Soft touch (21 page)

There was nothing in all the world but the money in the ground and the need to get to it. My clothes were soaked with sweat. Sometimes I fell. When I fell I would lie there and wait until I could get up again and pick up the pick. Finally the point went through into the dirt underneath. I paused and looked around. The world was gray. I had not seen the night go, or the stars. The haft of the pick was sleek and sticky with blood. I walked to the shack and got a long pry bar. On the way back with it I fell and in a little while I got up again. With the pry bar I could break off pieces of the concrete. With the pry bar I was able to break the strand of the reinforcing mesh.

When the hole was as big as the top of a bushel basket, a voice said, "What the hell are you doing, Jerry?"

I turned and stared at him. It was Red Olin. And the sun was well up. I hadn't seen it come up.

"I have to get the money, Red."

"What money? What are you talking about."

"I buried it here before you poured the slab. It's in a black tin suitcase. It's a hell of a lot of money."

"You look sick."

"It's a lot of money, Red. Three million something. I forget just how much. In cash. I've got to get it and get away from here."

He smiled at me. "Sure. You've got to get away from here. That's right."

I smiled back at him. I've always gotten along fine with Red. We've worked well together. We understand each other. "Once you start killing people, Red, you've got to get away."

"That's right."

"How about helping me? I'll give you some of it"

"Sure. HI help you, Jerry. Glad to."

"It'll go faster with two."

"I'll be back in a couple of minutes, Jerry. You keep right on digging for that money."

"Where are you going?"

"Well ... I didn't get my coffee yet. I can dig better after my coffee. I could bring you some."

"Okay. But hurry. Like I said, I've got to get out of here."

I'd dug down about a foot when Red came back with all the rest of them. Paul Heissen and the other cops and the doctor. They wanted to take me away. But I asked Paul. He made them let me stay. I stood where I could watch. The young cops dug very rapidly.

"Look for a black tin suitcase," I told them.

But it wasn't the black tin suitcase at all. And then they took me away.

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