She’sseenmorenakedmenthanI’veseenshrimps. He had thought
then that this had been a stupid remark from a stupid man, but now
he wondered if Scott could have been speaking the truth.
Did it matter? He looked at her. Without her, he could shortly be
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dead. He felt a moment of sadness, then he shrugged.
“I guess that’s the best way to handle it. Okay, I’ll go into the
jungle, but watch him . . . he’s as tricky as a snake.”
She was watching him.
“Don’t look like that, Johnny. In another four days, we’ll be away
from here. I’m doing this for you and only for you.”
“Yes.” He moved away from her.
For me? he was thinking, or for the money?
“It was smart of me, wasn’t it . . . to tell him you had gone.” He
could see she was longing for a little praise, but he couldn’t give it.
There was a pause, then she went on, “But from now on you must
keep out of sight. You must stay indoors, but it’s only for four days.”
“That’s right.” He couldn’t look at her. He had never felt so
depressed. “Watch him. I’ll get moving.”
“Kiss me.”
Did he want to? He forced himself to look at her, then those
brilliant blue eyes hooked him. She came into his arms, her fingers
going through his hair, her body hard against his.
“Johnny . . . Johnny . . . I love you,” she said, her lips against his
cheek. “We’ll soon be free of this. Trust me! I’ll handle him.”
With his gun and vacuum flask of ice water, Johnny went into the
hot jungle and sitting in the shade, he settled to wait. From where he
sat he could see the lake and the houseboat.
A few minutes after 17.30, he saw a motorboat coming across
the lake.
Toni had been hitting the bottle and now he was full of whisky
courage and lust. He had borrowed a coat from Salvadore so he
could wear his gun harness and he had taken care to clean, oil and
check the gun before leaving Little Creek.
He didn’t expect trouble, but he was ready for it. His fear of
Johnny was damped down by whisky and the thought of Freda.
As he neared the houseboat, he cut the engine and let the boat
drift up as Freda came out on deck.
“Hi!” she said. “I was hoping you’d come.” She caught the rope
he tossed to her and made the boat fast. “I bet you could use a
drink?”
“Yeah.” Toni scrambled on deck. His hand went inside his coat
and eased the gun for a quick draw. He looked around, very tense
now.
“Well, come on in.” Freda turned and walked into the living-
room.
Moving like a cat, keeping close to her so if there was trouble her
body would shield him, Toni moved into the room. One quick glance
told him they were alone.
“Let’s take a look around, baby,” he said. “I like to know we’re
strictly on our own.”
She laughed.
“You men ! Johnny was the same. Scared my husband was
hidden somewhere with a shotgun. Come on, then.”
Leading the way, she took him from her bedroom to the other
two bedrooms, into the kitchen, into the shower room. She even
opened a big closet for him to inspect.
Then turning, a jeering look in her bright blue eyes, she said,
“Satisfied?”
Toni grinned. He was now completely relaxed.
“Sure . . . let’s have that drink.”
She led him back into the living-room.
“Sorry there’s only coke. We can’t afford liquor.”
Toni blew out his cheeks, but maybe a coke was better. He knew
he was already loaded.
“Fine.” He sat down, eyeing her as she left him to go into the
kitchen. She came back with a coke and handed it to him.
He leered at her, drank, then leered again.
“Some chick!”
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“That’s what Johnny was always saying.”
“Your half-brother?”
She laughed and sat down away from him.
“I’ve never had a brother . . . half or otherwise.” She winked at
him. “Strictly between ourselves, a girl has to be respectable in this
dreary neck of the woods. Johnny was a stray my husband picked up,
but he was good in bed.”
Toni became alert.
“What’s happened to him?”
She shrugged.
“Ships that pass in the night.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“He stayed three nights. He left early this morning. He was a nice
guy . . . but funny in a way.” She looked at him. “He was
superstitious. Are you superstitious?”
“Me? No.”
“He was always talking about a St. Christopher medal he had
lost. It seemed to prey on his mind.”
Johnny! Toni leaned forward.
“Where did you say he was going?”
“Miami. He had money. He said he was going to hire a boat and
go to Havana. Now, why should anyone want to go there?”
“Did he have any baggage with him?”
“A big suitcase. It was heavy: even he had trouble with it.” She
cocked her head on one side. “Why the interest?”
Toni sat still, thinking. This was important information. He knew
he should get back fast and telephone Luigi. They might pick up this
sonofabitch in Miami before he hired a boat. Then he looked at
Freda. Maybe an hour wouldn’t make any difference.
He stood up.
“Let’s you and me find out if one of those beds is soft,” he said.
She laughed.
“That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it?”
Breathing fast, his unsteady fingers unbuckling his gun harness,
Toni followed her into her bedroom.
Sitting in the shade and cursing the mosquitoes that were
buzzing around him, Johnny saw Toni come out on deck and get into
the motorboat. He looked at his strap watch. Toni had been in there
for an hour.
Johnny didn’t need to exercise his imagination to know what
those two had been doing. He felt a cold bitterness towards her.
How could she tell him she loved him?
He waited until Toni’s boat was out of sight, then he walked
quickly across the jetty and into the living-room.
He heard her in the kitchen. He went to the door to find her
making pastry. In a casserole, the pigeon breasts were simmering.
“It’s all right,” she said, seeing him in the doorway, and quickly
she told him what she had said to Toni. “I sold it to him. I know he’s
convinced.”
Johnny drew in a deep breath. If Toni now convinced Massino of
this story, then the heat would be off. Massino would know that he (
Johnny ), once in Havana, would be out of his reach.
“I told him you had a heavy suitcase with you,” Freda went on.
She paused while she rolled out the pastry. “That was smart, wasn’t
it, Johnny?”
But in spite of what she had done for him, in spite of her
cleverness, Johnny could only think of the hour she had spent with
Toni alone.
“Did you enjoy his company?” he asked, his tone bitter.
She looked at him, her ey
es suddenly stony.
“Is that all you have to say . . . no thanks?”
He moved uneasily.
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“I’m asking you . . . did you enjoy his company? You got laid,
didn’t you?”
She began to line a pie-dish with the pastry. He stood there,
waiting. He watched her tip the contents of the casserole into the
pie-dish.
“Didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
He wanted to hit her but he controlled the urge. “You’re nothing
but a whore, aren’t you?”
She covered the pie-dish with pastry, then she put the dish into
the oven.
“Aren’t you?”
“Yes.” She turned and faced him. “Before I married Ed I was a
busy, busy call girl. He knew it and now you know it.” Without
looking at him again, she washed her hands under the tap, dried
them, and moving past him, she went into the living-room. He
hesitated, then followed her, feeling ashamed and defeated.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Thank you for what you’ve done for me.
Forget what I said.”
She sat down.
“That man meant no more to me than dozens of other men who
have paid for it.” She looked directly at him. “While he was getting
rid of his dirty lust, I was thinking of you. You’re the only one,
Johnny, who has ever turned me on.” She shrugged. “Can’t you see,
if you can get this stupid jealousy out of your mind, that I had to do
it? I had to have him here to convince him you had gone and to
convince him you’re heading for Havana. If I had held back, he
wouldn’t have believed me. Can’t you see that? Now, you’re safe.”
Johnny went to her and put his arms around her. “I’m sorry baby.
You mean so much to me. I’m sorry.”
“Forget it.” She kissed him, then she got to her feet and went to
the window to stare across the lake. “So what are we going to do
now? You mustn’t show yourself. Can’t we go tomorrow . . . can’t we
get away?”
“Not yet. Although it’s safer, baby, the way you’ve fixed it, it’s
also a lot more complicated.”
“How do you mean?”
“If we took off tomorrow Ed would ask questions. He’d talk to
Salvadore who would then know you lied to Toni. Then he’d start a
hunt, not only for me, but for you. We have to wait at least another
four days.”
She lifted her hands in despair.
“Wait . . . that’s all I do . . . wait!”
Then they heard the sound of the truck approaching and she
went into the kitchen.
Massino was looking at the weekly numbers figures that Andy
had given him when Toni came on the line, calling from Little Creek.
Massino looked at Andy.
“It’s Toni. Get on the extension and write down what he says!”
Then to Toni, he barked. “Did you find him?”
“No, Mr. Joe. I missed him by six hours. He was here, but he’s
gone now. The chick says he’s headed for Miami to hire a boat for
Havana.”
“Havana?” Massino’s voice shot up.
“Yeah.”
“Well, come on, come on! Give me the details!”
Toni told him all he knew. He was careful not to give details of his
visit to Freda. He said she gave him a description of Johnny,
mentioned the medal, said he had been holed up there for three
nights and had gone off, carrying a heavy suitcase.
“So what do you want me to do, Mr. Joe?”
Massino’s mind raced.
“I’ll call you back. Stick around,” and taking Salvadore’s number,
he hung up.
“If he’s got to Havana we’re bitched!” he said, glaring at Andy.
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“And he’s got the money!”
“So she says,” Andy said quietly.
Massino stiffened.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think we should check her story out, Mr. Joe,” Andy said.
“You’re right, if he’s heading for Havana and Luigi doesn’t pick him
up before he leaves Miami then we kiss him and the money goodbye,
but this could be a bluff. Toni’s got nothing between his ears.
He’d fall for any story a woman fed him. Let’s check the woman
first.”
Massino thought about this, then nodded.
“I’ll talk to Luigi. Got his number?”
“I’ll get it.” Andy went into his office and returned a few minutes
later. “He’s on the line now.”
Massino snatched up the receiver.
“Luigi? How are you? Long time no see. What’s that? Yeah . . .
sure is a big steal. Yeah. Listen. How about a little help? This woman .
. .” He looked across at Andy who said, “Freda Scott, Little Creek.”
“Yeah . . . Freda Scott, lives at Little Creek. Salvadore knows all
about her. She says Bianda took off early this morning, heading for
Miami and then Havana. She could be lying. I want you to send
someone out there and talk to her and when I say talk I mean give
her the goddamn works. I want her squeezed dry! Don’t let up until
you’re sure she’s telling the truth . . . get it? If you have to knock her
off, knock her off. Will you do this for me, Luigi?”
“Sure, Joe.” Luigi sounded expansive. “I’ve got a couple of bums
who’d take real pleasure in a job like that, but it’ll cost. How’s about
a grand: guaranteed results?”
“Come on, Luigi . . . you’re my friend. You wouldn’t rob me,
would you?”
“No more than you’d rob me, Joe. A grand and a guarantee.”
“Suppose she’s telling the truth?”
“Well, then you’ll know, won’t you?”
Massino cursed.
“Okay. Just get moving!” and he hung up.
At the other end of the line, Luigi knocked ash off his cigar and
grinned to himself. He liked nothing better than easy money and this
money couldn’t be easier. The time was 21.15. No point in rushing
this. Besides he had to supervise his restaurant. He called Salvadore
and told him to send Toni back to the Waterfront it Bar.
When Toni entered Luigi’s office, he found two men propping up
the wall while Luigi, at his desk, cigar gripped between his teeth, was
checking the restaurant’s booking.
The two men startled Toni. He was used to tough types but these
two seemed to him to have escaped from a zoo. The bigger of the
two had the broken face of a boxer, massively built and with a
moronic grin, little beady eyes and no ears. They had probably been
bitten off in some past brawl, Toni decided. The other was younger,
thin, blond with expressionless eyes and a thin mouth and the
deadpan expression of a pot smoker.
“Come on in,” Luigi said. “The big one’s Bernie. The other’s Clive.
They’re going to talk to your chick. Mr. Joe gets the idea she’s lying
so I’m sending the boys to shake the crap out of her.” Luigi looked at
Toni and grinned. “How was she as a lay?”
“Okay, Mr. Luigi.”
“Fine. You’re lucky. She won’t be much after these two have
worked her over. Just wise up. When’s the best time for a visit?”
<
br /> “Her husband leaves at five-thirty in the morning. She’s on her
own then,” Toni said uneasily.
Luigi looked at the two propping up the wall.
“Suppose you get over there around six? Don’t worry about
interrupting her coffee. Mr. Joe’s anxious for news, and don’t worry
about her. It’s a big lake.”
The two nodded and went away leaving Toni standing, uneasy
and staring at Luigi. Even he, tough as he was, hated the thought of a
chick like Freda in the hands of those two apes.
“Okay, Toni,” Luigi said, “go and enjoy yourself. Everything’s on
163
the house. If you want a girl tell the barman. He’ll fix you. Have a
ball.”
Toni went to the bar and got drunk.
The sound of the truck starting up woke Johnny. He looked out of
the window. There was mist on the lake and he could see the red rim
of the sun coming up behind the pines. He looked at his watch. The
time was 05.30. He reached for a cigarette and listened to the truck
backing out of the parking bay, then go roaring up the dirt road.
The evening had passed with the help of the television. Freda’s
pigeon pie had been a success. Scott had congratulated him on his
shooting. Johnny had slept badly, continually waking, dozing, then
waking again. Nov, a cigarette between his lips, he took stock of his
position.
If Massino was convinced by Freda’s story, the heat must cool.
But would he be convinced? He (Johnny) would have to stay under
cover for at least another four days, then he would have to get to a
telephone and call Sammy. He wouldn’t dare show himself in Little
Creek. Where else was a telephone? He would have to ask Freda
that. If Sammy could assure him the heat was off, then he and Freda
would go back to East City, take a chance, collect the money and get
out of town. If Massino was sure he was in Havana, he could see no
danger in again driving south. Problems! First getting to a telephone
and then getting a car. There was no question now of Freda hiring a
car from Little Creek. Maybe they would have to walk to New Symara
. . . some walk in this heat!
He threw off the sheet and got out of bed. A cup of coffee would
go well with his cigarette.
“Johnny?”
Freda came out of her bedroom. Her blonde hair was mussed,
but to Johnny, with the softness of sleep still on her, she looked
beautiful.
“Just getting coffee, baby. Want some?”
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