The tears started in the corners of her eyes but didn’t fall. They stayed there, held back by pride maybe.
“We met one night. I had never met anyone like him before. It was wonderful, but we were never meant for each other. It was one of those things. Cooley was engaged to a girl in town, a very prominent girl.”
The smoke of the cigarette in her hand swirled up and blurred her face.
“But I loved him,” she said. With a sudden flick of her fingers she snapped the butt on the rug and ground it out with her shoe. “I hope he kills him! I hope he kills him!”
Her eyes drew a line up the floor until they were on mine. They were clear again, steady, curious for another moment, then steady again. I said, “You don’t…like Renzo very much?”
“How well do you know people, Joe?”
I didn’t say anything.
“You know them too, don’t you? You don’t live in the nice section of town. You know the dirt and how people are underneath. In a way you’re lucky. You know it now, not when you’re too old. Look at me, Joe. You’ve seen women like me before? I’m not much good. I look like a million but I’m not worth a cent. A lot of names fit me and they belong. I didn’t get that way because I wanted to. He did it. Renzo. I was doing fine until I met him.
“Sure, some young kids might think I’m on top, but they never get to peek behind the curtain. They never see what I’m forced into and the kind of people I have to know because others don’t want to know me. If they do they don’t want anybody to know about it.”
“Don’t say those things, Helen.”
“Kid, in ten years I’ve met two decent people. Cooley was the first.” She grinned and the hate left her face. “You’re the other one. You don’t give a hang what I’m like, do you?”
“I never met anybody like you before.”
“Tell me more.” Her grin got bigger.
“Well, you’re beautiful. I mean real beautiful. And nice. You sure are built…”
“Good enough,” she said and let the laugh come out. It was a deep, happy laugh and sounded just right for her. “Finish your tea.”
I had almost forgotten about it. I drained it down, the heat of it biting into the cuts along my cheek. “Helen…I ought to go home. If Mr. Renzo finds out about this, he’s going to burn up.”
“He won’t touch me, Joe.”
I let out a grunt.
“You either. There’s a bed in there. Crawl into it. You’ve had enough talk for the night.”
***
I woke up before she did. My back hurt too much to sleep and the blood pounded in my head too hard to keep it on the pillow. The clock beside the bed said it was seven-twenty and I kicked off the covers and dragged my clothes on.
The telephone was in the living room and I took it off the cradle quietly. When I dialed the number I waited, said hello as softly as I could and asked for Nick.
He came on in a minute with a coarse, “Yeah?”
“This is Joe, Nick.”
“Hey, where are you, boy? I been scrounging all over the dump for you. Gordon’ll kick your tail if you don’t get down here. Two other guys didn’t show…”
“Shut up and listen. I’m in a spot.”
“You ain’t kidding. Gordon said…”
“Not that, jerk. You see anybody around the house this morning?”
I could almost hear him think. Finally he said, “Car parked across the street. Think there was a guy in it.” Then, “Yeah, yeah, wait up. Somebody was giving the old lady some lip this morning. Guess I was still half asleep. Heard your name mentioned.”
“Brother!”
“What’s up, pal?”
“I can’t tell you now. You tell Gordon I’m sick or something, okay?”
“Nuts. I’ll tell him you’re in the clink. He’s tired of that sick business. You ain’t been there long enough to get sick yet.”
“Tell him what you please. Just tell him. I’ll call you tonight.” I slipped the phone back and turned around. I hadn’t been as quiet as I thought I’d been. Helen was standing there in the doorway of her bedroom, a lovely golden girl, a bright morning flower wrapped in a black stem like a bud ready to pop.
“What is it, Joe?”
There wasn’t any use hiding things from her. “Somebody’s watching the house. They were looking for me this morning.”
“Scared, Joe?”
“Darn right I’m scared! I don’t want to get laid out in some swamp with my neck broken. That guy Renzo is nuts. He’ll do anything when he gets mad.”
“I know,” Helen said quietly. Her hand made an unconscious movement across her mouth. “Come on, let’s get some breakfast.”
***
We found out who Vetter was that morning. At least Helen found out. She didn’t cut corners or make sly inquiries. She did an impossible thing and drove me into town, parked the car and took a cab to a big brownstone building that didn’t look a bit different from any other building like it in the country. Across the door it said, PRECINCT NO. 4 and the cop at the desk said the captain would be more than pleased to see us.
The captain was more than pleased, all right. It started his day off right when she came in and he almost offered me a cigar. The nameplate said his name was Gerot and if I had to pick a cop out to talk to, I’d pick him. He was in his late thirties with a build like a wrestler and I’d hate to be in the guy’s shoes who tried to bribe him.
It took him a minute to settle down. A gorgeous blonde in a dark green gabardine suit blossoming with curves didn’t walk in every day. And when he did settle down, it was to look at me and say, “What can I do for you?” but looking like he already knew what happened.
Helen surprised him. “I’d like to know something about a man,” she said. “His name is Vetter.”
The scowl started in the middle of his forehead and spread to his hairline.
“Why?”
She surprised him again. “Because he promised to kill Mark Renzo.”
You could watch his face change, see it grow intense, sharpen, notice the beginning of a caustic smile twitch at his lips. “Lady, do you know what you’re talking about?”
“I think so.”
“You think?”
“Look at me,” she said. Captain Gerot’s eyes met hers, narrowed and stayed that way. “What do you see, Captain?”
“Somebody who’s been around. You know the answers, don’t you?”
“All of them, Captain. The questions, too.”
I was forgotten. I was something that didn’t matter and I was happy about it.
Helen said, “What do you think about Renzo, Captain?”
“He stinks. He operates outside city limits where the police have no jurisdiction and he has the county police sewed up. I think he has some of my men sewed up too. I can’t be sure but I wish I were. He’s got a record in two states, he’s clean here. I’d like to pin a few jobs on that guy. There’s no evidence, yet he pulled them. I know this…if I start investigating I’m going to have some wheels on my neck.”
Helen nodded. “I could add more. It really doesn’t matter. You know what happened to Jack Cooley?”
Gerot’s face looked mean. “I know I’ve had the papers and the state attorney climb me for it.”
“I don’t mean that.”
The captain dropped his face in his hands resignedly, wiped his eyes and looked up again. “His car was found with bullet holes in it. The quantity of blood in the car indicated that nobody could have spilled that much and kept on living. We never found the body.”
“You know why he died?”
“Who knows? I can guess from what I heard. He crossed Renzo, some said. I even picked up some info that said he was in the narcotics racket. He had plenty of cash and no place to show where it came from.”
“Even so, Captain, if it was murder, and Renzo’s behind it, you’d like it to be paid for.”
The light blue of Gerot’s eyes softened dangerously. “One way or another…if
you must know.”
“It could happen. Who is Vetter?”
He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his neck. “I could show you reams of copy written about that guy. I could show you transcripts of statements we’ve taken down and copies that the police in other cities have sent out. I could show you all that but I can’t pull out a picture and I can’t drop in a print number on the guy. The people who got to know him and who finally saw him, all seem to be dead.”
My voice didn’t sound right. “Dead?”
Gerot’s hands came down and flattened on the desk. “The guy’s a killer. He’s wanted every place I could think of. Word has it that he’s the one who bumped Tony Briggs in Chicago. When Birdie Cullen was going to sing to the grand jury, somebody was paid fifty thousand to cool him off and Vetter collected from the syndicate. Vetter was paid another ten to knock off the guy who paid him the first time so somebody could move into his spot.”
“So far he’s only a name, Captain?”
“Not quite. We have a few details on him but we can’t give them out. That much you understand, of course.”
“Of course. But I’m still interested.”
“He’s tough. He seems to know things and do things nobody else would touch. He’s a professional gunman in the worst sense of the word and he’ll sell that gun as long as the price is right.”
Helen crossed her legs with a motion that brought her whole body into play. “Supposing, Captain, that this Vetter was a friend of Jack Cooley? Supposing he got mad at the thought of his friend being killed and wanted to do something about it?”
Gerot said, “Go on.”
“What would you do, Captain?”
The smile went up one side of his face. “Most likely nothing.” He sat back again. “Nothing at all…until it happened.”
“Two birds with one stone, Captain? Let Vetter get Renzo…and you get Vetter?”
“The papers would like that,” he mused.
“No doubt.” Helen seemed to uncoil from the chair. I stood up too and that’s when I found out just how shrewd the captain was. He didn’t bother to look at Helen at all. His blue eyes were all on me and being very, very sleepy.
“Where do you come in, kid?” he asked me.
Helen said it for me. “Vetter gave him a warning note to hand to Renzo.”
Gerot smiled silently and you could see that he had the whole picture in his mind. He had our faces, he knew who she was and all about her, he was thinking of me and wanted to know all about me. He would. He was that kind of cop. You could tell.
We stood on the steps of the building and the cops coming in gave her the kind of look every man on the street gave her. Appreciative. It made me feel good just to be with her. I said, “He’s a smart cop.”
“They’re all smart. Some are just smarter than others.” A look of impatience crossed her face. “He said something…”
“Reams of copy?” I suggested.
I was easy for her to smile at. She didn’t have to look up or down. Just a turn of her head. “Bright boy.”
She took my hand and this time I led the way. I took her to the street I knew. It was off the main drag and the people on it had a look in their eyes you don’t see uptown. It was a place where the dames walked at night and followed you into bars if they thought you had an extra buck to pass out.
They’re little joints, most of them. They don’t have neon lights and padded stools, but when a guy talks he says something and doesn’t play games. There’s excitement there and always that feeling that something is going to happen.
One of those places was called The Clipper and the boys from the News made it their hangout. Cagey boys with the big think under their hats. Fast boys with a buck and always ready to pay off on something hot. Guys who took you like you were and didn’t ask too many questions.
My kind of people.
Bucky Edwards was at his usual stool getting a little bit potted because it was his day off. I got the big stare and the exaggerated wink when he saw the blonde which meant I’d finally made good about dragging one in with me. I didn’t feel like bragging, though. I brought Helen over, went to introduce her, but Bucky said, “Hi, Helen. Never thought I’d see you out in the daylight,” before I could pass on her name.
“Okay, so you caught a show at the Hideaway,” I said. “We have something to ask you.”
“Come on, Joe. Let the lady ask me alone.”
“Lay off. We want to know about Vetter.”
The long eyebrows settled down low. He looked at me, then Helen, then back at me again. “You’re making big sounds, boy.”
I didn’t want anyone else in on it. I leaned forward and said, “He’s in town, Bucky. He’s after Renzo.”
He let out a long whistle. “Who else knows about it?”
“Gerot. Renzo. Us.”
“There’s going to be trouble, sure.”
Helen said, “Only for Renzo,”
Bucky’s head made a slow negative. “You don’t know. The rackets boys’ll flip their lids at this. If Vetter moves in here there’s going to be some mighty big trouble.”
My face started working under the bandages. “Renzo’s top dog, isn’t he?”
Bucky’s tongue made a swipe at his lips. “One of ‘em. There’s a few more. They’re not going to like Renzo pulling in trouble like Vetter.” For the first time Bucky seemed to really look at us hard. “Vetter is poison. He’ll cut into everything and they’ll pay off. Sure as shooting, if he sticks around they’ll be piling the cabbage in his lap.”
“Then everybody’ll be after Vetter,” I said.
Bucky’s face furrowed in a frown. “Uh-uh. I wasn’t thinking that.” He polished off his drink and set the empty on the bar. “If Vetter’s here after Renzo they’ll do better nailing Renzo’s hide to the wall. Maybe they can stop it before it starts.”
It was trouble, all right. The kind I wasn’t feeling too bad about.
Bucky stared into his empty glass and said, “They’ll bury Renzo or he’ll come out of it bigger than ever.”
The bartender came down and filled his glass again. I shook my head when he wanted to know what we’d have. “Good story,” Bucky said, “if it happens.” Then he threw the drink down and Bucky was all finished. His eyes got frosty and he sat there grinning at himself in the mirror with his mind saying things to itself. I knew him too well to say anything else so I nudged Helen and we walked out.
Some days go fast and this was one of them. She was nice to be with and nice to talk to. I wasn’t important enough to hide anything from so for one day she opened her life up and fed me pieces of it. She seemed to grow younger as the day wore on and when we reached her apartment the sun was gilding her hair with golden reddish streaks and I was gone, all gone. For one day I was king and there wasn’t any trouble. The laughter poured out of us and people stopped to look and laugh back. It was a day to remember when all the days are done with and you’re on your last.
I was tired, dead tired. I didn’t try to refuse when she told me to come up and I didn’t want to. She let me open the door for her and I followed her inside. She had almost started for the kitchen to cook up the bacon and eggs we had talked about when she stopped by the arch leading to the living room.
The voice from the chair said, “Come on in, sugar pie. You too, kid.”
And there was Johnny, a nasty smile on his mouth, leering at us.
“How did you get in here?”
He laughed at her. “I do tricks with locks, remember?” His head moved with a short jerk. “Get in here!” There was a flat, nasal tone in his voice.
I moved in beside Helen. My hands kept opening and closing at my side and my breath was coming a little fast in my throat.
“You like kids now, Helen?”
“Shut up, you louse,” she said. His lips peeled back showing his teeth. “The mother type. Old fashioned type, you know.” He leered again like it was funny. My chest started to hurt from the breathing.
“Too big for a bottle, so…”
I grabbed the lamp and let it fly and if the cord hadn’t caught in the wall it would have taken his head off. I was all set to go into him but all he had to do to stop me was bring his hand up. The rod was one of those Banker’s Specials that were deadly as hell at close range and Johnny looked too much like he wanted to use it for me to move.
He said, “The boss don’t like your little arrangement, Helen. It didn’t take him long to catch on. Come over here, kid.”
I took a half step.
“Closer.”
“Now listen carefully, kid. You go home, see. Go home and do what you feel like doing, but stay home and away from this place. You do that and you’ll pick up a few bucks from Mr. Renzo. Now after you had it so nice here, you might not want to go home, so just in case you don’t, I’m going to show you what’s going to happen to you.”
I heard Helen’s breath suck in with a harsh gasp and my own sounded the same way. You could see what Johnny was setting himself to do and he was letting me know all about it and there wasn’t a thing I could do. The gun was pointing right at my belly even while he jammed his elbows into the arms of the chair to get the leverage for the kick that was going to maim me the rest of my life. His shoe was hard and pointed, a deadly weight that swung like a gentle pendulum.
I saw it coming and thought there might be a chance even yet but I didn’t have to take it. From the side of the room Helen said, “Don’t move, Johnny. I’ve got a gun in my hand.”
And she had.
The ugly grimace on Johnny’s face turned into a snarl when he knew how stupid he’d been in taking his eyes off her to enjoy what he was doing to me.
“Make him drop it, Helen.”
“You heard the kid, Johnny.”
Johnny dropped the gun. It lay there on the floor and I hooked it with my toe. I picked it up, punched the shells out of the chambers and tossed them under the sofa. The gun followed them.
“Come here, Helen,” I said.
I felt her come up behind me and reached around for the .25 automatic in her hand. For a second Johnny’s face turned pale and when it did I grinned at him.
Then I threw the .25 under the sofa too.
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