Read Absolute Rage for Free Online Page A

had that election last year, and I think that’s what’s behind this. McBright got 48.6 percent of the vote against Jack, including nearly 80 percent of the nonwhite vote. The congressman campaigned very hard for McBright.”
    â€œBeing a black guy himself.”
    â€œThat is a racist comment and unworthy of you,” said Karp primly. “I’m sure the congressman thought he was the better man for the job. However, that’s the fact. Given the demographics of the City, in the future it will be very hard to win office in New York County conceding 80 percent of the nonwhite vote. Are you sure you want to hear this?”
    â€œI’m riveted and would be even more so if you would tickle my head.”
    Karp started to massage his wife’s scalp and continued. “Okay, this started with looking at dirty money uptown. The congressman naturally has a campaign fund. Many uptown notables and businesses contribute to this fund. Among the biggest contributors is a firm called Lenox Entertainment Enterprises. They own clubs and restaurants and movie houses, uptown mainly but also all over the City. The firm makes a corporate contribution, as do a large number of its employees, up to the personal max. This is hard money, by the way, right into the congressman’s coffers. You wouldn’t think that a guy who cleaned up a movie house after the show could afford to drop a grand on a political campaign, but it is so. And not just one, either.”
    â€œThat’s America, God bless her!” said Marlene. “Lower, please.”
    â€œOkay, shady campaign funding . . . not our problem, really. But it turns out that one of the partners in Lenox is a person named Waylin Pennant, aka Beemer Pennant. Or Pimp Pennant, as we like to call him. Who is definitely our problem. This campaign stuff is what tickled our interest, in fact.”
    â€œGosh, Butch, if pimps can’t give money to politicians, they’ll have to shut down K Street. Or Texas.”
    â€œTrue, it’s Mr. Pennant’s right to support the candidate of his choice with money beaten out of whores. Pennant, by the way, is not just your average street Mac. He seems to have industrialized the process, like the Mob did back in the old days. Basically, he doesn’t run girls himself—pimps pay him for territories, and he probably gets a rake-off out of most of the fleshly commerce in the City. And he does the usual loan-sharking and so on. No drugs, though. He’s a smart cookie.”
    â€œYes, I would stick to fleshly commerce myself, were I to go bad.”
    â€œBadder than you currently are, you mean.”
    â€œYes. Were you thinking of taking me up to bed?”
    â€œIn a minute,” said Karp. “You asked for this and you’re going to get it. To resume. Beemer is a major bad guy. We’ve had some killings we like him for, not directly thus far, but people he had beefs with have tended to end up dead more than pure probability would allow. His vics aren’t taxpayers, of course, but my position is, it’s bad for our image if guys get to commit murder with impunity. It’s against the law.”
    â€œI love it when you say that. It makes little shivers run up and down my thighs.”
    â€œDitto,” said Karp. “Now, we don’t have much hope of nailing Pennant for the heavy stuff, but we figured he might be vulnerable to an Al Capone move. We assume he’s laundering his dirty money through Lenox, so we look. We subpoena their books and . . . surprise, surprise. Lenox is not all that profitable, although it’s extemely generous to its employees in the form of bonuses. Pennant is drawing only a modest salary from Lenox, not nearly enough to support his lifestyle. And he pays his taxes on it to the penny. So if pimp money goes into Lenox, it doesn’t seem to come out, or at least not into Pennant’s wallet.”
    Marlene finished her