Grind Joint by Dana King

Author:Dana King
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Down & Out Books

CHAPTER 38

“Your cousin’s at the end of the bar, by the restrooms,” Fat Jimmy told Doc before he had a chance to ask, or say hello.

“You trying to hurry me along?” Doc said. “What’s the matter? He breaking up the customers again?”

“I know a few he might get a shot at later. Look around you.” Not an empty chair, four-thirty on a weekday afternoon. “Unemployment checks hit today. Gonna be at least three arguments and probably one fight. Your cousin stays long, maybe two.”

“You don’t seem too upset.”

“I seen the job he done on Dan Connor. He wants to do it again, I got candidates for him. I never had a bouncer in here, but I’m getting too old for this shit.”

“He was only a year behind you in school. Your problem’s not you’re too old. You’re too fat.”

“Keep that fat shit up and I’ll put extra spit in your beer next time.”

“Jeez, Jimmy. I thought fat people were supposed to be jolly. I mean, the sign over the door says, ‘Fat Jimmy’s.’ Now you’re sensitive about it?”

“You want jolly? Har-de-fucking-har-har. That better?”

Doc looked at him, wagged his head. “Could you bring me an MGD, and another of whatever my cousin’s drinking? I’ll open mine myself.”

Jimmy flashed him the finger. “You’ll drink whatever I bring you, wise ass.”

Doc walked to the end of the bar nearest the men’s room, elbowed his way in between Nick and a guy he thought might have conveyed with the place when Jimmy bought it, and he had mileage on him then. The old-timer sprinkled salt in his beer and stirred with a finger that looked like it had four knuckles.

“This place is something else,” Nick said. He wore the Bears hat, backward on his head again so everyone in the seating area could read it. “Chicago has some dives, but this joint has an atmosphere all its own.”

“That’s because the windows haven’t been open since he bought it.” Jimmy waddled over and dropped off their beers. “I need to talk to you.”

“I figured. Remember, I’m a detective. For example, when you called a few hours ago and said, ‘We need to talk,’ I deduced that’s what was up. My only question is, how come we never meet anyplace nice? I feel so cheap. I’m not the other detective, am I? You know, the one you sneak around with while the legal detective stays at home and cleans up your reports for you.”

“That license plate you got the hit on last night. Car’s registered to Yuri Volkov.”

“Sergei’s boy?”

Doc nodded.

“Now we know who’s in charge.”

Doc tasted his beer. “Get off Rollison now.”

“You want me to take Yuri?”

“No.” It came out harder than Doc intended. “Stay away from Yuri. I don’t have the full scoop on him yet, but I know enough to know you don’t want him finding out you’re following him. Or Rollison, for that matter. Get that GPS thing off his car. We can’t afford anyone to find it accidentally and you not be aware of it.

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