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I don't want any more of it. From you or anybody else.”
    The tension went out of Whelen's face. He picked up his glass and drank.
    â€œYou must be married to some kind of woman. The Pilot was a pretty tough guy, they say. The papers are making quite a lot out of it. The Pilot shot down while attacking civilians, and stuff like that.” He glanced at Quinn.
    â€œI don't write the headlines,” said Quinn. “Just the stories.”
    â€œPeople are having a lot of laughs,” said Whelen. “Gunmen outgunned by mother of two. Big-city mobsters pick on the wrong country girl. Cute. I even seen the story on television. If I was the crime boss that some people think I am, I might be pretty pissed off to have people laughing at my gang like that. It's not good for business to have people laugh at you. Of course, I'm not a crime boss, and I barely even knew those two guys, so you're talking to the wrong man, Mr. Jackson.”
    â€œNot according to Howie Trucker. I managed to have a chat with him before they flew him up here to the hospital. Howie said you sent them to find Rimini.”
    Whelen turned to Todd. “Howie Trucker. Ain't he the famous liar? The crook that's never told the truth in his life?”
    â€œYeah,” said Todd. “That's him.”
    Whelen turned back to me. “This Trucker guy has been bad-mouthing me for years. Every time he does something illegal he tries to blame me for it. I don't know what's wrong with him. I guess he's sick or something. Maybe he got kicked by a horse or something when he was a kid.”
    â€œMaybe,” I said.
    â€œSo I guess we got nothing to talk about, Mr. Jackson. Sounds like those bums your wife shot got what was coming to them.”
    â€œI think so. Here's the thing, Mr. Whelen. Maybe you sent those goons down there to find Rimini, and maybe you didn't, but you're said to be an influential man in these parts, so you can do me a favor by spreading the word that I want no more Charlestown muscle in my life, ever. I want me and mine to be left alone. You do thatand we're square. We'll write off what happened as just a mistake made by a couple of wiseguys on their own.”
    Whelen sipped his Guinness, and smiled. “And what if I don't spread the word?”
    â€œI'll be unhappy.”
    â€œSo what?” said Todd.
    I didn't look at him. I looked into Sonny's snowy eyes.
    Sonny turned his glass on the table, making small damp circles. “You'll be unhappy, eh? Are you hinting that you're dangerous when you're unhappy, Mr. Jackson?”
    â€œUnhappy people are always more dangerous than happy ones,” I said. “You know that. But you don't have to worry about me. You're surrounded by people who are more dangerous to you than I'll ever be.”
    Sonny studied me without expression, then he said, “You say your wife never heard of Rimini. You ever hear of him?”
    â€œOf course I've heard of him,” I said, telling him what I was sure he already knew. “Carla, my first wife, left me and married him. He's a schoolteacher. When things started to pile up on him, Carla remembered the place where we used to vacation on the Vineyard and told him to hide out there with me. Then she got squeezed by your toughs and told them what she'd told Rimini. The thing is, she never told me anything. Maybe she planned to, but she never did; anyway, your goons showed up before he did.”
    The pale eyes brightened. “You telling me that Rimini's there now?”
    â€œNo.” I leaned forward. “Rimini showed up that afternoon. After talking to him and to my ex on the phone I finally got the picture. She said she sent him to my house because it was the safest place she could think of. But all she'd brought me was grief, and I didn'twant him there, so I sent him on his way. I'd had enough of Tom Rimini's problems.”
    â€œWhere is he now?”
    Time to lie. “I don't know.”
    â€œDon't you