1953 - The Things Men Do (23 page)

"Fifty thousand's better than nothing," Joe said.

"Twenty-five thousand," Gloria said quietly. "We cut it four ways now, Joe."

"Who says so?" Joe demanded.

"Ed says so."

Joe started to say something, then stopped. He looked uneasily at Louis.

"Go on, Joe, don't be shy," Gloria said. "You're among friends."

Joe sat down.

"They're our diamonds," he said "We looked after them. We didn't lose them. Ed's got no claim on them."

"Don't tell me," Gloria said, flicking ash on to the grass.

"Tell Ed."

"You'll only run into trouble, Joe," Louis said. "He's too fast for you."

Joe didn't say anything. He scowled down at his hands, then he looked over at Gloria.

"What do you think?"

"Suppose Ed agrees to drop out," Gloria said quietly.

"What happens to me?"

"Do you want to throw in with me, Gloria?"

"What's going on?" Louis demanded suspiciously. "She's Ed's girl. Have you gone crazy or something, Joe?"

"Shut up!" Joe snarled. "What about it, Gloria?"

She gave him that exciting look that had got me going.

"I said you could have me if you wanted me, Joe."

He leaned over and grabbed her.

Louis watched them, white-faced and scared.

"If Ed catches you, he'll kill you."

"Now now, Joe," Gloria said. She pulled away from him.

Neither of them took any notice of Louis. "In a little while, but not now. What are we going to do about Ed?"

Joe looked suddenly wary.

"We'll ditch him. We three will take the money and leave him here."

Gloria smiled.

"He may have other ideas. Remember what he said about Berry?"

"A shot might be heard," Joe said.

"Something about opening Berry's veins," Gloria said.

Joe looked at her, then over at Louis who was staring, his face now as white as a fresh fall of snow.

"Yes, but it won't be easy."

"The two of you could do it, Joe."

Joe shook his head.

"He's too damned fast with a gun. He wouldn't let us get near him."

"But he can't see, Joe. If you rushed him . . ."

"Not as long as he's got the gun."

Gloria lifted her shoulders.

"All right; then what are you going to do?"

Joe sat down again. He lit a cigarette, blew a long stream of smoke down his nostrils, and then looked over at Louis.

"What do you say, Louis?"

Louis wiped his face with his coat sleeve. "I'm not splitting my share three ways, Joe. If you want Gloria, you split with her, but I'm not going to."

"I didn't ask you to, did I?" Gloria snapped "No, but that doesn't mean you weren't hoping I would," Louis returned, scowling at her.

"We're talking about Ed," Joe said sharply. "Think we ought to put him out of the way, Louis?"

"Couldn't we risk a shot?" Louis said after a long pause.

"No!" Gloria said. "We've got to remain here until the plane comes: we have another five hours. If someone heard and told the police . . ."

"Yes, she's right," Joe said. "You've got a knife, haven't you, Louis?"

"Do you think I'm crazy enough to get that close to him?"

"The two of us. I'll jump him, then you finish him."

"Not as long as he has a gun."

Joe nodded.

"That's sense," he said, looking at Gloria. "Get his gun, Gloria, and we'll do the rest. It'll be easy for you to get it. Go in there now and give him some love. We'll fix him if you get the gun."

Gloria looked from Joe to Louis, her eyes calculating.

"I'll see what I can do," she said, getting to her feet. "I don't promise anything."

"Get the gun and we'll fix him," Joe repeated.

Again she looked at them.

"Wait here. It may take some time. I don't promise anything."

"It'll be easy for you," Joe said. "It's not as if he can see."

She walked across the grass. Her hips moved under the thin material of her dress. Joe watched her, a fixed grin on his face.

"You must be nuts to fall for her," Louis said uneasily. "I wouldn't trust her farther than I could throw her. I wouldn't trust her that far."

"You don't trust anyone, do you, Louis?"

"She'll run through your share before you know you've even got it. I know her type, and when the money's gone, she'll leave you flat. You're not kidding yourself you mean anything to her, are you, Joe?"

Joe shook his head.

"She'll never get near my share."

Louis stared at him.

"What's that?"

"Don't be a mug. Do you think I want a second-hand piece like her?" Joe said impatiently. "We can't tackle Ed so long as he's got a gun. She's the only one who can get it without getting shot. And another thing, she knows Hacket. We may have trouble with Hacket when he finds Ed isn't with us. Gloria will take the curse off it. Hacket has always been crazy about her. She'll handle him and we'll ride along on the band wagon."

Louis suddenly grinned.

"I'll be damned! That's smart. I thought you had fallen for her. When we get to Paris you'll ditch her?"

Joe nodded.

"A couple of nights with her will be all I'll want, then a quiet flit when she's not looking. I'll meet you in Rome, Louis. I've always wanted to see Rome."

Louis looked towards the farmhouse.

"Think she'll be long?"

"She said so." He got to his feet. "I think I'll keep an eye on her. It wouldn't suit us if she made a slip and Ed broke her neck."

Louis also got to his feet.

"I'll come with you."

They walked over to the house and went around the back.

I remained where I was in the long grass, and as I lay there with the hot sun on my back, I thought of Bill.

I wasn't going to raise a finger to stop any of this. It was poetic justice, and it was a relief to know that the score was going to settle itself without my intervention. If they succeeded in killing Dix, then my job was being done for me. If they slipped up, I would finish the job myself, but I didn't think they were going to slip up: three against one loaded the dice against Dix.

I waited.

The hands of my wrist-watch crept on. Only the drone of bees disturbed the complete silence that brooded over the hot garden.

I waited.

A half an hour crawled past. It was now nearly five-forty-five.

Suddenly from around the back of the house Joe and Louis appeared. They looked expectantly towards the front door, and after a few moments, Gloria came out.

She walked towards the elm tree and made a little motion with her head for them to join her.

They hurried over the grass and reached her as she dropped on her knees in the shade of the tree a few yards from where I was lying.

"Did you get it?" Joe demanded.

She smiled, her black eyes glittering with excitement.

"I've done better than that." She put out her hand. "I've got the bullets."

"Well, I'll be damned. How did you manage that?"

"It took time. It took me twenty minutes to get the gun out of the holster. He was asleep, but he hadn't taken the holster off. I got the gun out at last without waking him. I thought it would be better to take the bullets and leave the gun. If he had found the gun gone he would have been on his guard so I put the gun back. It took even longer to put it back, but I got it back." She raised her hand and threw the bullets into the shrubbery. "I've drawn his teeth, Joe."

"Is he still asleep?"

She nodded.

Joe looked at Louis.

"What are we waiting for?"

Louis got to his feet. His hand went behind him and reappeared holding a short, stabbing knife. The broad blade glittered in the sunlight.

"Come on then," he said huskily. "Let's take him."

chapter nineteen

E
ven from where I was lying I could almost feel Gloria's intense excitement. She knelt on the grass, her fists clenched and gripped tightly between her thighs, her face white and her eyes glittering. She seemed scarcely to breathe as she watched the two men moving towards the farmhouse with an intent savagery that was horrible to see.

Joe held a short length of lead piping in his hand. He walked a little ahead of Louis, his great shoulders hunched, his head thrust forward.

Louis kept the knife out of sight, down by his side. He took short, mincing steps, hesitant in his attitude and uncertain of himself.

They got as far as the moss-covered drive when the front door opened and Dix came into the sunlight. He came out slowly, his hand outstretched, groping his eyes half closed.

Both Joe and Louis came to an abrupt stop.

Dix stood in the doorway, peering at them.

"Is that you, Joe?"

"Yes," Joe said. "I was just coming to see if you were awake." He began to move forward again, keeping the length of lead piping out of sight.

"Stay where you are, Joe!" Dix snapped, a rasp in his voice.

Joe stopped.

"What's up? What's the matter?"

"Just stay where you are. Where's Gloria?"

"Over by the trees. She's having a sleep."

He began to move forward again, and Louis began to circle away to come in on Dix from the side.

Dix suddenly showed his teeth in a mirthless grin. His hand slipped inside his coat and he pulled out the heavy .45.

"Keep your distance, you two!"

Joe laughed.

"That peashooters not going to help you now, Ed."

"You'll get a slug in the gut if you come another foot nearer," Dix said, and snapped back the safety catch.

"Okay," Louis," Joe shouted. "Let's take him!"

He jumped forward, swinging his length of pipe. Louis broke into a run. He held the short stabbing knife thrust forward. There was a wild, frightened expression on his face.

Gloria sprang to her feet.

"Watch them, Ed!" she screamed.

I saw Dix's finger turn white as he took up the slack on the trigger. Joe was within six feet of him, rushing at him like a charging bull, his right hand flashing up.

I waited for the click of the hammer and to see Dix's expression change. I waited to see him struck down and to see Louis stab him to death. My heart beat so violently I felt suffocated.

The crash of gunfire when it came was so unexpected that I half started to my feet, but dropped back into my hiding-place as the realization flashed into my mind that Dix's gun wasn't empty and that Gloria had trapped these two into attacking him.

Dix's heavy .45 spurted flame. The noise of the, shot echoed round the silent farm like a thunder clap.

Joe stopped running as if he had slammed against a brick wall. The front of his forehead disappeared into a spongy mess of blood and hair. He fell face forward and rolled over, his hands twitching. The lead pipe pitched at Dix's feet Dix swung round towards Louis. There was a devilish expression of glee on his face.

Louis had stopped moving as Joe fell. For a second or so the shock of seeing Joe fall paralysed him. Then he swung round, his face twisted in a grimace of fear and rage. He began running madly towards Gloria.

"You bitch!" he screamed at her, waving his knife as he ran. "You double-crossing bitch!"

Gloria watched him come, her hands over her breast, her face pale and tense.

Louis hadn't taken more than a dozen strides when Dix lifted the .45 and fired again.

The top of Louis's head flew off. He plunged forward, blood spurting from his scalp as he measured his length not more than four or five feet from where Gloria stood. She jumped back, shuddering, and hid her face in her hands.

"Well, we made it," Dix cried, grinning. "The suckers fell for it. Goddam it! I thought they would be smarter than that."

He walked over to Joe, bent and looked at him. Then he walked over to Louis, kicked him over on to his back and looked at him.

"That's it." he said. "Now there are only two of Gloria."

She came over to him.

"I was scared, Ed. You let them get too close."

He grinned.

"I couldn't afford to miss them." He put his arm round her and gave her a little hug. "Did you see the way Joe looked at me? He thought I was blind and defenceless! Did you see the expression in his eyes when he died?" He laughed savagely. "I wouldn't have believed he could have been such a goddam sucker!"

"Do you think anyone heard the shooting?" Gloria asked anxiously.

"If anyone did they'd think it was a poacher. There's no one within a mile of this place. You'd better take it easy. Go and sit down, kid. You're looking as white as a ghost. I'll get these stiffs out of the way."

She pulled herself together with an effort.

"I'm all right," she said sharply. "I'm not soft. I'll help you, Ed. You know I'll do anything for you."

He grinned at her.

"I believe you damn well would, you little dope."

"Ed! Kiss me."

"I'll do more than that in a moment. Let's get these stiffs out of the way."

She went up to him and threw her arms round his neck.

"I love you, Ed. It'll be all right when we get to Paris, won't it?"

He pushed her away.

"Who said you weren't soft?" he sneered at her. "Let's get these stiffs out of sight. Then we'll celebrate."

She looked questioningly at him then bent and caught hold of Louis's right foot.

"Let's get him into the barn," Dix said, catching hold of the dead man's other foot. "Come on—heave."

I watched them drag Louis's body through the thick grass, across the drive and into the barn. When they had disappeared into the barn, I took out my handkerchief and wiped my face with an unsteady hand.

There was a sick feeling now inside me. The score, after all, was not settled. My hand groped for Berry's gun. I pulled it out of my pocket, jacked the shell from the breech and slipped out the clip. I then carefully reloaded the gun. I, too, couldn't afford to miss if I had to shoot.

Gloria and Dix were now dragging Joe's great body towards the barn. They moved slowly, leaving a broad trail of blood on the grass. When they had disappeared again into the barn, I got up and ran quickly round to the back of the house.