me feel cheap… almost like I was out peddling it… like some street whore!'
Then, it finally penetrated. Harry realized that his wife was really upset… that she meant what she was saying. He softened, coming to sit beside her on the bed, his arms going around her, caressingly. 'You know that isn't true… honey… and I'm sorry you feel that way about it! I'll make it up to you… you know I always do… and in the long run… everybody benefits! Hell! You like a strange lay just as much as I do!'
'Well… I bow out on this one!'
'After all the trouble I went to… to set it up?'
'There'll be others!' she said, with finality, rising from the bed and shrugging off his embrace. 'Right now… I feel like being alone! I think I'll go down to the village and shop around in those little tourist trap shops…'
'You won't change your mind… then?'
'No! It's made up!'
'Then… I'll go after her… on my own!' he threatened.
Vivian stared at him, not believing what she had heard. '… But… our agreement…?'
'You're breaking it… by backing out!' he accused. 'So think about it!'
'Damn you, Harry… you drive a hard bargain!'
'Then… you'd better reconsider…'
'All right! I'll think about it… for a good long time! Maybe I'll think about it for three or four days… until you get over that blonde… or spot another one… you'd rather have! Then, I'll consider playing our little game, again!'
'You're being bitchy as hell!'
'Okay… I'm being bitchy… because I'm upset… and I think I've got a right to be!' she defended. '… And that's why I'm going shopping… to be alone… and maybe work it out of my system.'
'All right… all right!' her husband conceded. 'Just don't spend too much money on those junk curios… Okay?'
Mickey Blackum had seen her first when she had gotten out of her car in the parking lot. The striking beauty of her jet-black hair… and the way she seemed to be poured into her capris attracted him… but when she had seemed to notice him, as he strode along toward the little delicatessen, giving him a smoky-eyed smile in passing, which caused him to stop and stare after her, her hips and buttocks doing provocative things inside those pants, he decided to get to know her better.
Terry McCauley was with him. When she had finished picking out the foodstuffs they needed, he carried the bag of groceries outside and called Buck Sloan to him.
'Buck… you take Terry on your hog… back to the camp and see she gets supper started!'
The other man looked startled, for a moment, his small, too-narrow eyes, regarding the tall, black-bearded leader, calculatively, attempting to fathom what was going on.
'Right on… Mickey!' he agreed, then asked, 'What's happening?'
'I'm going to eyeball around… is all! Wunder Boy and Peeper can split with you, too!' He looked around, saw the two leather clad men talking to a couple of young, high-school age girls, obviously tourists and whistled them over.
The auburn-haired Terry had held her tongue, but now she asked, 'Can't I go with you, Mickey?'
'No! You heard my orders… God damn it!' He turned on her threateningly. 'No… split!' He stalked away, angrily.
'What's happening, man?' Peeper Martin asked.
Buck Sloan filled him in.
Martin was instantly angry, but he said nothing, asking only, '… And… he told you… to ride Terry on your hog?'
'That's how he laid it on me!' Buck told him.
'So let's split!'
The three men mounted their motorcycles. The food was in the saddlebags of Buck's hog, and Terry was seated behind him. They swept out of the parking lot with a roar of engines. Peeper Martin brought up the rear.
Until two minutes before, he had been, informally, the number two man; actually, it was he who should have led the group back to the camp… he who should have had the mama, Terry, up behind him on his hog. Now… he was deposed… demoted by one of Mickey's whims. Man! It's going to come to a head, now! It's got to be him… or me!
A mile along the road, Martin dropped back, reducing his speed, constantly, until the others were some distance ahead of him, then, he pulled to a stop at the side of the road, dismounted and squatted beside his motorcycle. Soon, the other two men came roaring back. He pretended to tinker with the engine.
Buck turned a wide U in the road and pulled alongside. 'What's wrong?' he yelled.
'Carb's out of adjustment! You guy's fog on back… and I'll be there in a few minutes!' he lied.
'Need any help…?'
'No! I can make it… alone!'
'Right on!' Buck agreed, let in his clutch and blazed on down the road, Bill Wunder following.
Martin watched their departure. Now… God damn it… I'm going to find out what that sonof-a-bitch is up to! He remounted his motorcycle and headed back toward the village.
It hadn't taken Mickey but a few moments to find her. She was poring over a table full of curios in one of the smaller shops. He stood in the doorway watching her for several seconds, before walking up beside her, boldly, and saying, 'Hello… Miss… I'd like to return something you laid on me…'
Vivian looked up, startled, into the black eyes and equally black beard of the leader of the motorcycle gang.
'Oh! Heavens! You scared me!' she gasped, then recovering her poise, she added, 'It's Mrs.! Mrs. Harry Williams… but my friends call me Vivian…'
'I'm Mickey… Mickey Blackum…' he told her.
'You said something about returning something to me…? I don't think I've lost anything… Mr. Blackum!' she smiled.
'It isn't something you lost… I said it was something you laid on me!' he corrected.
'Oh? What in the world is that?'
'You smiled at me… a while ago… and not many people… that is… people like you… ever do that!' he explained. 'So… I'd like to give one back to you…'
He smiled down at her, his white, even teeth gleaming through the blackness of his beard.
'Thank you… Mr. Blackum!' Vivian thrilled. 'You have a very nice smile!' Her grey eyes regarded him, warmly, the trace of interest sparking in them.
'Call me Mickey!' he said.
'Okay… Mickey it is!'
'And you're Vivian!' He looked down into her face, serious now. 'You now have two choices…' he went on. 'You can tell the dirty, no-good hog rider to get lost… split the scene… or secondly, you can accept my invitation for a drink!'
'You've got the most original line… I've ever heard!' Vivian commented. '… And, you don't sound like I thought you'd sound!'
'What do you mean…?'
'Well… I thought you'd use all kinds of slang… and rough talk… you know… like a tough guy…'
'I talk that way, too! I'm a college drop-out… I'd be an engineer, now… if I'd stayed in school!' he explained.
'… And you want… to buy me a drink?'
'Yes… and the reason, of course… is I'd like to know you better… much better!' His smile bordered on lewdness.
Her heart jumped with excitement. She had never dreamed that she would actually meet this man. Yes! She had smiled at him, on purpose… hoping… but this was too much for her. He was really inviting her for a drink… with a sort of promise for further exciting things… Did she dare?
