Magic City Blues by Bobby Mathews

Author:Bobby Mathews [Mathews, Bobby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books
Published: 2023-02-24T05:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

D’Agostino and I left Abby in Laura’s apartment, where she was under strict orders to stay put. Now that the secret was out, now that we knew the Terrible Thing, Abby seemed spent, as though the last breath of wind was spent in her sails.

We were in Laura’s car, deking through the downtown traffic, heading to St. Vincent’s Hospital. She was driving. A quick phone call to one of her cop buddies had located Ralph, who had been admitted with serious but— sadly— not life-threatening injuries. When we got to the hospital, D’Agostino parked on a hydrant, secure in the knowledge that the nearly rabid meter-readers that patrolled downtown wouldn’t ticket a cop car. We took the elevator up to the fifth floor and found Ralph in bed in a private room, his right leg hoisted to nearly forty-five degrees by a pulley and sling contraption. The left leg was immobilized in a cast. His nose was bandaged and both eyes were black. Bruises ran down his arms like streams heading toward the sea. I tried not to look too pleased with myself.

Bolted into the far wall near the ceiling was a flat-screen TV tuned to ESPN. It played without sound, highlights of professional basketball players I’d never heard of. Where had Larry and Magic gone? There was a table beside the bed with a plastic pitcher and Styrofoam cup, as well as a black smartphone. Pushed away into the far corner of the room was a small table that held the remains of Ralph’s lunch. It looked like it had been meatloaf, and from the state of the leftovers, it hadn’t been very good.

It took a moment for Ralph to register who we were, and then he shifted in the hospital bed and the whole thing almost went over. The setup was nearly too small for him, and I had a moment’s pity. He was a large man in just about every way. Yes, he was fat, but that was just one layer on top of heaps of muscle. None of it was pretty, but Ralph was as tall as an NBA player, and he was wide-shouldered and thick-bodied, a man of immense mass who could still move quickly enough to be dangerous to just about anyone.

And here he was, flat on his back. Helpless. I tried not to grin about it too much.

“What the fuck are you doing here,” he said. It wasn’t a question. Instead he seemed to be musing to himself. He never looked at D’Agostino, instead staring beady eyes at me, shooting daggers at the man who had put him in traction.

“Ralph, how’s it going?” I asked. He didn’t answer, so I plowed on. “The time has come for us to put aside our differences and apply sweet reason.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” He finally dared a glance at D’Agostino. “What’s with the cop? You think she’s gonna protect you when I get outta here?”

Laura laughed and stepped toward the hospital bed.

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