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you don’t fall in love with Henderson Lebow. That man is a player. Also a vindictive son of a bitch. He will never forgive Morrie for attacking him in Joe Allen’s. This R. J. Farnell business? For all I know it could be Henderson’s way of getting even. I wouldn’t put it past him. Henderson’s nasty. Morrie isn’t. He’s sweet and vulnerable. He yearns for the blissful, innocent love that Cathy and Heathcliff share in Wuthering Heights . That’s why he adores the show so much.”
    â€œYou mentioned your son, Charlie. I take it that you settled down with someone else.”
    â€œPhil was a CPA with a big firm down on Wall Street,” she said, coloring slightly. “A good, steady man. Steady made for a welcome change after a regular diet of Morrie, who experiences every single human emotion every single day. Joy, misery, anger, jealousy, envy…”
    â€œI think you’re straying into the Seven Deadly Sins now.”
    â€œI married Phil because I wanted a normal life. Kids, a dog, a white picket fence, all of that. But we weren’t happy together. Not for long. Because Morrie is my life, for better or worse. As soon as Phil realized that, he found someone else and divorced me. He died a couple of years ago.”
    â€œAnd Charlie?”
    â€œHe lives in Williamsburg. He’s studying to be a chef. He has a good heart. He’s a good boy. I call him a boy but he’ll be thirty in October.”
    â€œAre he and Morrie close?”
    Leah shook her head. “Morrie doesn’t do that.”
    â€œDoesn’t do what?”
    â€œTake an interest in other people’s lives. He only cares about his latest show. And he can’t…” She reached across the table now and put her hand over mine, clutching it tightly. “Morrie can’t lie to me, Benji. I see right through him. I’m the one person in the world who can. And I’m telling you that he is genuinely terrified. Somebody is trying to ruin him.”
    â€œYou say he’s terrified. Is there something else you haven’t told me?”
    Leah released my hand and reached for her iced coffee, taking another sip. “A pair of apes have started dropping by. Real knuckle draggers.”
    â€œWhat do they want?”
    â€œMoney, what else? I’m afraid they might throw him out the window or something.”
    â€œWho are they?”
    â€œMorrie won’t tell me, but I think they work for one of his backers.”
    â€œWhich backer, Leah?”
    She leaned across the table toward me. “He’s known as the angel of last resort.”
    I stared at her. “Do you mean Joe Minetta?”
    â€œYes,” she acknowledged, her voice barely a whisper.
    Joe Minetta was the head of the largest crime family in New York City. He had many legitimate business interests, such as hotel and restaurant linen supplies, private garbage hauling and real estate management. He also had a financial stake in a lot of the city’s big-ticket live entertainment—rock concerts, boxing matches, anything and everything including Broadway shows. He got that stake by serving as a loan shark to cash-strapped promoters and producers.
    â€œI’m afraid that Morrie has gotten in over his head with some very dangerous people,” Leah said to me in a quavery voice. “But he’s blind to it. Convinced that Wuthering Heights will be the biggest hit in Broadway history and that all of his money troubles will vanish in a sea of green.”
    â€œAnd what do you think?”
    Leah Shimmel’s eyes shined at me. “I think if he doesn’t come up with some serious money—and fast—that something truly awful is going to happen to him.”

 
    CHAPTER TWO
    VICKI ARDUINO WAS the busiest casting agent in New York City. She had an amazing knack for finding the perfect person for a feature film or TV role. Also a photographic memory. The woman never