The Cold Six Thousand - James Ellroy [80]
The flight ran smooth. No clouds and desert sparkling up.
Moe took the bait. Moe missed the dodge. Moe thought the dodge was pro-Drac. Wrong—the dodge was pro–civil rights.
Call it:
Bagmen. Potential “casino consultants.” Hughes men. All charter-flight cleared.
He could skim off the skim. He could feed Bayard Rustin. He could blunt Mr. Hoover’s damage. Wayne Senior ran Mormon thugs. Wayne Senior knew bagmen types. He could coopt them.
The long-term goal: damage abatement.
Mr. Hoover filmed Dr. King. Mr. Hoover tried to entrap him. Mr. Hoover dirt-fed his “correspondents”: congressmen/reporters/clergymen.
Mr. Hoover schooled them. Mr. Hoover taught them restraint. Let’s collude and leak covert data. Let’s leak it smart. Don’t leak strict bug-and-tap data. Don’t jeopardize bug-and-tap mounts.
Mr. Hoover held dirt. Mr. Hoover leaked dirt. Mr. Hoover caused pain. Mr. Hoover hated Dr. King. Mr. Hoover exposed his one weakness:
Sadism. Sustained. Inflicted over TIME.
TIME worked two ways. There was TIME to inflict harm. There was TIME to countermand the effects.
The skim plan might work. The skim plan sparked a question: Hughes money—a potential tithe source?
The plane banked. Littell pared an apple. Littell sipped coffee.
Pete had Wayne’s files. Pete squeezed Spurgeon and Hinton. Spurgeon fed Pete some dirt. Key legislators and their pet charities—dirt per their philanthropy.
Pete said he bypassed Eldon Peavy. Peavy was cop-sanctioned. Peavy might balk at threats. Pete was disingenuous. Pete’s threats worked. Pete craved Monarch Cab. Pete was gauging a takeover shot.
The plane dipped low. Burbank showed sunshine and smog.
He’d lunched with Wayne Senior. Wayne Senior praised him—you saved my son.
Junior declined Senior’s help. Junior rebuffed his connections. Junior nixed good job offers. Junior nixed work in chemistry. Junior sought his own work. Junior found low-end employment.
The Wild Deuce Casino—night bouncer—6:00 to 2:00 a.m. The Deuce was rough. The Deuce welcomed Negroes. Junior welcomed pain.
Wayne Senior bought Littell’s lunch. Wayne Senior made nice. Wayne Senior said ugly things.
Wayne Senior derided the civil-rights movement. Wayne Senior brought up the King film.
Littell smiled. Littell made nice. Littell thought I will make you all pay.
Jane said, “I got a job.”
The terrace was cold. The view compensated. Littell leaned on the rail.
“Where?”
“Hertz rent-a-car. I’m doing the books for the West L.A. branches.”
“Did your Tulane degree help?”
Jane smiled. “It got me the extra thousand a year I asked for.”
She used hard vowels. She eschewed slurs. She dropped her southern drawl. She’d reworked her voice and diction—he just noticed it.
She said, “It feels good to rejoin the work force.”
Hard g’s. Regionless. Pure consonants.
Littell smiled. Littell popped his briefcase. Littell pulled out six sheets.
He landed. He drove to Hughes Tool. He stopped at the bookkeeping pool and stole forms.
Invoices. Bill sheets. All standard paper.
He got in. He got out. He shaped his upcoming lie.
“Would you look at these when you get a chance? I need your advice on a few things.”
Jane scanned the sheets. “They’re all boilerplate. Cost-outs, overruns, that kind of thing.”
Hard b’s and p’s. Lazy o’s deleted.
“I want to discuss embezzling techniques and how to use these forms. There’s going to be a buildup in Vietnam, and Mr. Hughes will probably be awarded some contracts. He’s afraid of embezzlements, and he asked me to study up.”
Jane smiled. “Did you tell him your girlfriend’s an embezzler?”
“No. Just that she keeps a good secret.”
“God, the way that we live.”
Short a’s and e’s. Crisp inflections.
Jane laughed. “Have you noticed? I gave up my accent.”
Jane read in bed. Jane dozed off early. Littell played his tapes.
He got crazy. Two times of late. He ran two crazy risks.
He passed through D.C. He wired Doug Eversall. He squeezed him. He cajoled him. He paid him five G’s.
Eversall taped Bobby. Two more times