The Long Wait Read Online Free Page B

in your mouth. That’s what I did. I still didn’t know what he was driving at and I wasn’t tipping my hand asking questions about something I should have known.
    â€œMaybe,” I said through the smoke.
    â€œThere’s a bus going out tonight.” He checked with his watch. “Better’n two hours yet so you can wait here. If nobody saw you come in they won’t know you’re here.”
    â€œForget it, forget it. I like it here.” I grinned at him slowly. “Pop, what do you know about Lindsey?”
    â€œJohnny, you ...”
    â€œI asked you something.”
    â€œYou ought to know what he’s like. After Bob Minnow died he swore he’d get the guy who done it and he’s never stopped trying. He’ll never give up, Johnny. He ain’t like the rest. Lmdsey’s straight as they come. He’s the only decent guy left and he stays that way because that’s the way he’s made. I’m telling you, Johnny, nothing’ll pull him off your neck. Not money or nobody or nothing. God knows they tried. He woulda been ousted long ago for not playing ball the way everybody else does, only he knows too much. He don’t talk, but if he did it would be pretty tough.”
    He stopped and took a breath. I said, “Spell it out. A lot of things happen in five years. What’s the pitch?”
    â€œYeah,” he nodded, “I guess you might not know about it at that. Things ain’t peaceful anymore like they was. You saw the town, didn’t you? Sure. Gin mills on every comer and nothing but gambling joints in between. Drunks and lushes all over the place. Prostitution in the North End and who cares? Nobody cares so long as the money rolls in. There’s more of it in this town than the state capital and just like the boys want it. You’d think that the people would say something.
    â€œOkay, they vote and so what? The election always winds up to keep the town laws the way they are now. The City Council moves the way the merchants want ‘em to move and no other way. That’s what’s so screwy about it. There’s better’n fifty thousand people in this town and every year it looks like practically all of ’em are in favor of a good cleanup. They swamp the polls and still the opposition makes ’em look sick.”
    â€œWho runs it all?”
    â€œRuns it? Hell, you got the mayor, the council, this association, that association, the Republicans, the Democrats. Hell....”
    â€œI mean who runs it, Pop. Who runs all the works together?”
    â€œCome again?”
    â€œSomebody’s behind the works.”
    â€œOh ... sure, sure. You take the joints in town now, they belong to the Lyncastle Business Group. That’s Lenny Servo’s bunch. He heads up the saloons and the game rooms.”
    â€œWhat does he own?”
    â€œOwn? Hell, he don’t own nothing. He got the cigarettes and hat-check concession in all them places and makes more’n they do. Nope, he don’t own a thing, but he’s got enough cash to stake a guy who wants to open up a joint. Lenny, he don’t take any chances. He sits back and takes it easy while he runs his organization.”
    I took a deep pull on the cigarette and let it settle in my mind. “He sounds like a nice guy,” I said.
    â€œGreat guy. Everybody wants to be palsy with him. He’s free with his dough if it means he gets something back. Like the recreation park he ‘donated’ to the city ... if they’d give him some swampland on the river. So now the swamp’s gone and he’s got a layout there that pulls in all the river traffic during the summer. Real fancy place it is.”
    â€œWhere’s he from?”
    The old guy shrugged. “Who knows? He moved in about six years ago. Ran a saloon for a while before he branched out.” He stopped speaking at the floor and let his eyes come up to mine. “You got