Johnnie (13 page)

“But honest,” Johnnie argued, “I don’t know a thing about where Columbus is or the West End or nothing. I’ve never been in New York before tonight.”

“It’s easy. Look. You just walk down to the end of the block and that’s Columbus. Turn left. Middle of the block, right hand side. You can’t miss it. Go there first. If Hans hasn’t seen Rupe tonight then you walk over—”

“Wait a minute.”

“All right.” She repeated directions. “You have it?”

He nodded. That much was clear.

“If he isn’t there, walk back over to Broadway. That’s the other direction. Go downtown to a Hundred and Third Street. It isn’t far. Then turn right and walk the same direction you did to Broadway, west. West End’s the next street. It’s an apartment house. The Dragham. The name is”—she raised her nose—“Edna Riggens.” She went on very fast. “She’s a dreadful person but Rupe likes her. He likes so many people. Mostly women. That’s half his trouble. You will go get him, won’t you?”

“Sure I’ll go,” Johnnie was hearty. “There’s nothing I’d like better than to go.” He eyed her. “But not without my own clothes.”

She eyed him right back again. She was little and tough but she knew when she was beaten. Right now. “All right,” she nodded. “You sit tight. I’ll fetch them.”

She unlocked the door, closed it after her. But she wasn’t taking any chances on him. He heard the key turn in the lock. He lit a cigarette. At long last he could break out of here. He’d deliver the message to Rupe and then make tracks for Times Square. He’d probably never find Bill or Hank at this hour but that wasn’t important. The main thing was to get away.

The key rattled in the lock. Trudy reentered bearing his uniform on a hanger. She said, “Pick up your shoes outside the door and lock it again.”

He did. She handed over the uniform. For a hurry-up job and the shape it had been in, it looked pretty good. It didn’t even smell too much of cleaning fluid. He sniffed, “How long has this been back?”

“For hours,” she said airily.

“Then why in thunderation—”

“I wanted you here.” Her cobra smile vanished quickly. “I had a hunch I’d need help, playing a lone hand against this field.” She urged, “Well, go on. Get dressed.”

“Where?”

Scorn lifted her nose. “Since when are you so particular? Go on. I’ve seen your underwear before tonight.”

He pulled off a boot. “There’s no more privacy here than at a reception center.”

She didn’t pay any attention to him. She was walking up and down, her hands behind her back. “You will find Rupe for me and bring him back, won’t you?”

“I’ll see he gets here. But I don’t see any reason why I should walk back into this bear trap. I’ve been waiting for hours to get out of the dump.”

“Because I need you.” She stopped in front of him. “Don’t you see it’s Rupe and me against the field? And if you two don’t return—”

He pushed her out of his way. “Are they Nazis?” he demanded.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what Dorp is. Maybe he’s a Nazi. Maybe he’s of the Terrorists. He brought Rudolph here to kill him.”

“I don’t get it.”

“If he’s a Nazi and can get rid of Rudolph, they can put a puppet king on the throne. The Terrorists want a president.”

“What about Ruprecht?” Under cover of the shirt, he transferred the cigar.

“He doesn’t want to be king. He’ll abdicate in favor of anyone. He’ll do anything to keep from being king.”

Johnnie took an inner squint at it. “Why didn’t some of you tell Rudolph what it was all about? Why did you let him walk into this?”

“I didn’t know, stupid. I didn’t know until tonight that anything was wrong. Of course I didn’t believe all that stuff about Rudamia wanting him but I knew he wasn’t safe in Mexico with the Nazis gunning for him, and he couldn’t come here. His government-in-exile told your state department they absolutely would not have Rudo in their hair. So I thought it would be fine if he could be sent as far as Switzerland. My mother’s there and she would keep an eye on him. The others still don’t know there’s anything wrong. Magda wanted Rudo to come so she could get her claws on the crown. Otto’s a royalty boy. He wants to play Metternich for twenty-five more years in Rudamia. If he’s the one who puts Rudo back on the throne, he’s set, don’t you see? And Ferenz—well, I guess he has so much in the hole now that he has to keep the Ruffeni heirs in the saddle until they pay off. He’s the one that found Dorp and Dorp’s running the show. Rupe and me haven’t had anything to say.”

“You could tell them now,” Johnnie suggested.

“Tell them anything!” she snorted. “Don’t you understand? Dorp is Ferenz’s pet They’re all so used to doing what Furry says—because of the money of course—they’d never believe me.”

Johnnie turned his back to button his trousers. “But how you going to keep Dorp from killing Rudolph? If that’s what he wants.”

She frowned. “I’m going to stick right with him. He’s waiting for Rupe to show up with the papers. Something about those papers means death for Rudo. I can’t fathom it but I know it’s true. Dorp’s not going to make a move until he knows for sure they won’t turn up. As long as he believes he can put Rudolph on the Clipper, he won’t risk his fat neck.”

“What do you mean he’s not going to move? Theo’s dead, isn’t he? He wasn’t killed because he was Theo. You know that. Dorp or whoever had the gun thought it was Rudo sneaking out. Bang.”

“That’s true,” she admitted. “But that was different. It was because of the F. B. I., not Rudamia. You get Rupe for me and—”

“And what?”

“He’ll snake Rudolph out of here. Then—”

“What?”

“Leave it to me.” She was a chubby pink cherub but he didn’t doubt her abilities.

“O. K. I’ll get him.” He jerked his tie under the second button.

“And you’ll come back with him?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll fetch Rupe for you. And you’ll call the police right away? We don’t want to get in any serious trouble.”

“I’ll call them. Don’t worry about that.”

“How do I get out without being caught?”

“That’s easy.” She walked to the far wall, shoved it open. There wasn’t any door you could see, just wall, but it opened. She reclosed it. “The house next door is Dorp’s too. Just in case of emergencies. He didn’t tell me but I found out. No one lives there but an old lady—a cousin of Dorp’s. She’s in Brooklyn for the week end. You just go on through and out the front door.”

“How do I get back in?”

“There’s a key in the hall table drawer. Take it with you. Can you make it in the dark? Better not turn on the lights.”

“I can make it.” He started to the wall.

“Wait.” She caught his arm. “Wait.” She took a packet of safety matches from her pants pocket, lit the candle. “Turn out the light.” He obeyed. She carried the candle to the front window. She kept it in front of her while she signaled some message. He couldn’t get it. She said casually, “You wouldn’t get out otherwise. But don’t mention it to Rupe. He doesn’t have to know everything.”

It struck him then; he might be walking Ruprecht back into a trap. Two princelings at one fell swoop. Well—he still had a string to his bow. Good thing he’d held it out. That bomb might come in handy yet.

She pushed the wall again. “Make it quick, Johnnie. It may take you an hour but make it quick as you can. They’ll want to start to the airport in plenty of time. I’m sorry I can’t let you use one of the cars but I’m afraid to risk that. You will hurry?”

“I sure will.”

She turned her face up to his. Unaccountably she closed in. He didn’t question it. Her arms went around his neck. His arms went around her. He kissed her. It was a kiss. And then he yelped.

“Now I know you’ll come back.” His dog tags dangled from fingers. The dirty little tramp, rubbing the back of his neck, cutting the plastic cord while he was otherwise engaged. She must have cut it, nobody could break one of those things.

He lunged but she had a smile and the gun aimed at him. The gun wasn’t fooling any more than it had been earlier. “Run along, Johnnie, and hurry back.” She closed him in behind the wall.

It would serve her right if he didn’t go looking for Ruprecht. It would serve her right if she never laid eyes on him again. Only what was he going to tell the sergeant about losing the dog tags? You couldn’t lose them. Not unless somebody sawed your neck in two jerking them off. And there was still the problem of the dead body. Somebody would have to call the police eventually. With him missing, who would they claim did it? Private First Class John Brown of the United States Army. That’s what he got for giving his right name.

He had to go back. What’s more he wanted to go back. He wanted to get a crack at those Nazi-Rudamians. Dressing him up in a Nazi uniform and parading him across town. Making him think it was a chauffeur suit. He wasn’t so sure Magda wasn’t in on the plan to knock off Rudolph. Not the way she’d honeyed up to Ruprecht. He wasn’t so sure Dorp had killed Theo. After all Dorp and Theo had been pretty chummy. Magda, moreover, had a pretty curious glint in her green eye when she said she’d never killed a man. Then there was Ottomkopf of the glassy glims. And Ferenz Lessering of the Lesserings, making deals with Nazis even if he did make munitions to kill Nazis.

He wasn’t so sure of Trudy’s wanting Ruprecht merely to get Rudolph away. If that was it, he, Johnnie, could do the job a lot quicker. How was Ruprecht going to help? He and Rudo were not aficionado. Johnnie found the key in the hall drawer. He stuck it in his pocket. He opened the front door cautiously, slipped out, closed it without sound. There were men walking down the street on this side, up the street on the other side even at this hour. There was a fellow and his girl doing some smooching on the stoop of the house across the way. No cops. No guards. No Terroristis that Trudy had dreamed up to keep him from skipping. And nobody paid any attention to him. He walked fast, his heels hitting hard on the pavement. Wasn’t far to Columbus Avenue. He found Hans’ place easy enough. Late as it was, the door opened. Hans was a long, tall drink of water with a scar taking up most of his right cheek. The place smelled good, like beer. It was a little joint, two booths, three red-checkered tables pushed together. The only customer was a big black cat. Johnnie clinked down a quarter. He had time for a beer. He’d take time for a beer. He needed fortifying.

Hans asked, “What kind you want?”

“Anything wet.” Johnnie drank from the bottle. “Rupe been in tonight?”

“Who is that?”

“Ruprecht of Rudamia.”

“That is what I think you say.” Hans shook his long head. “Who send you? Kraken?”

“Never heard of him.” He had but he couldn’t remember who it was.

“I have not seen Ruprecht for one week,” Hans said.

The cat had slant green eyes just like Magda’s.

Johnnie said, “His cousin wants him to come home.” Trudy called Rupe’s father Uncle Ruffeni; that should make them cousins.

“You know his cousin?”

Hans might be too chatty; he might be one of Dorp’s stool pigeons. Johnnie said, “Sure. Just came from a date with her. She asked me to drop by and see if he was here.”

“He lives at Ferenz Lessering’s,” Hans stated with importance.

“He isn’t home.” Johnnie finished the beer, took up his change. “Thanks. Which way to Broadway?”

“Right across town.” Hans pointed.

Johnnie didn’t walk back to Dorp’s street, not with Hans maybe watching him. He went on up another block before turning crosstown. He tried not to keep looking over his shoulder but somehow he couldn’t help it. The brownout was practically a blackout here uptown. He felt better when he crossed Broadway and there still wasn’t anybody following him. Now down to 103d. The blocks going this way were short. He swung along getting back his confidence. It was sure quiet though here uptown, quieter than Corpus Christi. A trolley bumped up the tracks, the few passengers slumped down behind the lighted windows.

And Johnnie smacked headlong into a guy as tall as himself. He umphed, “Excuse me, Mister.” Then he looked. For a minute he thought it was one of the Nazi-Rudamian peasants. It wasn’t. The guy was a cop. “Excuse me,” he repeated. “Should have been looking where I was going, sir. Guess I was too busy watching the street car.” He kept stammering because he sure didn’t want to be kept by a policeman right now. It was bad luck, that’s what it was. The black cat with Magda’s eyes.

The cop said pleasantly, “That’s all right, soldier.” In the dim light he appeared a good-looking dark fellow, not much older than Johnnie himself. His dark eyes were good-natured. But he didn’t move out of Johnnie’s way. “You on a furlough?”

“Just a pass.”

“Live up this way?”

“No, sir. I’m from Texas. This is the first time I’ve ever been in New York.”

The cop grinned. “How do you like it?”

“Well—I—” How did he like it? That hadn’t occurred to him. He hadn’t had time to think about New York at all. He hadn’t even had time to see it. All at once he got mad. Not at the cop; he liked the guy’s face. He’d always wished instead of yellow curly cowlicks he had black hair, not skimpy patent leather hair like Rudolph’s but thick, like this fellow’s would be from the looks of what showed under his cap.

“You don’t like it?”

“Oh, I sure do!” Johnnie said quickly. “I always like new places. I’d never been out of Texas, only to Mexico, till I joined the Army. I’ve sure been enjoying all the strange places I’ve been seeing.”

The cop grinned some more. “Glad you like it, soldier. It’s my home town. Doesn’t look the way it should because of the war. Wish you could have seen her when she was lit up. But then if it weren’t for the war you wouldn’t be here at all, would you?”

“That’s right,” Johnnie grinned back. He liked this young cop. Only he ought to be getting on his way. There wasn’t much time left. “I haven’t seen much of it yet but tomorrow—I guess it’s today—anyhow I’m going to see the town, the whole town. The Empire State Building and Radio City and the Statue of Liberty and—”

“You should see the Bronx Zoo and the Metropolitan Museum, too. Sure most of the best pictures are sent away but there’s the Roman Gardens—they’re worth the price of admission. And the Egyptian tombs—” The cop broke off. He looked a little anxious, like Bill. “You’d better get going on your way now, soldier. It’s not safe wandering around at nights any more.” He shook his head sadly. “It used to be safe any time of the day or night up in these parts but it just doesn’t seem to be since the brownout. You’d better get inside.”