Blood & Whiskey by Meredith. Allison

Author:Meredith. Allison [Allison, Meredith.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical, World War I
ISBN: 9780578416724
Google: GSnuwQEACAAJ
Publisher: Meredith Allison
Published: 2018-11-08T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

The next afternoon, Nick relaxed in a booth at Stems with a cigarette and a seltzer water, talking to Charlie and Moritz as Mia rehearsed, leaning against the piano and singing with the pianist.

“How bad was it?” Moritz asked. His low voice was cultured after years of training himself to not sound like a street guy, but it was still all Brooklyn with a few shakes of Yiddish accent.

“Bad enough I gotta go out there myself and straighten it out,” Nick replied with a shake of his head. “I know word travels fast in this town, but I never thought word would travel overnight from here to Omaha.”

Arthur O’Murphy had phoned him that morning, saying Mr. Dennison had some reservations about the deal with last night’s “occurrence.” As Dennison was a key cornerstone in the distribution plan, Nick couldn’t afford to lose access to Omaha. Of course, even without Dennison’s backing, he could still run the liquor in and out of the town, but Dennison would know it was him, and Nick just wasn’t interested in fighting a war across three states. He wanted allies, not enemies.

“O’Murphy,” Charlie said with scorn. “Bet he wasted no time hopping on the telephone to gossip to his boss about what happened. Shit, Nick, everyone in town already knows somebody got whacked here. Matter of time before they find out who.”

Nick shot his friend a sharp look. “Don’t you start in on me, too. Bad enough I had to get it from Sal in his office for an hour straight last night, like he’s my fucking father or some shit.”

Charlie held up his hands, his gaze diverting toward Mia when she started a tap dance to “The Maple Leaf Rag” with the band’s rhythm tapper and featured soloist, D.C. London. Nick suddenly remembered the card from Levi Smith on behalf of A.J. Balaban the night before—in all the excitement, he’d forgotten to tell Mia the big news. He made a mental note to tell her on her break, and also suggest she bring D.C. and do their “Maple Leaf Rag” number for part of the audition—it was terrific, and really highlighted her dancing chops.

“That ain’t what I’m doing,” Charlie said. “I think you did the right thing. What else could you do? Family, that’s a line you don’t cross.”

Nick’s eyes narrowed slightly as Charlie’s gaze once again crept toward his sister. He wasn’t stupid. He’d known since the night four years ago when he’d brought Mia to a party with him in Atlantic City, her first real party as a grown-up and not a kid, that there was something between them. Mia’d always had a little crush on Charlie, giving herself away by expiring in anger each time Nick teased her about it. If it weren’t true, she’d laugh and play along, but she always turned red and insisted he didn’t know what he was talking about. And Charlie had always been friendly with Mia, but when she had clearly become a woman—and a beautiful one—his demeanor had shifted, ever so slightly.

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