Both of them were wearing guns under their arms.
Green cards, loud-mouthed bastards, sheep, now guns.
It came together like a dealer sweeping in the cards for shuffling. The game was getting rough. But guns, why guns? This wasn’t a fighting game. Who the devil was worth killing in this motley crowd? Why guns here when there was a chance of getting picked up with them?
I pulled back out of the crowd and crossed the walk into the shadows to a bench. A guy sat on the other end of it with a paper over his face, snoring. Fifteen minutes later the rain quit playing around and one by one the crowd pulled away until only a handful was left around the nucleus. For guys who were trying to intimidate the world they certainly were afraid of a little water. All of a sudden the skies opened up and let loose with everything in sight. The guy on the end of the bench jumped up, fighting the paper that wrapped itself around his face. He made a few drunken animal noises, swallowed hard when he saw me watching him and scurried away into the night.
I had to sit through another five minutes of it before I got up. The two men in the trench coats waited until the loose-jointed guy in the black overcoat had a fifty-foot start, then they turned around and followed him. That gave them a good reason for the rods under their arms.
Bodyguards.
Maybe it was the rain that made my guts churn. Maybe it was those words beating against my head, telling me that I was only scum. Maybe it was just me, but suddenly I wanted to grab that guy in the overcoat and slam his teeth down his throat and wait to see what his two boys would do. I’d like to catch them reaching for a gun! I’d like them to move their hands just one inch, then I’d show them what practice could do when it came to snagging a big, fat gun out of a shoulder sling! So I was a sucker for fighting a war. I was a sap for liking my country. I was a jerk for not thinking them a superior breed of lice!
That cop with the round Irish face should have used a knife in their bellies instead of the butt end of a night stick.
I waited until they were blurs in the rain then tagged along in the rear. They were a fine pair, those two, a brace of dillies. I tailed them into the subway and out again in Brooklyn. I was with them when they walked down Coney Island Avenue and beside them when they turned into a store off the avenue and they never knew I was there.
Down at the corner I crossed the street and came back up the other side. One of the boys was still in the doorway playing watchdog. I wanted to know how smart the people were who wanted to run the world. I found out. I cut across the street and walked right up to the guy without making any fuss about it. He gave me a queer look and drew his eyebrows together in a frown, trying to remember where he had seen me before. He was fumbling for words when I pulled out the green card.
He didn’t try to match them up. One look was enough and he waved his head at the door. I turned the knob and went in. I’d have to remember to tell Pat about that. They weren’t being so careful at all.
When I closed the door I changed my mind. The light went on, just like a refrigerator, and I saw the blackout shades on the windows and door, the felt padding beneath the sill so no light could escape under the door. And the switch. A home-made affair on the side of the door that cut the light when the door opened and threw it back on again when it closed.
The girl at the desk glanced up impatiently and held out her hand for the card. She matched them. She matched them damn carefully, too, and when she handed them back she had sucked hollows into her cheeks trying to think of the right thing to say.
“You’re from ... ?”
“Philly,” I supplied. I hoped it was a good answer. It was. She nodded and turned her head toward a door in the back of the anteroom. I had to wait for her to push a button before it opened under my hand.
There were twenty-seven people in the other room. I counted them. They were all very busy. Some of them were at desks clipping things from newspapers and magazines. One guy in a corner was taking pictures of the things they clipped and it came out on microfilm. There was a little group around a map of the city over against one wall, talking too earnestly and too low for me to catch what they were saying.
I saw the other boy in the trench coat. He still had it on and he was sticking close with the guy in the overcoat. Evidently the fellow was some kind of a wheel, checking on activities here and there, offering sharp criticism or curt words of approval.
When I had been there a full five minutes people began to notice me. At first it was just a casual glance from odd spots, then long searching looks that disappeared whenever I looked back. The man in the overcoat licked his lips nervously and smiled in my direction.
I sat down at a table and crossed my legs, a smoke dangling from my mouth. I smoked and I watched, trying to make some sense out of it. Some of them even looked like Commies, the cartoon kind. There were sharp eyes that darted from side to side, too-wise women dazzled by some meager sense of responsibility, smirking students who wore their hair long, tucked behind their heads. A few more came in while I sat and devoted themselves to some unfinished task. But sooner or later their eyes came to mine and shifted away hurriedly when I looked at them.
It became a game, that watching business. I found that if I stared at some punk who was taking his time about doing things he became overly ambitious all of a sudden. I went from one to the other and came at last to the guy in the overcoat.
He was the head man here, no doubt about it. His word was law. At twenty minutes past eleven he started his rounds of the room, pausing here and there to lay a mimeographed sheet on a desk, stopping to emphasize some obscure point.
Finally he had to pass me and for a split second he hesitated, simpered and went on. I got it and played the game to the hilt. I walked to a desk and picked up one of the sheets and read it as I sat on the edge of the desk. The scraggly blonde at the desk couldn’t keep her hands from shaking.
I got the picture then. I was reading the orders for the week; I was in on the pipeline from Moscow. It was that easy. I read them all the way through, tossed the sheet down and went back to my chair.
I smiled.
Everybody smiled.
The boy in the trench coat with the gun under his arm came over and said, “You will like some coffee now?” He had an accent I couldn’t place.
I smiled again and followed him to the back of the room. I didn’t see the door of the place because it was hidden behind the photography equipment.
It led into a tiny conference room that held a table, six chairs and a coffee urn. When the door closed there were seven of us in the room including two dames. Trench Coat got a tray of cups from the closet and set them on the table. For me it was a fight between grinning and stamping somebody’s face in. For an after-office-hours coffee deal it certainly was a high-tension deal.
To keep from grinning I shoved another Lucky in my mouth and stuck a light to it. There they were, everyone with a coffee cup, lined up at the urn. Because I took my time with the smoke I had to join the end of the line, and it was a good thing I did. It gave me time enough to get the pitch.
Everybody had been watching me covertly anyway, saying little and satisfied with me keeping my mouth shut. When they took their coffee black and wandered off to the table the two women made a face at the bitter taste. They didn’t like black coffee. They weren’t used to black coffee. Yet they took black coffee and kept shooting me those sidewise glances.
How simple can people get? Did they take everybody for dummies like themselves? When I drew my cup from the urn Trench Coat stood right behind me and waited. He was the only one that bothered to breathe and he breathed down my neck.
I took my sugar and milk. I took plenty of it. I turned around and lifted my cup in a mock toast and all the jerks started breathing again and the room came to life. The two women went back and got sugar and milk.
The whole play had been a signal setup a kid could have seen through.
Trench Coat smiled happily. “It is very good you are here, comrade. We
cannot be too careful, of course.”
“Of course.” It was the first time I had said anything, but you might have thought I gave the Gettysburg Address. Overcoat came over immediately, his hand reaching out for mine.
“I am Henry Gladow, you know. Certainly you know.” His chuckle was nervous and high-pitched. “We had been expecting you, but not so quickly. Of course we realize the party works quickly, but this is almost faith-inspiring! You came with incredible speed. Why, only tonight I picked up the telegram from our messenger uptown announcing your arrival. Incredible.”
That was the reason for the bodyguards and the guns. My new chum was receiving party instructions from somebody else. That was why the Trench Coats closed in around the soldier, in case it had been a trap to intercept the message. Real cute, but dumb as hell.
“... happy to have you inspect our small base of operation, comrade.” I turned my attention back to him again and listened politely. “Rarely do we have such an honor. In fact, this is the first time.” He turned to Trench Coat, still smiling. “This is my, er, traveling companion, Martin Romberg. Very capable man, you know. And my secretary,” he indicated a girl in thick-lensed glasses who was just out of her teens, “Martha Camisole.”
He went around the room introducing each one and with every nod I handed out I got back a smile that tried hard to be nice but was too scared to do a good job of it.
We finished the coffee, had another and a smoke before Gladow looked at his watch. I could see damn well he had another question coming up and I let him take his time about asking it. He said, “Er, you are quite satisfied with the operation at this point, comrade? Would you care to inspect our records and documents?”
My scowl was of surprise, but he didn’t know that. His eyebrows went up and he smiled craftily. “No, comrade, not written documents. Here, in the base, we have experts who commit the documents ...” he tapped the side of his head, “here.”
“Smart,” I grunted. “What happens if they talk?”
He tried to seem overcome with the preposterous. “Very funny, comrade. Quite, er ... yes. Who is there to make them talk? That is where we have the advantage. In this country force is never used. The so-called third degree has been swept out. Even a truthful statement loses its truth if coercion is even hinted at. The fools, the despicable fools haven’t the intelligence to govern a country properly! When the party is in power things will be different, eh, comrade?”
“Much, much different,” I said.
Gladow nodded, pleased. “You, er, care to see anything of special importance, comrade?” His voice had a gay tone.
“No, nothing special. Just checking around.” I dragged on the butt and blew a cloud of smoke in his face. He didn’t seem to mind it.
“Then in your report you will state that everything is satisfactory here?”
“Sure, don’t give it another thought.”
There was more sighing. Some of the fear went out of their eyes. The Camisole kid giggled nervously. “Then may I say again that we have been deeply honored by your visit, comrade,” Gladow said. “Since the sudden, untimely death of our former, er, compatriot, we have been more or less uneasy. You understand these things of course. It was gratifying to see that he was not identified with the party in any way. Even the newspapers are stupid in this country.”
I had to let my eyes sink to the floor or he would have seen the hate in them. I was an inch away from killing the bastard and he didn’t know it. I turned my hand over to look at the time and saw that it was close to midnight. I’d been in the pigsty long enough. I set the empty cup down on the table and walked to the door. The crumbs couldn’t even make good coffee.
All but two of the lesser satellites had left, their desks clear of all papers. The guy on the photography rig was stuffing the microfilm in a small file case while a girl burned papers in a metal waste basket. I didn’t stop to see who got the film. There was enough of it that was so plain that I didn’t need any pictures drawn for me.
Gladow was hoping I’d shake hands, but he got fooled. I kept them both in my pockets because I didn’t like to handle snakes, not of their variety.
The outside door slammed shut and I heard some hurried conversation and the girl at the desk say, “Go right in.” I was standing by the inside door when she opened it.
I had to make sure I was in the right place by taking a quick look around me. This was supposed to be a Commie setup, a joint for the masses only, not a club for babes in mink coats with hats to match. She was one of those tall, willowy blondes who reached thirty with each year an improvement.
She was almost beautiful, with a body that could take your mind off beauty and put it on other things. She smiled at Gladow as soon as she saw him and gave him her hand.
His voice took on a purr when he kissed it. “Miss Brighton, it is always a pleasure to see you.” He straightened up, still smiling. “I didn’t expect you to come at this hour.”
“I didn’t expect you to be here either, Henry. I decided to take the chance anyway. I brought the donations.” Her voice was like rubbing your hand on satin. She pulled an envelope out of her pocketbook and handed it to Gladow unconcernedly. Then, for the first time, she saw me.
She squinted her eyes, trying to place me.
I grinned at her. I like to grin at a million bucks.
Ethel Brighton grinned back.
Henry Gladow coughed politely and turned to me. “Miss Brighton is one of our most earnest comrades. She is chiefly responsible for some of our most substantial contributions.”
He made no attempt to introduce me. Apparently nobody seemed to care. Especially Ethel Brighton. A quick look flashed between them that brought the scowl back to her face for a brief moment. A shadow on the wall that came from one of the Trench Coats behind me was making furious gestures.
I started to get the willies. It was the damnedest thing I had ever seen. Everybody was acting like at a fraternity initiation and for some reason I was the man of the moment. I took it as long as I could. I said, “I’m going uptown. If you’re going back you can come along.”
For a dame who had her picture in most of the Sunday supplements every few weeks, she lost her air of sophistication in a hurry. Her cheeks seemed to sink in and she looked to Gladow for approval. Evidently he gave it, for she nodded and said, “My car ... it’s right outside.”
I didn’t bother to leave any good nights behind me. I went through the receptionist’s cubicle and yanked the door open. When Ethel Brighton was out I slammed it shut. Behind me the place was as dark as the vacant hole it was supposed to be.
Without waiting to be asked I slid behind the wheel and held out my hand for the keys. She dropped them in my palm and fidgeted against the cushions. That car ... it was a beauty. In the daylight it would have been a maroon convertible, but under the street lights it was a mass of mirrors with the chrome reflecting every bulb in the sky.
Ethel said, “Are you from ... New York?”
“Nope. Philly,” I lied.
For some reason I was making her mighty nervous. It wasn’t my driving because I was holding it to a steady thirty to keep inside the green lights. I tried another grin. This time she smiled back and worried the fingers of her gloves.
I couldn’t get over it, Ethel Brighton a Commie! Her old man would tan her hide no matter how old she was if he ever heard about it. But what the hell, she wasn’t the only one with plenty of rocks who got hung up on the red flag. I said, “It hasn’t been too easy for you to keep all this under your hat, has it?”
Her hands stopped working the glove. “N-no. I’ve managed, though.”
“Yeah. You’ve done a good job.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, no thanks at all, kid. For people with intelligence it’s easy. When you‘re, er, getting these donations, don’t people sorta wonder where it’s going?”
She scowled again, puzzled. “I don’t think so. I thought that was explained quite fully in my report.”
/> “It was, it was. Don’t get me wrong. We have to keep track of things, you know. Situations change.” It was a lot of crap to me, but it must have made sense to her way of thinking.
“Usually they’re much too busy to listen to my explanations, and anyway, they can deduct the amounts from their income tax.”
“They ought to be pretty easy to touch, then.”
This time she smiled a little. “They are. They think it’s for charity.”
“Uh-huh. Suppose your father finds out what you’ve been doing?”
The way she recoiled you’d think I smacked her. “Oh ... please, you wouldn‘t!”
“Take it easy, kid. I’m only supposing.”
Even in the dull light of the dash I could see how pale she was. “Daddy would ... never forgive me. I think ... he’d send me someplace. He’d disinherit me completely.” She shuddered, her hands going back to the glove again. “He’ll never know. When he does it will be too late!”
“Your emotions are showing through, kid.”
“So would yours if ... oh ... oh, I didn’t mean ...” Her expression made a sudden switch from rage to that of fear. It wasn’t a nice fear, it was more like that of the girl on the bridge.
I looked over slowly, an angle creeping into the corner of my mind. “I’m not going to bite. Maybe you can’t say things back there in front of the others, but sometimes I’m not like them. I can understand problems. I have plenty of my own.”
“But you ... you’re ...”
“I’m what?”
“You know.” She bit into her lip, looking at me obliquely.
I nodded as if I did.
“Will you be here long?”
“Maybe,” I shrugged. “Why?”
The fear came back. “Really, I wasn’t asking pointed questions. Honest I wasn’t. I just meant ... I meant with the ... other being killed and all, well...”
The Mike Hammer Collection, Volume 2 Page 5