NINE
Ten miles out of the city, the broad new highway was paralleled for perhaps a mile by an abandoned strip of blacktop pavement. It lay on the other side of the railroad tracks, gradually curving off through the hills and becoming lost in a wasteland of deserted farms. It was there, just over the crest of the first hill, that Dusty met Tug Trowbridge.
He parked his coupe behind the gangster's big black Cadillac. Tug beamed and extended a bottle of beer as Dusty slid into the seat next to him.
'Ain't this a scorcher, kid? Here, get a load of this inside of you and you'll feel better'
Dusty jerked his head nervously. 'I don't drink, thanks. W-what did you-'
'Not even beer? Well' – Tug elevated the bottle and swallowed, gurglingly-'you could do a lot worse, kid. A guy's got to let off a little steam some way, and beer's about the safest thing I know of.'
He belched, and tossed the bottle through the window. Reaching over the seat, he reached another bottle from a pail of ice. He pulled the cap with his teeth, took a long, thoughtful drink. He stared through the windshield absently, belching again.
'Yes, sir,' he said. 'A man can do a lot worse than drink beer.'
'About last night,' said Dusty. 'Was that what-'
'Yeah,' Tug said. 'Last night, now there's an example. You stick to beer after this, fellow, and leave the babes alone. It'll save you a lot of trouble. Save everyone a lot of trouble.'
Dusty's face flushed. 'But it wasn't like that! It was like I told you! She called for some stationery, and then when I went in she-'
'So who cares,' Tug shrugged, indifferently, 'but that wasn't her story. And, kid, she seemed plenty legit to me. She talked it and she had the stuff to back it up. Newspaper clippings and letters and so on. It looked like she was just what she claimed to be – a high-class nightclub dancer. Came to town early figuring she might pick up an engagement during the races.'
'But that doesn't mean-'
'Sure, I know. Maybe she'd just started on the make. Or maybe she just used the legit as a cover-up for the other. Maybe. But that little maybe could cause a hell of a lot of trouble. You put that maybe in there, and it's an entirely different deal from the one I figured on. Give some shakedown baby the heave-ho, dial's nothing. She can't squawk or if she does squawk it don't do her no good. But a woman like this one – someone who can prove she's legitimate, or maybe make it impossible for you to prove that she ain't – well…'
He raised the bottle to his lips. Covertly, out of the corners of his shrewd animal's eyes, he studied Dusty's pale face. He grinned to himself, forcing his features into a thoughtful scowl.
'Not nice, huh, kid? I saw we'd caught a hot one right away, but of course it was too late to let go then. We had to go ahead, me and three of my boys, and I'm telling you, they don't like it much either. They got their necks stuck out to here – they have and you have and I have. And that little lady says just a few words, and all five are going to pop.'
'P-pop?'
'Pop,' Tug nodded solemnly. 'Attempted rape. Kidnaping. They ain't the same thing as running through a traffic signal, kid, or spitting on the sidewalk. They particularly ain't the same thing down here in the south.'
'But it's just her word-'
'Huh-uh. Not that her word wouldn't be plenty against us, a bellboy and, three heavies, but there's a lot more than that. Think it over, Dusty. Probably a dozen people saw that little frammis this morning. It didn't mean anything to them at the time, but they saw it. And they'll talk just as soon as she does.'
Thinly it over? Dusty's eyes were glazing. God, he didn't need to think it over. 'Isn't mere some way t-to to -?'
'Yes,' said Tug, slowly. 'There's a way. I'd sure hate to do it, and the boys don't like it either, but…'
His voice trailed off into silence. Dusty stared at him, not immediately understanding, and then his face went a shade paler.
'No!' he gasped. 'No!' You can't do that!'
'We-el' – Tug gave him another covert glance. 'Like I say, I'd sure hate to. With some babes it would almost be a pleasure, but a dame like her – real class and all kinds of looks and a shape that's out of this world, why..'.'
'You w-won't do it, will you? Promise you won't!'
'We-el… You know where you can lay your hands on ten thousand dollars?,'
'Ten thous – Of course not!'
'Neither do I. But that's what it's got to be, Dusty. That or the other. For ten grand she keeps quiet. She puts it down in black and white that none of us laid a finger on her, and she left the hotel of her own free will.'
He paused, again studying the bellboy, smiling again secretly. He went on, frowning earnestly. 'When I say I ain't got it, I mean it, kid. It's strictly under your hat, see, but I'm broke. I'm a hell of a lot worse than broke.'
'But' – Dusty shook his head, incredulously- 'but how-'
'I can still flash a roll? Drive a big car? Pay heavy rent? Yeah, I can do it – for a couple more weeks. I've been slipping for a long time, Dusty, and now I'm right down at the bottom of the sack. I'm broke. I've got a hell of a big income-tax rap hanging over me. I've been stalling it for years, and now I can't stall any longer. I either pay up or else.' He sighed, flung the emptied bottle out the window. 'Of course, it makes it easy for me in a way. The spot I'm in, this dame could yell her head off and she couldn't make it much worse.'
'B-but-'
'Sure,' Tug nodded. 'There's you and the boys to think about. And of course I don't like to just sit still and wait for old Uncle Whiskers to sock it to me. If I can't do anything better, I'd like to get a big enough roll to skip the country.'
He lapsed into another silence, his big good-natured face long with concern. His big face that looked good- natured turned toward the window. There was a small mirror there, attached to the windscreen. It gave him a full view of Dusty's tortured features.
He sighed heavily, shifted the sound into an absently amused laugh. 'Y'know it's a funny thing, kid – about this Hillis woman, I mean. You might think she'd be sore as hell at you, but she don't seem to be at all. In fact, I kind of got the idea that she liked you a lot. She's been pushed around and she figures she ought to be paid for it. But there's nothing personal in it, see? Why, I'll bet if you were in the chips – you'd have to be, of course, with a babe like that – I'll bet she'd come a running to you like-'
'I've got to know,' said Dusty. 'I've got to know the truth, Mr. Trowbridge. Is she-'
'Yeah? And why don't you just make it Tug, kid?'
'I've got to know, Tug. Is she – you haven't already killed her?'
'Huh!' Tug exclaimed. 'Why, of course, we ain't, and we ain't going to if there's another way out. We got her hid nice and comfortable, a lot more comfortable than you and me are right now.'
'Could I – could I see her?'
'Sure you can,' Tug said evenly. 'If you think I'm lying, just say so and I'll take you to her.'
Dusty hesitated. Then, the implications of Tug's statement hit him full force, and he shook his head firmly. He had to believe the gangster. At least, he couldn't appear to doubt him. For if Tug had ordered her death to keep her quiet, and if he was forced to admit the fact… well, he, Dusty, would also be quieted. Similarly. Permanently.
Tug would feel compelled to do it, and not merely to protect himself. The big man was desperate. He wanted something from Dusty and he intended to get it, and the woman was vital to his getting – a means of enforcing his demands. She had to be alive, then. He could not openly doubt that she was alive. To do so would be to make himself useless to Tug – a man with dangerous knowledge who refused to cooperate – and he would not live long.
Dusty thought it was that way, but he wasn't positive. He spoke cautiously, testing his theory:
'There's one thing I don't understand, Tug. You figure on jumping the country, anyway? Well, then, why not just let this woman go when you're ready to jump? Let her talk all she wants to. You won't be around to face the music.'
'Well – Tug shifted in the seat- 'I, uh, couldn't hardly do that, kid. An income-tax rap is one thing. Kidnaping and abetting a rape is somethin' else.'
'But you wouldn't be around. You don't intend to come back.'
