There was more shouting that he couldn’t understand, then everything went quiet. He peeked from his hiding place and saw no one on any roof. He had to pick the lock on the structure housing the staircase, then he walked down to the top floor and took the elevator down. He took a cap and a scarf from his backpack to camouflage his closely cropped head (he had begun to grow his hair on Maria’s advice). He looked down the street and saw what appeared to be an unmarked police car turning the corner. He walked to the nearest subway and rode downtown to the Y, where he rented a room. Then he changed and went down to the weight room. He was surprised to find Irv there, watching others work out.

“How you feeling, Irv?” Curly asked, sitting beside him on a bench.

“Not up to working out,” Irv replied. “I can’t do that with a sore ass.”

“They give you antibiotics to take?”

“Yeah. They seem to be working, too.”

“Remember to take them all. If you stop, the infection might come back.”

“I got the news on that from the nurse in the ER.”

“Good. I got rousted by a couple of detectives less than an hour ago.”

“Well, you’re still walking around, so I guess they didn’t grab you.”

“Only because I was ready, and the super warned me they were on the way up. That was a hundred well spent.”

“Are you broke?”

“I had some mad money in my bag. That’ll hold me for a while. I could use a score, though. You got anything on the back burner?”

“Maybe. What can you put in up front?”

“C’mon, Irv, I gave you fifteen Gs up front for the other job and another grand for the doctor.”

“I have met my obligations on that job, and more, and I earned that money.”

“I’m not saying you didn’t, it’s just that you’re well heeled at the moment, and I’m not. We can do a score together, and I’ll take the short side of a sixty-forty split.”

“It’ll have to be seventy-five/twenty-five.”

“Okay, okay, what’s the job?”

“I know a pawnshop with a nonworking alarm system. It’s fat—all sorts of stuff, including guns, and there’s a safe I can likely crack, where he keeps his cash.”

“Well, I could use a gun.”

“I thought you were opposed to them.”

“Most of the time, yeah, but I think somebody’s going to try to off me tonight.”

“Well, I’m not packing heat, but I’ve got a snub-nosed .38 at home that I’ll sell you for a grand.”

“A grand for a hot pistol?”

“It’s cold as ice, never been used in a crime. I found it in a desk drawer on a job.”