“Yeah. What you stripped for—a cold?”
I gave him the gun, wrote: “Forget what I'm writing, but when we dock and Franklin is off the ship, don't plug him if he makes a run for it. No matter what he does, if you shoot, aim high, miss him. If Lefty gets loose, let him have it but try not to kill him. If the 'Cat' gets loose before we dock, throw a gun on him. But after we dock—let him alone. And remember, forget this. Okay?”
He nodded, his bruised, puffy face puzzled. Tearing the paper up, I threw the pieces in the water. I glanced down in the cabin—the moonlight had been making the knife blade shine like silver... now the bunk was all dark- Franklin had the knife in his lap, was hacking away at the ropes on his hands.
Taking the wheel from Laurie, I headed for the New York shore. Lefty still seemed to be out, and Bobo was standing by the cabin, the Luger in his right hand. It occurred to me we hadn't frisked Franklin—but there wasn't time for that now.
Going past the dock I saw several cars parked at the entrance. Saltz was there ahead of time, but it wouldn't make any difference. Turning the boat around, I slowly came back to the dock, against the current. I was so nervous I banged the hull hard against the dock, damn near knocking us all down. Throwing the clutch out, I grabbed the pier, got a line around a rusty dock stanchion.
I motioned for Bobo to get Franklin out of the cabin, for Laurie to jump on the dock. She said, “Hal, you look so pale, and your face, your poor jaw is...”
I yanked her up on the dock, motioned for her to start walking. The cops had turned on the headlights of a car, lighting up the dock. Some men were walking toward us. I made out a couple of uniform bulls among them. I mumbled “Cops—hurry.”
Laurie ran toward them as Franklin came out of the cabin. He held his hands in front of him, as though still tied... but I knew damn well they weren't. When he stepped on the dock, I nodded at Bobo to stay with Lefty.
Franklin walked ahead of me, the car headlights blinding him for a second. When he saw Saltz and the cops coming toward us, he suddenly whirled around, the rope falling from his hands, the switch blade flashing in the light. Saltz began to sprint toward us.
For a second Franklin stared at me, then started for the side of the dock—he was going to dive into the Hudson, swim for it.
I jumped for his knife hand. It wasn't the right thing to do, but I had other ideas working. “Cat” was even stronger than I suspected, for he shook me like I was a puppy, then clubbed me on the jaw with his free left hand.
The black fog started to settle over me as I fought to keep conscious, all the time working his thumb back. I would have passed out except he was jerking me about so, he shook the black veil from my brain. Time was running out, Saltz was only a few hundred feet away.
I had Franklin's thumb almost out of its socket as he kept punching at me wildly, then the thumb suddenly went loose and he screamed and dropped the knife.
I saw Laurie running to help me—and almost laughed with relief as Saltz grabbed her, pushed her aside. She certainly would have ruined things!
Letting go of Franklin's hand, I grabbed his coat lapels, prayed for a split second he'd put his arms around me. He did—and brought his knee up to my groin as I dug my feet into his stomach—and fell back.
We landed on the dock with a crash, the wooden splinters tearing into my bare back—as I kicked up with both feet. Franklin's big body started to arc over my hand. I slid my hands up to his thick neck and held on with every ounce of strength I had.
His head and neck were still held vertically in my arms... when the rest of his heavy body landed... the weight of his body breaking his neck. There wasn't any sharp sound, but between my hands I felt something in his bull neck give... like a banana breaking... I let go of him, rolled over next to his head. His mouth was open in an agonized gasp and his eyes were half out of his head.
Placing my lips next to his ear, I tried to pry my jaw open as I said—or tried to say—“That's for Anita... and Louise! And... for me. They say curiosity... killed the... cat. Yeah... 'Cat'... it was my curiosity... to see could... snap your... lousy... neck...”
The dock shook under me as Saltz and the cops lumbered up. Turning to look up at him, all I saw was the black sky overhead... black without stars or moon, and it seemed to come down and gently blanket me.
The blackness was lush and soft and felt wonderful. I let it cover me and relaxed, rested. Then I wanted Laurie to share this dark softness with me. I started running through the velvet black, softly calling her name. At times I'd simply lay on the darkness, float along as though it was a lukewarm river.
I floated for great distances, calling for Laurie. Then I started to swim, with strong clean strokes. And the black slowly changed to gray, then to a bright day, and I opened my eyes.
I was in a bed.
Opening my eyes wider, a nurse came into focus, then Laurie's worried face, and even Saltz's ugly puss. We were in a hospital room. Bobo was standing by the window, grinning at me. I tried to smile at Laurie, but could hardly move my lips. My entire face felt numb. I raised my hands and the nurse pushed them back under the covers.
Laurie said, “Oh Hal... Hal!” and began to cry.
I tried to speak. “Where's Franklin?” The words came out pretty good.
“Dead. You broke his neck, you goddamn, strong little shrimp,” Saltz said. “We got there a second...”
“It was self-defense, he went for me with a knife,” I said, talking fast, happy to be able to talk again. “You can't...”
“Relax, you're not charged with anything. I saw him with the knife. But why didn't you tell me this was hooked up with the Frisco job, let me in on it? Playing it alone only...”
“Didn't know till...”
