The Killing Man

I sat there, made another cup of coffee for myself and finished a Danish before he got back.

He sat down and looked at the piece of paper in his hand. 'One was in Freeport, Long Island.'

'Was?'

'It burned down a year ago. Another was in the Boston area. The city ran an expressway through the site. Forget it.'

'Damn, is this going down the tubes too?' I demanded impatiently.

'The last one's in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, it's in an area slated for demolition. I have an operative checking on the situation now.'

'Hell, can't we just move in and . . . ?'

'These guys aren't amateurs, Michael. They'll have everything covered. First we find out what the status is, then you can plan your move. My man is going to call back. He'll leave one word as to the situation. If he says yes, then it's a go. It's all yours, my boy. There's no help unless you ask for it and I doubt if you're going to do that.'

'You doubt correctly, General. Just tell me one thing.'

'What's that?'

'How come you invite me right into your super-world and let me peek at all the classified goodies and give me such undivided attention when all I am is a plain old private-style investigator?'

'Your personal profile, my boy,' he said cheerfully. 'I remember every word of it. Besides, one more after Penta can't hurt anything.'

'Baloney,' I said.

His cheerful smile disappeared and his face was flat. All of a sudden we were two nasties ready to go after the other nasties. 'You're a damn killer, buddy,' he told me. 'We need people like you.'

'What are my odds, General?'

'Against Fells and Bern? I'll give you the edge there. They have the training. You have the instinct on top of it.'

'What about Penta?'

He pushed a button on the desk, waited until Edwina answered and said, 'I'm going to take my nap. I want no calls and no visitors. Mr. Hammer will stay until he gets his message. Please see that he is taken care of.' He wiped his eyes, moved his shoulders in a shrug, then peered up at me. 'You die for killing me,' he said softly. 'A riddle. A veritable riddle.'

'All riddles get solved,' I said.

When Edwina came into the room he handed her a slip of paper. 'If the caller says yes, then give this to Michael here. It's an address he'll want to look into. Let's not send him on a wild goose chase if it's not necessary.'

She looked at the paper, went to a small machine, dropped it into an opening and pushed a button. A puff of smoke came out. She smiled and said, 'Security,' holding out her hand to steer me to the doorway.

'Would you like to see the house?'

'I'd rather see the security systems.'

'That's a negative, of course.'

'Let me tell you something, kid. My imagination is enough to figure out everything they have laid down. Frankly, I hope it's the best. The only part I don't like is the lack of manpower on the perimeter. Some wise guy can always figure a way to interrupt any kind of electrical system.'

She ran her fingers down my arm and took my hand. 'That's what they have me for. I'm supposed to distract them.'

We started walking toward the glass-enclosed veranda. I gave her a long, inquiring look. 'That's the other thing. Just what is a doll like you doing here anyway? You're not a secretary.'

At the door she opened the panel box and flipped a switch, then closed it. 'No, not primarily.'

We walked out onto the enclosed porch area and looked over the vast openness of the estate. It had a strange color of green, and I knew we were looking through one-way glass. 'Don't give me the bodyguard bit. Women can be good, but the strong-arm act goes to the men.'

'True,' she agreed.

I dropped her hand, took her by the shoulders and kept her back to me. She tightened a little bit when I ran my hands over her, under her arms, down her sides, then felt each thigh down to her knees.

When I stood up she said, 'You forgot to look for a derringer between my titties.'

I did a gentle probe and said, 'Satisfied?'

'How did you know?'

'You turned the alarm off, sugar. I'm clean, so that leaves you with some hidden metal that could trigger the gizmo.'

'Mike, you are clever. No wonder the general thinks so highly of you.'

'I'm curious, lady.'

She smiled at me. A damp, coy smile that was a ripe invitation.

Three brass buttons held the jacket closed and my thumb flipped them loose one by one, the last one almost springing away from the pressure of her breasts. She shrugged, and her jacket fell to the floor and she put her arms around my neck, her big blue eyes full of pleasure and adventure. Inside the sheer silk blouse she flowed like honey, not needing a bra to keep her breasts high and firm.

I touched her lightly again and she knew what I was feeling for. She made a little gesture with her head and didn't try to stop me. But there were no scars from surgical implants or reconstruction work.

Around her waist she wore a three-inch-wide leather belt with ornate silver decorations in a flowing Mexican pattern. 'That's what would set the alarm off,' she told me.

I fingered the hand-tooled buckle anyway and tugged it loose. The belt was a beautiful piece of work, every bit of the leather touched by the artisan's hand. Even the silver was embossed with intricate design work in delicate patterns.

All but two pieces. They weren't silver. They were a dull-finish alloy and I opened the catches and took the .22-caliber shots out of the midget chambers, two little slugs that could rip far into your guts up close, enough to ring your bell for keeps.

'Cute,' I said. 'You are strong-arm after all.'

'Well, I couldn't really wear a piece the size of yours, could I?'

'Why the snakey stuff, Edwina?'

'Regulations. We have to be armed at all times. The choice of weapons is at our discretion in situations like this.'

'And that's what I asked you to start with. What is your assignment here?'

Her arms came from around my neck and she laced the fingers of her hand around mine. With her other hand she took the belt from me and dropped it on top of her jacket. 'Would you believe me if I told you?'

The blue eyes were yearning, trying to say something. She wet her lips gently, and I had to stare at the slickness of her mouth. Her lips parted and I could see the pinkness of her tongue. 'R and R,' she said.

Rest and recreation.

'This is a hell of a place for that.'

'I needed the rest. They made me take three months of it.'

'But why?' I insisted.

She took her hand away, ran the zipper down on the side of her skirt and it dropped to the floor. The flimsy silken bikini bottom only enhanced what it tried to hide and when she pulled her blouse open, I saw what had happened. Her belly had been ripped by three bullets that went in the front at an angle and exited the sides through the soft flesh, and the healed pucker marks were still red and angry-looking.

'Who did that, Edwina?'

'It doesn't matter.'

I nailed those blue eyes with my own. I knew my teeth were showing in a nasty grin.

'I was in the field,' she said. 'I wasn't careful enough.'

'Anybody drop the guy?'

'No. He got away.' She was looking at me carefully now. 'Does it disgust you?'