Read Online Once a Crooked Man by David McCallum - Free Book Online

Room?”
    â€œNot yet,” he replied. “Nino may have told them.”
    â€œDon’t you think they deserve to know?”
    â€œNo. It would show them I was worried.” He went towards the other room. “I don’t need that right now.”
    â€œRocco knows, doesn’t he?”
    â€œShut the fuck up!” Max growled, and stuffed the wad of cash into his coat pocket. The passport and papers were tucked into the case and it was zipped shut.
    â€œYou’re right,” he said. “My little dance with death is the main reason I’m making these changes. But remember what the man said: I have to reduce the stress in my life. Fat fucking chance!”
    At the doorway he turned.
    â€œSo I get up this morning. I have everything worked out. No pressure. I’ve come up with a real neat solution. But then every fucker I meet gives me shit. Little bit here, little bit there. Even Sal. But that’s okay. I say to myself I’m a big boy, I can work it out. So enough already. When I get back you’ll be the first to know.”
    He walked back over and kissed her on the forehead. “That is, assuming I make it back.”

 
    16
    Carter had started the morning in a good mood. Fiona’s father had invited him to play a round of golf at his club on the North Shore of Long Island. They had teed off with two friends at noon in bright sunshine and with a cool breeze. The course was in immaculate condition and Carter’s swing had been loose and easy for the first nine holes. Then he had begun to think over what Max had told him the day before and specifically about all the things that could go wrong. That opened up a Pandora’s Box of possibilities. His body tensed and the ball flew wildly to all the wrong places.
    When it was over he didn’t stay for the usual farewell drink at the bar but jumped in his car and headed to the city. On the journey back he tried to concentrate on the positive aspects of the proposed changes. As he went up in the elevator his mood had improved.
    Soon after Fiona and Carter were married her parents had given them the apartment as a wedding present. Her mother took great pleasure in overseeing the interior design. The result was classic Upper East Side: carpets by Stark, curtains by Belfair, a hidden sound system and a paint job that cost what the average citizen pays for a house.
    The living and dining rooms were at the front overlooking Park Avenue. The kitchen, laundry and maid’s room were sensibly arranged in the center with the four bedrooms off a rear corridor. The smallest of these was fitted out as a gym.
    Since the birth of their second child, Fiona had made it a rule to work out for an hour every evening. All forms of sweeteners were scrupulously avoided and at social occasions she only drank lemon-flavored Perrier. The result was a young body and a sharp mind. Carter headed to where his wife would be pounding away on the cross-trainer in her red leotard and black tights. He stretched up and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
    â€œHi, sexy. How much longer?” he asked.
    She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Couple more minutes. Did you hear about Valerie?”
    â€œNo. Who’s Valerie?”
    â€œGeoffrey Johnson’s wife. You sat next to her at the Special Surgery benefit.”
    â€œOh, her. Thin, blonde and on continuous transmit.”
    â€œThat’s the one.”
    â€œWhat about her?”
    â€œShe’s been arrested. Isabel told me.”
    â€œThis sounds fascinating,” he said, handing her a towel.
    â€œWell,” said Fiona, wiping her face. “It seems that for about a year she has had her own secret little brokerage account that Geoffrey didn’t know about. She keeps it on her laptop.”
    â€œNothing wrong with that.”
    â€œYes, but Isabel said that she’s been taking notes when Geoffrey is on the phone, or when he’s having clients over for dinner.