1944 - Just the Way It Is (23 page)

‘I can’t make out where the hell Peter’s got to,’ Duke said. ‘I ought never to have left him.’

Kells grunted. He wasn’t interested in Peter. ‘He’ll turn up,’ he said, finishing his sandwich and wiping his fingers on his coat. ‘Don’t you worry about him.’

‘Where’s your car?’ Duke asked abruptly.

‘My what?’

‘Car, you dope, thing with wheels and gasoline.’

‘In the garage behind Chez Paree.’ Kells looked bewildered. ‘Why?’

Duke turned off the main street and drove furiously down the street that lay parallel to it. ‘I’ve just thought of something. I want you to take your car and get over to Pinder’s End. Tell Casy how things look and tell him to watch out. I’ll feel safer with you out there.’ He slowed down as they reached the Chez Paree. ‘Okay?’

Kells got out of the car. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Suppose the guy shoots me?’

Duke remembered the applejack and pushed the earthenware jar into Kells’ hands. ‘Show him that,’ he said. ‘He’ll know you’re a friend.’

He drove off, leaving Kells taking a long pull from the jar.

It took him five minutes of reckless driving to reach Schultz’s house. He didn’t attempt to creep up on Schultz, but nailed the car outside the front door, jumped out and ran up the path.

The front door was locked, but Duke didn’t hesitate. He took a flying kick and the door crashed off its hinges. He walked straight into the passage, over the door, his coat open and his hand ready to go for his gun. There was a hard look on his face and a frosty gleam in his eye.

Then in the hall, he stopped short. There were bloodstains on the wall. Long smears as if someone, bleeding badly, had supported himself against the wall.

He stood still. It was a moment of great revelation to him. He found then what Clare meant to him. He had only seen her twice in forty-eight hours. He had quarrelled with her and he had put her out of his mind in those forty-eight hours. But thinking that this was her blood, he realized how much she meant to him and how empty and thin his life was going to be without her.

It came as a complete shock to him, as if he had been blindfolded and now he could see. Life had a bleakness that frightened him.

He didn’t want to go into the house in case he found her. He didn’t want this sudden unexpected and horrible nightmare to come to life.

And as he stood there, he heard someone run up the path and he heard Clare’s voice say, ‘Oh, Harry . . .’ and he turned, not believing that he had heard correctly.

She was standing just outside the house, peering in at him. The sun in her hair and her great eyes alive with relief.

He stood looking at her and then he walked across the fallen door and took her in his arms. She looked up at him, her eyes bewildered and then he crushed his mouth down on hers, holding her against him, so that she couldn’t move and he stayed like that for a long time.

Clare wanted to get away from him, but he was too strong, then she felt something inside her melting and she wanted never to be out of his arms. She clung to him, feeling her lips bruising, but wanting him to remain like that.

He suddenly put her away from him and shook his head as if trying to clear something from his mind. ‘I thought something had happened to you,’ he said, still holding her arms. ‘I thought something horrible had happened to you.’

She couldn’t say anything, but she just stared at him, not knowing what to think.

He remembered the bloodstains and looked back over his shoulder at the house. ‘Wait here,’ he said, ‘I won’t be long.’ Then leaving her, he walked into the house again.

In the sitting room he found Peter Cullen. He was sitting in a chair, the front of his shirt was red and there was a red smear on his mouth. He seemed to be looking up at the ceiling in a frightened, concentrated stare and a fly walked across his open eye as Duke looked at him.

Duke just stood there looking. He felt no shock. He felt nothing. This wasn’t the Peter Cullen he had known. This was someone who didn’t matter, who was dead and who looked rather horrible. The Peter Cullen he knew was still going about, still worrying over things that need not be worried over, still looking at him in a friendly critical way and telling him that he was wild.

Then Clare came in.

Duke was too late to stop her. He just put his arm round her and held her against him while she looked at Peter Cullen. He felt her trembling against him and that made him feel bad.

She didn’t ask if he was dead. She could see he was. She just held on to Harry Duke and felt the small life she had built round Peter Cullen gradually go to pieces.

She said, ‘Take me away,’ at last, and he picked her up and carried her out of the house.

He liked the feel of her against him, the weight of her that tugged at his muscles and the touch of her hair against his face. He put her gently into his car. ‘I’ve got things to do,’ he said. ‘You’ll wait for me . . . won’t you?’ and he went back into the house.

He walked hurriedly from room to room, not expecting to find anyone and not finding anyone. Then he went back to Peter Cullen and stood looking down at him.

Peter had been shot at close quarters. There was a burn on his shirt from the flash of the gun. Otherwise, there was nothing to tell Duke how it happened. All he knew was that it must have been Schultz. Somehow, Peter had learned that Schultz had got Clare and had come out after her. He had come out without a gun, Duke reasoned, and Schultz had shot him down.

Duke touched Peter’s hand. ‘I’ll get him,’ he said, quietly. ‘I’ll fix him for this,’ and he went back to his car.

Clare sat, wooden, staring in front of her. When Duke got in beside her, she said, ‘There’s a girl Lorelli and a boy called Joe . . . do you know them?’

‘Sure,’ Duke said. ‘But don’t worry about anything right now.’

‘But they are in trouble,’ Clare said, anxiously. ‘That’s why I came. Lorelli said for you to come. They are in the back of your poolroom with Korris and a lot of men.’

Duke pushed his hat off his eyes. ‘Never mind about them,’ he said. ‘They’re just no count bums. What can I do for you? Where do you want to go?’

She twisted round fiercely in her seat. ‘But they helped me. You’ve got to do something. You’ve got to help them.’

‘Okay, okay,’ Duke sent the car leaping forward. ‘I’ll do something,’ and he drove furiously towards the poolroom.

While he drove, he forgot about her and thought of Schultz. He wondered where he was and how soon it would be before he found him. His hands tightened on the wheel. He made up his mind there and then that wherever Schultz hid himself he would get him. He became aware that Clare was speaking and he glanced at her white, strained face wondering how much Peter had meant to her.

‘You can’t go there alone,’ she was saying. ‘There are a lot of them You must get help, but the girl said that it was no use going to the police.’

Duke said, ‘I’ll take care of it. Don’t you worry about this,’ and swung the car off the main street, heading for his own apartment. ‘I’ve got a Tommy at home. That’ll hold ‘em and it won’t lose much time; it’s in the same direction.’

‘Who killed him?’ she asked, suddenly, her fists clenched so that her knuckles shone in the sunlight.

‘Schultz, I should say,’ Duke said, between his teeth. ‘Yes, I guess it must have been Schultz.’

‘I asked you to leave him alone, didn’t I?’ She didn’t sound angry, but just as if she were thinking aloud in a dazed, bewildered way. ‘If you had left him alone this wouldn’t have happened. I told you he couldn’t look after himself. But you wouldn’t believe me. He wouldn’t believe me either. He was too nice and kind and decent to die like that. That’s the way people like Spade and Schultz and - and you will die. But, Peter wasn’t made for that sort of end.’

Duke stopped outside his apartment house. He turned in his seat. ‘I know how you feel about this,’ he said. ‘But being bitter won’t help. Peter was a good friend of mine and I’ll miss him He meant a lot more to you than he meant to me and you’ll miss him too. But, we can’t do anything about it. All we can try to do is to remember him as we knew him and just think that he’s gone away. Then neither of us will be sorry for saying things that might not be true and might hurt other people.’

She didn’t say anything, but sat looking down the road, wooden and bitter in her loss.

‘I’ll get the gun,’ Duke said. ‘If you want to go home, why don’t you take a taxi?’

She looked at him and he saw the pent-up dislike for him in her eyes. ‘I want to see the end of this,’ she said. ‘You don’t think I want to stay out of it now he’s gone, do you?’

He shrugged and ran into the house.

While he was loading the Thompson, the telephone rang. He hesitated, then throwing the gun on the bed, he answered the telephone.

‘Harry Duke?’ He recognized Lorelli’s voice. She sounded excited.

‘Where are you?’ he said, surprised. ‘I was coming out to rescue you like they do in the movies.’

‘I can look after myself,’ she said. There was pride in her voice. ‘What do you think I am? Listen, I’m phoning from a drug store on the comer of Lincoln Street. Will you come and get me?’

Duke said, ‘I’m on my way,’ and hung up.

He wrapped the gun in a blanket which he yanked off his bed and ran downstairs.

‘Lorelli’s okay,’ he said, dropping the gun into the back of the car and climbed in beside Clare. ‘She’s just phoned. We’re going to pick her up.’

Clare said nothing. Her wooden face made him nervous. He wished she would cry or something. Anything would be better than sitting there with that set face and her eyes like holes in a white sheet.

He reached Lincoln Street in under four minutes. Lorelli and Joe were standing on the corner. Joe was holding a handkerchief to the lower part of his face. His eyes glowed viciously.

Lorelli got in the car and Joe followed her. ‘Fairview,’ she said. ‘And step on it. I’ll talk while you drive.’

Duke turned the car and began to beat it up the main street. ‘What’s cooking?’ he asked.

‘Plenty.’ Lorelli sounded quite worked up. ‘Spade’s mob is getting ready to take over Pinder’s End. When we left they were making plans. Twelve men and Korris. All have guns, but they’re not expecting trouble.’

Duke smiled. ‘Then there’s a little surprise waiting for them,’ he said. He looked round at Clare. ‘This is the chance I was talking to you about. Remember? I said the only way to rid Bentonville of this mob was to get them in a bunch and knock them off. This is where they get it. And the guys who’ll give, it to them are the outcasts of the district. If it still means anything to you, I’ll bet that Bentonville will be as clean as a whistle in a week’s time.’

‘It’s a little late,’ was all Clare said, still nursing her grief.

Lorelli was leaning forward breathing down Duke’s neck. ‘What are you going to do?’ she demanded.

‘I’ll drop you three at Fairview and then go on and warn Casy. They’ve got guns up there and Kells has joined them If we plan it right, we ought to beat hell out of them.’

‘If you think I’m going to miss this, you’re crazy,’ Lorelli said. ‘You ought to have seen me crack the skull of a guy who was pushing Joe around.’

Duke shook his head. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘You’re out. I don’t want women in this fight.’

Joe said tonelessly, ‘There are other things at Pinder’s End beside a fight. You look after the fight and we’ll look after the other things.’ He had found the Thompson and he was pointing it at Duke’s head.

Duke could see the barrel reflected in his driving mirror. He could also see Joe’s bloodstained face. He didn’t like the look in the boy’s eyes.

‘If that’s how you feel,’ he said, more amused than alarmed, ‘just let me drop Clare off and we’ll all make up a happy party.’

Clare said, ‘I’m coming too.’

‘Let her come,’ Lorelli said to Joe. ‘She might be useful.’

‘Everyone’s in this,’ Joe said, lowering the gun and mopping his nose again. It hurt him and so did his wrist. His temper was dangerous and uncertain. ‘Why don’t you invite the whole town up there?’

‘Quiet!’ Lorelli returned. ‘What else can we do?’

‘Know how much there’s supposed to be up there?’ Duke said. ‘Five hundred grand. That’s enough to share out, isn’t it?’

Joe seemed more easy. ‘Five hundred grand.’ He almost forgot the throb of pain in his nose and wrist.

As they approached Fairview, Duke said to Clare, ‘Are you sure you want to come?’

‘I’m coming,’ she said, flatly.

He lifted his shoulders and trod down on the gas. It was not long before they reached the dirt road that led up to Pinder’s End.

They hadn’t gone far when a voice hailed them. ‘Stop or I’ll fire!’

Duke hastily jammed on his brakes and looked round, not seeing anyone. Then from behind a bush, Jetkin appeared, holding a rifle and looking self-conscious.

‘I didn’t mean to scare you, Mr. Duke,’ he said. ‘But that crazy guy Casy told me I’d got to stop anyone coming up.’

Duke grinned. ‘That’s fine,’ he said. ‘Where’s everybody?’

Jetkin waved his hand towards the field. ‘They’re making plans. What’s the idea, Mr. Duke, is there going to be trouble?’

‘You bet,’ Lorelli broke in. ‘There’s a whale of a lot of trouble coming now in two autos.’

Jetkin looked alarmed. ‘Is that right?’ he asked Duke.

‘I guess so,’ Duke returned. ‘Ever handled a rifle before?’

‘A shotgun, but not a rifle,’ Jetkin confessed. ‘But I’ve got the hang of this now, I guess.’ He looked at the rifle and snapped up the bolt. ‘I’d like a shot with it,’ he added, hopefully.

‘You’ll get it,’ Duke said, starting his engine. ‘The next load of cars that come up won’t stop, pal. You start blazing away the moment you see them. But, watch yourself, they’ll shoot a lot straighter than you.’

Jetkin’s mouth fell open. ‘You mean I can shoot at these guys?’

‘Sure,’ Duke said. ‘Shoot as many as you can.’

‘Can I kill ‘em?’ Jetkin asked, hopefully.

‘I’ll be angry with you if you don’t,’ Duke said, waving his hand, and he drove on, bumping over the road and jerking them all up and down as if they were riding on a switchback.

Lorelli said, ‘Hey! Let me out of here! I’d rather walk than have my vitamins disturbed.’