Duffy said, “I ain’t got time to talk to you just now, hot pants. Get Gleason.”
She said very evenly, “They put smart guys like you in a gasoline bath and drop in a match.”
Gleason must have taken the ’phone from her. Duffy heard him say, “Pipe down, for Gawd’s sake.”
“Gleason?” Duffy asked.
“Yeah. You ready to play ball?”
“Sure, I’m ready to trade. Competition wasn’t so hot. They offered forty grand, no more, no less. It’s yours for fifty.”
Gleason raved, “How the hell can I get fifty grand together?”
Duffy’s mouth shaped into a smile, but his eyes were mirthless. “I’m moving out tomorrow first thing,” he said. “I don’t care who has the list, but I want somebody’s cash tonight. Fifty grand ain’t all that big, for an outfit like yours.”
Gleason said, “You’re going to pay for this, you sonofabitch.”
Duffy said, “Not until I get the dough and you get the book. After that, we’ll all have to watch out.”