Jezebel Koko Brown (best books to read non fiction txt) 📖

way.”Ferruci took another drag. “Well ole Burt said you put fiftythousand on tonight’s fight. That’s pretty big bait for aminnow like you.”

“Lowenstein can barelycount change.”

Ferruci yanked the cigaretteout of his mouth and threw it on the ground. “Did you try toundercut me in my own house?” he bellowed.

Gould wasn’t the onlyone who jumped. Worried, Shane pulled Celeste against him. Sheimmediately wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Let’s get outof here,” she whispered. Even in the dim light cast by a solelight fixture above the back entrance he could see tear swimming inher dark eyes.

“We can’t, notyet.” Following through with the terms of their agreement,Ferruci had set this all up for show so there would be no doubts asto if and when they’d been met.

“It wasn’t likethat…I–I swear.”

As if on cue, the Cadillacdoors popped open. Four men from each car stepped out then driftedtoward their party. “What are you going to do?” Gould andhis men found themselves surrounded by Ferruci’s men.

“Put you out ofbusiness.”

“Out of the boxingbusiness?”

Ferrucididn’t answer him. He snapped his fingers, and his men jumpedto, surrounding Gould and his cohorts.

“What are you going todo to him?” Celeste asked.

Ferruciglanced over his shoulder. His expression chilled her to the bone.“We’re just going to talk, sweetie. Convince him to leavetown…permanently.”

Hearingthe promoter’s intentions, Gould struggled with Ferruci’smen and failed. They dragged him and his goons like paper dolls up tothe lead car.

In a last ditch effort, heslammed his feet against the car’s running board, and thentwisted around.

“Schmucks! The lot of you,” Gould yelled, spit flying in all directions.

His gaze locked on Celesteand he smiled. “He ain’t clean, Toots. Did lover boy tellyou he was there…did he tell you he was there when I poppedyour old man, the good Reverend?”

“Get him in thefucking car!” Ferruci commanded.

But the damage had beendone. Shane allowed her to pull away from him. She staggered a fewsteps, her shoulder pressed against the brick wall for support.

Feeling his entire worldslipping away from him, Shane followed. “Celeste, please let meexplain.” he implored.

Shouldersslumped, she turned toward the wall “You can try, she said, hervoice trembling as she pressed her forehead against the bricks.Shane’s heart constricted so painfully he thought it wouldburst.

“I-I used to hang atyour father’s place at night. Helped him close shop more timesthan not. I was in the back alley throwing out the trash when Gouldand his goons came in. There was a commotion and then I heard agunshot.”

Burdenedwith guilt, Shane leaned against the wall. “I came out toinvestigate. “T-they threatened to blow my head off, but thenone of them recognized who I was and they forced me into tonight’sfight. I was supposed to take a fall. They end up with a windfall.Everything was planned.”

“Why did he do it?”

“According to Gould,your father refused to play by his rules. The Reverend refused hisprotection and it snowballed to the rest of the merchants on theblock.”

“S–s–soall this time you knew what happened to my father. And you didn’treport it or tell me.” With each syllable, her voice swelledand grew an octave

Shane reached for her. Shespun away at the last minute, eluding him. “Don’t touchme,” she snarled. Her expression as she looked from his hand tohis face made him flinch. He dropped his hand.

“Don’t evertouch me again.” She pulled at the gold band encircling herfinger and his chest grew tight like someone fisted his heart.

“Don’t do this.I was only making things right.”

“More like makingthings better for you. You got a title and my father a headstone. Ohand you got a little ass thrown in as well.”

She punted his ring at him. It bounced off his chest, dribbled between his feet and then fellflat. Heavy hearted, he squatted to pick it up before it could becometarnished. When he straightened, she was gone.

Shane blinked at the band ofgold in his palm. Could things get any worse?

“Ensign ShaneMcAllister.”

Shaneturned around. He eyed the master-at-arm badges attached to theirNavy uniforms.

He’d spoken to soon.

CHAPTERTWENTY NINE

PortsmouthNaval PrisonJuly1942

“Brennan,the doc’s ready to process you.”

Shane set the letter he wasdrafting aside, while the guard unlocked his cell.

“Break a leg.”

Shane smiled at his cellmate, Gustaf Petersson. Assigned to the top bunk, the Gunner’smate was curled up with an issue of Readers Digest in his hands.Despite a three year stint in the can for burglary, the man was themost well-read man Shane had ever met.

“I need all the luckyou can send my way. I’m itching to get out of here and get myhands on some Nazis.”

Shane left his cell behindand followed the guard upstairs to the medics. By the end of theweek, he would kiss the brig goodbye. And none too soon. Afterserving twenty four months for desertion, the place made him feellike a caged animal.

“Writing anotherletter?” the guard asked. He straightened one arm in the air,“return to sender,” he said as if reading it from atheatre marquee. “Why do you keep sending that dame letters?”

“It’s my way ofkeeping up with her.”

The guard stopped and lookedat him as if he’d grown horns. “How can you keep up withsomeone if she keeps sending ‘em back? Most foolish thing I’veever heard.”

“Every time she moves,she has her letters forwarded to her new address,” Shaneexplained.

“After I survive thiswar, I’m going after her.”

The guard crossed his arms.“Oh yeah, where are you going to start looking?”

“She’s inChicago. A buddy of mine, who co-owns a boxing gym in the city, saidhe’d seen her headlining for a swank night club on the GoldCoast. Before that she worked as a principal dancer and chiefchoreographer for the Micheaux Film Company.

The guard looked at himsharply. “She was in movies?”

Shane’s chest puffedup with pride. “More than a dozen musicals before the companyfolded two years ago.”

“Still, I think it’sstupid,” he