I could see figures running into the moonlight. They swerved to right and left, making it impossible to hold the rifle sights on them. Mac brought one down, but the other five got across the floor of the valley and disappeared into the bushes.
'Not so good,' I said, ducking down as slugs sent splinters from the window frame. 'They're over now. They can get right up to the door without us seeing them.'
'They can't get in,' Mac said, 'without getting shot up. Where's Joe's rum? I feel like another swig.'
He crawled over to Joe, turned him over and fetched out the flask from Joe's hip pocket. As the Thompson stopped grinding, I raised my rifle and fired three quick shots into the bushes where the gun flashes had been.
There was a sudden movement. A man sprang out, holding the Thompson and went crashing down on his face.
'Nice shooting,' Mac said, who had returned to the window 'Now if any of those rats want that
Tommy they'll have to come out into the open for it'
Gunfire banged right by us, making us start back Slugs smashed through the door.
'They're right outside,' I whispered to Mary. 'Go into the other room.'
'Why?' She peered at me, her eyes large in her white face.
'Get in there and don't ask questions.'
She went, crawling on hands and knees.
'Got an automatic on you?' I asked Mac, my lips close to his ear.
He nodded.
'So's Joe.'
I crawled over to Joe, found the .38 automatic, pushed down the front of his trousers, and crawled back to Mac.
'Listen: I'm going up on the roof. The moment I start firing, open the door. With any luck, they won't see you until it's too late. You've got to shoot quick and you've got to hit them. There're five, remember.'
'They'll get you the moment you show on the roof.'
'I'll chance it.'
A voice bawled from out of the darkness, 'Come on out, or we'll come and get you.' I crawled across the floor into the inner room. Mary was waiting for me. 'I'm going up,' I said. They're right outside, and we might surprise them. Stick around down here and keep your eyes open. There may be trouble.'
And as I climbed up the ladder, I thought that last utterance was a nice example of the understatement.
Gently I pushed back the trap, waited, listening. Then slowly I raised myself so that my bead and shoulders appeared above the opening of the trap. Nothing happened. I wondered if those left on the far side of the valley were watching the roof. I hoped they weren't. Moving out into the brilliant moonlight gave me a sinking feeling, but I moved out.
Lying flat, I edged across the roof, taking my time, careful not to make a sound, expecting any moment to be shot at from the other side of the valley.
It seemed a long way across the roof. As I drew near the edge, I moved more slowly, edging forward inch by inch.
More shots crashed out, startling me, but they were shooting at the door and not at me. Under cover of the noise, I pulled myself forward until I could see over the edge of the roof. I looked down on the shrubs and bushes that sloped away steeply into the valley. For a moment or so I couldn't see any movement. Then I spotted a man, crouched behind a rock, about twenty yards from the cabin. Keep as still as death, I searched the ground before me. I spotted the others, spread out in a half-circle before the cabin. None of them were taking any chances. All of them were partly protected by rocks or shrubs. I reckoned I would pick of two, but the other three would get me unless Mac got them first. I decided it would be safer and wiser to tell Mac where they were hiding before trying to pick them off.
As I began to edge backwards, one of the men glanced up and saw me. He gave a yell and fired at the same time. The slug fanned past my face. I took a snap-shot at him, saw him fall, swung around and fired at the second man in the half-circle, saw him start to his feet, and then I wriggled back as crash of gunfire broke out below me and bullets struck splinters from the guttering where my head had been.
Bent double, I made a bolt for the trap-door, as gunfire broke out from the other side of the valley. I heard slugs zip past me as I half fell, half scrambled down the ladder.
'Are you hurt?' Mary asked breathlessly.
'No.'
I didn't pause, but ran into the outer room in time to see Mac standing in the open doorway, blazing away into the darkness like General Custer in his last stand.
As I joined him, he stopped firing and stepped back into the shelter of the doorway. 'We got 'em pal!' he exclaimed. 'The whole damn five of them. How about a quick rush into the bushes before the rest of them get over here?'
Mary joined us.
'Come on,' I said. This is our chance. Mac'll go first. Then you. I'll be behind you. Jump for the bushes.
'Ready?'
She nodded.
'Go ahead.'
Mac took a flying leap through the doorway into the thick undergrowth below.
IV
We lay in the darkness and thick scrub, well away from the cabin and stared across the floor of the valley. There was no movement on the opposite hillside, no gunfire, no voices. Mac rubbed his face with his hand and hunched his shoulders. The desert was cold now, and the wind, coming of the hills, had a nip in it.
'They're keeping quiet, aren't they?' he said in an under tone.
'Yeah.' I took the half-empty flask of rum from him end offered it to Mary. 'Have some before this guy drinks the lot.'
She shook her head.
'I'm all right'
I tilted the flask and let some of the raw spirit trickle down my throat. It wasn't my idea of a drink, but it was the right stuff to keep out the cold.
'I think we can go on,' I said. 'No point in lying here if they're not coming over.' 'Do you think they've gone back to the mine?' she asked.
'Maybe. Let's go and see. He may have decided to go back there and shift the reefers rather than lose any more men. With any luck, the cops will be there to meet him.'
'Unless he spotted your girl,' Mac said, getting to his feet.
'Come on. Let's get over there.'
I led the way, moving fast, but keeping under cover, taking no risks. The way was downhill. Ahead of us the bushes and shrubs began to thin out, and the face of the bill gradated slowly to the floor of the valley. We had only another fifty yards ahead of us before we reached the flat, open plain of the desert.
We paused and examined the ground before us. The moonlight reflected on the sand. You could have seen any movement a half a mile away.
'If they're still in the hills, this is where we get shot in the back,' Mac muttered. 'Going to chance it?'
'Yeah. You two stay here. If nothing happens to me, come on after me.'
'You're a sucker for trouble, aren't you?' Mac said and gave me a slap on the back.
Mary said in her calm, matter-of-fact voice, 'I don't think they're up there. I think they've gone on to the mine.'
I hoped she was right as I slid down the little slope on to the sand. I began to run, zigzagging a little my shoulders hunched, and covering the ground rapidly. Nothing happened. I ran on for a couple of hundred yards, then stopped and turned. Mac and Mary were running after me. I waited for them to catch me up.
'They're at the mine,' I said. 'Spread out and keep moving. Drop fiat if there's any shooting.' We began to run over the undulating sand towards the mine. Every now and then we paused to get our breath, but I kept them at it. I was worried, thinking of Paula, wondering if she had got through. The silence worried me. If Mifflin had arrived, there should have been shooting. After a while, the sloping edge of the quarry came into sight.
I signaled to the other two to stop, waved them to me.
'We crawl the rest of the way,' I said. 'Barrett may have left a look-out and we don't want to run into him. You keep in the rear,' I went on to Mary. 'Leave this to Mac and me.'
We set off again, moving slowly now, using every scrap of cover, making no noise. Mac suddenly pointed, and I followed the direction of his
finger. I could just make out a man's head, outlined against the horizon, as he knelt in the scrub, looking our way.
Mac put his mouth close to my ear. 'I'll take him' he said. 'I was a Ranger once. This is right up my alley.'
I nodded and watched him crawl in a circling movement towards the watcher.
Mary slid over the sand and lay by me. She too had seen the head against the horizon.
We waited. Nothing happened, and I began to wonder what Mac was playing at. The watcher suddenly half stood up, looking our way. He made a beautiful target against the sand and the moonlight. Then he gave a sharp cough and dropped face downwards in the sand. Mac waved and disappeared once more behind the sand ridge. I crawled, on, motioning Mary to keep in the rear.
'He didn't know anything about it,' Mac whispered when I joined him. 'I'm beginning to enjoy this.' We crawled to the edge of the quarry and looked down. The blazing headlights of the two trucks lit up a scene of tremendous activity. Men were loading the wooden boxes on to the trucks, while others came staggering down the steep path from the tunnel, carrying more boxes. One of the trucks was already loaded and the other was half filled.
Standing in the entrance of the tunnel, waving his men on, and shouting at them to hurry was Barratt.
Mac's hand lifted and the sight of the .38 grew steady on Barrett's chest, but I grabbed his wrist.
'No! My girl must be down there. She couldn't have got through. I'm going to look for her. If they spot me, start shooting, and get Barratt first.'
He nodded, and I began the slow, dangerous climb down into the quarry. Every now and then I dislodged a shower of stones, and I ducked behind a bush, holding my breath. But the men working below me were far too busy getting the boxes into the truck to be on their guard.
Keeping in the shadow, I reached the bottom of the quarry. There was plenty of cover, and I worked my way silently over the ground towards the trucks.
I could hear Barrett's voice as be cursed the sweating men, telling them to hurry. I kept on until I reached the loaded truck. On its blind side, I stood up and looked inside the cabin.
Paula was in there, tied hand and foot and gagged. She turned her head and we looked at each other. I opened the cabin door and swung myself up inside.
She looked pale and a little scared, but as soon as I got the gag off she smiled at me.
'Am I glad to see you,' she said huskily.
'That makes two of us,' I said, cutting the cord that tied her wrists. What happened? Did you walk right into them?'
She nodded, rubbing her wrists while I freed her ankles.
'He still thinks you're in the mine,' she told me. 'He hasn't an idea that I've been in there. He thought I was trying to find a way in. As soon as they have finished loading, he intends to take me in there and leave me there.'
'That's what he thinks. Come on; let's get up to the top of the quarry. We have friends up there.'
Keeping on the blind side of the truck, we began to edge silently back the way I had come. When we were half-way up the side of the quarry there came a sudden yell behind us that froze us to a standstill. We looked back. Barrett was staring into the tunnel. The three men working by the truck also stared towards the tunnel. The frantic, blood-curdling yell came again. Barrett suddenly fired into the tunnel, shouted and began to run frantically down the path towards the trucks.
'The rats!' I said and grabbed Paula's arm. 'Up as fast as you can.'
Both Mary and Mac began firing into the quarry as we scrambled up the steep slope. We heard shots and yells below us, but we didn't look back nor pause until we flung ourselves, sobbing for breath, into the scrub overhanging the edge of the quarry.
Mac came charging round to join us.
'Rats!' He was pointing, his fleshy, red face tight with horror. 'Look at them! Those guys down there haven't a chance.'
I looked down into the quarry. It was alive with rats. They swarmed round the five men, who bad come together an were shooting at them. I could see Barratt waving his arms and screaming. Three enormous brutes sprang at him and he disappeared beneath a heaving sea of sleek, brown bodies. The other men were dragged down as more rats came rushing down the path from the tunnel, squealing and fighting to get at them.
I caught hold of Paula. 'Let's get out of here.' The four of us ran across the sand towards the Highway.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I
It was just after midnight when Mary Jerome, Francon, Paula and myself filed into Brandon's office. Muffin, red-faced and thoughtful, brought up the rear.
Brandon sat behind his desk and glared at us as we came in. He wasn't looking his usual immaculate self. Mifflin had hauled him out of bed to hear me repeat my story.
'Well, sit down,' Brandon growled, waving his hand to the half-circle of chairs lined up before his desk. He swung around to glare at Mifflin. 'What did you get?'
'Two truck loads of reefers and sixteen corpses,' Muffin told him.
'Barratt's dead. Only one member of the gang was alive when we got there, and he's talked. But it's Malloy's story. Do you want him to tell it?'
Brandon favoured me with a heavy scowl as be opened a drawer and took out a cigar box. He selected a cigar without offering the box to anyone and sat back.
'That's what he's here for,' he said, pointed a fat finger at Mary Jerome and asked, 'Who's this?'
'Lee Dedrick's wife,' I told him.
He started, stared at me.
'Who?'
'Lee Dedrick's wife.'
He swung round on Mary Jerome.
'That right?'
'Yes,' she said in her cold, flat voice.
'When did you marry him?'
'About four years ago.'
He put the cigar down, ran well-manicured fingers through his thick white hair.
'Does that make the Marshland marriage bigamous?' he asked in a strangled voice.
'It does,' I said, enjoying his consternation. 'Do you want me to begin at the beginning or do you want to ask questions?
He picked up the cigar again, pierced it savagely with the end of a match.
'Does Mrs. Dedrick — Serena Marshland know about this?'
'She does now.'
He drew down the corners of his mouth, lifted his fat shoulders in a shrug of resignation and waved his hand.
'Go ahead, but don't expect me to believe it'
'A lot of this is guess-work,' I said, shifting forward to the edge of my chair. 'Some of it can be proved; most of it can't. We do know for certain that Barratt was the boss of a smuggling ring. Lee Dedrick and Lute Ferris were his aides. Dedrick took care of the Paris end and Ferris smuggled the stuff in from Mexico. We have proof of that. We also know Dedrick was married to this girl here' — I waved to Mary Jerome — 'who had no ides what his racket was. He deserted her, married Serena Marshland and returned to New York. All he wanted was Serena's money. Now this is where I start guessing. Souki found out who Dedrick was. Maybe be tried to blackmail. I don't know. It seems possible he threatened Dedrick who saw his plans to get hold of Serena's fortune blowing up in his face. He murdered Souki to shut his mouth. To cover the murder and to get as much money out of Serena as he could, he faked his own kidnapping. The idea worked. No one suspected he had killed Souki, and no one suspected he hadn't been kidnapped. Barratt helped him. He kept under cover in Barratt's apartment while Barratt collected the ransom and framed Perelli for the kidnapping. It was easy enough. Perelli had an apartment opposite Barratt's. Barratt hated Perelli. He hid the fishing-rod, some of the ransom money and the gun in Perrelli's room and tipped the police. They moved in grabbed Perelli.
Brandon glanced over at Muffin and snorted.
'Know what this sounds like to me?' He thumped the desk as he glared at me. 'A typical Malloy pipe-dream. You're thing to get Perelli out of a jam. Nothing you've said yet convince me he didn't snatch Dedrick. What else have you got?'
'A reception clerk named Grace Lehmann who work at Barratt's apartment house saw him w
ith the fishing-rod. tried to blackmail him. Dedrick went to see her and murdered her.'
Brandon gave a scoffing laugh.
'Who did you say killed her?'
'Dedrick, the man in the fawn suit. The man Joy Dreadon saw with Grace Lehrnann.'
'That's a pretty tale. The Lehmann woman committed suicide. Your only witness is a streetwalker. Do you think I'd take her word? None of your witnesses are worth a damn, anyway.'
I lifted my shoulders.
'How do you know the man in the fawn suit is Dedrick?' he demanded.
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