Part 31 (1/2)

”My friend, Mr. Minkin, the one with the head injuries... how is he doing?”

Adrian was an ox, yet their attacker had felled him in an instant and left him senseless.

Dr. Sadiq shook his head. ”That I do not know. He was admitted to the neurology service. Is he your... partner?”

”Partner?”

Now why on earth would Dr. Sadiq think Adrian had anything to do with the shop? Unless... could he be even considering that he and Adrian were lovers lovers! Yes, that had to be it.

Anger flared in Eli. What's wrong with this world? Everything is not not about s.e.x! about s.e.x!

”Oh, no,” Eli said. ”He's just an old friend.”

A tiny s.h.i.+ft of his hips was rewarded by a disproportionate shock of pain. He was suddenly very tired.

”I think I'd like to rest now, doctor.”

”Of course,” Dr. Sadiq said. ”I'll look in on you again during my evening rounds.”

As soon as the door closed Eli grabbed the morphine delivery b.u.t.ton and began jabbing at it like a telegraph operator. Soon a delicious lethargy suffused him, pus.h.i.+ng away the pain and worries about strange men who lunged out of the darkness.

4.

Jack stopped in front of Munic.i.p.al Coins on West Fifty-fourth. He'd planned to come by yesterday but Gia's revelation had blown that plan clear out of the water.

Midday sun gleamed off the polished gold and silver coins in the window display, but Jack's attention was more focused on Eli Bellitto's last words than on precious metals.

I don't have a brother named Edward or anything else. I'm an only child.

Somebody was lying.

Eli Bellitto was a child molester, most likely a child killer-you go to the trouble of abducting a child as Bellitto and his buddy had, you're not likely to let him go-so lying was hardly a stretch. But why lie about having a brother to someone you thought was a hospital administrator? Unless you didn't want to acknowledge that brother.

But Eli Bellitto hadn't sounded like he was lying. Edward, on the other hand...

The phone number he'd given Jack was bogus, as was no doubt much of the story he'd laid on him. Edward had a Irish accent, Eli didn't. The two supposed brothers looked nothing alike.

No question... Edward had lied.

What particularly rankled Jack was that he'd made Edward-if that was his real first name; his last sure as h.e.l.l wasn't Bellitto-for a straight shooter. Every so often a customer tried to pull a fast one, but Jack usually found out before any damage was done. Since many of his jobs involved getting even, with maybe inflicting a little hurt on someone if necessary, Jack made sure to do a fair amount of backgrounding before he took any action. But Edward had wanted Jack to keep people from from being hurt, so he'd taken the man at his word. being hurt, so he'd taken the man at his word.

But if he wasn't Eli Bellitto's brother, who the h.e.l.l was he? Had he hired Jack to be there when Bellitto s.n.a.t.c.hed that child? Seemed so. But how had he known?

Jack figured chances were slim to none he'd ever find out.

Still, he wasn't quite ready to write this off as a bad deal. Not yet. The phone number Edward had given him wouldn't allow that. If you're going to leave a phony number, you simply write down an area code and seven random digits. Why leave one out? It didn't make sense.

Jack's brain held a closetful of things that didn't make sense. He'd pitch this in with the rest.

He pushed through the door and entered the cool interior of Munic.i.p.al Coins.

”Mr. Blake!” said a man who had been rearranging a tray in a long row of display cases. He bustled forward and shook Jack's hand. ”So good to see you again!”

”h.e.l.lo, Monte. Call me Jack, okay?”

He'd been telling Monte for years to call him Jack but the man must have been born with an extra formality gene that made it impossible for him to address a customer by his first name.

”I'll do that,” he said. ”Yes, I'll do that.”

Monte was half owner of Munic.i.p.al Coins. Every time Jack looked at him, the word thick thick sprang to mind: thick body, thick lips, even his curly black hair. But he moved like a ferret. Had a numismatic database for a brain and an MBA from Yale, but the only business he had any desire to administrate was rare coins. sprang to mind: thick body, thick lips, even his curly black hair. But he moved like a ferret. Had a numismatic database for a brain and an MBA from Yale, but the only business he had any desire to administrate was rare coins.

”Just bought a big collection,” he said, motioning Jack toward the rear of the store where he kept the cream of his inventory. ”Some incredible pieces came in last week. You've got to see them. Absolutely gem.”

Jack was one of Monte's regular customers. Probably saw him as a well-heeled collector of rare coins, but Jack's stash of coins was more than a collection. They were his life savings...

Without a Social Security number-a real one-he couldn't invest in CDs or stocks; he wouldn't have wanted to under any circ.u.mstances because that would mean paying taxes, a burden Jack had managed to avoid thus far in his life. So whenever he acc.u.mulated a lump of cash, he put it into gold coins, some of them bullion type, like Krugerrands, but mostly the rare and collectible. Not an exciting investment, but other facets of his life provided enough adrenaline and he saw no need to look for more in the investment realm. He'd missed the rocketing stocks of the nineties, but he'd also missed the crash of the aughts.

”Not looking for coins today, Monte,” Jack said.

And I won't be buying many more if I keep allowing myself to get stiffed by customers who lie to me.

”Just a social call then?” Monte said, doing a fair job of hiding his disappointment. ”Always good to see you, Mr. Blake, no matter what the occasion.”

”But I am am in the market for something to display my coins. Where are those clamsh.e.l.l cases you've been telling me about?” in the market for something to display my coins. Where are those clamsh.e.l.l cases you've been telling me about?”

Monte had been pus.h.i.+ng a new line of pocket-sized display cases on Jack for months, telling him they were the latest and greatest thing for the collector who wanted to safeguard his coins when he showed them off. Jack had repeatedly turned him down.

”What're you planning?” Monte said, grinning as he reached up and pulled a cardboard box from a wall rack. ”Taking them to a show? Or maybe give the relatives a peek?”

The last thing Jack wanted to do with his collection was display it, but he was going to have to bite the bullet and bring some of them out for the Madame Pomerol sting.

”Relatives,” Jack told him. ”Gonna give my Uncle Matt a peek.”

”Lucky him.”

From the box Monte removed a pair of keys and an oblong metal case that ran eight inches long and was just shy of five inches wide; its tapered brushed chrome surface gleamed under the lights.

”See?” Monte said, pointing. ”Recessed hinges at this end and a lock at the other.”

He stuck one of the keys into the keyhole and turned it. The lid popped open revealing a clear plastic s.h.i.+eld. Under that, gray felt molded into angled slots that would display coins of varying sizes.

”But the real beauty of it is this s.h.i.+eld here: Tough clear plastic that keeps people's hands off. Remember that old song, 'You can look but you'd better not touch'?”