The Killing Edge

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The Killing Edge

Richard Forrest

MYSTERIOUSPRESS.COM

For Bo,

who spent her time

in the warming hut, helping.

Chapter One

The light mounted over the small dock cast a glow on the ice in the distance. The wind from the Sound that swept across the estuary turned cool and whipped painfully against her face. She made a tight turn, and her skate blades swept a sheen of ice to the side. She had moved too far from shore toward the main channel where the ice crusted in uneven ridges. Further movement in that direction could be dangerous, and she began to skate back toward the pier in easy gliding turns
.

As the Datsun 710 idled, L.C. Converse listened to the magnetic whine for a moment before bending deep under the hood of the car. The drive belt and water pump had checked out. It had to be a shorted diode in the alternator. A note on the service board for Little John to perform an alternator output test in the morning would solve the problem.

L.C. slammed the hood shut, turned off the ignition, and then turned to walk through the quiet service department toward the showroom. The last mechanic had left an hour ago, and now only four cars, waiting for early morning work, occupied the bays. By nine the next morning the floor would be full, with other cars waiting for repair parked in the lot outside.

In the showroom Vic Mange was dusting floor models with a chamois cloth. He stopped as L.C. entered, gave his checkered sports jacket a tug, and rendered a two-finger salute.

“It's starting to snow, L.C. Want me to close up early?”

“O.K., if it keeps up. Otherwise, see if you can push wagons. We're top heavy in inventory.”

“Right.” He again gave the casual salute and returned to dusting cars.

Snow had begun to fall. It slanted across her face and clouded her eyes, while in the distance, like white mantled insects it swirled around the distant dock light. It was time to leave for the warmth of the house. She shivered as the chill combination of wind and snow penetrated the ski jacket. It would be quicker to leave the ice at the dock rather than at the water steps near her own home. She began to skate in long even strides toward the pier.

Recessed lights hidden in the ceiling molding and a small Scandinavian desk lamp flickered on with a touch of the wall switch near the door. L.C. thought it was a showy office, furnished to impress franchise inspectors, bankers and customers, rather than adhere to the needs of its owner who spent more time on the service floor than seated behind the highly polished rosewood desk.

Two sets of closing documents with loan papers were arranged neatly near the lamp ready for initialing. L.C. sat at the desk and leafed expertly through the packages.

It was obvious from the second set that Vic was overselling again. The applicant was an eighteen-year-old cook at a fast food franchise, and unless he decided to take all his meals at work, the payments would murder him. A clean used model would be more appropriate. A scribbled comment would set Vic right.

A phalanx of photographs on the wall behind the desk showed L.C. in racing coveralls standing next to a 250 GT Ferrari at Daytona, Danville and Rheims. The trophies were set in a case near the settee in the far corner.

Her hand slipped away from the ladder rung as the ice beneath her gave way and she slid into the chill water. Her body convulsed as cold shock increased her heart beat. Moving her arms in awkward motions she regained the surface and groped for the ladder. She grasped an icy rung as her skates fought for purchase on the rungs under water. Her breath came in wracking gasps as she used her arms and shoulders to pull herself toward the decking.

L.C. flipped on the intercom when it buzzed. “Yes, Vic?”

“There's a Eddie Bennett out here who says he's a job applicant.”

“Tell him to come back during business hours. Never mind, send him in.”

Eddie Bennett gave a wave as he crossed the office, slouched in the chair before the desk, and threw a leg over the chair arm. He smiled at L.C. as he took a package of gum from his breast pocket and inserted two sticks in his mouth. He was in his early thirties, with dark complexion and hair. He was tall, slim-hipped, and wore tight pants and a beige sport shirt open to the third button.

“Tell the boss I'm here.”

“I'm the boss.”

“I'd like to see L.C. Converse about the service manager's job.”

“Do you always come late for appointments?”

“I was in the neighborhood. Come on, honey. Tell the man I'm here.”

“I'm L.C. Converse.”

He smiled broadly as his lips pursed an elongated, “Oh.”

She looked away from his eyes to search the desk for a scratch pad. “Do you have a resume?”

“I'm a mechanic and service manager, not a typist. I've been at Farrell's Chevrolet for the past couple of years.”

“Why'd you leave?”

“I was fired.”

“At least that's an honest response. Do you mind telling me why?”

“Paying too much attention to Mrs. Farrell's Chevrolet. I guess I wouldn't have that problem here.”

Their eyes met and she looked away. “You wouldn't. Any experience with foreign makes?”

“If it's got wheels and an engine front or rear, I can fix it.” He looked past her at the racing photographs behind the desk, and then over toward the trophy case in the corner. “Hey, it's coming back to me. You're L.C. Converse, one of the first women to drive professionally.”

“I was a driver.”

“Was?”

“I had an accident at Daytona last year. Come on, let's see what you can do.”

As she led him toward the service area she imagined his eyes on her back, and she became self-conscious of her slight limp. She stopped at the Datsun 710 in the third service bay and started the engine.

Eddie Bennett leaned against the wall, chewed gum, and looked casually around the empty garage.

“You don't seem to be paying much attention,” she said and snapped off the ignition.

“I heard it.”

“I would expect my service manager to make a tentative guess as to the trouble with this car.”

He looked at her and smiled. “There's a shorted diode in the alternator.”

She blinked. “That's very good.”

“I'm very good.”

“And vain.”

“I drive too. Never had a good car to work with, but I can drive like hell.”

“I bet you can.”

“Thought you'd be interested.”

“A lot of people think they can drive production class, but few do it well.”

“Are you always so serious?”

“Usually.” She slammed the Datsun's door and walked back toward the showroom. “We have a heavy clientele of women. They seem to trust us here, perhaps because I've been my own service manager for the past several years.”

“I get along with women.”

I bet you do, L.C. thought. “I would have to take you on a trial basis at $275 a week.”

“I'll be here in the morning.”

“The mechanics start at eight. I expect the service manager to be here at 7:30,” L.C. said and went into the office without looking back. She sat at the desk and wondered why she'd hired him, even on a temporary basis. Perhaps because there were certain qualities in him that reminded her of Frank. She shook her head. She wouldn't think about that.

There was a grease smudge on one of the documents, and she frowned. They would have to be retyped, and in the morning Jane Ellen would try erasure, make it worse, and mutter to herself as she redid them.

Stripping off the coveralls and stuffing them in the hamper on the bathroom door, L.C. adjusted the needle spray shower. It was nearly time for her dinner date. Tomorrow's chores clicked by in random sequence. If the snow continued the shop would be slow, and it would be a good time to tune the Ferrari. Then there was the problem of Jane Ellen's underwear—or the lack of it. It would be propitious to wait until the buxom secretary had retyped the closing papers before discussing that situation. It had to be done—every time she left the office to walk to the parts or service desk, all work on the line stopped.

It was also becoming obvious that she and Vic were getting involved, and that recently Converse Motors' sales manager had decided that Jane Ellen was to be his next consummated transaction. Let her turn Vic on during her own time.

A booted foot clumped down on her fingers. She groaned, withdrew her hand, and held precariously to the side of the ladder. She looked up, frightened, but the flare of the spotlight obscured the features of the figure looming over her. The foot swung forward with a kick that knocked her from the ladder and back into the water.