My vision reddened slightly. Gervasi and I were going to take a certain hotel apart, if and when I got back.
“How did you find out what’s in the overnight case, Johnny?” I asked thickly.
“I don’t know. Not yet. ”
I gave him a quick frown.
He returned a smile. “I know about you and Mr. Gervasi,” he said. “I know about the phone calls to certain people in Dallas. I know you’ve hung onto the case like you were a bleeder and it held your spare blood. Finally, I know that you, personally, Gervasi’s top dog, are making the trip. It all adds up to something very big. Big enough for me. ”
“I have to admire your nerve,” I admitted, although with reticence.
“Not nerve,” he shook his head slowly. “I’m not so long on nerve. Just hungry, Mr. Ramey. I ache with the hunger. I wake up at night thinking about it I just can’t live with it any longer. I’m hungry, Mr. Ramey, for a place in that world I and the other spooks help keep afloat.”
“And you think the case is full of bread?”
“I’m absolutely sure of it,” he said. “Bread in one form or another. Bread I’ll never again have the chance to pick up so easy. What is it Mr. Ramey? Drugs? Hot jewels? Dough for a big gamble that’s been rigged? How about the key?” He snapped his fingers. “Give me the key, Mr. Ramey.”
“I don’t have a key, Johnny. Gervasi has one. There is another in Dallas.”
“Okay,” he said. “That makes sense. So I’ll have to blow the lock with the gun.”
“Johnny, there’s two hundred thousand in that case.”
His face went blank for an instant. Then a laugh of pleased surprise ripped out of him. “Even better than I thought!”
“Johnny…”
“Oh, no!” he said. “No deals. You’re not buying me off with peanuts. I’m a pig, Mr. Ramey. And my risk is no greater if I take it all.”
“We’ll hunt you down, Johnny.”
“Where? Hong Kong? Paris? Rome? Rio? Don’t talk crazy and spoil the picture I’ve always had of you, Mr. Ramey.”
“There is something I must say…”
“Please, please,” he gestured with his hand. “You’re spoiling that picture of a man who set his sights and never let anything stand in his way. Why, Mr. Ramey, you’ve been my idol, my inspiration! I wouldn’t think of harming you, unless you forced me. I’m not dumb enough to kill somebody and get the cops after me. After all, their organization is a little bigger than yours. They make it tougher for a man to hide.”
“When you take the money at the point of a gun…”
“When I take the money,” he said, “I’m damned sure you and Gervasi won’t go to any cops. If your deal was honest you wouldn’t be taking the risk of transporting the money this way. ”
“You got it all figured, Johnny.”
“I sure have. And we’ve talked more than plenty. I want to open the case. I want the fine, slick feel of the money against my fingers. I want to go someplace private and count it a couple dozen times before I start spending it.”
He held the overnight case as if he were hugging it. “There’s a side road turning into those pines up ahead,” he said, giving the road a long look. “Take it.”
“Johnny…”
“One more peep, Mr. Ramey, and I’m going to start not liking you.”
I slowed the car, turned the wheel. The shadow of the swaying, scraggly pines sent a shiver down my spine. We were on a sandy, rutted trail that led toward the distant swamplands, a little-used logging road. The narrow state highway fell behind. Now it was hidden from us by the piney woods. The world became very desolate, as if it were empty, deserted except for the two of us.
His breathing was thinning out, beginning to rasp slightly. “Stop the car, Mr. Ramey.”
I braked, opened the door. He let the overnight case slide to the floor and moved across the seat behind me.
I timed the passing seconds with the sensitivity of raw nerves. There was a rustle of clothing as the gun came down, aiming at the back of my head.
I slipped to one side, lashing out with my foot, and dropping to the sandy carpeting of pine needles.
A meaningless sound caught in his throat. My heel had caught his kneecap. He thudded against the car.
Spinning and lunging toward him beneath the gun, I glimpsed his pain-contorted face. He forced the throbbing knee to support him, shifted his position, and the gun was swinging down again.
I slammed into his middle, grabbing for his wrist. I had it momentarily, but he was sweating. He slipped loose as we fell.
I tried to turn on him a second time. I had lost the advantage of surprise. He took a side step. A fresh look of viciousness was in his face. Halfway to my feet, I suddenly covered my head with my arms. The impact of the gun barrel made my right elbow feel as if it had dissolved.
I stumbled backward, concerned only with defense now. He danced in and out, in and out. The third or fourth blow with the gun knocked me cold. I’m not sure which. Johnny had ample time for a clean getaway.
* * * *
I suppose an hour or more passed. The fog began to clear. I rolled over on the pine needles and sat up. The trees around me did a dizzy dance. I groaned, and cradled my throbbing elbow, lowered my aching head, and finally tried to brush away the swarm of sweat bees that made life right then even more hellish.
Another thirty minutes passed before I staggered onto the highway. I looked up and down the road, aching for the sight of a car, or a farmer
