“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m going to do a little business with Irv tonight to get some traveling money, and I thought I’d head south, if you still want me there.”

“Of course I do.” She gave him her address. “Come as soon as you can. Don’t call this number again. I need to get rid of the phone.”

“Got it. I’ll be down there in a couple of days.”

“Sounds good.”

He gave her his new throwaway number. “In case you change your mind.”

“I won’t. I’ll be glad to see you.” They both hung up.

57

CURLY LEFT THE Y via the emergency exit and walked down the alley to the street, where he found a cab. It was raining lightly and was colder; he pulled his jacket more tightly around his neck. He got out at the corner and walked down the street to the building where Irv had a small apartment. As requested, he walked down the steps to the basement door and waited under the stoop.

Irv appeared a little after eleven and handed Curly a slip of paper. “Take a cab to this address and wait for me across the street from the shop. We don’t want to be seen together.”

“All right.”

Irv handed him a brown paper bag with something heavy in it. “This is what you wanted, and I’m taking five hundred out of your end to pay for it. There’s six cartridges, too.”

“Fine with me,” Curly said, slipping the bag into his jacket pocket.

“Me first,” Irv said. “Wait a couple of minutes then find a cab.” He strode off as best he could, limping.

Curly checked the address, in the East Nineties, then headed for the corner and hailed a cab. Ten minutes later, with little traffic to slow him, he got out of the cab and checked the block. No person in sight. He crossed the street and found Irv waiting behind some trash cans.

“You watch for anyone, and I mean anyone coming,” Irv said.

“Right,” Curly replied, and turned toward the street while Irv went to work on the front door. Finally, he heard it open.

“Come on,” Irv said.

“How do you know the alarm isn’t working?” Curly asked.

“Inside information. Besides, do you hear an alarm?” He hustled Curly inside. And led the way to the rear of the store. Outside the small rear office was a large double-doored safe.

“Here’s how it goes,” Irv said. “You wait in the front, staying out of sight. If you see anything small enough to put in your pocket that might be worth real money, take it, but I’m pretty sure everything worth stealing is in this safe. This is probably going to take me half an hour, maybe longer. I managed to practice on a similar model, so it shouldn’t be impossible.”