“It’s steel,” he grinned, pulling away from the kerb. “"This tub’s from Chi. They know how to build ’em there.”
She was silent for half a block, then she said, “You expecting trouble?”
“Trouble’ll blow up sooner or later in a racket like this. I like to be prepared for it.” He pushed the Buick past a big truck, then he said, “You ain’t going to get scared?”
She shook her head. “I don’t scare easily.” She put her neat gloved hand to her throat. She was wearing a high-neck blouse. “Your friends were swell,” she said as an afterthought.
Duffy nodded. “I’m a heel all right,” he said. “I told Alice I was seeing you on the train for your home.”
Olga said, “You couldn’t let them in on this?”
Duffy shook his head. “They’ve got each other. They don’t give a damn for money; why should they? It’s punks like you and me that ain’t got anchors that think money’s the tops.”
She shot a quick glance at him. “You’re not feeling sore?” she ventured.
Duffy shook his head again. “No, not sore. I’ve started this, so I’m finishing it. If I don’t get away with it, it don’t matter. If I do, well, I’ll spend what I get, and think I’m having a swell time.”
She said in a low voice, “And me?”
Duffy put his hand on her knee. “You’re okay, baby, you’ll get what you want.”
He pulled up outside his apartment. “Come on in and see how you like your new home.”
They went upstairs, and she stood waiting for him to open the door. Inside the small apartment they stood and looked at each other, then she turned her head quickly and walked over to the window. “I like this,” she said. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”
Duffy threw his hat on the chair and brought out a bottle of rum. “You like Bacardi?” he said.
“Yes, but it’s early yet, isn’t it?”
Duffy took two glasses and poured out the rum. He went over to her and put the glass in her hand. “To you and to me and to dough,” he said.
The Bacardi went down smooth, leaving a hot ball of fire burning inside them.
“Take your hat off, honey,” he said, “this is your home now.”
She said, “Is that the bedroom over there?”
“That’s it. Go ahead and have a look.” He was surprised to find his hands were trembling. He watched her walk slowly across the room and into the bedroom. Her long legs and flat hips had a lazy movement, but there was an electric tension that radiated from her.
He followed her and stood just behind her, looking at her in the mirror. She raised her eyes, studied his face, then she turned quickly.
He put his hands on her hips and drew her to him. “You’re swell,” he said. “I’ve known you twenty-four hours, but it seems a lifetime. I bet you’re bad. I bet you’ve loved, but I don’t care.”
She said, “I’ve been all that and more.” She took his hands in hers, held them for a moment, then pushed them away from her. She went over to the bed and sat down.
Duffy shifted away from the mirror and leant over the back of the bed. “We’ve got to get together,” he said. “Tell me about yourself.”
She turned her head and looked at him. “Isn’t it unwise?” she said.
Duffy shook his head. “I want to know,” he said.
“I was born in a small Montana town.” Her voice was flat and expressionless. “Living there was like living in a morgue. Nothing ever happened. The sun shone, the dust collected on the dry roads, carts came and went, nothing ever happened. I used to get fan magazines and read about Hollywood. Millions of other girls have done the same. I thought if I got to Hollywood, I’d get a break. I dreamed Hollywood, lived Hollywood, and I guess I even slept Hollywood. Well, one day I took my chance. I waited until my Pa had gone into the fields, then I took all his money—it wasn’t much—and I blew. I never got to Hollywood. My dough gave out when I hit Oakland. I got a job as a hostess in a dance hall there.”
Duffy came round and sat on the bed close beside her.
“I had to be nice to the men at the bar. Talk to them, kid them along, and get them to buy drinks. They paid me commission on the drinks. It didn’t last long. The boss called on me one night, and then I hadn’t anything to take care of after he had been over me. Well, you know how it is, once on the slide, you can’t stop.”
Duffy said, “How long ago was this?”
“About eight years. I was seventeen then. I ran into a guy named Vernor. How that guy kidded me! He certainly could paint a picture. He showed me how I could make money so fast that I’d get dizzy. Pretty clothes, motor-cars, jewellery, and all the rest of it. Just by selling myself three or four times a night. I fell for it. What did it matter, so long as I could get enough dough to get out of the game in a year or so?
“He got me into a house in Watsonville, one of the northern Californian towns, and once I was there I knew what a sucker I’d been. I just couldn’t get away. They never gave me any money. They kept my clothes from me. They threatened me with the police; in fact, they had me.”
Duffy grunted, “A sweet life you’ve had.”
She was silent for a moment, then she went on. “I didn’t see a white man for three years. Filipinos, Hindus and Chinks, yes, but no white man.”
Duffy moved restlessly. He didn’t like this.
“Just when I was giving up, along came Cattley. Can you imagine that? Cattley came into my room, and I was expecting another of those fierce little brown men. Cattley fell for me, and I gave him everything I had. He thought I could be useful to him, so he got me out of the place and set me up in that little house.”
Duffy said, “How could you be useful to a guy like Cattley?”
Her face hardened a little. “I’m telling you everything, aren’t I?” she said.
Duffy leant back on his elbows. “Sure, and it don’t sound so good.”
She lifted her shoulders wearily. “It isn’t good. In Cattley’s business he had to have a woman around. He got me to play hostess to his suckers. I got him introductions to the upper set. It was through me that he made so much money. Cattley was on the level with me. He gave me plenty.” She sighed, twisting her hands. “Now the poor mug’s dead.”
In the other room the telephone began to ring. Duffy made no move to answer it.
Olga said, “What’s the matter ? Don’t you want to answer it ?”
“Let it ring,” he said, looking at her.
The telephone stopped ringing.
She stood facing him, then she said, “Yes… yes… yes.”
He reached out and pulled her roughly to him. “I’m crazy about you,” he said, his lips hard against her throat.
The telephone began to ring again. It rang for a long time, then it stopped. A fly buzzed busily from room to room, hitting the window with distinct little plops.
On the bed, Duffy lay, his eyes half shut, feeling the muscles of his body running into liquid. Olga went to sleep. Duffy watched her. Time meant nothing to him. He was quite content to look at her. Her body was strong and white Her flesh was firm. He thought she looked good.
He put out his hand gently and touched her hair. She stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled at him.
Duffy said, “You’ve got me. You’ve got me hard.”
“I want to go away with you,” she said, putting her hand on his arm. “I want to get away from all this. You won’t let me down, now?” She said “now” very urgently.
Duffy shook his head. “It’ll be all right, you see.”
The telephone began to ring insistently.
Olga sat up. A little shiver ran through her. She said, “No, don’t go. Leave it.”
Duffy hesitated, then got off the bed. He looked at her for a moment, smiled, then went into the other room. He took the receiver off the prong.
“What is it?” he said sharply.
“Gleason talking,” came the harsh purring voice.
Duffy pulled a chair up and sa
t down. His eyes and mouth were suddenly hard. “Okay,” he said, “I didn’t expect you so soon.”
“I’ve been ringing for some time.” There was just a hint of nerves in Gleason’s voice.
“Well, you got me now.”
“I’ll buy that thing from you for fifteen grand,” Gleason said with a rush.
Duffy grinned into the ’phone. “I must be getting deaf,” he said. “It sounded like you said fifteen grand.”
Gleason was silent for a minute, then he said, “I can’t go higher than that. Fifteen grand.”
“What the hell kind of a cheap punk are you? Ain’t you aching to get that list back? The list is worth that much as State evidence.”
“Now listen,” Duffy could almost see Gleason squeezing the telephone with excitement, “I can’t lay my hands on any more dough. I’ll make you a fair offer. Fifteen grand and five per cent cut on the business.”
“Aw, use your head,” Duffy shifted forward in his chair a little. “I ain’t so dumb. What’s five per cent cut to a corpse? I wouldn’t trust you, Gleason, for a second. Once you had that list, you’d bust your guts to iron me out. No, it’s cash or nothing.”
Gleason said, “You goddam sonofabitch…
“Skip it. You don’t know what you’re up against. I’ve got another buyer in the market. You’re going to pay plenty for that list, or the other guy gets it.”
There was a heavy silence at the other end, and Duffy reached over for a cigarette. He had nothing to do, and plenty of time to do it in.
Then Gleason said, “That’s the way you’re going to play it, huh?”
“You got it. Ends against the middle. I ain’t in a hurry, but you’d better start revising your ideas.”
“You’re going to find yourself in a heap of trouble,” Gleason said. His voice was suddenly steady. He seemed no longer excited. “I’d play ball on the level, Duffy, or…”
“Listen, you yellow punk, you can’t throw a scare into me. I know just where I’ve got you. Start the bidding at fifteen grand if you like, but the price is going to the roof.” He dropped the receiver back on the prong and sat back.
Olga came out of the bedroom. She was still nude. “Are you handling this right?” she asked.
Duffy went over to her and put his hands round her back. “This is the way it’s going to go,” he said. “It’ll take a little time, but it’ll yield the most dough.”
She looked up into his face. “Can’t you trust him?”
Duffy shook his head. “It’s going to be tricky getting away with the dough,” he said, “but you watch me, we’ll beat ’em.”
She leant against him. “I didn’t care what happened, but I do now. I don’t want you to get into a jam after this.”
He led her back into the bedroom. “Put on a wrap,” he said, “I can’t think with you like that.”
He watched her undo the small case she had brought with her, and find a wrap, then he helped her put it on.
They went back into the sitting-room again. Olga lit a cigarette, drawing down the smoke and holding it. She said, “You’re hatching something, what is it?”
Duffy took from his inside pocket a little note-book and put it on the table. Then he brought out another book, identical with the first. He laid it beside the other.
Olga looked at them closely, then released a cloud of smoke down her nostrils. “A double-cross,” she said.
“You’ve got it.” Duffy drew up a chair and sat down. “I’m showing you how dough’s made.” He took out a fountain-pen and began to copy the list of names from the first book into the second.
She sat on the edge of the table and watched him.
“Someone’s going to get mighty sore about this,” she said at last.
Duffy didn’t look up. He went on writing, but he said, “We won’t be there to see ’em.”
When he had finished the list, he went back again to the beginning and studied the pages. “You know what these numbers stand for? Look, Max Hughson 5. Johnny Alvis 7. Trudie Irvine 4.”
She leant over his shoulder. “Payments,” she told him. “Hughson used to pay five thousand dollars a month for his dope and protection ”
“That’s plenty. Why protection?”
Olga swung her long legs. “That was Gleason’s way. These birds aren’t real hopheads. They just play at it. Gleason sold them the dope, then warned them that someone was on to them, and it would cost them so much to hush it up. He only had to put the screw on a little, scare them to hell, and show them that he could warn off all comers, to get himself put on their pension list.”
Duffy did sums, then he looked up. “This little book is worth five hundred grand to a cool million, if they all pay.”
Olga nodded. “When I was with Cattley and he was working it, they mostly did pay,” she said.
Duffy grinned. “It’s easy to make money, it you know how,” he said, getting to his feet. “Well, we’ll see what Morgan’s got to say.”
She slid off the table. “What are you doing with the books?” she asked.
“You shall have one and I’ll have the other.” He gave her the copy. “Be careful with that.”
She held the book in her hand for a moment, looking at him very hard, then she smiled and put the book in his hand.
“What’s this?”
She said, “I hoped you would do that. I just wanted to see if you trusted me. It’s screwy to keep this where it could be lifted. Keep it.”
He said, “Well, I’ll be goddamned.” But she looked so pleased that he took the book and put it with the other in his inside pocket.
She said, “You’re not going to Morgan alone. I’m coming with you.”
He thought for a moment, then he nodded. “Oke, but you stay outside in the bus. We’ll plant the lists at my bank on the way down.”
She ran into the bedroom to change. Duffy called to her. “I’ll get Morgan’s address from the Tribune. They’ll be bound to know it.”
While he ’phoned, he vaguely heard her in the bathroom, and when he had got the address from the reporter’s room, he wandered in. She was standing under the cold shower, holding her face up to the tingling pin-points of water. Her eyes were closed, and she held her breasts cupped in her hands.
Duffy leant forward and turned the wheel on hard. The cold water struck her fiercely, and she ducked away, gasping. Duffy grabbed a towel and wrapped her in it.
“Get busy,” he said, “we ain’t got all day.”
She mopped her face, then stepped out of the bath. “Try it,” she said, “it’s nice.”
Duffy shook his head. “Later,” he said. “I’ve got the money itch.”
She took oft the rubber cap that protected her hair and threw it at him. The drops of water splashed his face. Duffy aimed a smack at her, then he jerked her to him and kissed her.
He thought, “We’re behaving like a couple of kids.”
She said, looking up at him, “Will you always be kind to me?”
He gripped her arms suddenly, hurting her. “Let’s go,” he said, “there’s work to be done.” And he left her, standing quite still, holding the towel round her, with a little bewildered look in her eyes.
CHAPTER X
DUFFY LEFT THE BUICK at the kerb and climbed the five flat steps to the front door. Morgan’s house was in a big way. Duffy was quite surprised. He expected something good, but this was a lot better than good.
The front door was a plate-glass affair, plastered with wrought iron. The bell had to be reached for and pulled down, like the plumbing in an old-fashioned toilet.
Duffy called back to Olga, who was sitting in the car, “Some joint.” He self-consciously jerked the bell-pull hard.
Clive opened the door.
Duffy said, “Tell your Queen I want to see him.”
Clive threw up his hands and backed away from the door. He said in a shrill voice, “You get out…” Duffy pushed the door wide open, but he stayed where he was. He said in a level voice, �
�Get going or I’ll start on you.”
Clive slid his hand inside his coat, and Duffy took a quick step forward and smacked Clive across the face.
The little guy said from the head of the stairs, “Don’t hit him again. He’ll be all right.”
Clive took his hand away from his coat and backed farther away. A high whinnying sound was coming from his mouth. Duffy said, “Why don’t you take this bum away?”
The little guy came down the stairs. He wore his hat pulled low down. Duffy couldn’t imagine him without that hat.
Duffy said, “Where’s Morgan?”
The little guy was very cautious, he did not get too close to Duffy. He said with a thin smile, “You surprised him.”
Duffy said, “I don’t care about that. I came to see Morgan.”
The little guy turned his head to speak to Clive. “You heard him?” he said. “He came to see Morgan.”
Duffy reached forward and grabbed the little guy by the coat-front. His eyes were like granite. “Cut this circus stuff of yours out.”
The little guy pushed an automatic hard into Duffy’s vest. “Don’t get tough, Mister,” he said.
Duffy took his hand away, and stepped back a little. He said, “Put that rod up and use your head.”
The little guy said to Clive, “Tell Morgan.”
Duffy stood there watching the little guy thoughtfully.
The little guy said hopefully, “You ain’t going to start trouble, are you ?”
Duffy shook his head. “Your daffodil went for her gun,” he said. “I wouldn’t stand for a thing like that.”
The little guy giggled. “You’d like Clive once you got to know him,” he said.
Duffy still stood motionless. “Suppose you put that heater away,” he said evenly. “This ain’t the time for pop-guns.”
The little guy shoved the gun into his shoulder-holster. “I get nervous sometimes,” he said, waving his hands apologetically.
A door at the end of the hall opened and Morgan came out. He called, “Come in here.”
Duffy walked the length of the hall slowly. Then he entered the room. Morgan was standing just inside. Across the room, Joe leant against the wall, chasing holes in his teeth with a wooden pick.
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