“Wow!” I announced.
She chuckled.
“You see. I’m not so bad for an old retired lady. Which raises a point. If I’m so wow, how come you’ve played the duck for my place for so long?”
“I have a broken heart,” I told her. “On account of the lady seems to be spoke for.”
She nodded seriously.
“How well do you know Jake?”
“Not too well. Funny thing, I was sort of hoping I might run across him here tonight.”
She wagged a finger.
“You see. Even now you didn’t come to see me at all. You came on business.”
“I didn’t mention business,” I cut in quickly.
“You didn’t have to. With Jake, everything’s business. The guy never relaxes.”
“Better complain to him. He’ll be here any minute.”
She followed my gaze towards the entrance. Clyde F. Hamilton, the hoodlum with the family tree, was standing in the doorway. Rose turned and placed her lips close to my ear. I could have wished her motives had been different, but all she wanted was to whisper.
“Do you know Clyde?”
“Met him,” I replied briefly.
“Funny thing about Clyde. He’s good-looking, beautifully dressed, and his education would take him anywhere. But I can’t get with him at all. I’ll tell you Mark, the guy gives me the creeps.”
I grinned to myself. There’s a lot of hoo-hah talked about women’s intuition, but Rose’s was a long street ahead of Florence Digby’s.
“I don’t have any opinion about him,” I told her. “Only met the guy for a couple of minutes.”
She looked at me shrewdly, but said nothing. Jake Martello had followed Hamilton inside and the heavy face creased into smiles as he caught sight of Rose. He waved and came over, Hamilton close behind.
“Rose sweetie, you look like a million.”
“Hi Jake.”
“Preston, you wouldn’t be stealing a feller’s girl, now would you?”
He was jocular, but there was a trace of anxiety behind the tone. Martello was widely known to have it very bad for Rose.
“Not me Jake. Just warming a seat till you got here.”
“And I’m not your girl,” snapped Rose.
I watched the glances between them, but could not decide whether they were kidding or not.
“Good evening Rose, Preston.”
Nobody had spoken to Hamilton, so he thought he ought to get the ball moving himself.
“Hallo Clyde,” said Rose coldly.
I nodded at him.
“Well now this is real nice,” beamed Jake. “Only thing, we don’t have enough chairs.”
“Oh boy,” said Rose disgustedly. “You should carry your own barn door to drop on people.”
“Now, now honey you know I didn’t——”
“It’s all right.” I got up. “I have to be going anyway. Tell you what, Jake, how would it be if we stepped out for a smoke. Your friend here can keep Rose company till you get back.”
“Fine, fine. Suits me, Look after the lady, Clyde.”
Hamilton sat down. Rose smiled up at me.
“I’ve never been stood up for a smoke before. You coming back?”
“No lady, I don’t think so. I just don’t have that wanted feeling.”
“Preston here has class,” voted Martello. “He knows when it’s time to blow.”
I winked at Rose and followed Jake out through the door. We stood out on the lighted porch, and he took a deep breath.
“Smell that air,” he suggested. “What a night. A real beautiful night.”
There was a flash among the parked cars. Jake grabbed at his heart and grunted. I put my arm around him and pulled him with me to the ground. A motor roared in the blackness and I strained my eyes towards the sound, but the gunman wasn’t using any lights. “Clyde,” muttered Jake. “Get Clyde.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
I HURRIED BACK INSIDE, Hamilton and Rose were sitting where I’d left them, not speaking. I bent over and kept my voice low.
“Jake’s been shot. He wants you Hamilton. On the porch.”
He got up fast, and gave me one swift vicious stare before going out. Rose had put her hand to her mouth and looked frightened.
“What happened?”
“We just got outside the door, a gun went off, Jake was hit.”
“Is he—is it bad?”
“Can’t tell. Is there a doctor here?”
She nodded and got up.
“I saw Dr. Andrews in the restaurant a little while ago.”
“Get him, honey. And the law, get them too.”
“All right.”
I went back. One or two people stared at me curiously, wondering what all the comings and goings were about. Outside, Hamilton was kneeling beside his boss.
“He passed out. Looks like his heart, but I daren’t touch him to find out.”
“If he’s still alive, it isn’t his heart. That’s one place that’s guaranteed fatal. There’s a doctor coming out.”
I pulled out my Old Favorites and sucked down great belts of smoke. Hamilton stood up beside me.
“Is this your doing Preston?”
He said it quite conversationally, although we both knew an affirmative answer would be the same as a death warrant.
“No. We just got outside the door, and bang. It came from over among those cars.”
“Then let’s go take a look.”
I pulled at his arm.
“No point. The guy drove off in a hurry as soon as Jake went down.”
“Uh huh. How many shots?”
“Just the one.”
“Pretty good. Doesn’t sound like an amateur, does it?”
“It was a fair shot,” I agreed. “But don’t forget where we’re standing. From out there we must have looked like a target in a fairground.”
He pursed his lips and nodded.
“Fair comment. You could have set this up, even though you didn’t do it yourself.”
“Why would I want to?”
He grinned evilly.
“My dear Preston, I never concern myself with people’s motives. I’m not some kind of welfare worker. I’m just interested in their actions. Like did you put Jake on the spot, or
