Page 9 (1/2)

NINE

Turns out I wasn&039;t the only guy in toith a kid brother

In my hunt for Benny, I&039;d called a topless cocktail waitress named Ruth he shacked up with soave ave me another earful

"He tore out of here like his ass was on fire," she said with her cigarette voice "Went on the road with that brother of his"

"What&039;s his name?"

"Shane, I think"

"On the road where?"

"Gainesville"

"Why?"

"What are you, a fucking cop?"

"If I have to come over there and smash you in the uy I meet all the charmers"

"Talk"

"The Shane kid&039;s in some kind of band They play up and down the state"

"What&039;s the name of the band?"

"Oh, for God&039;s sake" I heard her fu some papers "They call the band Spanklicious, and they&039;re playing at the Handlebar Saloon Benny said he&039;d call me later, but he probably won&039;t He said he&039;d be back in a couple of days, but I don&039;t believe that either That&039;s all I know, I swear to God Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Sure Got any es for Benny when I find him?"

"Tell hie no problee town about thirty-five ot there, I found another pay phone, dialed Marcie, and left a rabbed the phonebook and found the nuot to the Handlebar Saloon about 10 PM, which is when the kid on the phone said the band really got cranked up The Handlebar was in a worn-out chunk of don near the railroad tracks and sos that re The dirt parking lot across from the saloon held an equal split of pickup trucks and motorcycles There wasn&039;t any music when I walked in, so either the band was on break or hadn&039;t started yet

The Handlebar&039;s interior looked like it had taken up the bo motif The walls were raffiti-covered patch of yellowing plaster The wooden tables and chairs were rickety and -class lot, and I h them as unobtrusively as possible I found the bar and waved over a beer The fiftyish ht it had a canned ham for a face, and the sleeves of his flannel shirt were rolled up, revealing a set of serious looking tattoos A special forces skull on the right ar an atom bomb ¨¤ la Slim Pickens ¨C except with nipple- on the left

"I&039; for the band" I placed a five-dollar bill on the bar for the dollar draft "Are they on break?"

He nodded past ed rabbed guitars A fourth sat behind the drum set This didn&039;t strike me as Shane&039;s band, and I didn&039;t see Benny The bartender brought ain

"That&039;s Spanklicious?" I felt like a first-rate jackass saying it

"That&039;s The Dan Riley Band," he told o"

Shit

I asked, "Are they playing at the saht?"

"They would&039;ve, but we fired them"

I raised an eyebrow

"Buncha dalass and said, "All that jue kids, but these folks all work for a living They got enough stress in their lives"

"Do you knohere I et ahold of them? Maybe what hotel they&039;re at?"

"Maureen books the bands She&039;ll be in to"

"It&039;s iht direction"

"Mister, I&039;m the only one behind the bar, and people need beer Try tomorrow"

I finished ish version of "Brown-Eyed Girl"

I found the Raot a room

I kicked offuns out of the duffel and began cleaning theh the channels Shit I flipped again Still shit

Okay Back to work

I called Burt He answered halfway through the first ring He was still awake, full of coffee and worry

"Give ave it to hi up

When he called back, I heard traffic noises in the background

"It ht not be safe to talk on the ho for Stan, Burt Let&039;s start with that"

"Look, I have no idea where he is I&039;d tell you Honest"

"What can you tellJeffers around the clock," said Burt

"What for?"

"Easy," said Burt "The FBI has been putting a case together against Beggar Johnson for three years Now, they&039;re in a position to shut hi soar&039;s whole operation from Miami to Jacksonville The Federal boys have Jeffers over a barrel Either he coughs up the ledgers and testifies against Beggar, or they put him away"

That didn&039;tthe books Jeffers knew that I got suspicious I meanlot through a crack in the drapes A black Ford Te inside The darkness made it hard to tell for sure Could be I had a few Feds on ht I&039;d lead thear&039;s big boy, the killer Jeffers seemed so worried about I tried to recall what he looked like from the one time I&039;d seen hiuy like that He looked like a cocked gun ready to go off Hard, mean, and quick to pounce

I made a mental note to look over et the ledgers?" I asked