I took Miss Wonderly’s arm and we crossed to the elevator.
The cage doors slid back the second or so after I’d rung.
“Going down, sir?” the attendant said. It was the guy who’d sworn he’d taken Herrick up to my room.
I pulled him out of the cage, and hit him between the eyes. He fell down and lay as quiet as a mouse.
I pushed Miss Wonderly into the cage and stepped in myself.
“Going down,” I said, smiling at the attendant, and closed the cage doors.
Chapter Two
THE HEAT
1
“Do they know where you live?” I asked Miss Wonderly, as I shot the Buick out of the hotel garage.
She shook her head.
“Sure?”
“Yes. I changed my apartment a day or so ago. No one knows yet.”
“We’ll go there and get you some clothes,” I said. “Where is it?”
She clutched my arm. “No. Let’s get out of town. I’m scared.”
“We’ve got the time,” I said. “And you don’t have to be scared. They won’t get us if we use our heads. Now where is the place?”
“It’s at the corner of Essex and Merrivale.”
I nodded. “I know. I passed it as I came in.”
I pushed the Buick along, and I kept my eye on the mirror.
No one was following us—yet.
“You and I have a lot to talk about,” I said, casually. “Thank you for being on my side.”
She shivered. “Will they catch us?”
“They couldn’t catch a train,” I said, but I wasn’t all that happy. I wondered if they’d taken the number of my car at the hotel, and how soon it would be before the attendant gave it to Flaggerty. I wondered where in hell we were going to hole up, or if it’d be better to get out of town. . I didn’t want to get too far away because I was determined to go after Killeano. I had to be near at hand if I was going to bust him, and I was going to bust him all right.
“Listen, honey,” I said, in my soothing voice, “I want you to use your head. Is there anywhere
in town or near at hand where we could stay and be reasonably safe?”
She twisted around. “We’re going to get out of here,” she said wildly. “You don’t know what they’d do to me if they caught me.”
I patted her hand and nearly pushed in some guy’s fender who had pulled out suddenly from behind a truck. We cursed each other amiably.
“Now take it easy,” I said. “No one’s going to catch you. But we’re bucking the police, and they’ll seal up all the highways leading out of town. We shan’t get far with their two-way radio sets working against us. We’ll have to hole up until the heat’s cooled off. Then we’ll slide out one night, and blow.”
“We’d better go now,” she said, clenching her fists.
“Well be all right, but you must think. We want a nice snug hideaway for three or four days. Now think, and keep on thinking.”
While I was talking we reached Essex and Merrivale. I whizzed the Buick down Essex Street and nailed her before a shabby looking apartment block.
“Come on,” I said, grabbing the cigar box, “let’s hustle.”
We ran up the wooden steps to the house, and she led me up the stairs into a big bedroom overlooking the front of the house. She packed her things as if the devil was pricking her with his fork. She was so efficient that I just stood back and gave her room. In three minutes flat she had a big grip crammed full of the pick of her cupboard and drawers.
“Swell,” I said, grabbing the grip. “Now watch my dust,”
As I reached the head of the stairs, I paused. She clutched at my arm, looking at me with round eyes.
“What is it?” she whispered.
I motioned her to be quiet and listened. The radio was giving a police message. They were telling Paradise Palms to watch out for us.
“How do you like being called a blonde killer?” I asked, smiling at her.
She pushed past me and scurried downstairs. At the foot of the stairs, she stopped. A thickset man in his shirt sleeves had come out of the front room. He stood gaping at her.
“Hey, you,” he said, stepping up to her. “Not so fast. They want you!”
Miss Wonderly gave a startled squeak, spun on her heel and tried to bolt up the stairs, but he reached out and grabbed her.
“They want me too,” I said, coming down slowly.
The man let go of Miss Wonderly as if she’d bitten him. He stepped back, his face going a dirty white.
“I don’t know anything about anything, mister,” he said in H low, hoarse voice.
I smiled at him. “You don’t look as if you do,” I said, and put Miss WonderIy’s bag down. “Where’s your telephone, bud ?”
He waved his hand to the room from which he had just come. I jerked my head and he went in. I followed him. Miss Wonderly pressed herself against the wall. She didn’t look as cute as she had when she’d pressed herself against my hotel wall, but then, she was dressed this time. It makes a difference.
The room was, big and untidy. There were shutters up at the windows to keep out the sun.
An old woman was holding the telephone receiver to her ear. When she saw me, she gave a gasp, and dropped the receiver. It fell with a little crash on the table. Then she sat down heavily in a rocking-chair and threw her apron over her face. I thought she looked pretty dumb sitting like that, but it seemed to give her some comfort.
I took hold of the telephone and jerked. The cord came away from the wall, and I tossed the instrument on the floor.
“Now you won’t be able to talk to anyone about anything,” I said, winking at the man. “That’ll be a nice change for you.”
He jerked and shook and sweated plenty. I seemed to scare him.
I left them huddled and silent, and collected Miss Wonderly. She seemed scared too. Hell! I
was scared myself.
We ran down the steps, and I slung her bag into the car. We bundled in, and I shot out of Essex Street like a cat off a hot stove.
“Have you thought of a place, honey?” I asked, as we bolted along Ocean Drive.
She shook her head. “No.”
“Well, concentrate or else we’ll be in a jam.”
She banged her clenched fists together and started to cry. She was scared all right.
I looked across the Bay. The opalescent waters of the Atlantic and the Gulf were changing hues as clouds moved overhead. Scattered green islands gleamed like emeralds on an azure field. On the distant horizon the Gulf Stream pencilled a line of indigo, with here and there above it a smudge of grey smoke from the funnels of a passing steamer.
“How about those islands?” I said, slowing up. “Know any of them?”
She sat up, and her tears dried like magic. “Of course, the very place,” she said. “Cudco Key. It lies to the left of the islands, and it’s small. I know a shack there. I found it when I was out there once.”
