Thin Walls: A Smokey Dalton Novel

by Kris Nelscott

“Take off your coat and stay awhile,” I said. “I’ve got coffee, beer, milk, juice, Coca-Cola, and some very fine bourbon.”

  “Bourbon,” McMillan said, just like I expected him to. “Neat.”

  “Nothing for me,” Laura said as she turned to me. “Do these tree lights work or are they just here to tease us?”

  Jimmy and I had been forgetting to turn them on. So much for the festive mood in the house.

  “Go ahead, plug them in, Jim. Show the lady our beautiful tree.” I went into the kitchen and reached into the top cupboard for the bourbon.

  “I wanted real ornaments,” Jimmy was saying to Laura, “but Smoke says this way is more fun.”

  “It is,” Laura said. “I’ve always wanted to do a tree like this.”

  “You have?” His voice rose.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Ours was always so overdecorated and perfect. I wanted to throw tinsel on it and mess it up a bit.”

  “We don’t got tinsel,” Jimmy said.

  “You don’t need it. It’s pretty just the way it is.”

  The tree lights came on. I saw them reflected in the glasses I had taken out for McMillan and me.

  “Spectacular,” Laura said.

  “Me and Smoke spent all day Saturday looking for this tree,” Jimmy said.

  “A man of hidden talents.” McMillan came into the half-kitchen and leaned against the counter. He had taken off his coat. “You know, Laura won’t tell me anything about you. I find that fascinating.”

  I handed him his glass. “Why?”

  “Because of the way she feels about you.”

  I picked up my own glass and walked into the living room. “Hey, Jim,” I said. “Why don’t you give our guests a tour?”

  We’d already discussed this. After he showed off the apartment, he was supposed to go to his room.

  He shot me a pleading look, but I ignored it. Then he smiled at Laura—his charming smile, one I hadn’t seen in a while.

  “This is the biggest place I ever lived,” he said to her as he led her down the hall. He completely ignored McMillan, who didn’t follow them.

  Instead, McMillan sat on one of my kitchen chairs and propped an ankle on his knee.

  “What’s so urgent?” I asked before he could say anything.

  “You finally convinced Laura of something I’ve been trying to tell her all week. I have no idea how you did it, but I’m glad you did.” He sipped the bourbon, then his eyes widened, and he nodded appreciatively. Apparently that, too, wasn’t what he had expected.

  “I’ve been getting threats and so has she,” I said. “I don’t like Sturdy’s history or its connections. I figure they know the right people to make good on their threats, and I also figure these guys are smart enough to know that if something happens to Laura in the next few weeks, their troubles are over. I told her to take the threats seriously. I’m glad she has.”

  “I was telling her that as well, but she was determined to move forward.” He looked amazingly comfortable in that chair. “You have more clout than I do.”

  I wondered at the second mention of my relationship with Laura. McMillan seemed more attentive than the average lawyer, although I was basing this on a sense rather than experience. I couldn’t tell if he was honestly curious about me, or if he wanted to know where I stood with Laura before he let her know how he felt about her.

  I gave him a tight smile. “Maybe it was the fact that we both agreed that convinced her.”

  “Or maybe,” Laura said from the hallway door, “I figured it out all on my own.”

  McMillan and I both watched as she came into the room. She had taken off her coat before I had come into the apartment. She was wearing a bulky cable-knit sweater over her jeans, and the combination was a lot sexier than Marvella’s short skirt and sheer blouse.

  Laura smiled at me and sat on the couch. “This is a nice apartment for the two of you, although I have no idea how Franklin lived here with his entire family.”

  I’d forgotten that she’d found Franklin and Althea’s house for them. “It was a tight squeeze,” I said as I sat beside her.

  “How many lived here?” McMillan asked.

  “There were nine last summer,” I said.

  He whistled softly.

  “That’s not unusual around here,” Laura said. “Rents are too high. Sturdy’s one of the worst offenders. It’s one of the many things I want to change.”

  McMillan sipped his bourbon and studied her. Then his gaze met mine and slipped away.

  “We have to get you to that stockholder’s meeting,” I said.

  “That’s what we wanted to discuss.” McMillan set his bourbon on the table. “We’re going to withdraw the lawsuit tomorrow.”

  “Good,” I said.

  “But I’m worried that won’t be enough. Laura’s drawn attention to herself in exactly the ways we wanted to avoid.”

  Laura’s lips thinned. “You make me sound like an unruly child.”

  I sighed. I hadn’t touched my bourbon, but I picked it up now, just to hold onto the glass. “I have another case that’s taking some of my attention. I can’t be with you twenty-four hours a day, although I could find people who can help me with that if we need it.”

  If I had to set aside the Foster case to protect Laura, I would do it for the next three weeks. But there was Jimmy to consider as well. His life had been in danger too often this past year and I wasn’t about to see it risked again.

  “That’s not our first option,” McMillan said. “Although our first one does concern you.”

  “We ruled that out, Drew.” Laura used her upper-class, control-the-servants voice with him.

  “Let’s give Grimshaw a chance to decide,” McMillan said. “You don’t have the right to say no for him.”

  “I trust Laura,” I said.

  McMillan’s eyes crinkled again, but I got the sense he wasn’t about to smile. Instead, he seemed annoyed. “Hear me out.”

  Laura glared at him. “Sometimes you treat me no differently than they do.”

  He ignored her, looking directly at me. “Right now, if Laura dies, her stocks go to a bunch of different charities. The group at Sturdy would continue to vote those stocks same as they did before. All they’d have to do is approach the various charities, tell them the arrangement, and explain that it’s simpler if the group continues to operate the way it always has. No overworked charity is going to say no to this.”

  “I know,” I said. “That’s not why you wanted to talk to me.”

  “Actually, it is.” He put his foot on the ground, then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “If we can make Laura more valuable to them alive, then they’ll stop coming after her and no one will have to watch her back.”

  In spite of myself, I was intrigued. “How would you do that?”

  “When we withdraw the lawsuit, we notify Sturdy. And when we do, we also send them the clause out of Laura’s new will, the clause that makes you inherit the voting shares of her stock.”

  “Me?” I felt cold. “Because I’m black.”

  “Yeah, I’m afraid so.” He said this without apology. “You also would support her vision, and you wouldn’t be controlled by any outside forces.”

  “Of course, they’d come after me,” I said. “Or hadn’t you thought of that?”

  “I had. With your help, we pick a black-run organization like Operation Breadbasket to inherit the money if you die. If one organization has that much money in stocks, they’re not going to let a group of white bigots run their company.”

  “Thus keeping me alive as well.”

  “Yes.” McMillan leaned back, obviously proud that he’d thought of this.

  Laura’s hands were clenched in her lap, her knuckles white. He had embarrassed and angered her, and hadn’t even realized it.

  I put my hand on her back and felt the tension in the muscles. I had been as silly as Marvella, worrying that this man would interest Laura. He had no idea who she was or what s
he wanted from her life. He tried to understand, but he had no clue.

  “Sorry,” I said. “But Laura was right. I’m not interested.”

  “I thought you wanted to protect her.”

  “I do,” I said. “Just not like this.”

  “You’re one of those guys who doesn’t like money, right?” McMillan frowned. “That’s what keeps you and Laura apart. She knows it and she doesn’t want to embarrass you any further. So you refuse from pride, and put her at risk.”

  I should have gotten angry, but I didn’t. It was clear to me that he was speaking out of frustration and his own desire to protect Laura. Of course, he’d thought of a way to do so using his strength—his ability to manipulate the law.

  “In case you’ve forgotten,” I said, “there’s a little boy in the next room who means a lot to me, and your plan puts him in danger. I’m all he has. If anyone comes after me, they hurt him. And I’m not going to risk that. Not for all the money in the world.”

  McMillan looked at Laura, confusion on his face. She didn’t meet his gaze, but I felt the tension in her back increase. She had told him I wouldn’t do this and wouldn’t tell him why. Then I offer a reasonable explanation, one that he understands.

  Only Laura and I knew that the truth I just gave McMillan was only a partial one. Yes, to protect Jimmy, I wouldn’t put my name in that will, but there were several other tiers to that protection. Even if we could write a valid legal document using a name other than my real name, giving that document to Sturdy meant that they would start investigating me. And we couldn’t allow that for any reason. Right now, they saw me as a nameless, faceless black bodyguard whom Laura trusted a little too much. If we put me down as her backup, then I become a whole lot more—and a lot bigger threat.

  “We can’t put me on that will,” McMillan said. “Even if it weren’t a conflict of interest, they’re not going to be threatened by me. They’re the kind of guys who believe any lawyer can be bought. They need someone they’ll take seriously, someone with integrity, someone they can’t just push around.”

  I ignored his attempt at a compliment. “There is another way, but Laura’s not going to like it.”

  “In case you men hadn’t noticed,” she snapped, “I am sitting here.”

  “I noticed.” I slid my hand up to her shoulder and turned her toward me. Her gaze met mine, and it was as if McMillan wasn’t even there.

  I captured her hands and held them like a man about to propose. Her fingers were cold.

  “I can guard you twenty-four hours a day if you want,” I said. “Or we can figure out a way to make McMillan’s plan work. But I have a simpler, easier suggestion, one that will probably get all of us to the meeting on the second with no trouble at all. In fact, I think Cronk and the rest will relax if we do it this way, and won’t try to figure out ways of preventing you from taking over Sturdy.”

  A small frown creased her forehead. “What won’t I like about this?”

  “Drop the lawsuit,” I said. “Then go to Sturdy and lie.”

  “Lie?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Tell them you’ve fired McMillan and you’ve fired me. We gave you bad advice. You’ve been thinking about it, and of course Cronk and his cronies were right. They’ve done just fine with the money. Tell them you’re really sorry that you were so harsh, but you were only doing what McMillan told you to do.”

  Her skin had paled so much that I could see the blood vessels in her cheeks.

  “In other words,” I said, “pretend you’re the young, dumb woman they think you are.”

  She yanked her hands out of mine and stood so fast that she knocked the coffee table over. It crashed to the floor and she didn’t seem to notice.

  “Would you do that, Smokey?” She wasn’t shouting, but her voice was penetrating all the same. “Would you pretend you can’t think without some white person telling you what to do? Would you meet all those horrible, horrible stereotypes?”

  “If I had to.” My hands were still open, in the same position they’d been in when she let go. “To save my life, or Jimmy’s. Or yours.”

  “I can’t believe you’re asking me to do this. You know how demeaning this is.”

  “I do,” I said.

  “It’s a good idea,” McMillan said. “All week, those men implied that we were controlling you. This would simply confirm their own prejudices.”

  “I don’t want to confirm their prejudices. I have never acted like that, for anyone. I’ve been naïve, I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve never pretended to be a stupid woman who can’t think for herself.”

  “I know what I’m asking you to do,” I said. “I know how it’ll feel, Laura. But it’s only for a few weeks. Then you’ll go into that meeting, and you’ll show them what you’re really made of. You’ll strip them of their power and their prejudices. You’ll win then, Laura, if you do this now.”

  Jimmy had come out of his room, probably drawn by the raised voices and the knocked-over coffee table. But he didn’t interrupt us. He just stood in the dark hallway, watching, thinking that no one saw him.

  Laura had her back to him. She was looking at me. “What if they decide to go after me anyway to hedge their bets?”

  “They won’t,” I said, “if you take the meeting and then become difficult to find.”

  “Why don’t I just do that anyway?” she asked. “Without going through the damn game.”

  “Because Sturdy has the connections to go after you. If they want you dead, they’ll kill you, Laura. But if they believe you’re not a threat, and you become hard to find, then they won’t expend the energy if you’re outside of Chicago. Do you have a passport?”

  “Yes, of course, but—”

  “Then use it. See some sights. Have an exotic Christmas, somewhere unexpected.” I reached for her, taking her fist in my hand and pulling her back to the couch. “It’s real easy to disappear for a few weeks, Laura. You don’t even have to change your name to do it.”

  I said that last so softly that I knew McMillan couldn’t hear me.

  She gave me an anguished look, a look that was more about me and what I’d been through than what she was facing. Then she touched my cheek with her free hand. The caress sent a pleasant shiver through me.

  “Won’t they still come after you?” she asked.

  “Not if you tell them I’ve been fired.” I caught her wrist and brought her hand down, holding it. “Same with McMillan.”

  “They’ll think it’s over?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “But I have to stay away. Even for the holidays.”

  “I think it’s best.”

  “Me, too,” McMillan said, and Laura jumped. I think she had forgotten he was in the room. Her entire body stiffened, and I followed her gaze.

  She was looking at Jimmy.

  He took that as an invitation to join the conversation. “You’re going away?”

  “I think I have to,” she said.

  He nodded once, started to turn toward his room, and then stopped. “If somebody wants to hurt you, maybe Smoke should go with you. He’s real good at saving people.”

  It cost him a lot to offer my services without including him.

  Laura squeezed my hand. “I know.”

  “Laura and I would be pretty conspicuous, Jim,” I said.

  “Pretty what?” He frowned at me.

  “Easy to find.”

  “Oh.” He stared at her for a minute. “I’m not gonna see you again, am I?”

  My heart ached. Everyone he’d ever cared for in his short life had gone away and left him behind.

  “Yes, you are,” Laura said. “I’ll be back right after New Year’s. Then you and I will have a special holiday all our own.”

  “Okay.” Jimmy nodded, but it was clear he didn’t believe her.

  “I promise, Jim.”

  He gave her a brave little smile. “I know.”

  She stood up and walked to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Co
me on,” she said. “Let me help you back to bed.”

  He went with her, looking smaller than he had a moment before. They disappeared through the door to his room, and I could hear her voice, faint and warm.

  McMillan was watching me. “Such a simple plan. I’ve been a lawyer too long.”

  I picked up the bourbon again, and this time I had a larger sip. It didn’t help. “One of us should go with her, you know.”

  He shook his head, his expression sad. “Don’t throw me in the middle of your little domestic drama. Laura can take care of herself. You know that.”

  I nodded.

  “She’s a lot more complicated than I initially gave her credit for.” He smiled, then picked up his glass, saluted me with it, and downed the rest. “I made the same mistake with you. I’m beginning to think I’m not a lot better than the guys at Sturdy.”

  “The fact that you’re even thinking that proves you are.” I grabbed both our glasses, and went into the half-kitchen to refill them.

  “Maybe,” he said, looking down the hallway.

  I could still hear Laura’s voice, very faint, and Jimmy’s rising and falling with distress. He was the one we always seemed to hurt, no matter what we did. I shouldn’t have let him overhear the discussion. But we had been so loud the entire building had probably heard us. Fortunately, no one here had any connections to Sturdy beside the three of us.

  I handed McMillan his drink, then returned to the couch. “How serious do you think the threat to Laura really is?”

  He swirled the liquid in his glass. “Her father’s old lawyer came to me yesterday and made some of the same insinuations you did on the phone to her.”

  “Insinuations?”

  “About mob connections, messing with the wrong people, watching her back. It might be all talk.” He sipped. “It might not.”

  At that moment, Laura came out of Jimmy’s room, looking wan.

  “I’m sorry that you had to take care of him,” I said.

  She shook her head. “It was good. No one’s told him they were coming back before. And I’m going to. We have a date, he and I, for the Saturday I get back. We’re going to do our own Christmas then.”

  “Good,” I said. “Am I invited?”

  “Always, Smokey,” she said, her tone implying that she meant more than just a Christmas celebration. “Always.”