House of Blues

others jump and seemed
to enjoy it.
    " I had to, Gus, I—"
    "You crazy bitch. I can't fucking believe you
could be so fucking incompetent. I swear to fucking God I can't—"
    " Everything fell apart, Gustavo. What was I
supposed to do?" The question was a wail.
    " Okay, okay, keep quiet. Eddie and Mike, okay?
Look. Let me talk to Eddie. I'll send 'em home now—tell 'em their
checks are in the mail."
    Shellmire said, "I'm going to fast—forward to
the place where Anna picks up again."
    He didn't judge it quite right, and Skip heard the
end of what the caller said to Eddie, speaking in a perfectly
reasonable, well-modulated voice. He asked for Anna again, and when
she was on, he continued his tirade as if he hadn't been interrupted.
    " I don't care what the fuck happened. Who the
fuck authorized you to lock people up, for God's sake? When the fuck
have we ever done anything so crazy? And a cop. A cop! You are the
craziest goddamn broad in the entire benighted state of Louisiana."
    "If you'll let me talk, I'll tell you what
happened."
    "I don't care what happened. Why would I want to
know what happened? I'm out of the fucking country and out of the
fucking game. You want to live, Anna, you better get here too."
    "Gustavo, what am I supposed to do with these
people?"
    "I don't care if you burn the whole fucking
place down with all of them in it."
    "What did you say?" The words were spoken
more in incredulity than inquiry.
    "I said fry 'em, I don't care. What the hell
else are you going to do? Let 'em go? Then the cop arrests you. You
can't let 'em go.
    "Leave 'em tied up? If one of 'em gets loose,
it's your ass. You're dead, do you understand? You want to get out
alive? Kill 'em. I swear to God it's your only chance."
    "But Gustavo, you can't just—"
    "I can't what? I been dodging bullets all week,
and now this. You don't know what my stomach feels like. You just
don't know."
    " I can't do what you say."
    "So die, Anna. That's your alternative. Just
burn the records before you do, okay?"
    He hung up.
    Shellmire turned the machine off. "What do you
think?"
    Cappello said, "Was that who I think it was?"
    He nodded. "Gus Lozano. Who we'll now never
touch. He's gone back to the fatherland or some place. But we might
get some of his pals if we work together on this."
    Cappello and Tarantino murmured assent. Skip said, "I
need to know something"
    "You mean, are we going to let you sit in when
we interview her?"
    "How'd you guess?"
    The others laughed.
    * * *
    Anna's new lawyer was a young woman named Dina Roth.
She had shiny shoulder-length hair and the clear eyes of a
teetotaler, something you didn't see that much in New Orleans. She
wore jeans and a blazer, and she was smiling.
    "My client," she said, "has something
to tell you before you begin. I advise you to hear her out. It could
save you a lot of time and trouble."
    " Sure," said Shellmire. "Just let me
remind Ms. Garibaldi of her rights." Anna scowled as he spoke,
and when he had finished, she nodded impatiently.
    "I want to tell you why I changed lawyers,"
she said. "I never called Bobby Delmonico. Someone called him
for me. I was so arrogant, I didn't call a lawyer at all—just
phoned a few of my influential 'friends' to get me out of this.
    "First I called Maurice Gresham, who, I think,
works with the three of you. He's a very special friend of mine, or
he was, until he refused to take my call.
    " After that, I called my friends on the casino
board and my friends in the governors office; every single one of
them couldn't wait to get me off the phone. I called ten in all, and
l'll be glad to give you all their names and a list of the crimes I
personally know they've committed because I've been a witness to
them.
    "One of them, apparently, sent me that horse's
ass, Delmonico, who advised me not to say a word, although so far as
I could tell, this had little to do with helping my case and
everything to do with protecting my 'friends.'
    "I am fed up, ladies and gentlemen. I am the
sister of Gus Lozano, who as you know was the mob boss of New Orleans
until a few days ago. Our longtime employers have now tried to kill
my brother and caused him to seek exile in another country. I locked
up four people and kept them prisoner trying to protect our employers
and their ‘friends,' and then I thought I had no choice except to
kill them to protect myself. I am informed by my brother that our
friends in the dear brotherhood are gunning for me as well as him,
though I doubt