by Peter Rabe
Sometimes Benny thought of the hot nights in the cabin where the Louisiana swamp was singing outside the windows, and how she’d wake with sudden shivers and a wild look in her eyes, as if she were being chased. He thought of that and of the girl now, safe in her addiction; then of how much longer it would have to last.
And finally, there was the job of Pendleton. For a while that could wait. Benny even forgot about the thing between him and Pendleton, even when he was with the man, and Pendleton gave no cause to bring out what was in the past. He was a machine, without memory, and nothing showed on the surface.
So Benny was thinking of something else when he came back to the gate of the Westchester place. There was a cab there, all the way from the city. That was rare in itself. That it should try to get into the Alverato place was even more unusual. But when Benny saw the cabbie arguing with the man behind the closed gate, he felt only irritation because the cab was blocking the way. He cooled fast, though. He got out of his car, gave a short look inside the cab, and he cooled fast.
“Let ‘em in,” he called to the man behind the closed gate. “This is special.”
It was special that Nancy Driscoll should be coming this way.
At the house he watched her pay off the cabbie and took her into a small room in the rear. She wasn’t wearing seersucker this time, but a dress with a print that showed squishy red flowers and a small berry here and there. He told her to sit down, watching the way she kept smiling, a smile neither here nor there, but spread over her face as if it were meant to stay.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, Mr. Tapkow.”
“No. Cigarette?”
“Thank you, but I don’t smoke. My, I am surprised to see you again,” she said. Then she didn’t know what to say next.
He had to help her out He had to give her a little rope so she could lead the way. “Same here, Miss Driscoll. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, either.” He gave her a smile.
“Why don’t you call me Nancy?” she said. “Somehow I feel we actually know each other well enough, don’t you?” and then came her giggle.
“Sure, Nancy. And you call me Benny. I feel we actually know each other, too.” He looked down and then at her face. “Or we almost did.”
She tried to laugh as if that were funny, just one of those things in the car there on the highway, making a tipsy pass at Tapkow the chauffeur. He kept watching her and the slow blush she couldn’t control.
“How things do work out!” She laughed. “I suppose I should never have met Mr. Alverato if you-if you and I-” She really looked coquettish then, ending it with a blase sigh that came off very well, only the weird thing was that she kept blushing through it all.
Benny was sure that hadn’t been part of the rehearsal. “I guess you didn’t come to see me, then,” he said.
She smiled. “I’m sorry, Benny, but I didn’t.” The look she tried didn’t come off at all, but Benny went right on.
“I guess it’s Al, then. I don’t think he knew you were coming, though.”
“Goodness, no, and it makes it just a wee bit embarrassing. Of course, he and I had made all kinds of plans during the cruise-you know of the cruise, of course-but then with getting back to work so late, and all that dreadful excitement about Pat-you know about Pat, of course. She hasn’t come back to school yet!”
“You still working in the Dean’s office?”
“Oh, yes. They were very considerate.”
“Must be a good job.”
“I like it. Of course, the pay in an academic place-but then, if you love your work-”
He helped her along again. “Al’s going to be pretty excited when he finds you here, Nancy.”
“Do you think so, Benny?” Her eyes got wide with the smile she was putting on. It didn’t look like love to Benny, more like fright.
“Oh, sure. He was just talking about you the other day. He was telling me about another cruise he’s planning to take.”
Miss Driscoll’s smile got fluttery.
“Of course, your not calling him or anything-But then, he didn’t know about the troubles you’ve been having. Poor Pat and everything.”
She felt rescued for a moment and switched away from Alverato. “Yes, isn’t it the strangest thing? I had an idea that you two-I thought at first she’d been with you. But now that you’re back in town, and she hasn’t even called or anything! Is she in this house, by any chance?”
She shouldn’t have thought that Benny figured she shouldn’t even have known enough to make such a guess.
“As a matter of fact, Nancy, she is.”
“She is!”
“But you can’t see her right now. Pat hasn’t been well for a few days, hasn’t been out at all.”
“Dear, dear. It isn’t serious?”
“No, nothing like that She does get out, you know. I don’t know why she hasn’t bothered getting in touch or anything. But then, she and I have spent a lot of time together. You know how it is.”
“Why, of course, Benny.” She looked maternal.
“She’ll be up and around soon, though. Fact is, we’re planning an evening out. Got reservations and everything. Monday night, at the Beau Brummel Club. Do you know it?”
“No, I don’t know it.”
“Would you like to join us?”
“The Beau Brummel Club?”
“Yeah. Monday night.”
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly, Benny. I had a time to get off just for today. Dear, how late it’s getting! I think-”
“But it’s in the evening.”
“I really hadn’t noticed the time. And the train schedules, so long between-”
“Don’t you want to see Al?”
That hunted look showed for a second. “I do, Benny, I really do, but-”
“Fact is, Nancy, he won’t be back till late.”
“Dear, dear-”
“Perhaps you’re right, though. Perhaps you better let it go this time and come back later. Call up first. He’ll be anxious to see you.”
She didn’t look hunted any more. She looked relieved.
Now that the worst was over, and she didn’t have to see Alverato to go through with goodness knows what, she wasted no time. Benny took her to the door and told one of the men to drive her back. “When do you have to make that train?” he asked her.
“Seven sharp. If they didn’t come so few and far between-”
“I know how it is. Grand Central?”
“Yes, Grand Central.”
While Miss Driscoll stood on the steps, Benny told the man what car to use. By then he had moved out of earshot. “Take her to Grand Central and watch where she goes. Then call me.”
The man nodded and went for the car. He and Miss Driscoll left in time to make that train at seven sharp. Benny waited till nine before he got his call. “I lost her,” said the man.
“What happened?”
“I got to Grand Central a quarter to seven. She goes in and I go after. Left the car right there on Forty-second. I got a ticket for that. Who’s gonna-”
“Never mind that crap, what happened?”
“Nothin! She hangs around the windows, then the clock. Then she goes out again.”
“Waiting for somebody?”
“Naw, just tripping around, sort of. Then she goes out and it’s getting closer to seven all the time, Benny; she goes out and comes back.”
“So go on, for chrissakes!”
“She makes a phone call. I seen her use a dime, I think, just one coin, you know? Then she talks and naturally I don’t hear what she says.”
“Then what?”
“Nothin’. She goes out and I lose her. She takes a cab and off she goes.”
“Did you get the number? The cab number?”
“I’m a gumshoe?”
Alverato was watching the fights on the television set. He was lying on the couch with his shoes off and didn’t pay any attention when the door opened.
“Al, you’ll
want to hear this.”
“Later, later.” He was watching hard. “There’s some trouble.”
“Cover up, ya bum!” he yelled, and his balled fists jerked in the air.
“Hey, Al. Remember a dame called Driscoll?”
“You still bothering me?” Alverato reared up on one arm.
“Nancy Driscoll.”
“What?”
“She was visiting today. Came to see you.”
Alverato sat up and stared at Benny. “Little Nancy. Here? She was here?”
“This afternoon. She says you and she’ve been trying to get together again.”
“She said that? I never said-”
“It was a con deal of some kind.”
Alverato got up then and turned off the television. He was paying attention. “Driscoll? Con deal? She’s too dumb. Who’s with her.”
“She asked if Pat was here.”
“Pendleton!” Alverato caught it faster than Benny had expected.
“I think so. I pumped her a little, caught her in a few little slips, like having to take the train out of town and making a local call instead.”
“What did she want?”
“First she says she wants to see you. Then I tell her Pat’s here and how I’m going to take her to a night spot next Monday. She loses interest in you and beats it out of here.”
“What night spot? Did you give a name?”
“I said the Beau Brummel. First thing came to my mind.”
Alverato started to pace. He was kneading his big hands together and there was a grin on his face. “That’s using the old noodle, Benny! You really faked a setup for her, and Pendleton’s going to bite. He’s got to. He’ll take the chance. Old Wrinkle-ass is going to try his hand at making a snatch. The old noodle, Benny,” and he slapped him on the back. “I like the way you picked my club for the setup. Boy, that’ll make it just jake.”
“Now wait a minute, Al-”
“Wait nothing, boy. This is one setup from heaven! Pendleton’s gonna get an old-time party, one of those outdated deals he keeps yapping about.”
“Listen, Al. I wouldn’t I just said that to her to see if she’d bite, or if she was on the level maybe.”
“You nuts? This is from heaven, Benny! I’m going to give old Pendy a demonstration in the old manner!”
“Al, you can’t do it. You can’t send Pat out there in the middle of it What if-”
“Keep out of this, Benny. This kind of thing I know how!” And he did. Suddenly he was no longer a slob acting a role from an old melodrama. He was the wheel, as he had been years ago, the boss who understood and enjoyed force well enough to make it a big, brash, and effective tool.
Alverato went to the door and yelled for somebody to bring a road map of the state. Then he went to the desk and sat down, drumming his fingers.
“Call Birdie in here,” he said, and Benny did.
He sat behind the desk with a map and a pencil and told his two lieutenants to listen closely. “Pendleton’s going to have an eye out for her. If Pat doesn’t show, and you, Benny, he’ll smell it’s a setup and the deal is off. You take her there at nine. Sit around till eleven. Don’t leave later or you might hit the homegoing crowd on the highway. Birdie, I want you to sew up the club. Have the guys on the floor, in the balcony, parking lot, the works. I’ll leave it to you. Now, if I know my onions, Pendleton won’t make the snatch in the club. He knows it’s mine. Besides, he doesn’t like a mess. He’s going to make his try on the highway.”
“Look, Al-” Benny started again.
“You keep outa this. I’m running this show. Now bend over here and look at this map.” They all moved up and watched the pencil move. “The club’s here. There’s only two ways out. This road, direct to the highway going to the city, and this road back to the place here. You’ll be taking this road when you go to the club, Benny. At eleven you’ll take it back home. From the club to this crossing is about three miles. Three miles of nothing but pasture. If Pendleton knows anything, he won’t pick that stretch. From the house to the club there’s eight miles of commuter towns and small places along the road. Pendleton’s not the kind to try anything there. He’ll make his move here.”
Alverato stopped and suddenly slapped his hand on the map. “Pay attention, Tapkow. It’s your neck too, you know.” Then he bent over the map again. “Here’s hills, woods, and kind of a ravine. Two miles of it. That’s where he’s going to wait.” He stopped, looking around like a conductor who had just waved his orchestra to a crashing finale.
Benny was looking at the map and thinking that Alverato was probably right. He was really ticking tonight. “I don’t think you’re going to get Pendleton in this, Al. He’s not going to be out there.”
“Who cares?”
“I thought-”
“Don’t. Just watch this thing shape up.” Alverato sounded eager. “I’ll handle this end myself. Just one more thing: Birdie, get that Mercury the Brady boys have been using. I want a souped-up car in this caper. Get Limpy Smith over here with some two-way equipment. I want a speaker in that car to broadcast to the walkie-talkie. We’ll carry three. Now here’s what you do, Benny: When you leave the club, turn on that speaker in the car, and as you drive, call off every half mile, you hear? Every half mile. When you see something start happening, call the mileage and yell out what it is. Clear?”
“I got it. But that speedometer-”
“When you start from the club it’ll be on zero.”
“O.K.”
“Now, when they rush you, just stop the car. They won’t harm the girl.”
“No. Not the girl.”
Alverato ignored it “And don’t use that car for a getaway unless there’s an emergency, hear?”
“Yeah. Just what do you call an emergency?”
“That I don’t get there, rockhead! You keep the car doors locked. If I’m not there by the time they break the windows, then step on it and don’t spare the pedal, boy.”
“You can count on it.”
“I’ll be there, though. I wouldn’t miss that for the world!”
“I wouldn’t want you to,” Benny said.
Nor would Pendleton have wanted to miss a trick. So he had placed another phone call, and this one too, he was sure, would be a roaring surprise.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Pat got excited the way he had seen her a few times in the past. The night club would be great, she said, and her eyes were sparkling with a sharp, nervous light. She hadn’t been getting that way much lately. She didn’t really get crazy any more.
Pat had wanted a strapless and a hairdo, so when she was ready she looked different than Benny had ever seen her look before. There was a sudden cold beauty about her that hardly reminded him of all the other times. Only her smile reminded him. In the cabin, in Louisiana, sometimes she had smiled that way.
Until ten it was fine. They drank, they danced. She danced with a lilt in her body that was as old as love, but Benny never let go. It was the hook sunk deep, he was thinking. It was the hook that had magic, worming forward, even reaching for him.
And then he began to get the signs. Calling him Tapkow instead of Benny, drinks tossed down too fast, and a few times that thing she did with her ear lobe.
And it wasn’t eleven yet.
He looked over the crowd again, but Alverato had been right. It didn’t look as though anything would happen here. Bare arms and tuxedos, some of the tuxedos with chesty bulges on one side. Birdie had done a fine job.
“We don’t have much fun any more, do we?” Her voice made him start.
“No fun?”
“I’ve always loved you for that keen repartee, dear. Where is that waiter?”
“Look, Pat, you’ve had enough. It’s getting late.”
“You’re just the escort, Tapkow, so be polite.”
“Pat, I’m telling you for your own good. We better go.”
“Is this Saint Benny speaking?” she said, but he ignored the sting in
it and got up. He held her wrap for her.
“It’s hot.” Her voice was edgy now.
He must have got the dose wrong. She was running down too soon. Or maybe not. The dose had been right, but all the time she was running down sooner and sooner.
“Outside, Pat. It’s cooler outside.”
She followed him then and he didn’t bother to wonder why she suddenly obeyed.
Past eleven now. They stood under the marquee outside and waited for the car. It wasn’t a warm night and the crickets in the dark sounded slow.
“It’s cold,” she said, but when he tried to lift the wrap over her shoulders she stepped away from him.
The Mercury came up with a quiet hum. The got in and Benny locked the doors.
“I want the windows open,” she said, but he didn’t have to argue with her. She went right on. “What’s that humming noise?”
“The radio. It’s stuck or something.”
“Well, turn it off, Tapkow. Are you trying to drive me insane?”
“It’s stuck, Pat Here, take a cigarette.”
“You know, Tapkow, I don’t like the way you’re changing the subject” She had turned to him, looking pinched and mean. “Drive faster,” she said.
“Half mile.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing, Pat. Just reading the mileage.” He drove carefully. There was nothing in the rear-view mirror.
When a raccoon scurried through the headlight beams, Benny almost ran off the road. Pat bounced against her door but she didn’t say a word. She sat up slowly and then she began to scream. “God, my God!”
“Pat, it’s nothing.” He tried to see the road, and the mileage, and the screaming girl. “Pat, enough now.”
“God, God.”
He called the mileage again, controlling his voice, then reached over to the girl.
She stopped as suddenly as she had started and her voice was a hard, low sound. “Don’t touch me, Tapkow.”
“We’ll be home soon. Try to relax now.”
“We’ll be home soon; try to relax now,” she mimicked.
“Just stay calm. I’ll take care.”