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“And how did you handle that?”
“There was a fight. One of them came at me with a knife, so I took it away from him and killed him.”
Dink seemed to be frozen.
“Then the other guy came after me, and I killed him, too.”
“Why aren’t you in jail?”
“I didn’t commit a crime. I acted in self-defense. Dino Bacchetti and Stone Barrington saw that the whole business went away in a hurry.”
“What about the third guy?”
“That was Dattila. I took a long walk, and I thought about it. I decided that Dattila was going to send more men to kill me, if he was still around to do it, so I went down to the coffeehouse in the village where he did his business. I walked into the place and shot him twice in the head.”
“Why are you still alive?”
“Because a few minutes before my arrival, unbeknownst to me, the feds had raided the place, disarmed everybody, and taken half the people there away.”
“And that was self-defense?”
“When Stone got through talking to the DA about it, it was self-defense.”
“That’s quite a story.”
“My point is, it’s a true story. Stone once said to me that I have a rat-like instinct for survival. You should remember that, Dink.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
“There’s something else,” Herbie said. “I’ve just spent some time at a facility where people are trained to be expert with firearms and other weapons, and I excelled there.” Herbie picked up a letter opener from a cup next to his chair and turned it over and over in his hand.
“So, when I came in here, you could have killed me with that?”
“With that or a couple of other innocuous objects in this room.”
“Are you threatening me, Herb?”
“Certainly not. I’m advising you on your future behavior. I would not like to think of you as a threat, Dink. You should conduct yourself in such a manner so as not to make me think that of you.”
“I see.”
“I hope you do. You see, your physical size and your past behavior as a bully give you a false sense of confidence when dealing with other people. You should always remember that there are people who are smarter, tougher, and more lethal than you, and you never know who they are until you pick on the wrong person. Last week, I met people who could kill you with a thumb.”
“I’ll try to avoid people like that,” Dink said.
“You can’t avoid them, Dink, so you should make it a point not to be a threat to anyone you meet.”
Dink nodded and tossed off his drink. “Thanks for the refreshment, Herb,” he said, “and for the advice. I’d better run along.”
“And,” Herbie said, “you should give serious consideration to a career in acting. There’s a very good drama school at Yale.”
Dink got up and left. Herbie took another couple of minutes to finish his drink and calm himself.
55
He hadn’t recognized her, Shelley was sure of it. She could take her time now. Carefully, face by face, she checked the room again. Nearly everybody was riveted on the singer; the rest seemed absorbed with each other, including the lesbians at the bar. Dino had started to check the room again.
“Everything all right?” Shelley said to Steve.
