“How you doin’?” I said.
“Everything is great, except I overslept.”
“That’s good. You need some extra sleep.”
“I just got off the phone with Linda Gail. Wait till you hear this. She got a five-year contract with Warner Brothers. She’s going to star in a movie about the French Underground. My little Linda Gail is an actual movie star.”
“That’s something, isn’t it?” I said.
“All those worries I had, they didn’t mean anything, did they?”
“I guess not.”
“She’s flying in tonight. Let’s go out on the town.”
“We’ve had some trouble, Hershel,” I said. I told him what had happened to Rosita.
“Who’s this cop?” he asked.
“He’s not important. It’s the people who hired him we have to nail.”
“In the meantime, this guy needs to be taken off at the neck.”
“That’s what they want.”
“You think this bastard is working for Dalton Wiseheart?”
“That’d be my bet.”
“I feel awful about this, Weldon. I wish I’d been there.”
“Let me call you later.”
“Tell Rosita we’re all on her side. Linda Gail will tell her the same thing.”
“I’ll tell her, Hershel. You and Linda Gail take care.”
“It’s y’all I’m worried about, not us,” he replied. “Don’t do anything without including us in. We got us an agreement on that? We’ll always be Rosita’s friends. We’ll back your play, whatever it is, Loot.”
I went back upstairs. Rosita had finished dressing but had not put on any makeup. “You don’t look well,” she said.
I sat in a chair by the window and told her of my conversation with Hershel.
“He has no idea what’s going on, does he?”
“None at all.”
“Why didn’t the people who sent us the photo also send one to Hershel?”
“You already know why,” I said.
“They didn’t want to use all the knives in the set. They want you to live with the knowledge that at any given moment they can destroy Hershel’s marriage. They also want to make you party to the deception of your best friend.”
“That’s exactly what they’re doing.”
“Maybe you should tell Hershel and show him the photo.”
“The photo of Linda Gail looks like it was taken in a motel. In all probability, it was taken the night she got drunk and allowed herself to be seduced by Jack Valentine. Should I tell Hershel that?”