When Mickey was through talking, Greenberg said, “Maybe it’s not as bad as you think.”
“What’re you talking about?” Mickey said. “Ralph knows I was at the robbery.”
“So, he didn’t rat you out already, what makes you think he will at all? He’s got nothing to gain by fingering you. Besides, I took a look at his rap sheet. He’s gone away for robbery before, so the D.A. won’t let him cut a deal this time. Even if Ralph did talk, why would anybody listen? He’s the one they were after, not you.”
“So you really think I’ll be out of here in a few months?” Mickey asked.
“If you’re smart and keep your mouth shut,” Greenberg said. “If the cops want to talk to you about last night, make sure I’m in the room with you and play dumb. But I really doubt they’ll give you a hard time. Like I said, DeMarco was their man and they got him.”
Mickey was thinking it through—three months in jail then he could get a job, save up, start taking accounting classes in the fall.
“You feeling okay?” Greenberg asked.
“I’m fine,” Mickey said. “Hey, don’t I get to make a phone call?”
As the guard led him down the corridor, Mickey was still imagining the future. At twenty-four, he’d have his C.P.A. license and he’d be making forty a year. He’d be living in the city, in a great apartment on a high floor, with a view of Brooklyn in the distance.
In the calling room, the guard unlocked Mickey’s hand-cuffs and said, “Go ahead.”
Mickey dialed the number excitedly and said into the phone, “Hi, is Rhonda there?”
JASON STARR
TOUGH LUCK
Jason Starr is the author of Cold Caller, Nothing Personal, Fake I.D., and Hard Feelings. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York City. Visit his home page at www.jasonstarr.com.
ALSO BY JASON STARR
Hard Feelings
Cold Caller
Nothing Personal
Fake I.D.
A VINTAGE CRIME/BLACK LIZARD ORIGINAL, JANUARY 2003
Copyright © 2003 by Jason Starr
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Vintage Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Vintage is a registered trademark and
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard and colophon
are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Starr, Jason.
Tough luck / Jason Starr.
p. cm.
1. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction. 2. Swindlers and swindling—Fiction.
3. Gambling—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3569.T336225 T68 2003
813’.54—dc21 2002066370
www.vintagebooks.com
www.randomhouse.com
eISBN: 978-0-307-42981-0
v3.0