Paul Cain - Fast One

Kells walked north on Spring. At Fifth he turned west, walked two blocks, turned into a small cigar store. He nodded to the squat bald man behind the counter and went on through the ground-glass-paneled door into a large and bare back room.

The man sitting at a wide desk stood up, said, Hello, heartily, went to another door and opened it, said: Walk right in.

Kells went into a very small room, partitioned off from the other by ground-glass-paneled walls. He sat down on a worn davenport against one wall, leaned back, folded his hands over his stomach, and looked at Jack Rose.

Rose sat behind a round green-topped table, his elbows on the table, his long chin propped upon one hand. He was a dark, almost too handsome young man who had started life as Jake Rosencrancz, of Brooklyn and Queens. He said: Did you ever hear the story about the three bears?

Kells nodded. He sat regarding Rose gravely and nodded his head slowly up and down.

Rose was smiling, I thought youd have heard that one. He moved the fingers of one hand down to his ear and pulled violently at the lobe. Now you tell one. Tell me the one about why youve got such a load on Kiosque in the fourth race.

Kells smiled faintly, dreamily. He said: You dont think Id have an inside that youd overlooked, do you, Jakie? He got up, stretched extravagantly and walked across the room to inspect a large map of Los Angeles County on the far wall.

Rose didnt change his position, he sat staring vacantly at the davenport. I can throw it to Bolero.

Kells strolled back, stood beside the table. He looked at a small watch on the inside of his left wrist, said: You might get a wire to the track, Jakie, but you couldnt reach your Eastern connections in time. He smiled with gentle irony. Anyway, youve got the smartest book on the Coast the smartest book west of the Mississippi, by God! You wouldnt want to take any chances with that big Beverly Hills clientele, would you?

He turned and walked back to the davenport, sank wearily down and again folded his hands over his stomach. Whats it all about? I pick two juicy winners in a row and you squawk. What the hell do you care how many I pick? the Syndicates out, not you.

He slid sideways on the davenport until his head reached the armrest, pulled one long leg up to plant his foot on the seat and sprawled the other across the floor. He intently regarded a noisily spinning electric fan on a shelf in one corner. You didnt get me out in this heat to talk about horses.

Rose wore a lightweight black felt hat. He pushed it back over his high bronzed forehead, took a cigarette out of a thin case on the table and lighted it. He said: Im going to reopen the Joanna D. Doc Haardt and I are going to run it together his boat, my bankroll.

Kells said: Uh huh. He stared steadily at the electric fan, without movement or change of expression.

Rose cleared his throat, went on: The Joanna used to be the only gambling barge on the Coast, but Fay moved in with the Eaglet, and then Max Hesse promoted a two-hundred-and-fifty-foot yacht and took the play away from both of them. Rose paused to remove a fleck of cigarette paper from his lower lip. About three months ago, Fay and Doc got together and chased Hesse. According to the story, one of the players left a box of candy on the Monte Carlo thats Hesses boat and along about two in the morning it exploded. No one was hurt much, but it threw an awful scare into the customers and something was said about it being a bigger and better box next time, so Hesse took a powder up the coast. But maybe youve heard all this before.

Kells looked at the fan, smiled slowly. He said: Well I heard it a little differently.

You would. Rose mashed his cigarette out, went on: Everything was okay for a couple weeks. The Joanna and Fays boat were anchored about four miles apart, and their launches were running to the same wharf; but they both had men at the gangways frisking everyone who went aboard that wasnt so good for business. Then somebody got past the protection on the Joanna and left another ticker. It damn near blew her in two; they beached, finally got into dry dock.

Kells said: Uh huh.

Tonight she goes out. Rose took another cigarette from the thin case and rolled it gently between his hand and the green baize of the table.

Kells said: What am I supposed to do about it?

Rose pulled the loose tobacco out of one end of the cigaret, licked the paper. Have you got a match?

Kells shook his head slowly.

Rose said: Tell Fay to lay off.

Kells laughed a long, high-pitched, sarcastic laugh.

Ask him to lay off.

Run your own errands, Jakie, Kells swung up to sit, facing Rose. For a young fella thats supposed to be bright, he said, you have some pretty dumb ideas.

Youre a friend of Fays.

Sure, Kells nodded elaborately. Sure, Im everybodys friend. Im the guy they write the pal songs about. He stood up. Is that all, Jakie?

Rose said: Come on out to the Joanna tonight.

Kells grinned. Cut it out. You know damn well Id never buck a house. Im not a gambler, anyway Im a playboy. Stop by the hotel sometime and look at my cups.

I mean come and look the layout over. Rose stood up and smiled carefully. Ive put in five new wheels and

Ive seen a wheel, Kells said. Make mine strawberry. He turned, started toward the door.

Rose said: Ill give you a five-percent cut.

Kells stopped, turned slowly, and came back to the table. Cut on what?

The whole take, from now on.

What for?

Showing three or four times a week... Restoring confidence.

Kells was watching him steadily. Whose confidence, in what?

Aw, nuts. Lets stop this god-damned foolishness and do some business. Rose sat down, found a paper of matches and lighted his limp cigarette. Youre supposed to be a good friend of Fays. Whether you are or not is none of my business. The point is that everyone thinks you are, and if you show on the boat once in a while it will look like everything is under control, like Fay and I have made a deal; see?

Kells nodded. Why dont you make a deal?

Ive been trying to reach Fay for a week. Rose tugged at the lobe of his ear. Hell! This coast is big enough for all of us; but he wont see it. Hes sore. He thinks everybodys trying to frame him.

Everybody probably is. Kells put one hand on the table and leaned over to smile down at Rose. Now Ill tell you one, Jakie. Youd like to have me on the Joanna because I look like the highest-powered protection at this end of the country. Youd like to carry that eighteen-carat reputation of mine around with you so you could wave it and scare all the bad little boys away.

Rose said: All right, all right.

The phone on the table buzzed. Rose picked up the receiver, said Yes three times into the mouthpiece, then All right, dear, hung up.

Kells went on: Listen, Jakie. I dont want any part of it. I always got along pretty well by myself, and Ill keep on getting along pretty well by myself. Anyway, I wouldnt show in a deal with Doc Haardt if he was sleeping with the mayor I hate his guts, and Id pine away if I didnt think he hated mine.

Rose made a meaningless gesture.

Kells had straightened up. He was examining the nail of his index-finger. I came out here a few months ago with two grand and Ive given it a pretty good ride. Ive got a nice little joint at the Ambassador, with a built-in bar; Ive got a swell bunch of telephone numbers and several thousand friends in the bank. Its a lot more fun guessing the name of a pony than guessing what the name of the next stranger Im supposed to have shot will be. Im having a lot of fun. I dont want any part of anything.