A warm, gritty bastard wind
stirred the garbage in the street. From an apartment window came the
sweet, sad cry of Coltrane’s sax, wailing out from somebody’s oversized
stereo system. Private dick Hamilton Beach swung open the door of his
Eldo, sliding his prizefighter’s frame out out of the car and into high
noon on DeWitt Avenue. Immediately, a boy in a St. Louis Hawks t-shirt
bolted away from his perch on the corner and into a six-family brick
flat. Just one lookout? Hamilton wondered if the Rabbit was slipping,
losing focus, getting soft, enjoying the spoils of his numbers and dope
rackets instead of taking care to protect them. He wasn’t careful,
somebody might snatch it all away. On these streets, somebody was
always ready to.
“Beach!” the Rabbit yelled as Hamilton
strode into the opulent first-floor living room. “Have you lost your
mind? Striding right into my opulent first-floor living room?” The
bloated, indignant crime boss leaned forward on the sofa, one hand
fumbling around under its soft leather cushions. “Where’d I put that
damn .38?”
The tall private eye laughed. “Forget about the
rod, Rabbit. I’m not here to bust up your operation. Not today. See,
I’ve been told something is going to happen to you. Something bad.
Something painful. I’m here to stop it, for my own reasons.”
Rabbit
didn’t get where he was by taking everybody at their word. Eyes
narrowing in the fleshy folds of his face, he spat, “I don’t know what
you mean, detective man. And I don’t want to hear any more. In ten
seconds this place will be crawling with muscle. I suggest you be gone
by then.”
Beach shrugged. Like they say, you can lead a
fool to knowledge… “Suit yourself, Rabbit. I was going to hip you to
the Stay or Go Stainless Thermal Carafe Coffeemaker. Makes a good pot
of coffee, they say. Programmable timer, auto off, the whole bit. But
it also brews right into one of the included 12-ounce travel mugs. Mugs
with lids, get me? Insulated mugs with nice rubber grips. But I see a
man like you’s got better things to worry about. So goodbye, Rabbit.
Keep cool now. And stay dry.” With that, Hamilton walked out the front
door with the same unworried, unhurried gait that brought him in.
Just
then, Cousin Bugs ran in from the back of the house, a pistol in one
hand and a tray of four cups of takeout coffee in the other. As the
Rabbit’s first lieutenant of security, Cousin Bugs was particularly
concerned about Hamilton’s incursion. Damn, he thought, step out for
five minutes to get coffee and the boss almost gets wiped. “Was that
Beach? What’d he want?”
Rabbit scoffed dismissively.
“Man’s lost his mind. ‘Stay dry.’ Please…” Reaching for the coffee, his
sausage fingers recoiled from the heat of the beverage through the
flimsy paper cup. The involuntary jerk of his hand set the cup to
toppling out of the tray, splashing scalding coffee all over the
startled crimelord and drenching a week’s worth of bookkeeping sitting
on the ironically-named coffee table. The Rabbit leapt up with the
quickness of his namesake, batting in vain at the burning brown liquid
on his legs and torso. Through the pain and panic, a foggy image of the
proud private eye rose in the Rabbit’s mind. And this mental spectre of
Hamilton Beach, the cat who somehow knew this spill was going to happen
and tried to warn the haughty Rabbit, was laughing.
Warranty: One year
Features:
- 3 easy ways to brew: Brews directly into thermal carafe or 1 to 2 travel mugs
- Includes 8 cup Thermal carafe
- Includes two 12oz stainless steel travel mugs
- Optimal brewing system
- Water filter
- Programmable clock/timer
- Automatic shutoff
- Drip-free pouring
