“I know what the favor is,” Jacobs finally said, as if he’d been holding it in. “The one Mr. Giancana asked of Mr. S.”

“You do?”

“Yes, sir,” Jacobs said. Charlie could tell he didn’t feel completely comfortable sharing it. “Or I should say, I know of a favor Mr. Giancana asked of him. I don’t know if it’s the only one or the one you were asking about.”

“Okay. Sure. What is it?”

“Pretty much what you might expect,” Jacobs said. “He asked Mr. S. to ask Bobby to cancel his pursuit of organized crime.”

“Anything in particular?” Charlie asked.

“Momo went into quite a bit of detail,” Jacobs recalled, indicating that he paid attention to matters with the diligence one would expect from an admiral’s aide. “Bobby Kennedy wants the FBI to eliminate organized crime. Not just Giancana’s guys, but all of ’em. Sending the IRS in for tax evasion, appointing a Justice Department task force to prosecute top targets—Giancana, Rosselli, Hoffa, Cohn. And on and on.”

“Boy, Momo has good sources,” Charlie said.

“Money gets you a lot of cooperation, especially from civil service employees,” Jacobs said.

They arrived at the market. Jacobs told Charlie he’d be right back, he just needed some sweet vermouth and olives. Charlie felt better for having removed himself from the immediate temptation of Lola, although all too soon they were headed back to the Compound.

“So what did Frank do?” Charlie asked. “Did he talk to Bobby? Or the Ambassador? Or the president himself? I’m not sure what I could do, but is there any way I can help out?”

“I don’t know,” Jacobs admitted. “In September, Mr. S. and Mr. Lawford went to Hyannis Port, but I don’t know if they talked about any of this. I stayed here. I haven’t heard anyone mention it since.”

They were under the carport now, the engine still running. Jacobs remained seated behind the wheel. Charlie waited to hear if he had anything else to tell him.

“I worry about Mr. S.,” Jacobs finally said. “I worry about the Mob pushing him to do this, and I worry about him being rejected by the president. This time maybe he won’t recover. He’s still not over Ava.”

“He’s still upset about Ava?” Charlie said. Frank and Ava’s tumultuous marriage had ended almost a decade before, when she cheated on him with a bullfighter in Spain.

“He hasn’t been the same since,” Jacobs said. “Might be good for the pain in the torch songs, but it’s bad for him. And I cannot imagine what he will do if the president does the same thing. To be completely candid, he’s head over heels in love with him too. I’m really worried, Congressman. Please do what you can to help him.”