Part 8 (2/2)
They were rolling slowly up Tottenham toward Regents Park, and the conversation was accomplis.h.i.+ng very little in the way of intelligence. Giliamo was glibly avoiding direct answers to sensitive questions, playing his role of dumb street soldier to the very hilt. Bolan had decided to let him play... for awhile. They swung onto Marylebone and up to Park Road.
”Go in the park,” Bolan directed.
”Into the park, Bolan?”
”That's what I said, Stevie.”
They crossed over the tip of a lake moments later and Giliamo nervously asked, ”What're we doing here?”
”That depends,” Bolan told him. ”There's an open air theatre straight ahead. I want you to stop there, Stevie.”
The blood at Bolan's ribs had congealed, the wounds minimal, the pellets from the shotgun blast obviously having grazed the ribs and gone on. Still, there was some discomfort there and Bolan was finding his patience beginning to fray.
They pulled to a halt in the theatre circle. Bolan said, ”Give me the keys and get out.”
Giliamo did so, watching his captor narrowly as Bolan slid out from the other side.
”Over there,” Bolan said, waggling the Uzi Uzi.
”Over where?”
”Up on the stage.”
Giliamo stared at Bolan for a silent moment, then whirled about and trudged away with Bolan close behind. They climbed the steps to the stage, then Giliamo blurted, ”Hey look, what the h.e.l.l are we doing up here?”
”You like to act, Danno,” Bolan quietly replied. ”I thought I'd give you a stage.”
The big man stiffened, then sagged noticeably. His voice was m.u.f.fled with anger as he said, ”If you knew who I was, why'd you let me keep it up?”
”Get out there at the center of the stage,” Bolan commanded.
”You go to h.e.l.l,” Giliamo snarled. ”If you're gonna kill me, do it right here.”
Bolan rapped him across the face with the b.u.t.t of the Uzi Uzi, not lightly. Giliamo staggered back, holding one hand to the injured jaw, and went where Bolan directed.
”Down on your knees,” Bolan said.
The caporegime caporegime glared at him, but did as he was told. glared at him, but did as he was told.
”Where do you want it?” Bolan asked, thrusting the Uzi Uzi forward. forward.
Giliamo choked on the words. ”You know I don't want it anywheres, Bolan.”
”You've been bulls.h.i.+tting me for ten full minutes, Danno. You can stop it now anytime you want. You can stop something else too, Danno.”
”You know I can't. If I talk, and you don't kill me, then they'll just do it later on anyway. I'd rather just get it over with right here.”
”Who's going to know you talked, Danno? Who's going to tell them?”
The Jerseyite was thinking about it. Presently, in an almost inaudible voice, he asked, ”Just what is it you want to know?”
”Who did it to the old man?”
”You ast me that a dozen times already! And I still don't know what you're talkin' about!”
”The old man in the museum, Danno. Who tied him up like a turkey and shoved a hot iron under his back?”
”s.h.i.+t, I don't know what you're talking about, Bolan, that's G.o.d's truth.”
”Are you saying that you or none of your boys did it?”
”That's what I'm saying, whatever it is.”
”You were in that museum, Danno.”
”Sure. I was in there for about a minute. Me'n Nick, and Sal, and one other boy I can't think of his name right now. But we didn't do nothing to no old man.”
”Who is Nick?”
”Nick Trigger, also known as Nick Endante. Maybe you heard of him. He used to work for Don Don Manzacatti, way back when.” Manzacatti, way back when.”
Bolan was becoming more and more satisfied with the tone of the interrogation. Giliamo was loosening up nicely. He said, ”Yeah. So what is Nick Trigger doing in England?”
”He's enforcing.”
”So what was he enforcing at that museum tonight?”
”Nick was my contact here, see. I come over about a week ago, while you was in France. Look, I didn't ask for the lousy job, Bolan. I never wanted it. I got nothing personal against you. But when the bosses say go, the Danno Giliamo goes. You gotta understand that.”
”Yeah, I understand that, Danno. But about this Nick Trigger. How'd he get onto that thing at the museum?”
The prisoner was obviously working towards a decision, a very important one to him. Life and death hung in the balance, and his soul was sweating. He grimaced and said, ”You're putting me on one h.e.l.l of a spot, you know that.”
Bolan shrugged his shoulders. ”It's just between you and me, Danno. But you better make up your mind. I'm not standing out here all night.”
”How do I know you're not going to execute me anyway?”
Bolan shrugged again. ”I guess that's just the chance you have to take, Danno. But for what it's worth, I don't kill my friends. Not even temporary ones.”
Giliamo took a deep breath and said, ”Okay. What was it you ast me?”
”I want to know the connection between Nick Trigger and that museum back there.”
”Well, like I said, he's enforcing. He's got some hooks into the guys that run that place. I don't know what exactly. They're a bunch of queers or something I think, and Nick's got it into them over that I guess.”
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