‘Fix him too,’ he said and got to his feet. ‘You take me to Hardy in my car, and then fix Toey. Then you go to the motel and fix the kid.’
‘Yes, sweetie,’ Moe said. ‘You leave it all to me.’
The two of them, one gross, the other hard and slim, moved silently out of the secret room and into the darkness of the night.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Gina Lang sat on the bed, occupied in painting her toenails while she listened to a Sinatra L.P. playing in the lounge.
The time was a little after ten-thirty. Lee Hardy had said he would be back by eleven, and then they would go to the Coral Club for a drink before taking in a midnight movie. Her task completed, Gina stood up. She was wearing a bra and black lace pants. She surveyed herself in the full length mirror with shrewd, searching eyes. She was twenty-three. She had had her first affair at the age of fourteen with a man she had long forgotten. Since then, she had spent the past nine years drifting from one man’s bed to another’s. During this sexual pilgrimage she had acquired two mink coats, a diamond necklace, various other pieces of jewellery of lesser value and fifteen thousand dollars in the bank Looking at herself now in the mirror, she searched for any sign of her past life, and was pleased to see that nothing so far had left a scar on her attractiveness. Her body was firm and beautifully made. Her face amused her, and she knew fascinated men, but she wasn’t too sure about her eyes. She tried to soften their expression, but failed. Well, she thought, shrugging, at least they’ll warn Lee not to fool around with any other woman now, and he needs the warning!
She had been living with Lee Hardy now for three months. Their meeting had been casual. When she discovered he had money, a Cadillac and a penthouse, she was happy to leave the party with him at which they had met. They went back to his luxury home.
Then something happened that she least expected. She found he was not only an extremely accomplished lover, but his handsomeness and his gaiety turned the routine romp in bed into a fierce possessive love. This had never happened to her before, and it threw her off balance. She suggested she should move into the penthouse, and after only a moment’s hesitation, Hardy had agreed. He was getting bored with continually chasing women, breaking down their resistance, buying them presents, quarrelling with them, and finally trying to get rid of them. He found Gina intriguing, sexually exciting and a good cook. This state of affairs lasted some two months, then Hardy, from force of habit, began to look around for fresh diversions, but he quickly discovered this could be dangerous. He was shocked by Gina’s vicious temper. The row they had had when he had smiled at a girl in a nightclub was heard by everyone in the block. There was nothing he could do with her. She was like a demented wild cat. It was only when he rashly promised never to look at another woman again that she calmed down. Later, he tried to prepare himself to tell her to get out of his penthouse, but he hesitated, knowing he would never find a girl as intriguing as she was, and also the memory of her fury still scared him.
Satisfied that she now had hooked him, Gina was considering the best way to get him to marry her. She was sick of forever hunting for a new and substantial meal ticket, and having satisfied herself that Hardy was smart enough to keep with the big money, there seemed no reason why they shouldn’t get married. So this evening, she planned to force his hand.
For the next twenty minutes, she made herself as attractive as she could, and the result was impressive for Gina was an artist in making the best of herself. As she was struggling to pull the zipper up on the gold lame dress that fitted her like a second skin, she heard the front door bell ring.
She looked at the dock on her bedside table. It was nearly eleven. She thought: Lee’s forgotten his key again!
Well, at least, for a change, he’s punctual.
She ran to the front door and opened it. It came as a considerable shock when she saw Jacko Smith standing in the corridor, his great fat face dripping with sweat and the smell of sweat oozing from him.
She knew Jacko Smith was Hardy’s strong-arm man. She had seen him from time to time on the race tracks, but she had never spoken to him. She had loathed the sight of him as soon as she had seen him. The fact he was a homosexual turned her loathing into revulsion. If there was a breed of perverts Gina hated most it was the homosexual.
‘Where is Hardy?’ Jacko demanded, eyeing Gina with as much contempt as she was eyeing him. He regarded all women as unworthy of his consideration.
‘He’s out!’ Gina snapped and began to close the door. To her dismay, Jacko moved forward with the power and force of an Army tank. He rode her back into the lobby and shut the front door.
‘Get out of here!’ Gina cried shrilly. ‘How dare you force your way in here!’?‘Shut up!’ Jacko snarled. ‘This is business!’?‘If you think you can push your filthy way …’?‘Shut up!’ Jacko repeated. ‘Hardy is in trouble. I’m in trouble. Where is he?’
Gina looked closely at the fat man. The restless movement of his little eyes, the sweat that soaked his shirt and the way his mouth tightened and loosened began to frighten her.
‘What’s happened?’ she demanded.
He waddled past her into the lounge and seeing the cocktail cabinet, he crossed to it and poured himself three fingers of Scotch, added a little charge water and greedily gulped down the drink.
She stood in the doorway, glaring at him.?‘What is it? The police?’?‘Yes,’ Jacko said and poured himself another drink. ‘Where is he?’ ‘He said he would be back by eleven. It’s eleven now.
‘What’s happened?’
He’ll tell you if he wants you to know,’ Jacko said. ‘I’ll wait.’?‘Not here… you won’t. Get out!’
Jacko looked at her, his little eyes gleaming viciously. ‘Screw you,’ he said. ‘You want me to push that flat nose of yours through the back of your head?’
Gina turned abruptly and went into her bedroom, shutting and locking the door.
Trouble! Police! She clenched her fists, her eyes glittering. What had Lee done? She sat on the bed and waited for his return.
*****
Toey Marsh was enjoying himself. He liked nothing better than to throw a party with Chinese food prepared by himself for a few boy friends, and after the eating, to put on discs on the gramophone and have a social evening lasting to three o’clock in the morning. His party was obviously a big success. He stood by the open window watching the boys dancing together, chattering and laughing and looking admiringly at him. His one regret was that Moe Lincoln hadn’t come. Moe fascinated him, and he kept assuring himself that sooner or later Moe would leave Jacko and come to him.
Freda, a young blond Negro, minced across the room.?‘Someone wants you on the phone, dear,’ he said. ‘Just wouldn’t say who he is.’
Toey went into the hall and picked up the receiver. His face brightened with excitement as he recognised Moe’s voice.
‘Toey,’ Moe said, ‘I’m across the way in the Drug Store. I want you over here for five minutes.’
‘Come on up, baby,’ Toey said. ‘Join the party. Come on, baby. You’ll have lots of fun.’?‘I want to talk to you alone,’ Moe said. ‘Is Freda there?’?‘Yes, but…’?‘Then you come down here. I don’t want him around while I’m talking to you. I’ve got something to say to you alone.’
‘You have? What, baby?’?‘Jacko and me have had a row. Come on, Toey, for Judas’ sake!’ ‘You mean you two have quarrelled?’
‘Not a word to anyone. Come on, Toey. I want to talk to you. Hurry it up!’?‘I’m coming,’ Toey said and replaced the receiver. He thought: At last! After all this wait! I’ll give him the big front room! I’ll have it done over and it’ll need a better bed, but…’
Freda, standing in the doorway, interrupted Toey’s thoughts by asking, ‘Who was that?’ Toey frowned at him. He was bored with Freda now.?‘No one you know,’ he said. ‘Go back to the party. I don’t like being spied on.’
Freda gave him a hurt look and returned to the apartment, but as soon as he heard Toey start down the stairs, he silently peered over the banister rail.
