Page 118 of Cold Hard Cash

“Have a great day, Detective,” Tamerlane said cheerfully, laughing as Lorre stepped aside to let Augustus leave.

Augustus gave Jimmy one last lingering stare before he walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Jimmy felt a hand on his waist, jumping and his heart starting to pound fearfully until he heard a familiar purr, “It’s only me.”

Whirling around to see Cold standing there, Jimmy laughed breathlessly. “I hate when you do that.”

“Mmm, I’ll avoid it in the future then,” Cold promised, gently touching Jimmy’s cheek. His expression became stern, looking to Tamerlane and Lorre. “Well?”

“Nothing,” Lorre said, scratching his chin. “His place is cleared out.”

“Snitch at that deli he likes says he’s still coming by lunch every day,” Tamerlane supplied. “So. He’s still in town. Want us to grab him today? Bring you back a meatball sub?”

“Change of plans,” Cold said with a smirk. “Corman doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to help us get rid of the Luchesis.”

“Oh, is he?” Lorre chuckled.

“Mmmhmm,” Cold hummed without going into any more detail. He looked at Jimmy, saying, “I actually have a favor to ask of you.”

“Uhm, I guess it depends on what it is?” Jimmy said slowly. All of this cloak and dagger was certainly exciting, but he still had reservations about doing anything illegal.

“Go see that charming specimen, Maury the Mouth,” Cold said. “I need you to get a special receiver.”

“A receiver for receiving what exactly?”

“On Friday, we’re going to be working with our dear friend Detective Duplin,” Cold replied smoothly. “You’re still going to perform as scheduled, and you’re going to be wearing a wire that Duplin will supply. I need an additional receiver to hear the transmission, and I can’t let Duplin know what we’re doing. Do you understand?”

“How is that gonna help get my father out of jail?” Jimmy demanded, not even caring that he was getting uppity in front of Tamerlane and Lorre.

Cold’s hand moved to gently cup Jimmy’s neck, soothing, “You have to trust me.”

Jimmy closed his eyes, leaning into Cold’s touch. He wanted to argue, demand answers, but he knew it wouldn’t do him any good. “Fine,” he grumbled, “I’ll get the receiver thing.”

“Good boy,” Cold said, rewarding him with a kiss on his forehead. “Jerry will take you. Then you have rehearsal.”

“Yes, sir,” Jimmy replied, emphasizing the ‘sir’ to make Cold smirk.

Cold nodded at Lorre and Tamerlane, the Gentlemen obediently following him into the back of the house. Jimmy watched them leave with a heavy sigh, then trudged toward the kitchen to find Jerry.

It was a relatively quiet ride over to Maury’s pawn shop, Jerry electing to stay in the car instead of joining Jimmy inside. He hurried through the door, bell ringing loudly as he called out, “Hey, Maury!”

“The fuck you want?” Maury bellowed from in the back, grumpy as ever.

“It’s Jimmy!”

“Ain’t you got a phone now?” Maury snorted, his voice getting louder as he made his way to the front. “You know, you can call a motherfucker instead of comin’ in here and botherin’ me.”

“I missed you, too,” Jimmy teased.

Maury came around the counter to give Jimmy a big hug, mindful of his wounded arm, laughing, “Yeah, yeah! How the fuck are ya, kid?”

“Holy crap, Maury! It’s been crazy!” Jimmy exclaimed, quickly launching into a recap of all the exciting events. He kept the truth about Dickie’s killer to himself, focusing more on the new arrangement he had with Cold and the confrontation with Augustus.

“Eliza called him, and that fuckin’ rat never said anything,” Maury raged, his cheeks red and blotchy. “All of this time. No wonder they convicted David so goddamn quick, that fuckin’ pig was hidin’ all the fuckin’ evidence!”

“I know,” Jimmy said sadly. “Augustus said he was doing it to protect me.”

“Fuck him, he did it because he was scared of the Luchesis!” Maury argued. “Fuckin’ prick.”