bamboo chairs.
'Well?'
She stood over him and he looked up into her bright blue eyes.
'They're watching the lockers.'
The disappointment in her eyes made him uneasy. She was so money hungry, he thought. She sat by his side.
'So what do we do?'
'That's right . . . so what do we do?' He thought, staring across the lake. 'When I planned this steal, baby, I told myself I would have to be patient. I told myself it wouldn't be safe spending that money for a couple of years.'
She stiffened.
'Two years?'
'As long as the money stays in the locker, it's safe. Try and move it and you and me are dead and the money goes back to Massino. Sooner or later, he'll get tired of watching the lockers. It might take a month . . . even six months, but I have my contact in East City. He'll tell me when the heat's off and until it's off, we have to wait.'
'You're not planning to stay here six months, are you?'
'No . . . I've got to find myself a job. I'm handy with boats. I'll go to Tampa . . . I'll find something there.'
'And what about me?' The hard note in her voice made him look at her. She was staring at him, her eyes glittering.
'I've some money. It'll be rough like this, but if you want to come, I'd like to have you with me.'
'How much money did you take from this man, Johnny? You haven't told me.'
And he wasn't going to tell her.
'Around fifty thousand,' he said.
'You're risking your life for fifty thousand?'
'That's it. I want to own a boat. I can get one for that money.'
She stared at him and he saw she didn't believe him.
'It's more than that, isn't it? You don't trust me.'
'I don't know. I never got around to counting it. My guess is fifty, but it could be more . . . could be less.
She sat still, thinking.
He watched her, then said quietly. 'You're wondering if ten thousand in the hand is better than fifty thousand in the bush, aren't you?'
She stiffened, then shook her head.
'No. I'm trying to imagine myself on a boat,' but he knew she was lying.
'Don't do anything you'll regret,' he said. 'Look, suppose when you go over for the mail you call these attorneys. Let me tell you what will happen. Five or six men will arrive. They'll try to take me alive, because dead, they will never find the money. One thing I'm sure about: no one takes me alive. I've seen what happens to men who have tried to doublecross Massino. He has them tied to chairs and beats them with a baseball bat: careful not to kill them, breaking their bones and then he finally sticks a butcher's hook in their throats and hangs them in the chair until they die: so no one is taking me alive. So there will be a gun battle and during the gun battle you'll stop a bullet. Believe me, baby, no one will live to collect that ten thousand dollar reward: that's just bait. So don't do anything you'll regret.'
She shivered, then put her hand on his.
'I wouldn't betray you, Johnny, I swear I wouldn't, but what about Ed?'
'Yeah, I've been thinking about him. Here's what you tell him. You tried to get into my suitcase while I was fishing, but it was locked. So when I got back, you went over to collect the mail and the newspaper. You telephoned these attorneys and said you thought the man they were looking for was in Little Creek. And what do you imagine they said?' Johnny looked at her. 'They said the man had been found in Miami and they thanked you for calling them and they were sorry you had been troubled. How will Ed react to that?' She relaxed.
'That's smart. He won't want to spend more money on a long distance. Yes, he'll drop it.'
'That's the way I figured it. I can stay here until the end of the week, then I'll tell him I'm moving on. We'll hire that car you talked about and we'll go to Tampa.'
'Why wait? Why not go tomorrow?'
'That's not the way to play it. During the next five days, you're going to fall in love with me and you'll leave him a letter telling him so and that you and me are going off together. Rush it and he'll get suspicious. He might even phone these attorneys. He might ask at the village and find out what car we've hired. Then we wouldn't get far, baby. Believe me, this is a game of patience.'
'Wait! That's all I do! Wait!' Freda got to her feet. 'God! I'm sick
of this life!'
'It's better to be sick of life than not have a life.' Johnny stood up. 'I'll go get some supper.'
He left her and went to his room. Closing the door, he slid the bolt. Then taking out a spare khaki shirt, he felt in the breast pocket. From it he took the key to the left-luggage locker. He looked at it for a brief moment. Engraved on it was the number of the locker: 176: the key to $186,000!
