Leaving them, Hardy drove on towards the motel. The time was five minutes after ten and he found Henekey waiting for him. As Hardy walked into the stuffy little office, Henekey who had seen him park his car, was standing by his desk.
‘Come on in, Mr. Hardy,’ Henekey said. ‘Glad you could come.’
Hardy walked across to the chair opposite Henekey’s desk and sat down.?‘You said urgent personal business,’ he said, his voice harsh. ‘I hope for your sake you haven’t brought me here on a bum steer. What is it?’
Henekey sat down. His heart was thumping, and there was a film of sweat on his face. ‘Something I thought we should talk over together, Mr. Hardy. Something you wouldn’t want to discuss over an open line.’
‘What is it?’ Hardy repeated.?‘Sue Parnell,’ Henekey said. His eyes went past Hardy to the window and then to the door. His hand, now behind him, rested on the butt of his gun.
‘She’s nothing to me,’ Hardy said.
Henekey hesitated, then he forced a smile.?‘Well, that’s fine. Then what she told me must have been all lies. Okay, then I’m very sorry, Mr. Hardy, I’ve given you this trip for nothing. I can go now and talk to Terrell.’
The two men stared at each other, then Hardy rubbed his hand over his smooth, closely shaven chin.
‘You could be talking yourself into trouble,’ he said, a rasp in his voice.?‘Not me,’ Hardy said with more confidence than he felt. ‘I’m old enough to take care of myself. I had the idea Sue Parnell did mean something to you, that’s why I didn’t talk to the cops. I thought we might do a deal. But if she doesn’t mean anything to you, then I still have time to talk to Terrell without getting into trouble.’
‘Just what are you getting at?’ Hardy demanded, sitting forward.?‘I’ve known Sue now for more than two years,’ Henekey said. ‘We had a business arrangement. Whenever she had a business date she didn’t want to take to her home she came here. Sure, I could get into trouble… immoral earnings and all that, but I reckon Terrell would forget about that if I told him about you.’
Hardy drew in a whistling breath.?‘And what would you tell him?’?‘What Sue told me,’ Henekey said. He kept looking to the window and the door. He was scared that any moment Jacko Smith and his boy friend might walk in. He gripped the butt of his gun so tightly his fingers began to ache.
‘What did Sue tell you?’ Hardy asked.?‘That she was blackmailing you. Maybe she was lying. I wouldn’t know, but she said she had enough on you to put you away for ten years and she was shaking you down. She came here the night she died and told me she was expecting you. You were paying her five thousand dollars for her to keep her mouth shut. She was scared of you. She asked me to watch her cabin. Unless I was drunk or dreaming, I was under the impression you arrived around one o’clock. You left around one-thirty. As I say, I could have imagined it, but I have this very strong impression.’
‘You’re crazy!’ Hardy snarled, his eyes gleaming with suppressed rage. ‘I was nowhere near this dump!’
Henekey shrugged.?‘Well, there you are, Mr. Hardy, so I was dreaming. So Sue was lying.’ Hardy got to his feet.
‘Now listen, Henekey, I’m warning you. You say one word of this to the police and you’ll get it. I mean that! I was at home when that tart was knocked off and I can prove it. You lay off or you’ll be as good as dead’
‘I’m listening, Mr. Hardy,’ Henekey said, ‘but Sue trusted me. She gave me an envelope she stole from your safe. I have it in my bank. Even if the cops can’t pin her murder on you, once they look inside that envelope they could put you away for years.’
Hardy stood motionless for a long moment, then he sat down.?‘You have the envelope?’?‘Right in my bank, Mr. Hardy, with instructions that if anything happens to me, it goes to the cops.’
‘What happened to the five thousand dollars I gave that bitch?’
Henekey shrugged.?‘I wouldn’t know, Mr. Hardy. Maybe the cops took it you know cops.’?‘Know what I think? I think after I left her, you went into her cabin, murdered her and took the five grand. That’s a theory Terrell would like to explore.’
‘That’s right,’ Henekey smiled. ‘He could make it tricky for me, but he could make it much more tricky for you. I’m willing to take the risk, are you?’
Hardy thought for a moment, rubbing his chin, then he shrugged.?‘Okay, you creep, how much?’
Henekey took his aching fingers off the butt of his gun. ‘I’m in trouble too, Mr. Hardy. People are crowding me I want to get away. I want to get lost…’
‘How much?’ Hardy snarled.?‘Five grand, and I’ll turn the envelope over to you, drop out of sight and you’ll never hear from me again.’
Hardy took a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. He flicked out a cigarette and set fire to it.
‘Okay, it’s a deal,’ he said. ‘Get the envelope and I’ll be back tomorrow morning with five grand.’
‘Back alone, Mr. Hardy,’ Henekey said. ‘We’ll meet right here in this office. If anything should happen to me between then and now, my bank have their instructions.’
‘You told me. I know when I have to lose money and when I don’t. You’ll get paid, creep, but get out of sight fast. If ever Jacko runs into you after I’ve paid you, I’m not responsible.’
Henekey took the gun from his hip pocket and laid it on the table.?‘Just for the record, Mr. Hardy, I won’t be responsible for Jacko either.’
Hardy stared at him, then he got to his feet. ‘Around eleven tomorrow morning,’ he said, ‘but don’t imagine you’re going to put the bite on me again. It’s five grand and no more.’
‘All I want is a getaway stake,’ Henekey said and for the first time since Hardy had walked into his office, he began to relax. ‘There’ll be no second bite.’
Hardy walked out, crossed the lighted car park and got into his car. Strident swing music came from the loud speakers, hanging in the trees. The fairy lights strung across the cabins flickered with pseudo prettiness. Henekey, breathing heavily, his hand still on his gun, watched Hardy go.
Hardy pulled into the lay-by where Jacko and Moe were waiting. He got out of the car and joined them on the grass verge.
‘It’s a shake-down,’ he said as he flicked his half smoked cigarette into the darkness. ‘He’s got enough on me to get me ten years. It’s up to you two. He says he’s put the evidence in his bank with instructions for it to be handed to the police if anything happens to him. He’s bluffing. I want you two to soften him and get the stuff from him. This is important to me. It’s worth a grand.’
Moe stretched his elegant long arms and smiled happily.?‘Man. It’s a long time since I’ve worked a jerk over. It’ll be a pleasure, Mr. Hardy.’
Hardy looked at Jacko who sat in a massive heap of fat on the grass.?‘We’ll fix him, dear,’ Jacko said, ‘but what do we do with the creep after we’ve got what you want?’
‘He’s best out of the way, Jacko.’?‘Moe keeps on at me for a new car. I don’t know where he thinks the money is coming from. Could you make it two grand, dear, and we’ll make a very nice job of it for you.’
‘Two grand it is,’ Hardy said without hesitation. ‘Watch it… he has a gun.’
Moe got to his feet. He capered in front of Jacko who watched him admiringly. He turned a couple of hand- springs, then thrust out a lean, brown hand to help Jacko lever himself to his feet.
‘Better wait until the joint shuts down,’ Hardy said. ‘You two go ahead and find out where he sleeps. Wait for him there. I’ll stay here. Remember the gun.’ As they began to move off, Hardy said, ‘There’s five grand he took from Sue Parnell. I want that too.’
It was a little after one o’clock when Henekey switched off the flashing neon sign. By then most of the cabins were in darkness. He locked up his office and stepped into the hot night air.
Although he was pretty sure he had thrown a scare into Hardy, he was very cautious. He held the gun in his hand and he looked carefully over the moonlit space that separated him from his cabin. There were still a few people sitting on their porches, enjoying the moonlight, talking together and having the last cigarette before going to bed. Their presence gave Henekey confidence.
He walked slowly from his office pausing now and then to have a word with the people outside their cabins until he finally reached his own cabin. It was a hot night and Henekey’s mind was too active for immediate sleep. He sat down in the basket chair on the porch and lit a cigarette. This time tomorrow, he thought he would have ten thousand dollars: five he had stolen from Sue Parnell and five he would be getting from Hardy. With that kind of money, he would fly to New York and get lost. It was time he left Miami. He sat for some thirty minutes trying to make up his mind what he would do in New York. He had never been good at making plans. Maybe it would be better to wait until he got to New York, he thought. He looked at his watch. It was now twenty minutes to two. He stifled a yawn. The rest of the cabins were now in darkness. Time to turn in. By now Hardy would be back in Miami.
