The Removers mh-3

by Donald Hamilton

  Then she'd come running across the yard, no doubt, but he'd be watching the tach now and reaching for second gear, keeping the revs down because the mill was still cold, concentrating on the car because everything had gone too far and it was too late and he didn't even want to hear her calling after him, if she did call..

  "Please don't look at me like that!" Beth whispered. "Matt, what are we going to do?"

  Suddenly I felt kind of sorry for her. I mean, I suppose a woman ought to be able to get a little frantic now and then without causing her man to do more than slam the door hard on his way out.

  I said, "We'll figure something, but first, what's the chances of getting something to eat around here? I haven't had anything since breakfast, and the circumstances weren't favorable to good digestion, if you'll recall."

  She hesitated; it was clearly hard for her to think of such mundane things as food. "There's cold roast," she said, "and I think there are some cold boiled potatoes. I could fry them for you. You used to like them fried, didn't you?"

  It made me feel funny that she should remember that. "Yes," I said. "If you don't mind, I'll stop in the living room and make myself a drink… Do you have a road atlas?"

  "Yes, it's in the living room, too. On the shelf under the window."

  A little later, she came into the living room with a tray of food and a small silver ice bucket. I looked up from the atlas, as she took some cubes from the bucket and dropped them into my warm drink.

  "What are you looking for, Matt?"

  "I was kind of figuring the earliest he could be back," I said. "According to my information, he's heading south southeast, which doesn't tell us much. I don't know the border very well, at least not from the dope-smuggler's angle… When did he leave?"

  She hesitated, and glanced at her watch. "It was. quite a while ago."

  "It must have been," I said, "for him to be clear down in Arizona already. He must have that Jag really screaming. Well, let's hope he hangs onto it, or they'll be picking up pieces of Logan all over the southwest."

  Her breath caught. "You don't have to say things like that, Matt!"

  "Sorry," I said. I looked up at her. "How the hell did you come to marry him, anyway, Beth?"

  "Can't you understand?" she said. "Can't you understand that I couldn't do it twice?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "I met him," she said. "I liked him very much. He liked me. I thought I knew what was coming when he asked me, very formally, to have dinner with him out here. I was right, of course. He said he wanted to… to ask me to marry him. But first, he said, there was something he had to tell me… He told me. Everything."

  "Stout fella," I said.

  She paid me no attention. "I was shocked, of course," she said, "terribly shocked. He hadn't seemed like that sort of person at all, any more than you… Matt, do you think I have an… an affinity for men who do you think I really, subconsciously, under all my civilized ideas and ideals, want someone… someone violent…

  "You mean," I said, "like the prissy schoolmarm type really wants to be raped?"

  She flushed, and went on quickly: "Anyway, Larry saw on my face what I was thinking. 'I'm sorry, my dear,' he said, 'it was too much to ask, of course.' And he had exactly the same weary look that you had when you said we might as well call it a day. And I couldn't do it again, don't you understand? I couldn't do it a second time! I know you think I failed you, and I still think you had no right to expect… But I couldn't do it to him, too. I just couldn't!" After a while, she said quietly, "Maybe it would have been better if I had. I

  I'm not very good at this sort of thing, Matt." Presently she added, with a touch of defiance, "I don't think anyone should have to be!"

  I said, "It would be nice if thinking made it so."

  I frowned at her for a moment longer, wondering if there could have been some basis for her theory about herself; it was odd that twice she should have picked men with dark secrets. Well, her subconscious was her problem. I yawned and put the atlas aside and started to eat. The drink had been a mistake. It had only reminded me of all the hours I'd been without sleep. When Beth spoke again, her voice seemed to come from far away.

  I asked, "What did you say?"

  "What did you do with that sexy little girl? That's her car outside, isn't it?"

  I wished she hadn't asked. I had a sudden picture of the kid as I'd last seen her. I asked you what side you were on, Moira had whispered, and you kissed me. I asked you why we had to come here and you said because you wanted me safe. Safe! I had no trouble at all remembering the contempt in her voice and expression.

  1 said, "I traded that sexy little girl for a safe-conduct pass for the kids. When young Peter checks in tomorrow morning, tell him it's okay to bring them home."

  Beth frowned. "I don't understand-"

  I said, "I'm not too proud to borrow a good idea. There was nothing wrong with the Duke's plan except its execution. I just went ahead with it after you left."

  "You mean-"

  "I mean," I said, "she's being held in a certain place. Fredericks has been notified that anything that happens to my kids happens to his kid, too. I think I managed to convince him that I mean it." I drew a long breath. "In other words, we've got the children off the streets. We've canceled them out. It's just a game for grown-ups, now."

  Beth was still frowning. Then her forehead cleared. "I see. Well, I don't suppose she's very proud of her parent, and she seemed quite fond of you; I suppose she was glad to cooperate-"

  "I didn't ask her," I said.

  Beth's frown was back. "But then, how did you manage-"

  I said, "I twisted her arm until she screamed. It was a very convincing scream. Anyway, I think Fredericks bought it."

  Beth was staring at me wide-eyed. "You can't be serious! Why, the child was obviously in love with you! She'd have done anything-"

  "Love, shmove," I said. It was like being in a foreign country, speaking a language nobody understood. "Look," I said, "that sexy little girl, as you call her, has very odd, almost biblical notions about family. You know, honor thy father and mother, that sort of thing. Her father happens to be a racketeer and her mother's a hopeless alcoholic, but as far as she's concerned that's strictly beside the point, and so is the fact that she's not really very fond of the old man. He's her old man, and that's that. Now, what am I going to do, kiss her gently and ask her to save humanity by casting her lot with the forces of truth and beauty represented by myself? And then have her spend the rest of her life remembering-with the old man dead or in jail-that she had a hand in putting him there; that she let herself be sweet-talked into turning against him? Nuts. So now she has a sore arm for a couple of days instead of a sore conscience for the rest of eternity. And she hates me, but that's not going to do her any harm; probably she's better off for it."

  Beth was still staring at me as if I'd sprouted claws and fangs. It didn't matter, apparently, what you did to people's psyches, but twisting their arms was terrible. Then she thought of something else, and her expression changed.

  "But if you have the girl-if you're holding her-then everything is all right, isn't it? I mean, Larry doesn't have to… to go through with it. We can trade her for-"

  "For what?" I asked. "Do you think Fredericks is going to walk into a police station and sign a notarized confession of his crimes just because I happen to be holding his daughter somewhere? Don't be silly. All I've done is buy our kids a kind of temporary immunity, and don't think Fredericks isn't doing his damnedest to figure a way to hit back. Holding Moira Fredericks doesn't solve a thing. It just gives us a little time in which to operate more freely than we could if we had to worry about what might be happening to Betsy and the boys…"

  "What about Peter?" she asked quickly.

  I shrugged. "What about Peter Logan? He's old enough to vote and he's no kid of mine."

  She stared at me, shocked. "You mean you didn't-" I drew a long breath. "It was a simple deal, Beth. It had to be drawn i
n simple terms that a guy like Fredericks could understand and believe. An eye for an eye, something of his for something of mine. If I'd tried to cover the whole world, he'd have known I was pulling a bluff on him. Peter's got a papa of his own; he's no responsibility of mine, and Fredericks knows it. Let the Duke worry about Peter. Okay?"

  She said angrily, "No, it's not at all okay-"

  "Well, that's the deal," I said. "It's better than nothing, isn't it? Now what about this clue that you picked up listening in on your husband's telephone conversation?"

  She was still glaring at me. "I wasn't listening in-"

  "All right, you weren't listening in, you were just listening. What did you hear?"

  "Matt, really!"

  I drew a long breath. "I'm sorry. I haven't been to bed for longer than I can remember-not to sleep, anyway- and I'm probably a little unreasonable. Now, having apologized, may I have the clue?"

  She started to speak angrily, checked herself, and said, "It's the old Buckman cabin."

  "What's the old Buckman cabin?"

  "Where they're to meet afterwards. After Larry gets back."

  "I see. And where's the old Buckman cabin?"

  "About seventeen miles back down the road you came by, there's a little road that turns down into a canyon, Buckman Canyon. It goes on for miles, and meets the highway way out on the desert-"

  "Show me on the map."

  She showed me. I went to the window and looked out. There was still plenty of daylight left, but there wasn't anything left inside me. It hits you like that sometimes. I shouldn't have had that drink. I tried to think what should be done next, but my brain was made strictly from absorbent cotton of a very crude and unrefined grade. Well, fortunately there was time to do something about it. Even with the best luck in the world, Logan couldn't possibly be back until morning unless he took to the air, and I know these fast-car boys. Unless the wheels fall off, they'll stick to what they're driving, rather than entrust themselves to some crazy pilot and his dangerous flying machine.

  I turned from the window. You mustn't ever show that you're so pooped you don't know what the hell you're doing. You must always act as if you had a wonderful plan and it was working out swell. Anyway, that's the theory.

  I went to the gun rack on the wall. Logan had an adequate, but not spectacular, hunting arsenal. There was a handsome, light, double-barreled shotgun, 16-gauge, obviously of English make. There was an American 12-gauge with a long 30-inch barrel, a long-range weapon for ducks and geese that the little gun wouldn't reach. There was a bolt-action Winchester.270 with a scope, a nice, flat-shooting mountain rifle. And then, so help me, there was the Africa gun, the big double rifle, the.500 elephant buster, without which no real white hunter could stay in business. So he'd actually been there and done it. I made a silent apology to Mr. Lawrence Logan, wherever he might be and whatever speed he might be traveling at.

  I took down the little 16-gauge double. There were shells in the ammunition drawer. I stuck one into each chamber after checking that the bores were clear. I closed the gun and took it to Beth.

  "This is the safety," I said. "Shove it up so and you're ready to go. I'm going to have to ask you to baby-sit me for a while. Fredericks or Fenn may dream up something fancy and there's no use taking chances. I'm going to get some sleep on the sofa so I'll be ready to function when it's time for the Duke to get back. When's daylight around here?"

  She hesitated. "I think it starts to get light about four. But-"

  "Wake me at three, if I'm still out," I said. "Now, I want you to listen closely. You'll stay in this room with me, and you'll keep the gun in your hands, or if your lap, if you want to sit and read. Aim it some direction where it won't do too much damage if it goes off. If you hear anything-anything whatever-push off the safety with your thumb and put your finger on the trigger, like this. Either trigger, but it's customary to start with the rear. If you have the slightest real intimation of trouble, just pull the trigger."

  "But-"

  "Beth," I said, "please! I know it's a little rough on the household furnishings, but we hope you won't have to do it. But if you should, just follow instructions, do you understand? Don't scream, don't wait to turn around and see what's behind you, and don't for the love of Pete go out of the room to investigate. Just blow a hole in the wall. If anybody's trying to rush you, the noise should make him hit the deck. It should give me time to wake up and get into action. And if you should have to leave the room for any reason whatever, wake me up. Got it?"

  "I… I think so. Matt."

  "Yes?"

  "What about…" She touched her lips with her tongue. "What about Larry?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "What will happen to him? The police don't like him or trust him. Even now, after all the years he's been here, if anything happens in Reno-in Fredericks' organization… They would come out here to harass him-"

  "He should have retired a little farther away."

  She said, "If you know Larry at all, you know he wouldn't do that. If he was going to live it down, he was going to live it down right here. He wasn't going to run off and hide somewhere… What'll happen to him, Matt? They've just been waiting for him to get into trouble so they could-"

  I said, "He's in trouble. He's smuggling heroin across the border in large quantities, which is illegal." I looked at her sharply. "You're really fond of the guy, aren't you?"

  She said, "He's a wonderful person. And it was my fault… if it hadn't been for me…" She drew a long breath. "I… I'll do anything to help-"

  She stopped. I looked down at her for a moment, and she started blushing. I grinned. "Make me the same offer some time when I'm not so sleepy." I took her chin in my hand, and tipped her face up, and kissed her on the lips in a brotherly fashion. "Don't worry too much about it, Beth. We usually take care of people who give us a hand, personal differences to the contrary notwithstanding."

  I went over to the sofa, arranged the.38 revolver in a suitable location, and found a pillow of reasonable size. I kicked off my shoes, lay down, and went to sleep immediately.

  When I woke up, Martell was there.

  Chapter Twenty

  IT WAS THE phone that woke me. I heard it ringing miles away, and I wished somebody'd silence it and let me sleep. Then I was suddenly wide awake wondering where she was and why she didn't do something about it. I started reaching for the little Smith and Wesson very cautiously. The gun wasn't there.

  "Take it nice and easy, Buster," a man's voice said. I recognized the voice, although I'd heard it only once before, in Fredericks' office.

  I opened my eyes, and there he was, sitting in a big chair facing the sofa with an automatic pistol balanced on his knee. It was a foreign job I didn't recognize; you can't keep track of them all these days. It had the usual switches and levers in the usual places. I judged the caliber to be about.38 inches or 9 mm.

  Beth was sitting on the arm of the chair, very still. His left arm was around her, holding her there, and his left hand was where you'd expect the hand of a guy like that to be in a situation like that. Even if he'd had no interest in such things as Martell-and the record showed otherwise-he had to live up to his character as Fenn, and they're all breast-happy, those rackets boys. Maybe their mothers switched them to the bottle too early-if they had mothers.

  The English shotgun, I noticed, had been carefully returned to its place on the rack. The two shells it had contained stood, base-down, on a nearby table, to let me know the piece was unloaded and there was no point in my building any fancy plans around it. He wasn't missing any bets. He was a pro.

  "The knife," he said. "Careful now."

  That's the trouble with showing your best tricks to punks like Tony and Ricky. When you really need them, they're common knowledge. Well, he probably wouldn't have let me get away with it, anyway. I reached cautiously into my pocket and got out the Solingen knife with thumb and forefinger.

  "Let it drop on the rug."

  I did so.<
br />
  "Go get it, Duchess." He released her. She stood up uncertainly. He gave her an encouraging pat on the rear. "Go on. Get it and bring it here, Duchess." He grinned. "Duchess. Duke-Duchess. Get it?"

  The other man in the room laughed dutifully, bringing himself to my attention for the first time. He wasn't much, just a competent workman with a broken nose in a wide, cruel face. One look and I knew he knew nothing whatever. He'd be the reason Martell was still putting on his Fenn act for us-or maybe he'd just played the role so long it came natural to him now.

  The other man said, "The phone, Fenn."

  "What about the damn phone?"

  "It's still ringing."

  "I know," Mat-tell said. "I realize it's painful as hell, Joey, but just try to bear up under the agony a few minutes longer, huh?" He gave Beth a shove. "Go on, Duchess. The knife. Get it."

  Beth moved forward as awkwardly as if she were trying out her first pair of high heels. She stopped by the sofa and looked down at me.

  "I… I'm sorry, Matt."

  "Sure," I said.

  There were no signs of a struggle. They'd just walked in, probably through the open study door near the fireplace-there was an outside door in the other room, I recalled-and taken the loaded gun from her before she could bring herself to shoot. I should have known that was what would happen, if the occasion should arise. I'd asked too much of her, although it hadn't seemed like much at the time.

  She had that strange aversion to making a mess, or a loud noise-to making a fool of herself-that seems to afflict all respectable people. The idea of discharging a great big destructive firearm, or even a little one, in her own living room, perhaps for nothing, had seemed just too outlandish. She'd waited until she was absolutely sure it was necessary, and then, of course, it had been too late.