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. Glorie 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.”
12 below to continue reading