“They’re not police officers,” Warren said with a wave of dismissal. “Don’t worry.”

“Laurie,” Jack said. “I think it’s time to give Lou a call. I’m sure he’d like nothing better than to talk with these gentlemen. And tell him to bring the paddy wagon in case he’d like to invite them to stay the night at the city’s expense.”

Laurie disappeared into the kitchen.

Jack walked over to Angelo and towered above him.

“Stand up,” Jack said.

Angelo got to his feet and glowered insolently at Jack. To everyone’s surprise, especially Angelo, Jack sucker punched him as hard as he could in the face. There was a crunching sound as Angelo was knocked backward over the sofa to land in a heap on the floor.

Jack winced, cursed, and grabbed his hand. Then he shook it up and down. “Jeez,” he complained. “I’ve never hit anybody like that. It hurts!”

“Hold up,” Warren warned Jack. “I don’t like beatin’ on these dog turds. It’s not my style.”

“I’m all done,” Jack said, still shaking his injured hand. “You see, that dog turd on the other side of the couch beat up on Laurie earlier this evening after they broke into her apartment. I’m sure you noticed her face.”

Angelo pushed himself up to a sitting position. His nose angled to the right. Jack invited him to come back around the couch and sit down. Angelo moved slowly, while cupping his hand beneath his nose to catch the dripping blood.

“Now, before the police get here,” Jack said to the two men, “I’d like to ask you guys again about what you’re afraid Laurie and I might learn. What is going on with this Franconi nonsense?”

Angelo and Franco stared at Jack as if he weren’t there. Jack persisted and asked what they knew about Franconi’s liver, but the men remained stone silent.

Laurie returned from the kitchen. “I got Lou,” she reported. “He’s on his way, and I have to say he’s excited, especially about the Vido Delbario tip.”

An hour later, Jack found himself comfortably ensconced in Esteban Ndeme’s apartment along with Laurie and Warren.

“Sure, I’ll have another beer,” Jack said in response to Esteban’s offer. Jack was feeling a pleasant buzz from his first beer and progressively euphoric that the evening had worked out so auspiciously after such a bad start.

Lou had arrived at Jack’s with several patrolmen less than twenty minutes after Laurie’s call. He’d been ecstatic to take Angelo and Franco downtown to book them on breaking and entering, possession of unauthorized firearms, assault and battery, extortion, and impersonation of a police officer. His hope was to hold them long enough to get some real information out of them about New York City organized crime, particularly the Lucia organization.

Lou had been disturbed by the threats Laurie and Jack had received, so when Jack mentioned that he and Laurie were thinking of going out of town for a week or so, Lou was all for it. Lou was concerned enough that in the interim, he’d assigned a guard for Laurie and Jack. To make the job easier, Jack and Laurie agreed to stay together.