He gave her a cigarette and lit it for her.
She winked at him, beckoned with her head, and said, “Wanna come inside?”
He laughed lightly. She laughed with him. They were always going through this routine and taking it just this far and no farther.
“What’s new?” she asked. “How’s my friend Thomas?”
Kerrigan shrugged. He wasn’t affected one way or another by the fact that his father was one of Rita’s steady customers. Long ago he’d become accustomed to Tom’s dealings with the Vernon professionals.
Rita took an open-mouthed drag at the cigarette. She let the smoke come out slowly, and watched it climbing past her eyes. She said, “I like Thomas. He is much man.”
Kerrigan’s thoughts were only half focused on what she was saying. He said absently, “You better watch out for Lola.”
Rita narrowed her eyes. It was purely technical, an expression of business strategy. “You think Lola knows something?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know what she knows. But sooner or later she’s gonna pay you a visit. You better be ready to run.”
“From her? She’s nothing but a lot of fat and a lot of noise.” Rita blew smoke away from her face. “Lola don’t worry me. No woman worries me.” She made a motion toward the back of her head, and her fingers came away holding the tiny black-beetle knob of a five-inch hatpin. “This here’s the equalizer,” she said. “One jab with this and they know who’s boss.”