to show me he was kidding.
I gave him the whole works. I told him about Pittsburgh, how I wanted to get into the big
money, how I’d hitch-hiked to Pelotta, how I had busted MacCready’s jaw and double-crossed Petelli. I went on to tell him how Della had offered to help me, how Pepi and Benno
had chased us, and how the other car had crashed into us.
It took time, and I had scarcely a whisper left in me by the time I was through, but I was so
glad to get it all off my chest that I didn’t care how I felt.
Riskin never said a word all the time I talked. He made notes, scratched his ear from time
to time, but he didn’t interrupt.
“That’s a very comprehensive story,” he said when he was sure I hadn’t anything more to
tell him. “Now you take it easy, boy. You’ve nothing to worry about. Maybe you’d better
take a nap. You look tired: like me. I’m always tired, but the Chief never gives me any time
for naps.” He stood up. “Well, so long. I’ll be in again in a day or two. If there’s anything else
you remember, just let me know.”
“There isn’t anything else to remember,” I said. “You’ve got the lot.”
“That’s fine. Well, you take a nap. So long for now.”
I watched him tiptoe out of the ward. Up to now I hadn’t had any use for a cop, but that
little guy was different. I decided he was the nicest cop of them all.
Two days went by. I was making progress. The doctor was pretty pleased with me.
“You keep on like this,” he told me, “and we’ll have you up in a couple of days. You have
a constitution of an elephant, and a head like granite.”
I grinned at him, but I wasn’t all that easy. I was wondering what Riskin was up to, and if
he were going to show up.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the town,” I said. “I’ve heard enough about Lincoln Beach,
but I’ve never had a chance of looking it over.”
He looked surprised.
52
“This isn’t Lincoln Beach. What gave you that idea? This is Miami.”
“Miami?” I stared at him. “But they have a hospital at Lincoln Beach, haven’t they?”
“Of course. It’s a wonderful hospital.” He smiled. “Almost as good as this one.”
“Then why didn’t they take me there? What was the idea of driving me over two hundred
miles to Miami ?”
“It wasn’t two hundred miles,” he said patiently. “It was more like seventy. As you were
nearer to Miami than Lincoln Beach, they brought you here.”
I began to get excited again.
“But I hadn’t even reached Lincoln Beach before the crash,” I said. “We were only a few
miles outside Pelotta, on our way to Lincoln Beach, when that car hit us!”
“Don’t bother your brains about it,” he said, getting his bedside smile hitched to his face.
“It’ll straighten out in a few days.”
And when he left me, I lay there, feeling cold, wondering if the bang on the head had
affected my brain, wondering if I were going crazy. I began to long for Riskin to come and
see me. Every time anyone came into the ward, I raised my head and looked eagerly to see if
it were him. I got so my heart pounded every time that door opened.
The next morning they moved me out of the ward.
“What’s the idea?” I asked the nurses as they pushed the bed along a corridor. “Where are
you taking me?”
“Doctor thought you’d like to have a room to yourself,” the fat nurse said. “He wants you
to rest more than you’re doing.”
That wasn’t the reason, I told myself. Maybe they thought I was nuts and wouldn’t be safe
with the others. I began to get excited.
