Читать книгу Satan’s Tail - Dale Brown - Страница 15

Captain Danny Freah walked past the row of video slot machines and turned left into the large baggage claim area. The flight from New York had landed a few minutes ago, and passengers were just starting to filter in. As Danny walked toward the carousel, a short man in a gray suit approached him from the side.

‘You’re Captain Freah, I’ll bet,’ said the man.

‘Danny Freah, yes,’ said Freah. ‘Lee?’

‘That’s me,’ said the man, Lee Rosenstein, pumping Danny’s hand. ‘I thought you’d be in uniform.’

‘I’m off-duty,’ Danny told him.

‘Well, good. You deserve some time off after all you’ve been through,’ said Rosenstein. ‘Let me just grab my suiter. I see it coming around the bend.’

Rosenstein darted toward an opening in the crowd and grabbed a black suitcase with a multicolored twist of yarn around the handle.

‘Clever,’ said Danny, pointing at the identifier as they walked toward the exit.

‘Until it falls off,’ said Rosenstein. ‘Usually I get to carry it on, but the gate person couldn’t be bribed.’

He smiled, which Danny figured meant he was kidding about the bribe. Without breaking stride, Rosenstein reached to the outer pocket of the suitcase, zipped it open, and retrieved a Mets cap, plopping it on his head. It clashed a bit with the black suit.

‘Been a while since I was in Vegas,’ added Rosenstein as they reached the hallway. ‘Not since March or April.’

‘I took a taxi. They’re this way,’ said Danny. Rosenstein had already started to the right, where a line snaked around a set of ribbons on the sidewalk.

‘Man, it’s beautiful weather. Was raining and about thirty-six when I left New York this afternoon.’

‘It’s a little warm for this time of year,’ said Danny.

‘Let’s go right to Venezia,’ suggested Rosenstein. ‘I’ll check in, then we’ll catch some dinner.’

‘Sounds good.’

‘I was thinking of Delaman’s to eat. Supposed to be the best restaurant between San Francisco and New York,’ said Rosenstein. ‘I don’t know if that’s true, but the last time I was there it was pretty good. Hey, don’t worry about paying, Captain – this is on my dime.’

‘I wasn’t worried,’ said Danny. He wouldn’t have known Delaman’s from a diner, but now felt embarrassed at the other man’s suggestion that he would pay. ‘We’ll go fifty-fifty.’

‘First thing you have to learn as a candidate for Congress,’ said Rosenstein, ‘is when to let other people pay for your dinner and when not. This is a time you let other people pay. Enjoy it while it lasts.’

‘I don’t know that I’m running for Congress,’ said Danny.

‘Everybody says that.’ Rosenstein smiled. ‘All the more reason to let me pay.’