman got beat up. Trattman didn’t have no other reason, get beat up, and they don’t go around beating guys like that up like that for the fun of it. Nope, they’re not looking for us. Nobody’s even thinking about that thing any more.”

“John,” Frankie said, “look, I hope you’re right. I wa

“I’m right,” Amato said.

“You don’t mind, though,” Frankie said, “I look around a little.”

“Frankie,” Amato said, “get as nervous as you like. We did it and we’re clear. I’m going over to Brockton a couple more times and tend to business. I’ll let you know when it’s time to stop worrying and go to work again.”

IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON, Cogan drank a stein of dark in Jake Wirth’s. He sat far back, on the bar side, and watched the bar door. In the dining area, beyond the brass rail, medical technicians and the interns hustling them sat in white jackets and drank steins of dark and gossiped about the New England Medical Center.

Mitch came through the bar door. He sca

They shook hands. Cogan said: “Mitch.” They sat down. Cogan signaled one of the waiters; he raised two fingers.

“Uh uh,” Mitch said.

“Wagon?” Cogan said.

“Gettin’ fat,” Mitch said. The waiter approached. “Beefeater martini,” Mitch said. “O

“You had lunch?” Cogan said.

“O

“Oughta have the goulash,” Cogan said. “Basically it’s beef stew, but they put tomatoes and stuff in it. It’s pretty good.”

“They still got that place down the alley, all the bums go and you can get beef stew there?” Mitch said.

“Conway and Downey’s,” Cogan said, “yeah. Isn’t that great beef stew?”

“I used to think so,” Mitch said. “Dillon took me in there one time. ‘Jesus,’ I said, ‘you know all the good joints, don’t you?’ It was one of those lousy days, snowing and everything, Christ, you couldn’t get around any place, and we’re having all kinds of problems with this guy and Dillon took me in there. He got all pissed off. Any time you want to piss Dillon off, make him think you think he’s doing something bush. Sets him right off. That and telling him there’s nothing the matter with him. I guess there is, though, huh?”

“This time there is,” Cogan said.