Tom Epperson - The Kind One (Five Star Mystery Series) (Five Star First Edition Mystery)

In the kill-or-be-killed criminal underworld of 1930s Los Angeles, Two Gun Danny Landon has a distinct disadvantage. According to the fellas, he used to pull all kinds of shoot-ups and shenanigansbut damned if he cant remember a thing from before last year, when he got hit over the head with a lead pipe.

Sadistic mobster Bud Seitz known to friends and enemies alike as The Kind One seems to have big plans for him, but truthfully, Danny cant stomach the dirty work. His aim is off, the other wiseguys laugh at him, and hed gladly trade in the drunken parties and the endless broads for a day at the movies with his colorful and mysterious neighbor Dulwich and eleven-year-old Sophie, whose deadbeat mother delivers an endless stream of emotional and physical abuse.

But when Buds beautiful girlfriend Darla begs Danny to help her escape the Kind Ones dark, brutal world, Danny must confront a dangerous test of loyalty that could irrevocably change his future and his past forever.

SAY, SAID DARLA, whered you get that cupcake?

Theyre on that table, I said. Over there.

I love cupcakes.

Want me to get you one?

No, honey, Ill get it. Oops! Somebody bumped up against her, and she sloshed some of her drink on the sleeve of my coat. She brushed at my sleeve with her hand. Sorry, Danny.

Thats okay.

She was pretty plastered. She was wearing a slinky gold lam gown with gold high heels. She had soft wavy gold hair. She was a singer that didnt sing anymore. His eyes? she said, whispery, like it was a secret.

Whose eyes?

You know. His.

What about them?

Last night I had a dream about them.

What did you dream?

That I put them out. With sewing scissors. Because I couldnt stand them anymore. I couldnt stand the way they looked at me.

Why would you have a dream like that?

Geez. I cant imagine.

I had a thought, and I started to say something, but then the thought started to slip away, it was like a helium balloon a kid was holding by a string and then he let the string go, and I watched it float away into the blue.

Darla drifted off into the crowd. The way her gown was, her back was naked nearly all the way down to her butt, and I watched her shoulder blades and her backbone moving under her skin.

We were at a party at Bud Seitzs house. The place was packed to the gills. It was a chilly night in mid April, but the house was hot. It smelled like sweat, smoke, booze, and perfume. Everybody was talking and laughing like it was a contest to see who could talk and laugh the loudest. On the phonograph was a song that Id never heard before:

The new mayors brother, Joe Shaw, was there. Several cops, including Jack Otay, head of the Gangster Squad. The head of the Police Commission, a short fat bald guy named Nuffer. John Hobbs, a newspaper reporter. Arnold Dublinski, Buds lawyerBlinky people called him. Plenty of girlsstarlets, dancers, extras, waitresses, manicurists, shopgirls, cigarette girls, hatcheck girls, switchboard girls, and half a dozen out and out whores. And some of Buds guys, the guys that were in the coziest with him: Teddy Bump. Tommy and Goodlooking Tommy. Nucky Williams. Nello Marlini. Dick Prettie. And me.

I finished eating my cupcake, licked some frosting off my fingers. Doc Travis moved past me, walking on his knuckles. He grinned at me and smacked his lips.

I made my way over to the bar. The bartender was a tall blond Russian named Anatoly, who was also Buds butler.

Another scotch, please, Anatoly.

Of course.

Anatoly was wearing a white shirt and pants and a red velvet vest. He had two fingers missing from his right hand. Id heard hed been this rich count in Russia and got his fingers shot off when he was fighting in the Revolution against the Communists.

Were you really a count?

He shrugged. Past is past. In America, no one cares about past. I am trying to be good American now, Danny.

I care about the past. I took a solemn sip of my scotch, as though toasting the past, then somebody slapped me on the back.

It was Police Commissioner Nuffer.

Whats the good word, Danny?

I cant think of one.

Nuffer laughed like Id made a hell of a joke and slapped me on the back again.

His double-breasted suit was like a sausage casing that could barely contain its contents. Anatoly gave him another drink. He took a gulp of it. His face was red and sweaty, and he looked like a man with a fever.

Bud had told me last week I wasnt acting friendly enough to his friends, so I made an effort with Nuffer.

So how are you doing these days, Mr. Nuffer?

Hanging in there, my boy, hanging in there, as the condemned man said on his way to the gallows. Nuffers eyes narrowed as he looked around the room. Quite a shindig tonight. Your boss knows how to throw em. What do you think the odds are of my getting laid? Mm, look at that tasty-looking young lady on Lieutenant Otays arm. Jack! Jack! Join us!

Jack Otay came over with a big-busted redhead in an orange dress. Nuffer was about eye-level with her chest, which seemed to suit him just fine. Please introduce us, Jack.

Well, this heres Clover, I believe, said Otay. Or was it Daisy?

Violet, said the girl. Violet Gilbertson. Pleased to meet ya.

Pleased to meet you, Miss Gilbertson. Im Wendell Nuffer.

No kidding. My daddys name is Wendell.

And Ill bet youre a daddys girl, Miss Gilbertson.

Violet smiled down at Nuffer; it looked like shed used about half a tube of lipstick on her mouth. Definitely. And you can call me Violet.

I hope I have a chance to call you Violet many, many more times tonight.

Well you never know, she said coyly, swaying a couple inches closer to Nuffers flushed face, and then she looked me over. You got a name?

You mean you dont know who youre talking to? said Otay. A cigarette dangled out of his smirking mouth. He had a big square-jawed head that was handsome in an ugly way, or maybe vice versa. Id heard that he was an expert in the third degreethat he had a special pair of pigskin gloves that he put on whenever he was about to work somebody over.

This heres Danny Landon, continued Otay. Two Gun Danny Landon.

Hes practically famous, said Nuffer. He and Otay exchanged a look. In certain circles.

Famous! Gosh, Danny, said Violet, nearly smacking Nuffer in the face with her breasts as she swung them around toward me, Im sorry I didnt know who you were. See, I aint lived here very long, so I dont know who everyone is yet.

Where did you come here from? asked Nuffer.

Iowa. I was Miss Iowa Pork Queen of 1933.

You dont say.

Yeah, when I won that I thought, Violet, your luck is finally changing, and I decided it was a good time to leave Iowa.

Its probably always a good time to leave Iowa, Otay said, and then we all heard a lot of screaming and crashing around and commotion in the next room. Everybody went rushing out to see what was up.