to go, then go.”
“Yeah. How’s about a long, cold beer? I’m boiled.”
Johnny was just putting the last of the shelves in place when he heard the distant sound of Freda’s outboard motor. He tightened the final screw and then went to the kitchen window.
He saw her boat coming fast and as he was about to step out on deck, he paused, seeing another boat far out on the lake. His instinct for danger stopped him in his tracks. He watched the other boat with a lone man in it, heading for Little Creek.
Freda steered the boat under the kitchen window and called “Don’t come out!” The urgency in her voice told him there was trouble.
He moved into the living-room and waited until she joined him.
“What is it?”
Quickly she told him of her encounter with Toni.
“He has a gun and harness,” she concluded. “He says he’s Salvadore’s friend.”
Johnny sat down. He had a feeling of being suffocated. The net was drawing in on him.
“Tell me about him,” he said. “What’s he look like?”
“Around thirty, thin, dark, good-looking. He had a tattoo on his right arm: a naked woman.”
Johnny flinched.
Toni Capello! The tattoo fixed it!
Seeing his reaction, Freda said, “Is he one of them?”
“Yes… he’s one of them. They’ve got close, baby.”
They looked at each other and she came to him, kneeling by his side.
“He asked about my half-brother. I said you had gone.”
“I must go.”
“No!” Her hand touched his face. “We can bluff him, Johnny. I told him to come and see me at five- thirty. I think he’ll come. You go out into the jungle and wait. I can convince him you’ve gone and then they’ll look elsewhere, but from now on you stay here and keep out of sight.”
He stared at her.
“You asked him to come here?”
“Johnny! I love you! I want you to be safe! He’ll come. I’ll show him around, then I’ll get rid of him. Once he’s sure you’re not here, he’ll go away.”
“You don’t know what you’re doing! This man’s dangerous! I know him! You can’t have him here alone!”
“There’s no man born I can’t handle,” Freda said and smiled. “I know men. I can handle him. You go to the jungle and wait. I’ll get rid of him before Ed gets back.”
Johnny stared at her. Then into his mind he remembered what Scott had said:
Did it matter? He looked at her. Without her, he could shortly be
dead. He felt a moment of sadness, then he shrugged.
“I guess that’s the best way to handle it. Okay, I’ll go into the jungle, but watch him… he’s as tricky as a snake.”
She was watching him.
“Don’t look like that, Johnny. In another four days, we’ll be away from here. I’m doing this for you and only for you.”
“Yes.” He moved away from her.
For me? he was thinking, or for the money?
“It was smart of me, wasn’t it… to tell him you had gone.” He could see she was longing for a little praise, but he couldn’t give it. There was a pause, then she went on, “But from now on you must keep out of sight. You must stay indoors, but it’s only for four days.”
“That’s right.” He couldn’t look at her. He had never felt so depressed. “Watch him. I’ll get moving.”
“Kiss me.”
Did he want to? He forced himself to look at her, then those brilliant blue eyes hooked him. She came into his arms, her fingers going through his hair, her body hard against his.
“Johnny… Johnny… I love you,” she said, her lips against his cheek. “We’ll soon be free of this. Trust me! I’ll handle him.”
With his gun and vacuum flask of ice water, Johnny went into the hot jungle and sitting in the shade, he settled to wait. From where he sat he could see the lake and the houseboat.
A few minutes after 17.30, he saw a motorboat coming across the lake.
Toni had been hitting the bottle and now he was full of whisky courage and lust. He had borrowed a coat from Salvadore so he could wear his gun harness and he had taken care to clean, oil and check the gun before leaving Little Creek.
He didn’t expect trouble, but he was ready for it. His fear of Johnny was damped down by whisky and the thought of Freda.
As he neared the houseboat, he cut the engine and let the boat
drift up as Freda came out on deck.
“Hi!” she said. “I was hoping you’d come.” She caught the rope he tossed to her and made the boat fast. “I bet you could use a drink?”
“Yeah.” Toni scrambled on deck. His hand went inside his coat and eased the gun for a quick draw. He looked around, very tense now.
“Well, come on in.” Freda turned and walked into the livingroom.
Moving like a cat, keeping close to her so if there was trouble her body would shield him, Toni moved into the room. One quick glance told him they were alone.
“Let’s take a look around, baby,” he said. “I like to know we’re strictly on our own.”
She laughed.
“You men ! Johnny was the same. Scared my husband was hidden somewhere with a shotgun. Come on, then.”
Leading the way, she took him from her bedroom to the other two bedrooms, into the kitchen, into the shower room. She even opened a big closet for him to inspect.
Then turning, a jeering look in her bright blue eyes, she said, “Satisfied?”
Toni grinned. He was now completely relaxed.
“Sure… let’s have that drink.”
She led him back into the living-room.
“Sorry there’s only coke. We can’t afford liquor.”
Toni blew out his cheeks, but maybe a coke was better. He knew he was already loaded.
“Fine.” He sat down, eyeing her as she left him to go into the kitchen. She came back with a coke and handed it to him.
He leered at her, drank, then leered again.
“Some chick!”
“That’s what Johnny was always saying.”
“Your half-brother?”
She laughed and sat down away from him.
“I’ve never had a brother… half or otherwise.” She winked at him. “Strictly between ourselves, a girl has to be respectable in this dreary neck of the woods. Johnny was a stray my husband picked up, but he was good in bed.”
Toni became alert.
“What’s happened to him?”
She shrugged.
“Ships that pass in the night.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
