1978 - Consider Yourself Dead

by James Hadley Chase

  ‘Sure, darling. Marvellous! Suppose you pick me up at two o’clock.’

  ‘But maybe you’re too busy,’ Frost said, grinning. ‘Just say the word. I’ll understand.’

  Her instructions from Silk had been clear: Stay with him; keep him hooked.

  ‘No problem, darling. I’ll be waiting. ‘Bye now,’ and she hung up. She immediately called Silk. ‘He wants to go swimming with me. He says he’s not in the mood for plush luxury.’

  ‘He’s just playing hard to get,’ Silk said. ‘Now, here’s how you handle him.’

  Marcia listened, her expression tense, then when Silk had finished talking, she said, ‘Okay, I’ll do it, but he bothers me. There’s something about him I don’t trust.’

  Silk laughed. It was a mirthless sound that always sent a chill up Marcia’s spine.

  ‘Since when have you ever trusted any man?’ he said, then after a pause, he went on. ‘This is important, chick. Don’t foul it.’ The threat in his voice was unmistakable.

  He hung up.

  Marcia closed her eyes, feeling a shiver run through her as she replaced the receiver. Silk had instilled such terror into her as to leave her defenceless. Some years back, Ross Umney had come to see her when she had the apartment in Miami. Although he didn’t say so, she knew he had come on Silk’s instructions.

  ‘I want to spell this out to you,’ Umney said, after settling in an armchair. ‘Lu is a professional killer. He makes his living knocking off creeps who get in the way. He’s not a guy to fool with. He thinks you can be useful to him, as I am useful, and as Mitch is useful. So when he needs a silk pussy to setup a creep, you’re going to be it.’

  After four years as a call girl, Marcia had developed into a very confident, tough cookie. She laughed.

  ‘Tell Uncle Lu to go screw himself. I’m not working for anyone but myself. Up on the feet, handsome, and blow.’

  Umney smiled sadly.

  ‘Come on, honey, you should know better than that. He needs a silk pussy. Before you, he tried a couple of chicks, but they said just what you just said.’ He took from his wallet two coloured prints and leaning forward, dropped them into her lap. ‘That’s what he did to them. Lu’s an acid expert.’

  The prints were so horrifying, Marcia dropped them as if they were red hot.

  Shuddering, she stared at Umney.

  ‘He wouldn’t do that to me . . . I’m his niece.’

  ‘He’d do it to his own mother if she didn’t cooperate,’

  Umney said with his sad smile. ‘When he needs you, you jump. That’s the way it is, honey, unless you want to lose your looks,’ and he had left her.

  Marcia had picked up the prints and studied them, shuddered, then tore them to bits. From that moment, she was Silk’s slave. Her greatest pleasure had always been to stand before a mirror, admiring her beauty. To be reduced to a freak like those two girls was something she just couldn’t take.

  A year later, she had a telephone call from Silk.

  ‘Go to apartment fourteen at the Sheraton at nine tonight chick,’ he said. ‘You are expected. Give the creep value for his money. Ross will give you a pill. Drop it into the creep’s drink. When he’s asleep, get out. Easy, isn’t it?’ A pause, then the threat in his voice. ‘Don’t foul it up.’

  Umney had arrived and had given her a tiny envelope containing a yellow tablet.

  ‘Careful, honey, of your looks,’ he said.

  She read in the next morning’s Paradise Herald that a Mr. Ballinski had been found dead in bed. Apparently, he had shot himself. He had been under considerable financial pressure. Mr. Herman Radnitz, the well-known financier, had put in a bid to take over Mr. Ballinski’s company.

  Mr. Ballinski had declared that only over his dead body would Mr. Radnitz succeed. The company was failing through lack of management control. The financial editor of the Paradise Herald thought Mr. Radnitz could revitalise the company, and in despair, knowing this, Mr. Ballinski had shot himself.

  Shuddering, Marcia now realised she was an accessory to murder.

  Another year later, she had been instructed by Silk to set up another financier. She obeyed his instructions, but didn’t look at the morning paper. She couldn’t bear to know that this financier was also dead.

  Then she had inherited the Ace of Spades restaurant.

  Free at last! she had foolishly thought, but Silk had come to her. He told her the Ace of Spades would make a suitable headquarters for him. Caught in the web of terror, Marcia had given over four of the rooms above the restaurant to him, Umney and Goble. The three of them had moved in, and she was stuck with them.

  There had been no activity for her from Silk for the past four months, and she began to hope Silk no longer needed her, but would let her run the restaurant and her call girl service and leave her alone. Now, this crazy, dangerous kidnap idea, and she was right in the middle of it!

  Silk had said in his quiet deadly voice, ‘We need this guy, chick. You hook him, and keep him hooked. Understand?’

  Yes, she understood. Those horrifying photographs were still very much alive in her mind.

  Now, after a swim, she lay in her wet bikini beside Frost under the shade of palm trees. In the far distance, people disported themselves in the sea and on the beach, but where she and Frost were lying, they were isolated.

  Frost seemed remote. He was smoking a cigarette, his eyes closed. She looked at him, worrying, then deciding she must take action, she moved her hand gently on his crotch. His reaction was instant. He swept away her hand and sat up.

  ‘Let’s talk,’ he said, looking down at her. ‘You’re not here for fun and games? Right?’

  She tried to make her eyes register surprise.

  ‘What are you saying, honey?’

  ‘I said let’s talk,’ Frost said. ‘Silk needs me. I’ve figured it. You’re his niece, so you work with him. You are a whore. The sex stuff means nothing to you. Fair enough, but don’t get the idea you’re conning me. That’s what I am saying.’

  Marcia again thought of those horrifying prints. She sat up, crossing her arms around her knees.

  ‘Yes, Silk needs you, and I need you, Mike,’ she said quietly. ‘My restaurant is in the red. I thought it was going to be my lifeline. Without an injection of money, it’s going to fold. Lu came up with this idea of getting a big ransom from Grandi. The way he has it figured, it will work, but not without you. Your take will be five million. If you want money like that, then talk to Lu. It’s as simple as that.’

  ‘How has he got it figured?’ Frost asked, regarding her.

  ‘He’ll tell you.’

  ‘Has he told you?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘I wouldn’t want to know, Mike. My job was to find you. I talked to a lot of guys before deciding you were the one Lu needed. For finding you I get five hundred thousand. With that kind of money, my restaurant will survive.’

  ‘What makes you think that Silk will give you the money if he does get the ransom?’

  ‘You don’t have to worry about your share, Mike. Silk is a professional. He’s no piker. He’ll pay me, and he’ll pay you. That’s the least you have to worry about.’

  ‘What else would I have to worry about?’ Frost asked, stubbing out his cigarette.

  ‘He’ll tell you.’

  Frost lit another cigarette while he stared at the distant sea. Five million dollars! What had he to lose to talk to Silk? If Silk couldn’t convince him, then he would opt out.

  ‘Okay, so I’ll listen, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be his inside man,’ he said.

  Marcia drew in a deep breath of relief.

  ‘No time like the present,’ she said. ‘Let’s go. He’s at the restaurant now.’

  ‘Let him sweat,’ Frost said, then pointing at her bikini, he went on, ‘Why are you wearing that?’

  Men! Marcia thought as she unstrapped the clips. God!

  What animals they are!

  * * *

  They sat aro
und the big table in the room above the swimming pool. Silk was flanked either side by Umney and Goble. Frost sat at the far end of the table on which stood drinks, two bottles of Scotch and a tray of canapés. Goble was the only one to eat. Every so often his fingers closed on one of the elaborate tidbits which he conveyed to his mouth.

  ‘I’ve been working on this idea for some time,’ Silk was saying, staring at Frost. ‘There’s a twenty million rake off, but there’s no way to get at the girl without an inside man. I’m offering you the job for a five million cut.’

  Frost turned his tumbler of Scotch around in his fingers.

  ‘I was talking to 1st Grade Detective Lepski,’ he said. ‘I’m told he is a very smart cop. Let me quote what he said. These were his words: “We don’t want Gina Grandi snatched. Grandi looks after us, so we look after him. Right now, we know she has total protection. There is no way to get at her unless there is an inside man, and if an inside man appears, she could get snatched.”’ Frost paused and stared at Silk. ‘Those were his words. So I opt to be the inside man, she gets snatched, and the heat drops on me. That’s not my idea of picking up five million.’

  Silk smiled.

  ‘It wouldn’t be mine either, but the heat won’t drop on you, Mike. It’ll drop on Jack Marvin.’

  Frost stiffened.

  ‘Marvin? That’s crazy talk! Now listen to me . . .’

  Silk raised his hand.

  ‘Relax. I’ve thought this thing out I’ve lived in this city for fifteen years, and I know all about the cops here. They know their business. I guess they are about the best. From the start of my thinking, I knew that when the girl’s snatched, they would know there had to be an inside man. I knew they would look hard at the man who replaced Joe Davis. Now listen carefully, Mike, I protect my organisation. You ask Ross and Mitch. I’ve never let them down.’ He looked to right and left. ‘Right?’

  ‘You can say that again,’ Goble said, stuffing a sardine on toast into his mouth.

  Umney nodded.

  ‘So okay,’ Silk went on. ‘The cops have two likely suspects for the inside man: you and Marvin. I’m going to fix it they turn the heat on Marvin.’

  Frost was leaning forward, his eyes intent.

  ‘Keep talking. How do you turn the heat on Marvin? Let me tell you something first. Lepski and Marvin are buddies. Marvin has a gold-plated reputation for being a dedicated, straight ex-cop. Your thinking’s cockeyed.’

  Again Silk smiled.

  ‘When the take is twenty million, who is ever straight and dedicated?’

  ‘Five million,’ Frost said.

  ‘No, twenty million. Marvin will seem to handle the snatch on his own. Here’s how the cops will see it. One night, Marvin decides to snatch the girl. The twenty million take has been too much of a temptation. It’s all in his favour. He will have no trouble handling the dogs. No problem there. He will be on night duty. You will be sleeping in your cabin. You don’t present a problem. He goes to the girl’s room, knocks her on the head, carries her down to the harbour, puts her in the motorboat and away he goes. The following morning you go to relieve him: no Marvin. You raise the alarm: no Gina. Amando will alert Grandi. You stand by for orders. Grandi reads the kidnap note: pay up, no cops or your daughter gets knocked off. Grandi won’t call in the cops. He waits. Then Marvin telephones. He gives instructions how the ransom is to be paid and he says you are the one he will deal with. Grandi delivers, and you give me the ransom, then you return, still the white headed boy.’ He paused. ‘How do you like it so far?’

  ‘It stinks,’ Frost said, but his heart was thumping. ‘You say Marvin telephones. Amando will take the call. Marvin’s voice is very special. You can’t mistake it, and don’t tell me Marvin would cooperate. You would have to fake it, and that’s out.’

  Again Silk smiled.

  ‘Marvin will cooperate. When I make a plan, it’s organised. For three months, Ross has been studying Marvin. Here’s something you don’t know. Marvin’s marriage didn’t work, but he has a son, aged three. We can get that kid. No problem there. Marvin will cooperate.’

  Frost shifted in his chair, his mind very alert.

  ‘So, okay, the heat’s off me, and on Marvin,’ he said.

  ‘Grandi gives me the ransom, and I deliver it to you. This is fine, so far, for you, but how about me? You three could take off, and I’m the sucker.’

  Silk poured a little more Scotch into his glass and added charge water.

  ‘You’re not using your head,’ he said. ‘Never mind! I’ll show you your share will be guaranteed. I’ll deal with that later. Now I’ll tell you what really happens: not what the cops think has happened, but what does happen.’

  ‘I’m listening,’ Frost said.

  ‘There are some details that have to be ironed out, but here is the general idea. You take night duty for a week, then change with Marvin? Right?’

  Frost nodded.

  ‘Okay, so you are on day duty, and Marvin on night duty when we snatch the girl. What time do you finish your day duty?’

  ‘Twenty hours. Then we have dinner together, and I am free.’

  ‘What’s the girl doing? Does she eat alone?’

  ‘Maybe. I don’t know. She could eat with Amando, but I doubt it.’

  ‘That’s something I want you to find out. I’ll give you knock out pills. They are special: delayed action. Your job is to put a pill in Marvin’s drink, Amando’s drink and the girl’s drink. How you do this is up to you.’ Silk gave a wry grin. ‘You must expect to earn five million dollars, but let’s leave that for the moment. If you can’t dope their drinks, the operation won’t work, but knowing you are smart, I am sure you will fix it. Okay, the pills take six hours to work, and when they work, it’s a complete knockout. So the girl, Amando and Marvin are knocked out. Suppose you fix the drinks at eight o’clock, then at two o’clock, you go to the guardroom where Marvin is snoring his head off, and you neutralise the fence and get the dogs back into their compound. It just means pressing the right buttons. . . right?’

  Frost gaped at him.

  ‘How the hell do you know that?’

  Silk waved his hand to Umney who was grinning.

  ‘Ross gathers information. He chatted up the guy who fixed the electronics. Ross can get information out of a deaf mute. We know more about the electronic setup than you do. You get the dogs back in their compound and the fence neutralised. Then we three arrive by boat. No problem there. The snatch will take place at three-thirty in the morning. There’ll be no one around. We take the girl and Marvin, both knocked out, to Grandi’s motorboat, and away we go. Ross takes care of our boat.’ Silk paused, then leaning forward, he went on, ‘I’ll spell it out. Your job is to dope the drinks, neutralise the dogs and the fence, and when you have done that you go back to bed. Not such a sweat for five million, is it?’

  Frost thought about this, then he said, ‘Very smart, but it still stinks to me. As I see it, you could get the girl, but what happens when the ransom is paid?’ He pointed a finger at Silk. ‘Once the ransom is paid and Grandi gets the girl back, he’s going to call the cops. Once the cops take over, the fun begins. As soon as you release Marvin, he’ll talk. He has an unshakeable reputation. When he says he was doped, the cops will believe him, so the heat comes back to me. Thought of that?’

  Silk sipped his Scotch.

  ‘Did I say anything about Marvin being released?’

  Frost stared at the cold, ruthless face, and he felt a cold shiver run up his spine.

  ‘This is a twenty million dollar take,’ Silk went on softly. ‘You don’t have to worry about Marvin.’ His scarred face was like a stone mask. ‘I’ll take care of him. Marvin will never be found, and the heat will always remain on him. Get the photo?’

  Frost felt his heart lurch a beat. So this was not only going to be a twenty million dollar snatch, it was also going to be a murder rap. He had done a lot of shady things in the past, but he had stopped short of murder. Then his mind
switched to the prospects of owning five million dollars. Marvin meant nothing to him. Five million!

  ‘So, okay,’ he said, ‘I don’t have to worry about Marvin.’

  He found his mouth was so dry, he took a drink. ‘And Gina?’

  ‘No problem there,’ Silk said, easing himself back in his chair. ‘She gets returned. She’s been doped. She will know nothing. She’ll be under sedation until she arrives back home. No problem.’

  ‘Where are you going to keep her until the ransom is paid?’

  ‘That’s taken care of,’ Silk said. ‘Again no problem.’

  ‘But where? I want to know,’ Frost persisted.

  Silk stared at him. His one eye suddenly went dull, but his glass eye caught the sun coming through the big window, and the glass eye glittered.

  ‘First things first,’ he said. ‘How are you reacting? From what I’ve spelled out, do you think we can snatch the girl?’

  Frost turned the glass of Scotch around and around in his sweating fingers while he thought. Goble began to chew on a lobster tail. Umney, leaning back in his chair, stretched his muscular arms and yawned. Silk, motionless, continued to stare at Frost.

  After a long pause, Frost said, ‘Given the breaks, yes. But there are complications. The dogs are a problem. I have a hundred yards walk from my cabin to the guardroom to fix the neutralisers. The dogs could nail me before I reached the guardroom. I also have a problem doping the drinks.’

  Silk’s lips moved into a smiling grimace.

  ‘Those, of course, are the reasons why you earn five million dollars. I picked on you, because you’re smart.’ He sipped his drink, then putting down the glass, he went on, ‘I now ask you, are you in or out?’

  Again Frost thought of Marvin. Murder! Then he again thought of owning five million dollars.

  He finished his drink, then set down the empty glass.

  ‘We haven’t talked about the ransom yet,’ he said. ‘To me, that’s the sixty-four thousand dollar question. Convince me I can get five million and spend it in safety, and then I’ll tell you if I’m in or out.’

  Silk studied him for a long moment, then he waved his hands towards Umney and Goble.