"I only caught the end of that," Danny said, "but something tells me there's trouble in the sandbox."

He smiled as he spoke, but the air around him rippled with menace like heat waves rising off sunbaked asphalt. It frightened me and it was no trick of the light.

"I was just explaining the facts to your brother here," Al said.

"That true?" Danny asked.

He hadn't sat, or even taken his hand from Al's shoulder. I noticed Al had started sweating, spiking the strength of his already powerful cologne.

"More or less," I said.

Danny clapped his hands. Al and I both nearly jumped out of our skin.

"Okay then," Danny said, dropping into the booth next to me. "Who's gonna buy me a drink?"

Al about exploded from his seat. "I got that. Just let me hit the pisser first."

I watched Al make his way to the men's room, wondering if he had really just asked my brother's permission to take a leak. I realized that no matter how hard Al tried to sell it as an equal partnership, the balance of power in their situation had tilted in Danny's favor.

"As long as he doesn't put on any more cologne," Danny said, waving his hand in front of his face. "How'd he take it, about the cop?"

"I thought you told him," I said. "And I thought maybe you'd told our uncle, too. I figured that's why Al was so pissed."

Danny laughed. "Our uncle, you're getting good at this. It's okay, though, save that shit for the phone. I told Al that you wanted to speak privately with him and that Bavasi approved it."

"So Santoro knows about this meeting?" I asked. "You got through that high?"

"Are you kidding? You think Santoro gets involved with this piddly shit? I told Bavasi that the three of us were meeting tonight to map out an attack strategy and that's all." Danny elbowed me, nodding at Al, who was on his way back from the bar. "I bent the truth a bit in Al's case.

He'll be more receptive if he thinks Bavasi's mad at him. But it's best if we work this out among ourselves. The bosses hate drama."

Al set drinks in front of Danny and me and sat down across from us. The volume on his Drakkar had come down a notch, but he was breathing a cloud of bad tequila all over the booth. He'd helped himself to some liquid courage at the bar.

"Two Jack and Cokes," he said. "That cool?"

Danny nodded. Al seemed to relax. I felt relief but also a twinge of disappointment. I wanted Danny to make Al crawl some more.

"Kev," Danny said, "tell Al about the cop."

"What cop?" Al asked, a squeak in his voice I hadn't heard before.

"There's a cop that lives in Kelsey's building," I said. "A detective named Waters. You scared her. She put him on to your car. He's looking for you, asking for the plates."

Danny burst into hysterics and Al actually blushed, deflating in his seat. I could almost hear the air whistling out of him. I looked at one then the other, totally lost. My brother was the first to recover.

"Oooooh, shit," he said, giggling. "Too much. Al, you have no fucking luck." He drummed his hands on the table. "Let's flip the script. Al, why don't you tell Kevin about the cop?"

"Fuck you, man," Al said, staring straight down. With his thumb, he tore pieces from the wet cocktail napkin under his drink.

"What else did Kelsey tell you about Waters?" Danny asked, clearly reveling in Al's misery.

"That he was older, lived alone," I said. "He keeps an eye out for the single women in the building. He helped out another girl with an ex-boyfriend last year."

Danny's eyebrows danced on his forehead. "Oh, really?"

"This girl sicced Waters on her ex and the guy never came around again. Nobody knows how it went down."

"Not nobody," Danny said, jerking his thumb at Al. I finally caught on.

"No way," I said. "Al? You're the ex?"

"Yes, indeed," Danny said, clapping his hands. "I love this shitty island, there's no getting away with anything." He leaned across the table, calling Al's name in a low, singsong voice. "Tell him, Al. Or I will."

Al shot up in his seat then tilted a bit, looking for the first time like he might be really drunk.

"All right, fuck both you bitches. So Cheri fills this fat cop's head full of lies about me, she's probably bobbin' his knob like she was everyone else in the fuckin' neighborhood, cokehead whore that she is, which, might I add, is why she was the problem to begin with, not me, and gives him my name, tag number, all kinds a shit. He's got nothin' else to do, the no-life-havin'

motherfucker, so late one night he pulls me over on the South Shore Expressway. He makes me spread 'em on the trunk and then suckers me with his flashlight when I ain't lookin'. So I'm already all dizzy and when I turn around to even the score he shines that fuckin' light right in my eyes, blindin' me, and so I trip and twist up my ankle real bad and hit the pavement. Then, the pussy-whipped dicklicker that he is, Waters works out on me while I'm down, talking like a tough guy the whole time, when he's really just a no-account sneaker."

"Wow," I said. "That's some story."

"The beauty is in the telling," Danny said. "Some of it's even true."

"In case I forgot to say so," Al said, "fuck you bitches."

"Anyway," Danny said, "the point is, Al, that this cop knows you."

"Fuck him. I don't even drive the same car anymore."

"Is that what I should tell Bavasi," Danny said, "when I gotta tell him you've been arrested?" He snapped his fingers in Al's face. "Look at me, fool. When Kevin goes to see his girl, you leave them be. In fact, leave Kevin be at all times."

"It ain't up to us," Al said. "Fuck, Kevin here is about the most boring-ass motherfucker I ever met. You think I like following around after Mr. Excitement here? But Bavasi wants Kevin babysat until this is over." Al shrugged. "It ain't our call, D."

"Long as Al leaves Kelsey alone, I'm cool," I said.

"Well, thank fucking Christ," Al said. "That's a load off my fucking mind."

"I want them left alone," Danny said. "Permanent. Let me worry about Bavasi. I got you covered."

Al threw up his hands. "Fine, fine. Just don't fuck me, Danny. I don't want Bavasi asking me for information that I oughta have and don't got. You can't lie to that guy, you know that."

"Trust me," Danny said.

Al scoffed and slid out of his seat. "Trust you? You're a fucking junkie. I'm fuckin' outta here."

He staggered away from the table. "Seems you two got everything figured out."

"Hey! Come back here!" I shouted. I tried to push past Danny. He wouldn't budge.

"Forget it," Danny said. "It's not like it ain't true."

"What's gotten into him?"

Danny sighed. "He's already in the doghouse over that shit with the bodies. Now he thinks he's blown another assignment. I know what he's thinking, that the minute you showed up his life hit the shitter."

"Me? All I'm doing is what you asked. Getting me involved was your idea, remember?"

"Hey, forget it," Danny said. "Al's been on borrowed time for a while."

My brother seemed pretty nonchalant about Al's situation. It didn't seem to me that people got demoted in Santoro's organization; they burned up at the dump. Danny plucked his cocktail straw from his drink and stuck it in his mouth.

"What happens when Bavasi asks Al about me," I said, "and Al's got nothing to tell him?"

"Relax. It's not like Al's gotta file a daily report," Danny said. "He says nothing, Bavasi assumes nothing's happening, at least for a while." He sighed, rubbing his hands on his thighs. "Still, it's probably best if we get things moving along. I did tell Bavasi that we're making progress. Am I gonna go back to him with my dick in my hands?"

I swallowed a huge mouthful of Jack and Coke. "Word around the office is that Friends of Bloodroot is nothing serious. Whitestone's fucking with his bosses. There's a position he wanted that he didn't get. He's getting his jollies being a thorn."

"Good news, I guess," Danny said. He stared into his drink. He'd hardly touched it. "If this guy Whitestone was a real crusader, he could be a problem. How do we get him to back off?"

"I don't know," I said. "But, listen, I'm gonna tell Whitestone I'm designing a class on Bloodroot, get on his good side for a change. I'll learn more that way. I know the faculty in the group. I'll get in touch with each of them and see what they know. In a couple of weeks I'll have details. We can go from there."

Danny shook his head. "Santoro's losing his patience." He tossed his straw on the floor. "This bullshit's already held him up almost a year. The longer Whitestone's stupid vanity project hangs around, the more churches and charities and little old ladies start kicking in. We need an angle on the man. Somewhere to squeeze him. You need to work that meeting with him. If you can't get something professional, get something personal."

"Jesus, Danny," I said, raising my hands. "What do you want from me? I don't like where this is going."

"Where'd you think it was gonna go?"

I crossed my arms, sank deeper into the booth. I thought about Ida Horace. "I think the money keeps him going. He got a donation the other day worth at least ten grand. Why not just buy him off?"

"Bribes mean establishing contact," Danny said. "Starting a relationship. We don't know Whitestone from Adam, if he's greedy, if he scares easy. Can Whitestone be trusted to take his slice like a good soldier and keep his mouth shut? Is he smart enough to fool the IRS? You find these things out for us, maybe we can make that move."

While Danny talked, I watched the bartender flip channels on the TV. I didn't need a meeting to know bribing Whitestone would never work. I'd just wanted an easy answer. You couldn't take bribes in front of a camera, at least not the kind of camera that Whitestone liked. And once the payoffs started, he'd never let go. He'd be worse than that guy with the bad hairpiece in Goodfellas, always nagging after his money. Which meant Whitestone would come to the same bad end, as well. And it wouldn't be Joe Pesci doing the job; it might be Danny.

All our lives would be a lot easier, though, if Whitestone turned up dead. It was a horrible thought, but I couldn't let it go. "How come no one's just shot him?"

"This ain't the fucking movies, Kev," Danny said. "Bodies are like bribes, they create a connection and lots of opportunities for mistakes. Our buddy Al Bruno's a case in point.

Execution is only for the most extreme circumstances. They're never good business." He reached across the table, grabbed my forearm. "And another thing. If I thought this gig involved killing, I'd never have brought you near it. What's gotten into you?"

I set my elbows on the table, put my face in my hands. I couldn't believe I'd asked that question about killing Whitestone. Sure I didn't like him, but Whitestone was a regular guy, with a job and a family and a life. Maybe a dog. I couldn't believe I'd even for a moment wished him dead out loud and maybe just for a second meant it.

Danny flicked his finger against the back of my hands. I swatted him away. "Get off."

"Don't get twisted over this," Danny said. "Have your meeting. Talk to these other people. Just do it soon and come back to me with-" He stopped, concern bunching the skin of his forehead.

"I gotta ask you, who's your source for this 'word around the office'?"

I waited too long to lie. "Nobody. It's just an expression. You know, like 'word on the street.' " I felt my pulse pounding under my ears, a headache coming on. I wanted to be home in my apartment, alone with all the lights out. "I talked to Kelsey."

"Bad, bad, bad," Danny said, dropping his hands hard on the table. That swirl of menace bent the air again. "Tell me what she knows. Everything. This is very, very important."

"She doesn't know anything," I said. "I told her the same story I told you, about the class."

"She bought it?"

"I think so," I said.

Danny put his hand on my shoulder. "You can't think. You have to know."

"She wants to help me plan the class." I stared into Danny's eyes until my own quivered in my skull. "That's all this is to her. A new class I'm going to teach."

Danny squeezed my shoulder. "Let's bail," he said, standing. "I need a cigarette."

OUTSIDE, THE OCTOBER WIND kicked up baby twisters of pavement grit, candy wrappers, and dead leaves. Ducking our heads, pulling our jackets tighter across our chests, we lit up. Small clusters of smokers, all guys, gathered in front of the other bars, scratching at the concrete with their shoes like pigeons in a park as they checked us out. Everyone held their shoulders bunched high against the wind, some standing with their beers concealed up their sleeves. They were all strangers with no interest in my brother and me, but I felt watched anyway, like they'd been waiting for us and weren't speaking because they wanted to hear what Danny and I would say. They looked to me like a silent jury.

An old, grungy city bus, insides bright as an operating room, dropped two stooped, waddling passengers at the Shell station across the street. I'd be riding a bus just like it into work the next morning. The thought depressed me. I waited till the bus trundled away before I spoke.

"Look, Danny. I just wanna-"

"Not here," Danny said, tossing a glance at the other smokers.

We made a right off Forest, climbing a hilly street lined with tall old oaks, their roots bursting through the sidewalk, their twisted, leafless branches ashen in the streetlights. Above us, thick black power lines stretched from the light posts to peak-roofed brick houses like the cords of a busted net. Aged sedans slumbered in driveways, abandoned to the elements outside garages stuffed with bad paintings, beaten-down lawn mowers, one-wheeled bikes, and busted bowling trophies. Rusty, padlocked chain-link fences framed every scraggly yard, a BEWARE OF DOG sign hung beside every lock. I didn't hear any barking as we passed house after house. I didn't hear anything but the wind in the trees and the occasional burble of a television. Danny stopped us at a dark corner where the streetlight had burned out.

"You got nothing to worry about," I said.

"Cut Kelsey out of it," Danny said. "This bullshit about the class. Cut her out completely. Tell her you gave up on the idea."

"She'll have no trouble believing me," I said, looking back down the hill, running my fingers through my hair. Man, how was I going to tell her that? Her believing in me, even under false pretenses, had felt so good. I didn't want to go back to the same old Kevin. "I'm not dumping her. I won't."

"Damn right you're not," Danny said. "In fact, you better keep her happy. Last thing we need is some pissed-off woman riding your shit. I could tell by looking at her, that woman gets scary mean. When're you gonna tell her about the fake class going to hell?"

"Shit, I don't know."

"Tomorrow," Danny said. "Tonight."

"Is she really in that much danger?" I asked.

"Again with her," Danny said, rolling his eyes. "I'm talking about us. You and me, Kev. The family."

"Yeah, I know. It's just . . ." I spread my arms, dropped them to my sides. "She's where my brain goes first these days."

"Not just your brain," Danny said.

"Gimme a break here. You know what I mean."

"Sorry, sorry," Danny said, shaking his palms at me. "Let's talk serious a minute. How much do you like this girl?"

I didn't want to lie to myself or to Danny. Now did not seem like the time. "A lot. More than I thought I would. More than I should, considering the circumstances."