The Kidnapper (14 page)

“Who’s forgettin’?” Specs rolled his head around. “Not me, I don’t forget. Steve’s my pal. My only true, best pal. Best friend man ever had.” He started to get up, then fell back in his chair. “Goddam, wish I had Terry here. Know what I’d do? I’d take her in the bedroom, see? And that sixty-six grand, I’d have that dough lyin’ all over the bed. And I’d show it to her and I’d say, ‘Honey, how about you and me lyin’ down in all that money and knockin’ off—’ ”

“Hold it.” I held up my watch. “It’s three o’clock. We got work tomorrow, you know? Come on, let’s go to bed.”

“Yes.” Mary grabbed my arm. “Let’s go to bed. Come on, Steve.”

Specs stood up, knocking over his glass. “Okay, we go to bed. All three of us.”

I lifted Mary off my lap and stood up. “Take it easy, boy,” I said. “Here, let me help you.” I went over, got him by the arm and helped him into the bedroom.

“Where’s Mary?” he mumbled. “Ain’t she comin’ too?”

“In a little while. Lie still so’s I can get your shoes off. There. Now roll over and I’ll cover you up.”

“Don’ need covers. Gonna wait for Mary.”

“Sure. Whatever you say.” I covered him up and turned out the light. He started to sit up, then fell back on the pillow. A couple of seconds later he started to snore.

I went out. Mary was in our bedroom, in the dark.

“Lover?”

“I’m here. Just put Specs to bed. He’s all right, passed out cold.”

“Steve, you think he meant it, about the three of us?”

“No, he was just high. You know how drunks are.”

“I know.” She giggled again. “Everything’s going around and around. Like the first time—remember?”

“I remember.”

“Only that Specs. Always talking about women. Steve, he worries me.”

“Forget it,” I said. “You didn’t come to bed to talk about Specs.”

“Uh-huh. You’re so right. So right, lover!”

She wasn’t thinking about Specs any more, not now she wasn’t. But all of a sudden, I was.

I tried to think about what I was doing, and I couldn’t. Everything was moving so fast and there was nothing you could hang on to. That was the whole trouble. Even having the money didn’t really end things. The whole two hundred grand wouldn’t help to stop things for a second. They just kept on going, and I had to keep going with them.

It was a funny time and a funny place to be thinking about it, but I had to. Tomorrow was another day, and I’d have to call old man Warren and hand him a line, and then I’d have to dope out a way of getting out of here, and I’d have to keep Mary hepped up, and I’d have to handle Specs. We’d have to get out of here, out of here, out of here, and never a moment’s rest until we were safe, never a minute of peace and quiet; I had to keep on thinking and thinking and moving and moving—

“Steve, is anything the matter?”

“No, Mary. Nothing’s the matter.”

I hoped she believed me. But I knew when I said it, it was a lie. Getting that money hadn’t solved any problems for us yet. The real problems were just beginning.

I lay back, stuck a pillow under my head, and stared up at the shadows on the ceiling, waiting for tomorrow to come.

Chapter Seventeen

O
nce things start moving, they move fast. It seemed like I scarcely managed to close my eyes before Mary was shaking me and saying, “Time to get up, Steve. You want to make that call, don’t you?”

I got out of bed. She was dressed, and I could see Specs through the doorway. He was sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast already.

“Be ready in five minutes,” I said. I went into the john and shaved and dressed in a hurry. Then I came back out and had some eggs.

“You want me to go into town with you?” Specs asked me.

“No. Just stick here.”

“Well, I been thinking things over. I don’t feel so bad now. Maybe I could call the shop—tell Cutrelli I was sick last night or something, so he won’t get suspicious.”

I shook my head. “That’s out. You forget you took your clothes along when you moved in here. He might call back, check with your landlady.”

“It was just an idea.”

“I know. But don’t bother with any more ideas. That’s my department, from now on. You just stick here with Mary.”

“But it makes me nervous, just sitting around with nothing to do, and all.”

“Tough.” I leaned back. “Only you got to figure it won’t be for long. This afternoon, when I get back, we’ll start planning our next move.”

“Getting out of here?”

“That’s right,” I said. “I’ve been thinking it over. Now’s the time to go—before they miss you at the shop and start putting two and two together. I was going to wait until I was sure old man Warren got Mary’s letter from New Orleans. Now I think we’re smarter if we pull out ahead of time. So that when the kid doesn’t show up, we’ll already be on our way. That suit you?”

“I’ll say it does.” Specs looked a lot happier all of a sudden.

“What are the plans, Steve?” Mary asked me.

“Wait until I get back,” I told her. “Then we can sit down and take our time talking.” I stood up, jangling the car keys.

“Hey, you aren’t going to take that dough into town with you, are you?” Specs asked.

“Why not? Can you think of a safer place?”

“Well, you could leave it right here. Suppose something was to happen—”

“Nothing’s going to happen. I’m taking the money with me because I have to take the gun, too. And I’ll feel a lot safer knowing the money and the gun are together. Just in case.” I walked up to him. “What’s the matter, Specs, don’t you trust me?”

“Sure, I trust you. Only—aw, go ahead, do it your way!”

“Damn right I’ll do it my way.” I turned and looked at Mary. “See you later,” I said.

“Be careful, darling.”

“Quit telling me to be careful! I know what I’m doing.”

And I walked out, pulled the car out of the garage, and drove away.

That hadn’t been smart, flying off the handle. But they were starting to get me down, both of them. It was easy enough to talk, but when you came right down to it, I had to do the dirty work. I was sticking my head in the lion’s mouth now, and they sat back and took it easy, waiting for me to dope out the next move.

When it came right down to it, what the hell did I need them for now? I couldn’t depend on either one to come up with any good ideas. They were just dead weight from now on in. No wonder they got under my skin.

I drove up to the crossroads. No roadblock today, so far. I started to turn right, then stopped.

Suppose I turned left, instead?

I had the money in back, and the gun in front. What more did I need? Turn left, drive to Chicago maybe, or better still, some town like Rockford or Peoria where I could catch a plane heading south or southwest. What was there to stop me?

Plenty, that’s what.

If Warren didn’t get a call pretty soon, the word would be out and then there’d really be hell popping. Yes, and if I didn’t come back, those two dimwits wouldn’t sit there forever. They’d run to the law and start singing. My name, description, everything.

No, it wouldn’t work. The chips were down. I had to go through with it.

I turned right.

It was hard for me to put my foot down on the accelerator. I didn’t like the idea of going back into town again. Even though I told myself nothing had changed, nothing was different, nobody knew any more than they had three days ago. It was just the idea, just that
I
knew the score. What if there was one of those freak accidents and they opened up the trunk of the car? What if I happened to run into Cutrelli, or Mrs. Delehanty who thought I’d left town? What if they’d figured some arrangement so that all the pay-phones were being tapped for calls? For all I knew, they had a plain clothes detail covering every booth in town.

What was the matter with me, going chicken like this? I had the dough. Everything was under control. Everything except my nerves. And that was the most important of all.

I took a deep breath. I wasn’t closing my eyes any more. No telling who might show up with my eyes closed, show up to wave that rope around with the funny knot tied in it. Deep breaths were safer. You’re safe as long as you’re breathing.

Then I was downtown, and everything was normal. People on the streets, cars going by, stores open, business as usual. A nice summer day. The kind of day for thinking about a good, long vacation.

That was better. Think about the long vacation ahead. Years and years of it, with nothing to worry about, no more working, no more grief. And all I had to do was make a phone call, just to cover up. It was simple, looking at it that way.

I didn’t go all the way in to downtown, though. I parked over on Washington and went into the Manufacturer’s Building. They had three phones in the lobby downstairs.

I walked in. There was a fat dame talking in the middle booth, so I stood there waiting for her to get through. She kept yakking and yakking, long enough for me to smoke all the way down on a cigarette. Why is it the fat ones always seem to yak the longest?

Finally she got out of there and I took a quick look around and stepped into the end booth, at the right. I dialed the number.

“Good morning. Acme Trust.” The same girl.

“Warren.”

“Who should I say—?”

“Never mind. It’s the guy you called copper on the other day. Listen, sister, if you pull that stunt again today, I’m coming after you. Get me?”

“Ooh—yes!”

“Then put Warren on, quick.”

Click, buzz, then, “Hello. This is Warren.”

“I got the money. You’re all set.”

“How’s Shirley—”

“Shut up and listen. I’m only going to tell you once. I’m wise to you and your tricks—trying to trace calls on me like you did. So here’s the story. Come alone. Tonight, midnight, the same place. Got it?”

“Yes, but—”

“That’s all, brother.”

I banged the receiver down, turned around and marched out of there. I didn’t know if the call was being traced or not, but I didn’t want to stick around a second longer than I had to. I made for the car, and drove away.

On the way back, I got to thinking. Specs and Mary were so damned dumb they’d have to be watched every minute. Particularly after tomorrow. Because tomorrow, when Warren’s kid didn’t show up, the real fun would start. FBI and everything, the works. I could almost see the headlines. NATION-WIDE SEARCH FOR KIDNAPPERS.

Tomorrow. Suppose we started, right now. Head east, cross the state line into Illinois. Say, five hours. Keep driving in shifts, down through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee. Then North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida.

No. We’d never make it in a day, not in two days. Take three at the least. And by that time there’d be roadblocks all over. No matter what route we took, we’d hit a couple of them, we were bound to by the law of averages.

And the word might be out then, about Specs. They’d be looking for him. We could take a train or a plane from someplace, only there was that nation-wide search angle again. They’d be checking on passengers. We didn’t have near enough luggage, either. And hanging onto a suitcase full of dough would look bad.

No. I made up my mind.

And when I got back, as soon as I parked and went into the kitchen, I told them.

“Here’s the word, folks,” I said. “We’re not leaving for a while.”

“What’s the matter?” Specs.

“Something go wrong?” Mary.

“Not a thing. And that’s why we’re staying right here.”

“You talked to Warren? What’d he say?” Specs, again.

“Nothing. I just told him. Same place tonight, for the kid.”

“But he’ll go there tonight and find out.”

“Sure.”

“And you said we’d leave, get a day’s start. Didn’t he, Mary? He said that last night.”

“I said a lot of things last night. But I’ve been thinking it over. A day’s start isn’t going to be enough.”

“Why? I don’t see why you change your mind all of a—”

“I’ll tell you why, if you’ll calm down long enough to listen.” And I told them, both of them, what I thought.

“Figure it this way,” I finished up. “We booked this cottage from the Racklins for two weeks, starting last Thursday. We’ve got ten days to go. And as far as I can see, this is still the safest spot we could think of to hole up in. We’ve got food, we’ve got liquor, we can go out and get more. We’re close enough to town to know everything that’s going on. What more could we ask? And by the time ten days are up, the noise will have died down. You know how it is; something else comes along in a week or so, and there’s a new bunch of headlines. Give people time to think about something else, give the authorities time to get excited over a bank-robbery or a rape or a Communist spy hunt. Then when we leave we take our good-natured time, without a lot of hotel clerks and filling station operators playing amateur detective all over the country.”

“You mean, stay here all that time? I’ll go nuts!” Specs stood up and began walking back and forth.

“What’re you squawking about? Look, it’s like a vacation, figure it that way. You can go swimming, you can rent a boat even, go fishing—”

“That ain’t what I went into this for! You know what you said, what you promised. We’d get the dough and then we’d have anything we wanted.”

“You will have,” I said. “If you’ll only be patient about it. Hell’s bells, you aren’t any kid, waiting for Santa Claus to come. A couple days won’t kill you.”

“Steve, you really think this way would be safest?”

“Of course, Mary. That’s all I’m thinking about—how to protect you. Come to figure it out, the quickest way to get somebody suspicious is for us to blow out of here, now. The Racklins are going to wonder why we rented the cottage for two weeks and then disappeared in such a hurry. So we stay put. Agreed?”

“All right, Steve. You’re the doctor.”

“Fine doctor!” Specs was still grumbling. “I thought you said you had all this planned, how we was getting to Florida and everything. I thought you said it would be easy. we could iust—”

“Goddam it!” I yelled so loud Specs stopped pacing the floor. “If you don’t like it, then do it your own way. I’ll give you your share of the dough and you can take your car and get started, right now. Go wherever you damn please. Alone! And when Cutrelli checks with your landlady today and calls the cops and they send the word along ahead, you can figure things out for yourself, you’re so smart.”