Fast Buck (11 page)

‘You mean they haven’t anything on you?’ Rico asked eagerly.

‘They never had anything on me,’ Baird said, and his hard mouth twisted into a jeering grin. ‘No one ever saw me. They tried to pin the Bruce killing on me, but they hadn’t any proof. As soon as I could get around again I went up to New York and fixed myself an alibi. I’ve got a lot of friends in New York. Six of them swore I was with them the night Jean Bruce was knocked off. I and my lawyer took their statements to Olin. There was nothing he could do about it.’

Rico drew in a deep breath of relief.

‘That’s fine!’ he said, rubbing his hands. ‘That’s terrific! You’re free to operate again?’

‘Sure,’ Baird said indifferently. ‘Did you get rid of that bracelet?’

Rico nodded.

‘I didn’t get much for it, but I was lucky to find a buyer.’

‘Don’t talk crap,’ Baird said roughly. ‘If the stuff’s good there are always buyers.’

‘What happened to you? There was some talk you were shot.’

Baird stared across the desk at Rico.

‘I was. I was laid low for a couple of weeks. I had a pretty close call.’

‘How did you get away from them?’ Rico asked, his eyes popping.

‘I holed up with a girl,’ Baird said, and rubbed his hand across his eyes. ‘She looked after me.’ He frowned down at the desk. ‘The damnedest thing that’s ever happened to me.’

‘Who was she?’ Rico asked. ‘Talk about luck! Was she pret y?’

The look Baird gave him was hard and menacing.

‘Shut your dirty trap,’ he said. ‘Never mind who she was. She had more guts in her lit le finger than you’ve got in the whole of your rot en body. So shut up about her!’

Rico smiled ingratiatingly.

‘Sure, sure,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to talk out of turn.’

‘I’m running short of dough,’ Baird said. ‘Anything around for me?’

‘Yes,’ Rico said, leaning forward. ‘Something big. You’ve arrived in time. Another three days, and it’d have been too late. This is a big job; worth ten grand to you.’

Baird lifted his head sharply.

‘Ten grand? You been drinking?’

Rico rubbed his hands together excitedly.

‘The guy who’s behind this is Preston Kile, the financier. He’s offering ten grand for a guy who’l do a job for him. I told him you were the only one I’d trust to handle it.’

‘What’s the job?’ Baird asked suspiciously.

‘I don’t know. Kile wants to see you first. He’s acting awful cagey. Says he wants to talk to you before he spills any details, but it’s okay, Baird. Kile’s a big-shot. He’s got a front that’l knock your eye out, and you want to see his girl. Used to be with the Follies. Everything about Kile is big. Getting in with him is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.’

Baird didn’t seem impressed.

‘You’re sure about the ten grand?’

‘Yeah. If you pull the job off it rates ten, if you fail he’l pay five. There’s nothing smal about Kile.

You wait until you meet him.’

Baird started to say something, but broke off as the door opened and a red-headed girl wandered in.

She was wearing a low-cut evening gown of lemon yellow, and her green eyes looked Baird over sharply.

Rico said, ‘What do you want, Zoe? I’m busy.’

‘That guy Dal as asked me if he could cash a cheque,’ Zoe said, coming over to the desk. She tossed a slip of paper on Rico’s blot er. ‘It’s only for thirty bucks. He wants to buy me champagne.’

Frowning, Rico picked up the cheque, scrutinised it, opened a drawer and dropped it in. He took out a cash-box and began to count five-dollar bills on to the blotter.

‘He’s get ing quite a regular customer,’ he said. ‘What’s he do with himself?’

Zoe rested an elegant hip on the desk and swung her leg, her eyes roaming over Baird.

‘I guess he’s got ideas about me,’ she said, smiled and winked at Baird, who stared at her stonily.

‘He’s spending a lot of dough here, so why should you worry?’

‘I didn’t say I was worrying,’ Rico said, and pushed the money over to her. ‘Next time you come in here, Zoe, please knock.’

Zoe lifted her eyebrows.

‘Why, sure, I didn’t think. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your boy friend?’

Baird made an impatient movement.

‘Run along, Zoe,’ Rico said, waving her away. ‘I’m busy.’

She slid off the desk with an indifferent shrug.

‘Well, I can console myself I’m not missing much,’ she said, making a lit le face at Baird. She crossed to the door with an elaborate sway of her hips, opened it and went out.

‘Who’s that?’ Baird asked, when the door had closed.

‘She’s okay. She’s one of my girls: Zoe Norton,’ Rico said. ‘Maybe I could fix it for you to see Kile tonight. Okay with you?’

Baird nodded.

Rico picked up the phone, dialled and waited.

‘Put me through to Mr Kile,’ he said, when a voice came on the line. He listened, frowning, then said,

‘I gotta get in touch with him. Know where he is?’ He scribbled down a telephone number and hung up.

‘He’s with his girl friend,’ he told Baird and grinned. ‘Hope I don’t interrupt anything important.’

Baird continued to stare at him stonily, and a little flustered under the hard look, Rico hurriedly dialled the new number.

‘This is Rico,’ he said, when Eve Gil is answered. ‘Could I speak to Mr Kile?’

‘Hold on a moment,’ she said, and he heard her cal ing Kile.

‘What is it?’ Kile snapped, coming on the line. ‘Who told you you could call me here?’

‘The guy we’ve been looking for has shown up,’ Rico said quickly. ‘I’ve got him here now.’

‘You have?’ The sharpness went out of Kile’s voice. ‘Can you bring him over right away, Rico?’

‘Sure. I told him you wanted to see him.’

‘Now look, he may not be the man I’m looking for. I can’t tell until I’ve seen him. Warn him there may be nothing in it for him. I’l only see him on that understanding.’

Rico laughed excitedly. He looked across at Baird and winked. Baird’s face remained dour, and his look was still stony.

‘You’l want him all right, Mr Kile, but I’l tel him.’

‘Be over as soon as you can,’ Kile said. ‘Apartment 200, Roxburgh House. You know where it is?’

‘Sure, Mr Kile, I know it’

Kile grunted and hung up.

‘He wants to see you right away. He’s at Miss Gil is’s place on Roxburgh Avenue. Maybe I’d bet er come with you.’

Baird got to his feet. He finished his whisky, mashed out his cigarette as he said, ‘Suit yourself.’

Rico took his black slouch hat from a hanging cupboard, slapped it on his head and jerked it so it rested at a jaunty angle over his right eye.

‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘Be careful how you handle Kile. He likes respect.’

Baird sneered.

‘For ten grand he’l get it,’ he said, opened the door and walked out into the passage leading to the kitchens and rear exit.

Neither of them saw Zoe watching them through a half-open door at the far end of the passage. As soon as they were out of sight she signalled to Dallas, who reached for the telephone on her dressing-table and dialled Harmon Purvis’s number.

II

Kile sat in Eve’s morning-room: a feminine room he liked, and which, up to now, had been restful to his nerves to sit in. The big windows overlooked the river, and from where he sat he could see the lights of the shipping, and on the far bank the headlights of the stream of cars heading up town.

It was a hot, close night, and the windows were wide open. Kile was sweating a little. He cradled a highball in his hand; a smouldering cigar rested in a deep ash-tray on the arm of his chair.

Eve sat on the broad window seat, her back half turned to him while she stared down at the river. She looked pale, and the scarlet evening dress she wore seemed too gay for her mood.

Neither of them had spoken since Kile had told her Baird was on his way over. Both were preoccupied with their thoughts. Kile had an uneasy feeling that Baird was going to be the right man for this fantastic job. If he was then it would mean Kile would have to go ahead with the plan. Since his first enthusiasm had waned, he had begun to wonder if anyone in his right mind would have even contemplated such a plan, let alone waste time investigating the possibilities. He had to admit he hadn’t done much himself so far. Eve had done all the necessary work. It was extraordinary how she managed to obtain her information. Admittedly, she was in a position to know many people, but how she had got together all the minute details and information with which she had presented him, defeated him.

The plan couldn’t succeed, he told himself again and again, but Eve wouldn’t admit defeat.

‘What have we got to lose?’ she had asked patiently. ‘If this man says it won’t work, then we can drop the idea, but if he has the nerve to go through with it, and if he pulls it off, it’s a half a million in your pocket.’

That was the only argument that kept Kile in the running. A half a million! But if Baird turned the plan down, Kile would be relieved. Of course he would hate to let such a sum slip through his fingers, but the danger and the risks he would be involved in if Baird went ahead frightened him.

Up to now he had managed to concentrate on the prize, but now that Baird would be here at any minute, he could think of nothing but the risks.

‘This fel a won’t do it,’ he jerked out suddenly, speaking what was in his mind before he could stop himself. ‘I’ve been considering your plan, Eve. It – it won’t work. It can’t work!’

She turned her head and looked at him. She looked tired and uneasy. She didn’t think the plan would work, either. She thought it was the craziest, the most dangerous idea Adam had yet thought of, but he had said it would work, and she knew from past experience that once Adam had made up his mind about anything, no one or nothing would stop him. If she backed out now, or even encouraged Kile to back out, she knew instinctively that she had seen the last of her brother. In her more rational moments she knew it would be the best thing that could happen to her, but she also knew she was fooling herself: life without Adam would be no life at all.

‘Let him judge,’ she said. ‘To hear you talk, Preston, I’m beginning to think you don’t want the money.’

Kile drank some of his highball.

‘The risk wil be frightful,’ he mut ered. ‘Of course I want the money, but…’

‘I don’t see what risk you run. This man Baird wil shoulder the risk.’

‘He won’t!’ Kile said excitedly. ‘He wouldn’t be such a fool!’

‘Ten thousand is a lot of money,’ Eve said listlessly. She was speaking the words Adam had put into her mouth. ‘We can but ask him.’

The front-door bell rang.

Kile started so violently he spilled some of his highball on his trousers. Swearing softly, he wiped the wet patch with his handkerchief as he stood up.

The Filipino boy who looked after Eve’s apartment came in.

‘Mr Rico is here,’ he said, and Eve could tel he didn’t approve of Rico.

‘Show him in,’ Kile said, trying to steady his voice. He moved over to the fireplace and stood facing the door, a scowl on his heavy features. The pain under his heart had sharpened.

Eve didn’t move. She felt frightened. She, too, had a feeling that once Baird was told of the plan there would be no drawing back.

Rico came in, followed by Baird, who hadn’t taken off his hat. Baird’s eyes went quickly and suspiciously around the room. He gave Eve a quick glance, then stared directly at Kile.

In his turn, Kile was looking at him. He saw at once this tall, powerfully built man in his creased brown suit, the shabby hat tilted to the back of his head, was dangerous, and he felt a little prickle run up his spine as he met Band’s ice-cold eyes.

‘This is Baird,’ Rico said, corning forward. His smile was ingratiating, and he gave Kile a little bow.

‘I told him you wanted to see him, and that you might have something you could put in his way.’

Kile nodded curtly to Baird, who continued to stare with cold, unfriendly eyes. He wasn’t impressed with Kile. A rich, well-fed sonofabitch, he decided, soft at the core and jumpy. Not anyone you’d want to trust further than you could throw him.

‘Sit down,’ Kile said, waving to two armchairs. He was aware that he hadn’t made an impression, and that irritated him. ‘Whiskies, Philip,’ he said to the Filipino boy, ‘and then get out.’

The boy put a tray containing whisky, charge water and ice on the table.

‘I’ll mix them,’ Rico said. ‘Baird?’

Baird shook his head. He dug out a crumpled pack of cigarettes, fished one out, stuck it on his lower lip and sat down in an armchair. He glanced across at Eve, who was still looking out of the window, her back turned to him. He allowed his eyes to run over her figure, paused for a moment or so on her neatly turned ankles, and then struck a match with his thumb nail and lit the cigarette.

As soon as the Filipino boy had left the room, Kile said, ‘Miss Gil is is interested in this proposition I want to talk to you about.’ He hadn’t missed the searching look Baird had given Eve. ‘Eve, won’t you come over here and join us?’

She turned and looked at Baird. What she saw in the brooding eyes chilled her. She left the window seat and came over to stand near Kile.

Rico bowed elaborately.

‘I haven’t seen you at the club for several nights, Miss Gil is,’ he said. ‘I hope you won’t neglect us.’

‘Suppose we get down to business,’ Baird broke in in his cold, soft voice. ‘I’ve got a date in half an hour.’

Kile looked at him sharply. The soft voice had startled him. He sat down, pulled at his cigar and said,

‘I want you to understand there is nothing definite yet arranged. I am sounding the ground, as you might say. It is probable that nothing will come of it.’

Rico winced as he poured himself a whisky.

‘But, Mr Kile…’ he began.

‘Shut up!’ Baird growled. He leaned forward to stare at Kile. ‘Rico told me you wanted a job done that paid ten grand. What’s the job?’

Kile flushed, and his bloodshot eyes watered. For a moment he looked as if he were going to fly into a rage, but the cold eyes that stared at him warned him that bluster wouldn’t get him anywhere.

‘A certain man is in a certain prison. I want this man out.’