The Long Wait (31 page)

Just thinking about it put everything right out where I could see it. The insurance wasn't any good to Harlan unless she let Lenny know what she did. That way he couldn't afford to knock her off. He had to get the letter back first. Quick, too.

It was quick. Minnow double-checked to verify his source and when the letter came in with the verification he didn't lose any time getting things started. He went down to his office, but somebody who knew where he'd be and knew damn well he'd have that letter along, passed the word up the line and there was a guy waiting for him.

Me, I said to myself. No, Johnny. Maybe he went there to spill the works to the D. A. and got panicky. Sure, a guy on the run wouldn't be thinking straight, would he? Hell no! So he got a gun from somewhere in case somebody tried to pick him up and went up to see Minnow.

Panicky. It was hard to picture Johnny getting panicky. The guy was cold as ice no matter what he did.

Feet stamped outside. Metal rasped against metal and a voice swore softly. A door opened and shut and the feet pounded on the floor. Then the door across the room was pushed inward and Lenny Servo was there, his hat spilling water past his eyes. There was a scab on his lip and his face was still swollen. Eddie Packman and the kid were right behind him. Eddie carried a gun. Lenny kept his hands in his pockets while he stared at me, then tossed his hat on the table and shrugged out of his raincoat.

I knew just what was going to happen and the only thing I could do was spit right in his face before Lenny's hand snapped my head back.

He said, “You stinking bastard!” and hit me again. He kept it up until his knuckles were bloody then he kicked me in the shins with the toe of his shoe and laughed while I vomited bile on the floor.

“You shoulda wore a glove, Lenny,” Packman said. “Now look at your mitt.”

Lenny didn't answer him. He was looking straight at me, his breath whistling in and out through his teeth. “Where is she, damn you!”

My mouth felt like a puffball of swollen flesh. “Who?”

“Vera! Damn it, you better start talking.”

I said two words to him and they weren't good night.

Eddie said, “He won't talk. He's a tough guy.”

Lenny seemed to relax. He rubbed his knuckles and backed to the table. He liked that pose, perching on the corner with one leg swinging. “That's right. Tough. I never thought he'd be so tough.”

“He got medals for it in the army,” Eddie said. I brought my head up and it was my turn to stare. I had that creepy sensation again.

Lenny's eyes were black beads of hate. He was hating me so hard he could hardly get the words between his teeth. “Remember what I told you five years ago? I told you to get out of town and never stop running. I told you once that I'd let Eddie work you over with a knife until there was nothing left but ribbons if you came back and you came back anyway.

“You were scared then, McBride. You knew damn well I wasn't kidding. You forgot too much. Or did you wonder if I meant it? Now you can find out. Eddie's got a nasty mind. He likes to see blood run. He likes to start it going with that knife of his and stand there and watch it drip. That's why I keep Eddie around. People know what he's like and they never go too far with me.

“Except you, McBride. You had to be one of the wise ones. You and a few others. Now you'll see how stupid you were in ever coming back.”

Eddie grinned and tossed the gun on the table. It lay there beside the light while he reached in his pocket. The thing didn't show in his hand until he pressed the button, then the blade jumped out between his fingers, the carefully honed blade the only bright spot in the room.

I got smart for the last time. I said, “You ought to be happy. Three times you tried and now you're finally going to make out.”

The two of them looked at each other and Eddie shrugged. Lenny cursed silently and lit a cigarette. His hand was still bleeding. He said, “Show him.”

He stepped over and cut a notch out of my right ear. Then the left ear. Pimples got sick to his stomach and Eddie laughed his head off. He said, “Now we'll have some fun,” and started to unbuckle my belt.

Everybody heard the car brake to a stop outside. The door slammed and a guy came in dripping rain all over the place. He was tall and skinny and wore a gun belt over his raincoat. He looked at the kid who was still sick and over to me. The sight didn't bother him a bit.

“I got the dame outside,” he said.

Lenny came off the table. “Where was she?”

“Trying to hitch a ride along the highway about eight miles out. She must have been in town all this time.”

“Bring her in.” He waved his thumb at the kid. “You go help him.”

They forgot about me. Even Bloody Eddie. The two of them stood in the doorway waiting for the others to come back. The car doors slammed again and the tall guy came in carrying a woman in a torn gray trench coat. He threw her in a chair and the bandanna came off her head.

Lenny had found Troy Avalard.

There wasn't much beautiful about her now. Her hair was a soggy mess that was plastered to the sides of her face. She has two long scratches along one cheek and her top lip was a nasty blue color. Her eyes were a dull gaze that reflected the terror she felt, coming to life only when they saw Lenny.

He smacked her across the jaw with his open palm and knocked her right out of the chair. “Isn't this nice? Isn't this just plain lovely?” He laughed through his words and hauled her back on the chair. “Now we're almost finished, It's too bad Harlan had to do the Dutch or we could have made a real party out of it.”

“Lenny ...”

“Shut up, you lousy little tart. I've been just waiting for this chance. You don't think I would have let you get away, do you? You don't think I'd let you take me for a pile then let you slip out of my fingers. You could do those things when Harlan was alive and get away with it. Not now.” His hand caught her again, this time in the mouth. The chair rocked over backward and she lay there on the floor, her arm up in front of her face.

She tried to scream. He bent down, pulled her arm away and smashed her again. “Lenny! Don't ... oh mother ... don't!” She cowed against the wall without being able to get away from his hand. She was screaming and sobbing, scrambling on her hands and knees, only to be tripped up by the chair.

It was Lenny who knocked her free. She rolled, her dress up to her waist, clawing at the floor as she pulled herself over to me. Her arms grabbed the legs of the chair frantically while the curses poured out of her mouth. They subsided into a long, broken sob that racked her body.

Lenny was smiling. He was happy. He walked to the table, picked up the gun and checked the chamber. His eyes met mine and the smile drew up into a sneer. “You won't die without company, Johnny. You know why she's going to die with you?”

I knew, but I sooner hear him tell it.

Lenny saw the knowledge in my face. “You have a brain, kid, Sure, she knew Harlan. They were in the same act once. She knew why Harlan was sent up and figured the play was the same here as back East. She put the bite on me.” He leered evilly. “Sometimes I got my money's worth back. Sometimes,” he said.

He took a short step forward, sighted the barrel of the rod at her head and his hand tightened on the trigger.

I said, “All her dough's going to her next of kin, Servo. Your dough. It's in the bank and some aunt or uncle will get it. Maybe fifty grand.”

All the eyes were turned on me. It got so quiet I could hear Pimples trying to keep his stomach in place. A flush seeped into Lenny's face while a vein on the side of his neck bulged against his collar.

The knife blade in Eddie's hand flicked open and shut a couple of times. “The hell with it. Let it stay there.”

“No!” He showed his teeth to me. “I said the tough boy has a brain, Eddie. You should be so smart. Somebody will be looking for Troy one of these days. If she cleared out on her own it wouldn't be likely that she'd leave all that dough in the bank.” He half turned his head over his shoulder. “Eddie ... you know where the bankbooks are in the apartment. Go get them. Bring a withdrawal slip too.”

“How the hell am I gonna drive with this wing?”

“Lobin can drive.”

The tall guy grunted his assent.

Pimples said, “I'd just as soon go too. I don't feel so good.”

“Okay, go ahead, the whole damn bunch of you. Beat it. Get back here in a half hour.”

So we weren't too far from town. A half hour. “Fifteen minutes each way. The place was right at the edge of town on the river.

The three of them filed out. The car roared into life, spun its wheels in some gravel as it turned around, then shot off down a road.

Lenny glanced at me, the huddled figure at my feet and went through the door to the outside. I heard him slide a lock in a hasp and try it.

I had ten seconds at best. No longer. Ten lousy seconds that could kill me or keep me alive. I kicked her. I gave her a boot in the ribs and she moaned. I kicked her agam, pushing her away from the chair. I got one toe under her chin and lifted her head up.

“Can you hear me? Do you understand what I'm saying? Damn it, nod or do something.”

Her eyes were blank. One was shutting fast.

“Listen. Hear what I say.” The words rushed out of my mouth in a harsh whisper. “Under my right leg there's a gun. It's under my leg in a pocket. Look, reach your hand in and feel it. Damn it, Troy, move! Do you want to die! He'll be back any second!”

The lifeless look was still in her eyes. I let my foot down and her head dropped again just as Lenny came through the door. He shut it behind him, curled his lip up and came over.

He had to hit me again. His fist split my lips open and a gray haze clouded my mind. When my eyes opened he hit me again, but it was beyond hurting now. Just something dull that made my head move and kept my brain numb.

I was able to sit there with my head over on my shoulder and watch him work Troy over then. The devil was in his face as he punched her in the stomach and kicked at her while she lay face down on the floor. All the crazy hate he ever had in him came out until he was exhausted. He let her lie there and went back to the table. Twice, he picked up the gun and pointed it at us. Twice he put it down. The fifty grand in the bank was too much dough to waste.

So he put the gun back and pulled a chair up to the table. Troy groaned. Her mouth was making sounds like a baby, bubbling sounds that flecked her chin with red. Both hands were curved into painful talons as she pulled herself across the floor toward me in a blind direction that took her away from him.

Her hand rested on my shoe; the other clawed at my leg and she pulled herself into a sitting position. Lenny started to laugh.

“Why don't you give her a hand, McBride? Why don't you help the lady? You like to help the ladies out, don't you? Then give her a hand. She needs it bad.” He thought it was so funny that he threw back and laughed until the tears rolled down his face. He was a stinking pig sitting there, a son of a bitch of a cheap con man, not the Lenny Servo who liked fancy offices and fine clothes. He was nothing but a hood at heart and it showed on his face. He laughed and laughed and laughed.

He laughed so hard he never saw Troy flop across my lap and never saw her hand slip under my leg and pull the gun out. He was still laughing when she fell back to the floor because she was too weak to hold on any longer. I was praying under my breath when the laugh choked off.

Lenny ripped out a curse, snatched the gun from the table and swung it at her. There was a deafening blast, the sharp stench of burned cordite and Lenny stood there, a surprised expression on his face because he had a hole in his throat.

He didn't fall. He just folded up and sank to the floor cross-legged. For a couple of seconds he sat there, then bent forward and fell on his face.

“God!” I said.

She looked up at me pitifully. One hand went to her chest. The other tried to stop the blood that spilled out of her mouth.. Lenny hadn't missed after all. She was dying and she knew it. She was minutes away from death and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

The things I was thinking must have made a picture on my face. Her mouth drew back around her teeth and she pushed herself to my side with one hand. I wanted to tell her not to, but I couldn't say a word. I wanted to tell her to save every minute she could of life and not waste those minutes trying to do something she wouldn't be able to do.

Her fingers found the ropes on my hands and made a feeble effort to untie them. I could feel the torn edges of her nails rake the backs of my hands and hear her breath bubbling in her throat and she fought the knots. They were too damn tight. There wasn't one chance in a million she could get them loose and I knew it.

Troy knew it too. She looked up at me once, then reached out for the gun again. When I saw what she was going to do I froze in the chair. The nose of the gun went down until it lay along the knots. I spread my hands as far apart as I could to keep them out of the way of the slug. I was saying another prayer that she wouldn't get me too.

When she pulled the trigger the gun jumped out of her hand. Both my hands stung from the blast and I knew there was a furrow of raw flesh along one palm. I wasn't worried about that. I pulled at the ropes, cursed and pulled again. They gave the third time and I fell face forward on top of her, pieces of the ropes still clinging to my wrists.

Troy was smiling at me. She was almost gone, but she was smiling at me. I barely heard her say, “Undress me.”

Sex right there at the end. I shook my head. “Thanks, kid. You'll never know how much I'd like to thank you.”