Billy One sat upright, apparently satisfied that Frank had shot his bolt, at least temporarily.

"Okay, Tom." His voice was neutral but not unfriendly.

"Frank has a point, you know. What makes you so valuable that someone would kidnap a Cunningham to get you?"

That was a good question and I did not have an answer.

"I don't know," I said flatly.

"You know who I am and what I do. Jack had me thoroughly investigated, didn't he? Twice. Once before the merger and again before the wedding. You don't think I can't recognize private detectives when they're floating around my hotels?"

Billy One smiled slightly.

"You checked out fine," he said.

"Both times."

"It wasn't necessary," I said.

"All you had to do was to come to me and ask. My life is a pretty open book. But I thought that if that's the way you operate, then that's the way you operate, and there was nothing I could do about it. Which isn't to say I liked it."

"We didn't give a damn if you liked it or not," said Frank.

Jack said, "That will be enough, Frank."

Jack was dead against the marriage," said Billy One.

"He had his reasons. Frank was, too; but Billy was for it he thought you were a right guy. Me, I had no druthers either way. As it turned out, what we all thought didn't matter a damn because Debbie got her own way, as always."

He reached out and poured a measure of whisky into a glass.

"Now, we've gotten two things here, both separate I think. Debbie left you, and she's been kidnapped. Can you think of any connection?"

"No," I said.

"As you know, I've had my hands full lately you've read the reports and perhaps I couldn't, or didn't, give Debbie enough of my time. That's what she thought, anyway, so she quit. But I don't know why she should be kidnapped with me as ransom. That fits nowhere."

Has anything out of the ordinary happened lately? "

"Yes," said Billy.

"Tell him about Kayles."

So I told the story of me and Kayles. When I had finished Frank said, "And this guy is still loose?"

"Yes- so far."

"That's it, then," he said.

"There's your answer."

"What would Kayles want with me?" I demanded, and prodded at the ransom demand on the table.

"I've met and talked with Kayles – he wouldn't and couldn't write a thing like this. It's way above his head he's not that much educated."

Billy One said, "And where does that leave us? What makes you so goddamn valuable, Tom?"

"I have no idea," I said tiredly.

"And does it matter? The point at issue here is what to do about Debbie."

"Mangan, I'd say you lose wives awful easy," said Frank nastily.

"That does it," said Billy, and hit Frank before I could get my own hands on him. It was a backhander across the jaw which caught Frank by surprise. He went over backwards and his chair went with him, and he sprawled on the floor with Billy standing over him. He looked up, rubbing his jaw, and Billy said, "Cousin Frank, I've always been able to whip your ass, and if you don't stay off Tom's back I'm ready to do it again right now."

Billy One glanced at Jack who was silent. He said, "That was uncalled for, Frank. Now, you'll stand up and apologize to Tom or you leave this room right now, and maybe you won't be back ever. Understand?

Help him up, Billy. "

Billy hoisted Frank to his feet. Frank rubbed his mouth and looked at the blood on the back of his hand.

"I guess I'm sorry," he mumbled, then looked at me directly.

"But what are you going to do about my sister?"

"I'm going to make the exchange." I looked at the expression on his face, and then at Billy One.

"Did you have any doubt I would?"

A suppressed chuckle came from Billy.

"You're damn right they had doubts." i31 Billy One exhaled a long sigh.

"Maybe I misjudged you, Tom," he said quietly.

"Well, now we can plan," said Billy. He sat down and picked up the letter.

"Frank was Alking about hoodlums, but Tom's right; this wasn't written by any illiterate jerk. But he used a typewriter they can be traced."

"Typewriters are cheap," said Frank as he picked up his chair.

"That one is probably at the bottom of Galveston Bay by now." He sat down.

"And what's to plan? This guy is doing the planning. We can't do a goddamn thing until we get instructions on how we do the deal."

"You're wrong," said Billy.

"What's the use of having a security section in the Corporation if we don't use it? Those guys know all about bugs."

Billy One lifted a shaggy eyebrow.

"So?"

"So we bug Tom. A transmitter in the heel of a shoe, maybe. In a ballpoint pen or sewn into his pants. We bug him until he's crawling."

"And then?"

"Then we…"

Billy One had a sudden thought. He held up his hand and looked about the table.

"Hold it! There are too many damn people in here. Let's do some pruning. Tom stays, of course and Billy. Jack stays, too, if he wants." He peered at the far end of the table.

"Jim, you stay. The rest of you clear out."

There was a general murmur of disapproval but no one objected overtly except Frank.

"What the hell!" he said tightly.

"We're talking about my sister. I'm staying."

Billy One scowled at him.

"Okay. But quit riding Tom; we're talking about his wife and that's a closer relationship. " He turned to Jack.

"It's after four in the morning and you look beat.

You sure you want to stay? You've been grinding at this all night.

"

"So has Frank. So have you."

"Yeah, but Frank is a young guy and I'm not as close to it as you.

I'm more objective. Why don't you catch some sleep and come up tomorrow full of the old moxie? "

"Maybe you're right," said Jack. His face was grey with fatigue as he stood up slowly.

"Frank, fill me in tomorrow morning.

Hear? "

"I'll do that." A frown creased Frank's forehead as he watched his father walk to the door.

I had a sudden insight into the workings of the Cunningham Corporation. It operated remarkably like the Kremlin collective leadership. Everybody had a vote but some votes were heavier than others. Every so often the old bulls at the top would do battle over some issue and the weaker would be tossed out. I had the idea that this was happening now; that Billy One was in the process of tossing out Jack, just as Brezhnev had got rid ofPodgorny.

Billy and Frank were fighting for second place. Where Jim Cunningham came into this I did not know; probably Billy One was sea ling an alliance with a faction of the clan. Jim was lucky he had been promoted to top table.

This was confirmed when, as the door closed, Billy One called, Jim, come sit up here. " He glowered at us under white eyebrows.

"From now on we operate on " need to know", and what they don't know won't hurt us, or Debbie. Hell, it only needs Joe to drop a loose word at home and Linda would spread it over half Houston. She's a gossip."

Frank said, "If she shoots her mouth off about what's happened to Debbie she'll wish she never married a Cunningham. I'll see to it if Joe doesn't."

Billy One nodded. Jim, you know more about the security angle than any of us. Got any ideas on this? "

Jim was a young chap of about twenty-five, dressed casually in jeans.

He had a sleepy look about him which was deceptive because he was as sharp as a tack. He said, "Billy is right." He turned to me.

"I'll need your clothes coat, pants, everything you wear down to socks and underwear. The outfit you'll use when you go to make this lousy deal. We'll have you radiating right through the electromagnetic spectrum." To Billy One he said, "We'll need cars, light airplanes and maybe choppers. Better lay on a couple of fast boats, too; Tom might be taken out to sea."

"We'll use my boat," said Frank.