Dead Money Run by J. Frank James Page B

still giving me the look. I reached down and took off one of his shoes and the sock he was wearing.
    “What are you doing?”
    I had his attention now.
    “Lockman, I just maxed out on a fifteen year stretch at the Atlanta Pen. I know how to get people to talk. In fact, when I’m through with you, you are going to be telling me your life story. You ready?”
    “Look, look. I’ll tell you what you want to know just don’t cut me.”
    “ Actually that’s not right. You are going to tell me what I need to know,” I said.
    “Okay, Okay ,” Lockman said. At this point he probably would have admitted to being the Easter Bunny.
    “ That’s more like it.
    “ First tell me what you had going with my sister. And if I think you’re lying to me, I’m going to cut a toe, starting with your big one.”
    “Okay, okay. We were working together. We were a team. I found the marks and she wrapped them up. You know, got the money.”
    “That tells me you were making money. What do you know about my sister’s death?”
    “About six months ago, a couple of guys came around saying they wanted to party. Said they would pay two thousand a night. They had a place at the casino and there was going to be a lot of important people there. They paid three nights in advance and your sister went with them. That was the last time I saw her alive. I swear on my mother’s grave.”
    “You ever see th ese bums before or since?”
    “No. Never.”
    For some stupid reason I believed him, but I had to have a place to start.
    “Who are these people in this picture?”
    I saw that blank look again. “They find out I fingered them, they’ll kill me.”
    Taking the Glock, I took the suppressor out of my pocket and fitted it on the barrel.
    “Look, Lockman. What do you think I’m going to do? Think about me first. Killing you is no big deal. I’m going to count to three and if you don’t start giving me names, I’m going to put a round into one of your knees. One, Two…”
    “Okay, okay. I’ll tell you. But you got to promise me you won’t hurt me anymore. The guy with the hand on your sister is Sonny Cappoleto. Also known as Sonny Cap. He runs a club called the Starlight in Atlanta. In fact, he owns a lot of places. The Starlight is just one, but it is his biggest place and popular with a lot of athletes and movie stars that move to the area. It’s real fancy. Your sister worked there before she moved to Jacksonville.”
    “Ever hear of someone named Hightower.”
    He waited too long to answer. Getting up, I walked into the kitchen again and got a towel to stick in his mouth.
    “Okay, okay. I’ll tell you, but I’m nothing in this. His name is Jonathon Hightower. He’s from somewhere in South Florida. I don’t know him. He used to send a plane up here to get your sister and fly her back after a few days. Did that a couple of times. I think he’s married to a real bitch and was just looking for a little recreation. I wasn’t in the loop on that.”
    “When was the last time you saw this Sonny with my si ster?”
    “About six months ago. We were at that party at the casino in Jax Beach. You got the picture there.”
    “What was your connection to my sister besides being her pimp?”
    “I’m telling you it wasn’t like that. I am a dealer at the casino and I met her there. We hit it off. She asked if I could get her a job there. I got her a job as a hostess. That’s it.”
    “ You’re lying, Lockman. You got thrown out of the casino because of the money you owed.”
    When he didn’t respond to that, I said, as I positioned the sheers around his big toe, “Now I want answers or off comes the toe.”
    I was starting to get pissed off.
    “I’m waiting , Lockman,” I said.
    “ Look, don’t cut me,” said Lockman. “Yeah, it was a Saturday. Susan had just gotten back from some meeting she said she had to attend in Orlando and she seemed to be real upset. I asked her if everything was okay. She said it was just