by P. N. Elrod
But inside my skull things began to thump badly, a building thunderstorm. I had to make this quick. Very fast and intense, I whispered some choice and vivid word pictures about what damage my torso was supposed to have. Kroun’s face went the same color as that white streak in his hair. For a moment I thought he might be sick, which meant I’d overdone it.
“Take it easy,” I murmured. “Nice and easy. We’re friends now. You remember that. Remember that you look after your friends and help them. Watch out for me, I’ll watch out for you. I just want out of this alive and no problems for Gordy, okay? None at all. He’s been loyal.”
Though positive I could have ordinarily talked him out of killing me, this would speed the process. I was fed up having a death sentence hanging overhead. But the thunder in my brain was starting to boom. Insistent, distracting. I licked my lips and tried to concentrate.
Kroun nodded agreement to my suggestions, his eyes still empty.
I had plenty more to say to him, only it never came out. A pain like nothing I had ever known before blasted through my skull. For the briefest instant I thought I’d been shot, but no one else was with us. Kroun stood motionless and staring. That was the last glimpse I got before the agony doubled me down. I clutched my head with both hands, biting off a cry. They couldn’t see me like this. God, what was wrong?
The pain rose, tripled, tripled again. My head would explode from the pressure if I didn’t—
Then peace, sudden as flicking a switch, plunging me into sweet gray nothingness.
I’d vanished.
Sometimes that happened to me involuntarily when I got too badly hurt to control the reflex. How I’d wished for it when Bristow had been skinning me, but a piece of ice pick buried deep in my back prevented that escape.
This was like heaven after hell. The pain went away, but not the memory or the fear that it might be waiting to fall on me again when I went solid.
I’d have to risk it, though. If the others got too curious and came for a look-see…I told myself it would be all right. Vanishing always healed me, bullets, paper cuts, even headaches went away. So it was now.
Melted back slowly. If Kroun was aware he didn’t show it, continuing with the empty-eyed gaze into the distance. That was good. Hypnotizing people had always made my head hurt, but the pain had gone way out of hand now. Why, though?
Solid again, I moved away and sat on the edge of the tub, biting off the groans because I couldn’t afford to give in. But for an awful second I actually felt on the edge of tears. My face twisted, and I rocked back and forth, arms wrapped tight around myself, resisting the urge.
My body was just fine. Healing had taken place. The head agony was gone, but inside I was a train wreck.
“God, I’m so tired.” I was unaware of speaking until the words were out. I hoped the overly loud radio covered it.
There would be no more evil-eye work for me tonight. Maybe I was too nerved up for it. Kroun would come out of the trance on his own in a few minutes. I’d better use what was left of them.
“Okay, Mr. Kroun. You know Bristow hurt me. I just want to go back to my job and forget any of this ever happened. Keep Gordy in charge and go on your way home and no harm done, okay?” I did not look too directly at him.
He mouthed the word “okay.” That’s all I needed. The suggestion would last for a few weeks—months, even—after that, if I was lucky, he’d have other things to concern him, shoving out any second thoughts over tonight’s “decision.”
By the time he surfaced I was pretending to settle my coat and tie back into place. I walked past him into the office and slowly resumed my chair.
Kroun emerged from the washroom after a few moments, face still pretty pale. “He got the buckwheats treatment all right,” he announced.
Strome and Derner gave me bleak looks, the closest they could come to sympathy. Mitchell was clearly mystified and stepped in front of me.
“Lemme see.”
He got a glare instead. I was careful not to put any power into it.
“Come on.”
“No.” Absolutely, categorically.
“Boss.” He appealed to Kroun.
Kroun waved Mitchell down and sat behind the desk. “Lay off him. That’s Hog’s work for sure. You don’t wanna see, trust me. Fleming, how the hell are you able to walk around like that?”
I eased carefully onto the chair. “I got a good doctor. Jabbed me full of some great medicine. It blunts things. It’s no circus, but I can do my job. I’m about ready to go for another shot, so if you don’t mind, let’s wind this up.”
“How?”
“Like I said—I’ve paid for Hog Bristow’s death. You can convince New York of that. Go back home, tell ’em I’ll finish out my turn at watch nice and quiet. When Gordy’s fully on his feet again I’ll fade away and just pretend none of this happened. You guys forget about me; everything goes back to normal. Upheavals are bad for business. It’s time this one blew itself out.”
He thought it over. The new attitude that I’d forced on him would hold firm, but he still had to work out how to square it with whatever orders he’d have from his pals back home. “I should be able to do that.”
I hoped so. I didn’t want to have to hypnotize every mobster in New York into leaving me alone. It’d kill me. “I would be very appreciative.”
“You’ll get it. But there’s other things I gotta straighten out.”
“Name ’em. I’ll help if I can.”
“Where’s Bristow? I need to know.”
I glanced at Strome.
“He and the rest are in the lake,” he answered.
“The lake.” Kroun frowned, and I got the idea he hated watery graves as much as I did. “That’s not good. Bodies always float to the surface no matter how much weight you use.”
“Not these guys. We know how to do it here so that don’t happen.”
“And how do you do it here?”
“You get a really big oil drum, bigger than you think you need. Put the guy in it and pour in cement good and tight, no air pockets. The trick is to make sure the cement weighs more than twice what the guy does. You punch a hole in the lid to let the gas escape, then take ’em way far outta sight of land and dump ’em.”
“That’s the trick?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh.”
“It helps if you cut the body up and use two drums, three is even better…”
“Strome,” I said, correctly reading the look on Kroun’s face. He’d had enough.
Strome shut it off.
I’d been told in only the most general terms of what he and a couple of other carefully picked cleanup men had done to get rid of Bristow, and wanted to keep it that way. The bodies had been in a meat storage locker, and there must have been butchers’ cutting equipment conveniently at hand…I gave a headshake to try to jostle that picture out of my mind, with indifferent success.
“Anything else?” I asked Kroun.
“I wanna know about this Dugan bird that you got it in for.”
He’d taken his time getting to that one. Hurley Gilbert Dugan, society swan, blackmailer, murderer, kidnapper, and all-round useless bag of poisonous air, held a unique place in my life. He was the one man on the whole planet I wanted dead. I wanted to kill him the way Bristow wanted to kill me. I’d put a bounty on him, and had every gangster in Chicago and beyond looking for him.
“No one’s told you?” I would have thought Derner might have filled Kroun in.
“Only that you want him alive, and you’ll pay ten grand to anyone bringing him in. That’s as much as Hoover put up for Pretty Boy Floyd.”
“I didn’t know that. The reward on Dugan could be a lot less than ten by now. He took off with that much cash on him. I let the boys know whoever brings him in alive gets to keep what’s left, and I’ll make up the difference out of my own pocket.”
“Why you want him?”
“Personal matter.”
“Details. Give.”<
br />
I pretended a sigh. “Maybe you didn’t get word of the society kidnapping case we had here. Gilbert Dugan was the big mastermind, killed some innocent people that didn’t need it. He’s garbage. I tripped him, made an enemy. It was because of him Hog Bristow was able to get me, so I owe him for that. When Bristow and the others died, Dugan was there. A witness. Neither of us needs him running loose. The cops are looking for him for the kidnap and murders. If they get him first, he could and would try making a deal that puts us all in the clink.”
“Dugan saw you kill Bristow?”
“And what they did to me before that. Everything. If you thought Bristow was a liability, then don’t meet this guy. He’s a thinker. He can talk his way out of just about anything given the chance. He’s full of more shit than a goose, but smart. People trust him. Even ones who should know better.”
“You want him bad.”
“Just looking after the company’s best interests.”
“Why you want him alive?”
“To prevent mistaken identity.”
“What do you mean?”
“If the boys found someone who only happened to look like Dugan and killed him…not good. I don’t want accidents on my watch, so I’m making it worth their while to be careful.”
“How long’s he been gone?”
“About a week. He could be anyplace.” Each night right after waking, my first phone call was to Derner for a report on whether Dugan had been found. So far, no good luck.
“You’ll never catch him now.”
“I’m hopeful.” But I thought Kroun might be right. With his head start, Dugan could be nearly anywhere. If he was ever found, it’d be by accident. “He’s got smarts, but not for practical stuff. I heard that Einstein guy wears loafers because he can’t figure out how to tie shoes. The same goes for Dugan. All he has to do is hide out in the wrong flop, and one of the boys spots him.”
“What’ll you do if you get him?”
“Depends on the situation, but…I’ll maybe need a couple of oil drums.”
That amused him. Kroun’s frown lines eased a bit. “I’m seeing why you got put in charge.”
“It’s also because I don’t want to keep the job. Gordy knows I won’t get attached to it. It won’t be for long. He’s getting better every day.” If he took care of himself. I hoped Adelle had tracked him down and hauled him off to sensibly rest.
“I can offer you another job when this one’s done.”
This guy was full of surprises. Maybe I’d laid it on too thick about us being friends. “No thanks. I don’t belong. That’s why some of the guys kicked such a fuss. They know I’m not one of them.”
“Oh, yeah, you are.” Kroun actually smiled. On him it was damned unnerving. “You just don’t know it yet.”
WORD of my reprieve spread fast.
By the time I’d wound things up with Kroun, put on my hat and overcoat, shook hands like we were dear old pals, and left, the guys waiting in the hall had either magically vanished or were lying in wait to congratulate me. How they learned was a mystery unless they were the ones with a microphone hidden in the office. Not that it would have worked with the radio on in there and Alan Caine’s show playing downstairs.
Or they’d just pressed ears to the door and, when no shots were fired, figured it out.
One of the hall mugs pumped my hand and made to thump my back, but Strome got in between.
“The boss needs to leave,” he said, and ran interference for me through the rest of the gauntlet.
Belatedly, I reminded myself that I was still supposed to be healing from Bristow’s torture and should act accordingly. Strome was trying to protect my hide from further damage. He must have thought I had a truly amazing painkiller working away. I considered asking him what he thought was going on, but I’d have to hypnotize him afterward. Not worth it. Let him think what he liked.
We emerged from the kitchen entry into freezing night air. It was heavy with damp from the nearby lake and seemed much colder. The wind was up and on the hunt, knifing through my coat. That I was able to notice the chill told me I was tired, the weariness wholly mental and emotional. The interview with Kroun and reaction to the hypnosis had wrung me out, but I’d not been hung up to dry. Not as bad as it could have turned out.
Of course, there were still guys who thought that had been a cheat. Ruzzo, for two.
They were standing by a fat panel trunk parked behind Gordy’s car, and their mad must have been pretty serious to keep them out in this wind. Moving like one man, they straightened to face me as I descended the loading dock steps. Strome started to move past, but I stopped him.
“No. It’s got to be from me, or they won’t learn.”
He grunted displeasure toward them and hung back. I could be reasonably certain that he had a hand closed around the gun he kept in his overcoat pocket.
I decided to steal from Kroun’s bag of tricks by going up to Ruzzo and stand in place and not say anything. It would get a rise of one kind or another.
“You lettin’ him get away with it?” Ruzzo the Younger demanded of me.
The problem with some guys is that they will chew over whatever’s bothering them, be extremely familiar with every tiny part, and fully expect you to know exactly what the hell they’re talking about when they finally blurt it at you. This was out of the blue. I thought they’d be challenging my right to be their boss.
“Let who get away with what?” I asked patiently.
“That singer you’re soft for. He owes.”
“Yeah, owes,” echoed the Elder. “You make bets and lose, you pay the markers.”
Cripes, I should send them off to Tierra del Fuego to breed wombats. “Not my business,” I said.
“You stopped Hoyle from doin’ his job.”
I’d have to use small words with these two. “Hoyle can collect from him off the premises—after Caine’s done his act. If Caine can’t sing, he can’t pay.”
“That’s bullshit.”
Dangerous words in this gathering, meant as a challenge; I couldn’t let them go by. “You’re calling me a liar,” I carefully informed him. Them. I hoped theirs was a very small family.
“The singer owes. You talk to Hoyle. He’ll tell you. You don’t know everything.”
“Neither does Hoyle.”
“He’s the boss on this.”
“Sez him. I’m running things, not Hoyle.”
“Sez you.” Ruzzo grinned. Both of them.
Then they stopped being there. Both of them.
I couldn’t understand it. Had the night swallowed them up? Were they like me and had disappeared into thin air? What the hell…?
I was lying on my face on cold metal, which was moving under me. Rumbling through my body was the throaty noise of a truck motor going at a good clip.
Ow. Head pain. Not right.
What the hell…?
Ow. Bad now, very bad.
What the hell? Again.
I repeated that several times, eventually working out that I’d been bushwhacked. While Ruzzo kept me distracted someone must have come up behind and…ow…yes, the back of my head. A familiar tenderness, bruising, and a knot. That’s where he’d got me. With wood. Had to be wood. It was the only thing that could put me out without causing me to vanish. So…was it dumb luck or had someone known what would work?
Strome? Sure, he was a killer, but he had no reason to lay me flat. Unless he had special orders from Kroun. But I’d neutralized the threat.
Hoyle. Much more likely. He wasn’t the forgiving type, not that I’d have apologized to him for busting him one over the dancer. He and Ruzzo were shoulder-to-shoulder apparently. Against me. Despite Gordy. Despite Kroun.
Oh, hell. This crap I didn’t need.
3
I blinked against blackness. Very little light filtered through the painted-over rear door window, just enough for me to ascertain I was alone in the back of the panel truck that had shared the alley with Gordy’s
Cadillac. No one had bothered tying me up. Chances were, after clobbering me they noticed I wasn’t breathing and assumed I’d been killed. Which would leave them with a body on their hands. Better to get rid of me and delay the news of my death than have someone from the Nightcrawler’s kitchen staff stumbling over the corpse a few minutes later.
Feeling queasy, I thought of how Strome had sunk Bristow and his boys in the water to lose them. Nope. That wasn’t going to happen to me. I’d had too much of that damned lake already.
When I felt steady enough to get up I damn near cracked my head on the low ceiling. Not much space in here for a tall guy. On hands and knees I worked over to the windows, finding my hat along the way. My head wasn’t to the point of supporting that much weight yet. Hell, even my hair was too heavy. I folded the thing and stuffed it in a pocket, glad it wasn’t one of my fancier fedoras. Lately I’d taken to wearing only my second- and even third-best clothes, fearing (rightly) that something like this situation might drop itself on me like a net. If I didn’t take things in hand with these mugs, I’d end up with a pawnshop wardrobe.
I pulled out my keys, using one to scrape away paint from a corner of the window. When I had a peephole I looked through.
Not a lot to see. Flat, snow-crusted fields. Farm country. How long had I been out? I held my watch up to the feeble light. An hour? The way I felt it had to be more than that. The watch still ticked, though, the time correct. No one at my club would miss me until closing, which was in the wee hours. It was still well on the right side of midnight, though to me it felt much later.
The rumbling changed in tone as the driver made a sharp turn. The truck shook like an earthquake, indicating unpaved road. I braced, holding on to a length of wood bolted to the metal side. Damned wood. Why couldn’t they have just shot me? It’d have ruined a suit, but I could have taken care of them back in town. Idiots. Both of them. And Hoyle.