It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing
Toni entered the restaurant and was immediately accosted by a perky little waiter who was just thrilled to pieces to guide her to her “lunch date.” He even gave her a conspiratorial smile as he promised to bring a menu and the diet soda she’d ordered. He rushed off so quickly that she didn’t have a chance to tell him she wasn’t eating.
The boy apparently thought she was having an affair with the sleazy man across the table from her. Great, just great. She couldn’t get any respect from anybody.
She sighed to herself and turned to face the man across the table from her. “Thank you again for meeting with me on such short notice, Mr. Snell. I’m sorry to interrupt your lunch.”
He waved one hand in a circle and smiled widely. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I always enjoy the company of a beautiful woman, no matter the circumstances. And please, Toni, call me Martin. I’ve asked you to do so often enough.”
“That you have. All right, Martin, what do you think?”
Snell put his elbows on the table and leaned his chin against the palms of his hands. “I think I’ll have a piece of that four-layer chocolate cake for dessert.”
“No!” Toni barely restrained herself from shouting. “I meant, what do you think about the case?”
“Oh, the case! Well, unless the police have an eyewitness or two, or unless they turn up some very convincing forensic evidence, I’d say your all-girl band won’t miss more than one or two rehearsals, if that.”
She exhaled in relief. “Good. Just in case something does come up, may I call you?”
His smile oozed sincerity. “Of course you can call me! I doubt that anything will come up, given that you say the girls are all innocent – “
“They’re women, Martin, not girls, and none of them are involved.”
“Of course not. The women are all innocent as newborn lambs. Therefore, they have nothing to worry about, at least not related to losing work due to being under arrest for murder.” He smiled again. “As I’ve already said, if they do become entangled with the legal system, you may call on me for any legal assistance necessary. If I’m unavailable for any reason, I know several reliable attorneys on whom you may call.”
Toni knew what he meant by ‘reliable.’ She was surprised to realize how distasteful the word sounded in her mind. “Thank you, Martin.”
“You’re more than welcome.” He motioned to the perky young waiter. “I’d like a piece of this coma-inducing chocolate cake, please, with lots of pecans all over it.” He smiled ingratiatingly. “Life is too short to pass up the good stuff.”
The waiter smiled sincerely. “Right away, sir. Anything for the lady?”
Snell turned his best believe-me-because-I’m-so-earnest expression to her. “My dear? What do you say? Share with me, or would you prefer your own? Surely you require more sustenance than just a diet soda.”
Toni tried not to roll her eyes at him. “No dessert for me, thanks. I have enough excess weight to work off as it is.”
Snell eyed her up and down. “Forgive me, Toni, but I don’t see any excess anything on you.”
She couldn’t take much more of this. “Thank you, Martin, but I really must be going. Just sign the check when it comes. The club will take care of it.”
He faked disappointment as well as he faked sincerity. “A business lunch, then? Too bad. Maybe next time we can – “
She stood and dropped her napkin on the table. “We’ll have to talk about it next time. I need to get back to my office.”
“Of course. See you soon, Toni. Oh, would you tell Johnny that the little matter he asked me to look into has been taken care of?”
She stopped and turned around. “What little matter is that?”
Snell smiled again. “He’ll know what you mean. Bye-bye.”
Great. Now she was Johnny’s personal messenger. Not only that, but it looked like Johnny was doing an end run around the other members of the board again. He was still doing things his way, which was going to get them all in serious trouble one of these days. And Martin Snell, the club’s primary attorney, a man who knew that she was trying to change the way the gang did business, was enabling him.
She hoped Snell got a pecan lodged sideways in his throat and had to have an angry heavyweight professional wrestler apply the Heimlich maneuver to save him.
She also hoped that the message for Johnny didn’t have anything to do with Christie. Or her murder.
*****
The car slid smoothly to the back door of the Metro Club and purred in place. Toni stepped out of the back seat without thinking about the hard-faced man who opened the door for her. He was just part of the scenery, one of many who faded into the background except when she needed something done, and she dismissed him from her mind as soon as he passed from her line of sight.
She stepped through the executive door of the club and was stunned to see Lex Luthor standing beside the supply room door. She stopped short and looked around for Nigel St. John, another deadly invisible man who was always around when he was needed.
Sure enough, Nigel stood between Luthor and the door to the main hallway with Luthor’s overcoat draped stylishly over his left arm. And, as always, his mouth smiled politely but his eyes took in everything around him.
Luthor chuckled as Charlie came out of the supply room carrying a double tray of clean drink tumblers. Apparently the young man had a good sense of humor and didn’t mind sharing it with –
Charlie? What was Charlie doing here at this time of the day? He wasn’t supposed to be around when they were doing anything he might be a witness to. She liked him, but that didn’t mean she trusted him.
Charlie smiled at Luthor, then saw Toni. “Oh, hi, Ms. Taylor,” he called out. “Roger called in sick, so I volunteered to help out.” He grinned sheepishly. “I’m kinda hoping to make some time-and-a-half. I sure could use it.”
Toni relaxed the tiniest bit. “Don’t worry, Charlie, the Metro Club takes care of its own.”
“Yes, ma’am. Mr. Luthor, sir, if you’ll let me slip past you, I’ll get these glasses to the wait staff.”
“Of course, young man. I make it a policy to stay out of the way of anyone who is trying to make an honest living.”
Toni watched Charlie slide into the main room. She also watched Luthor watching him with more than casual interest.
He turned to face her and smiled. “Toni, my dear! I’m so glad you returned before I left. I’d like to ask you a few more questions about the band.”
She blinked. “What?”
“The band. The Mountaintops. I’m sorry for just dropping in like this, but I called earlier and the gentleman who answered the phone said that you had left for a lunch meeting. I hope I haven’t caught you at an inconvenient time.”
His speech gave her time to compose herself and shift mental gears – and enough time to suspect that such was his purpose. She returned a smile which matched his in apparent sincerity. “I’m glad you came by. Shall we go to my office?”
“This won’t take long. We can complete our discussion right here if that does not inconvenience you.”
Her left eyebrow twitched. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you. On the evenings when I attended the club to hear the Mountaintops, they performed only established works from various artists and no original songs. Are they strictly a cover band?”
“No, they have quite a few original tunes. You haven’t heard them played at the club because Johnny wouldn’t let them. Because he wanted them to back up Christie, he didn’t want them diverting any attention from her with anything new.”
“Have you heard any of their originals?”
“Four or five. Sometimes they play them at rehearsals and I get to listen in. I’m not a music critic, but I think the songs have some real potential.”
He nodded. “That is good to know.” He crossed his arms and frowned. “Do you think they would be amenable to any changes in their lineup?”
“Changes? You mean adding someone or subtracting someone?”
“Ah, either one, actually. But I was thinking of reducing the size of the group.”
“You’d have to take that up with them, but from what I’ve seen and heard, I doubt you’d get anywhere with that suggestion.”
“Even if it meant a recording contract for most of them?”
“I can’t speak for them, Lex, but they’ve been through a lot together, and I think that splitting them up would be a lot more difficult than you think.”
“I see. Well, that is all I needed to ask you. Thank you for your time, Toni.”
“You’re welcome. Do you want me to tell the band anything?”
This time his eyebrow rose. “I would prefer that you did not relate the content of our conversation, but if the opportunity presents itself, you might let them know that I would like to discuss a business opportunity with them soon.”
She nodded. “I’ll do that, Lex. I’m sure they’ll be excited.”
“Thank you, my dear. Nigel, we must be on our way to our next appointment.”
Catlike, Nigel flowed away from the wall and draped Lex’s coat over the millionaire’s shoulders. “Very good, sir. Shall I fetch the car?”
“Please do. We’ll talk again soon, Toni.”
She repressed a shudder as he dropped a soft continental kiss on the back of her hand. “I’m sure we will, Lex.”
She watched Nigel open the door for Lex and step outside to check the area. She didn’t see Nigel’s signal – a simple nod of the head would have been too obvious for Luthor – but after a moment Lex followed him.
That was odd, thought Toni. Why would Luthor come all the way over the club to ask a few simple questions which could have been answered over the phone? The answer, of course, was that he would not. He’d had some other purpose for his little trip. It wasn’t that he was so enamored of the band that he couldn’t wait to start managing them. The man was too busy for that.
Toni sighed. Now she was going to worry about the real reason Luthor had come to the club. Just one more thing for her to carry on her shoulders.
She had already turned towards her office when she realized that she hadn’t seen a strange car when she’d arrived. That suggested that Luthor had some very sophisticated communications gear and that he knew what he was doing with it.
If that were true – and it was a pretty safe bet that it was – it might mean that he’d been checking out the club not just as Lex Luthor but as ‘The Boss’ in Metropolis. And that might mean that he was getting close to making an overt move into the rackets. And if he did that, he’d come up against the Metro Gang. And Toni no longer thought Johnny was the best choice to direct a counter-attack for the gang.
Luthor was pushing her in ways he didn’t even realize. She was lucky that he didn’t realize it, else he’d fade even further into the background. And if he did that, they might not see him coming at them until it was too late.
*****
He’d given Toni an excuse she’d believe, but Clark’s real reason for being there was to protect Linda. She was going to tell Johnny that she couldn’t continue in the relationship and that she didn’t want anything from him. Since Perry hadn’t known how the gangster would react to that news, he’d asked Clark to tag along and act as backup. So far, his services as rescuer hadn’t been needed, so he’d shifted his attention to the surprise visitor to the club.
Clark wondered why a busy man like Lex Luthor would come to the Metro Club for any reason except to have dinner and watch the show. His stated reason, that he needed to ask Toni Taylor a few questions about the band, didn’t ring anywhere near true. And when Clark had stepped past him, he’d picked up a faint scent of gun oil, the same scent that his father had used the few times he’d needed to clean his shotgun back on the farm.
So in between hauling in trays of clean dishes, he used his special vision to check out both Luthor and his elegant bodyguard. Sure enough, both men were armed with pistols and extra ammunition. He could understand a bodyguard carrying a weapon, but Luthor being armed puzzled him. It didn’t make sense. And carrying extra ammunition meant that they were prepared for a prolonged gunfight.
On a whim, he checked out Luthor’s limousine as it glided to a halt behind the club. It had bulletproof glass in all the windows, extra armor in the frame, self-sealing gas tanks, military grade self-inflating tires, and heavy-caliber assault rifles with extra ammunition hidden in the side panels where the driver or any of the passengers could get to them at a moment’s notice. There was even a fitting for a medium machine gun in the removable rear window, although there was no machine gun in the car at the moment. Why would an honest businessman need to be so heavily armed?
The answer, of course, was that he didn’t. Lex Luthor wasn’t just a businessman. He had to be involved in the shady side of the Metro Club’s dealings. But despite the evidence that Clark and Linda had already given to Perry, Luthor’s name was not on the list of contacts they’d compiled. No one had called him except Toni, and as far as they could determine, her conversations with him had concerned only the Mountaintops. Might that mean that they weren’t allies but instead were competitors?
He suddenly realized that Linda hadn’t come out of Johnny Taylor’s office yet. He focused his vision on them for a moment, then relaxed as he saw them sitting calmly at his desk and sharing a drink.
Of course, that was how Linda’s troubles had started. Or had it? He hadn’t been able to hear what was being said in the office because of the noise level in the club, but Linda didn’t appear to be in any distress. Nor was Johnny acting as if he were upset at her for anything. Maybe this was just a good-bye drink.
Or – maybe it wasn’t good-bye after all. Maybe Linda hadn’t been completely truthful about what had happened between her and Johnny.
*****
Johnny refilled Linda’s tumbler with the bottle from his private stock. “There ya go, doll-face! Bottoms up!” He tossed back the contents of his glass and let out a sigh that was almost a cough. “Man, that’s good stuff. Did you know that my Pop started off making gin in his bathtub? It’s true! Lotsa guys did it. That’s how it got the name ‘bathtub gin,’ cause so many yahoos were makin’ it in the tub. But Pop, he didn’t stop there. He branched out into makin’ whiskey and rye and even some ale. He made money hand over fist! Course then the government repealed Prohibition in 1933 and he moved into other – businesses.”
Linda sipped her drink and listened. If she could get Johnny drunk enough, she might get him to tell her something about the gang’s other business interests. There was no way for any night club to make as much money as Johnny was spending, and they were close to finding proof of the source of his seemingly endless river of cash.
And she knew she could fool Johnny into thinking she was just another dumb blond with round heels. She’d convinced Perry and Clark that Johnny had probably drugged her to get her into bed with him, and she’d even gotten past the interview with the policewoman without actually signing a complaint. She’d used the excuse that she wasn’t sure that she’d been drugged, that maybe the liquor had just hit her empty stomach and then her brain. The policewoman hadn’t liked that thought, but she hadn’t pursued the point either. And since neither Clark nor Perry had been in the room at the time, they didn’t know what she’d said.
Her only real regret was that she wouldn’t be able to pursue Clark as aggressively as she had before, at least not for a while. She could play the ‘wronged woman’ card and work on his sympathies, and in a few months she’d have him eating out of her hand. Not only would she get the inside dope on the Metro Gang by sleeping with Johnny, she’d garner all kinds of sympathy from Clark for being used so badly.
She refocused on Johnny’s face and realized that he was looking at her strangely. “Hey, doll,” he said, “were you even listening to me?”
“Sure I was, honey,” she giggled. “You were talking about your Pop and his new businesses and how he got rich.”
He nodded slowly. Then he leaned forward. “How’d you like to make a whole lot of money? Fast and easy.”
She shrugged. “Sure, I guess so. It ain’t dangerous, is it?”
He relaxed into a smile. “Naw. It ain’t dangerous. Not as long as you do what I say.”
“Okay. How much money are we talking about?”
He refilled his glass again and raised it. “A thousand bucks for two days’ work. And you get to fly to Miami. First class.”
She bounced in her chair and clapped like a game show contestant. “Oh, I love to fly! When do I leave?”
Not knowing that he was indirectly giving evidence to law enforcement, Johnny opened a drawer and pulled out a small folder. “Here’s your ticket. You leave from Metropolis International at seven-thirty tonight. Take just an overnight bag and pack for two days.”
“I’ll have to bring my makeup kit along, too.”
“That’s fine. But it’s important that you take just the one bag, okay? And it has to be a carry-on bag. You can’t check it.”
“Okay, sure.”
“You leave here now, get your bag packed, and come back to the club by five o’clock. Got that?”
“I got it, Johnny.”
“Good.” Then he reached in and pulled out a condom in its foil wrapper. “When you get back, this will be full of something you don’t wanna know what it is. I’ll put it inside you so’s you – “
“What? Wait a minute, Johnny, I don’t want you to stick something like that in my – “
He slapped the desk with the palm of his hand and stared her down. “Linda. You said you wanted to make some easy money. This is how you do it.”
She looked into his hard face and hesitated. This could be a serious problem or a great opportunity, and she’d never expected a break like this so quickly. And now she had a choice to make.
She could stop the process right now and break the story of the Metro Gang smuggling drugs using young women as mules. Or she could tip off the police and let them arrest her and work back to Johnny from her. Or she could go through with it and make the money and get deeper into the gang’s operations.
If she backed out now, Johnny wouldn’t ever give her any inside information on the gang no matter how long she slept with him. But if she agreed to this, maybe he’d open up to her. And then she’d have a shot at the Kerth – maybe even a Pulitzer.
In the end, it was a no-brainer. She agreed to do it. And she’d count on her luck to keep her safe.
