You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Kills You Read Online Free Page A

Investigations,” Penny O’Grady answered.
    “You haven’t quit on him yet?” I asked.
    “Have you got a job for me at the Sands?”
    “Of course.”
    “One where I don’t have to wear fishnets?”
    “Well …”
    “What do you need, Eddie?”
    “The man, if he’s there.”
    “Hold on.”
    After a click Danny said, “Hey, buddy, what’s shakin’?”
    “I’m gonna tell you, Danny, but you’ve got to promise you won’t go off the deep end.”
    “Uh-oh,” he said, “one of your big stars in trouble again?”
    “Maybe.”
    “And you need ol’ Danny Boy to help clean it up,” he said. “I’m there, ol’ buddy. Which one we talkin’ about? Frank? Dino?”
    “Well, Dino asked me to help a friend of his.”
    “He’s the coolest cat on earth,” Danny said. “Count me in. Who’s the pal?”
    I hesitated. Did I really want Danny in on this? That was the question. The answer was, who else could I trust?
    “Marilyn Monroe.”
    Silence on the other end.
    “Danny?”
    “I’m here,” he said, “I’m just tryin’ to think if I heard you right.”
    “You did.”
    “I get to meet her?”
    “If you’re professional about it,” I said. I used Dean’s word. “She’s pretty fragile.”
    “She remember you from last year?” he asked. I’d told him about my one meeting with her.
    “That’s why Dean called me in,” I said.
    “What’s his relationship with her?”
    “He’s known her a long time,” I said. “They’re friends.”
    “And not like Frank and she were friends, right?”
    “Right.”
    “Okay, kiddo, fill me in.”
    I told him about my meeting with Marilyn that morning, and about the promises I made.
    “Doesn’t sound like you promised much more than that you’d try,” Danny said. “She okay with that?”
    “She was when I left her,” I said.
    “Okay, where do you want me? Vegas, or Tahoe?”
    “Tahoe,” I said. “Nose around, see if anybody’s watching her cottage. I’ll check the airport here, see if anyone was on her when she came in.”
    He knew my contacts at the airport were as good as his, maybe better, so he agreed.
    “I’ll get right on it, kid,” he said. “I’ll be in touch.”
    “Thanks, Danny.”
    “You’ll get my bill.”
    “Yeah, right.”
    I wish he
would
bill me when he helped. I’d have the Sands pay him.
    I broke the connection without hanging up, then called somebody I knew in security at McCarron Airport. I explained what I needed from him.
    “Well, there sure were a bunch of folks watching that broad walk through the airport, Eddie,” Ted Silver said. “I don’t know how we could tell which one was followin’ her.”
    “Do me a big favor, Teddy,” I said. “I’d check with the cabbies myself but I’m jugglin’ a lot of stuff here.”
    “I’m pretty busy, too, Eddie.”
    “Come on, be a pal,” I said. “We’ve got a new blackjack dealer I think you might be able to handle.”
    “And I get the name after I do you this favor?”
    “And tickets to a show, if you want.”
    “Sammy Davis this week?”
    “I think I can do that. Actually, all three of them are here this week.”
    “Them other two guys are okay, but that Sammy. He’s the best, and I ain’t never seen him live.”
    “I’ll arrange it.”
    “Okay, Eddie,” he said, “lemme see what I can scare up for ya.”
    “Great, Teddy. Thanks.”
    I hung up and saw Marcy looking at me like I was crazy. I guess my voice must have gotten louder during the conversation.
    “What?” I asked.
    “Are you nuts?”
    “Why?”
    “You’re gonna trust Danny Bardini around Marilyn Monroe?”
    “Hey,” I said, “if he couldn’t handle you, he’s not going to be able to handle her.”
    “Me?”
    I walked behind her desk and leaned down to gather her into my arms.
    “I’ve been alone in a room with Marilyn, and alone in a room with you,” I whispered in her ear. “You’ve got it all over her.”
    “Me?”
    “You.”
    I kissed her cheek. She blushed