Lady—Here's Your Wreath

CHAPTER NINETEEN

ACKIE SAID: “That starts it, Nick. We gotta go ahead now.”

“You think Lazard’ll try an’ spring him?”

“I guess he’ll see Spencer. A guy like that always jumps into anything with both feet.”

I went over to the car. “Listen, Mo, we gotta break this business up fast, before they get him out. You go to the Federal Bureau an’ tell ’em everything. Get the sergeant to turn Katz over to the Bureau tonight. Once they’ve got him, Lazard won’t get to the first base.”

Ackie pushed his hat to the back of his head. “What are you goin’ to do?”

“I’m lookin’ for Mardi,” said grimly.

“Yeah—but where? You just can’t run around in circles. You gotta have some system.”

“I ain’t had time to get round to Sarah Spencer with you yet,” I said. “I’m makin’ a guess, but I’ll swear I’m right. She’s got Mardi hidden up.”

I told Ackie the tale as far as I knew it myself. What Mardi had told me, and how we had fitted Sarah into the set-up, and why I thought she had kidnapped Mardi. “She’s gettin’ desperate,” I concluded. “I’m bettin’ she’s bankin’ on me startin’ a lot of trouble as soon as Mardi disappeared. She’s right, but she ain’t goin’ to sit on the fence any more. I’m goin’ to push her off, and let her have some trouble for herself.”

Ackie listened with his jaw slack. When I had finished, he shook his head. “No—it don’t fit,” he said. “Sarah Spencer ain’t got it in her to pull a job like that. I’ve seen her, you ain’t. She’s just a dizzy blonde, with the brain of a cow an’ the morals of an alley-cat. ’Sides, she’s crazy about Spencer—I can’t believe that tale.”

I shrugged. “You don’t know everythin’, Mo,” I said shortly. “Anyway, I’m goin’ to have a look at this dame—I might find somethin’.”

Ackie screwed up his face, but he didn’t say anything. I could see he thought I was up the wrong alley, but I told myself that I had to start somewhere. If Sarah Spencer was the woman on the ’phone she’d have to tell me a few things before I was satisfied that she hadn’t had something to do with Mardi’s kidnapping. I gave him a little push. “You’ve got to get goin’,” I said, “an’ make it stick—”

Still Ackie didn’t move. “Just how much am I to tell these G-men?”

“Tell ’em every thin’ Katz told us. That’s enough. Don’t bring Blondie into it, and don’t mention Mardi. Just blow up the Mackenzie Fabric racket—that’s all you gotta do.”

Ackie nodded. “How far do you want to be in this?”

I thought it over. “Yeah, you’re right. Suppose you leave me right out of it. I might want to do a lot of running around, an’ if I’ve gotta sit answerin’ a lotta bull from the cops it might cramp me.”

Ackie began to drift. “You take the car,” he said, “I’ll get a taxi. You’ll take it easy, won’t you, pal? Don’t start anythin’ you can’t finish. That’s a tough gang to play around with.”

I gave him a little shove. “Don’t worry about me,” I said, “I’ll watch out. When you’re through with the cops, go back to the pressroom—I’ll contact you there.”

I climbed into the car and engaged the gear. Ackie stood at the corner of the street and raised his hand as I swept past him. Although I didn’t know it, I wasn’t going to see that guy for several weeks.

Spencer had a swell house on Parkside. It didn’t take me long to get there, and I drew up on the opposite side and killed the engine. The house stood in about a couple of acres of grounds with a lot of trees and shrubs that more or less hid the house from the street.

I swung open the off door and got out. Crossing the street, I took a lock at the big gates. I told myself I wasn’t going to walk up the drive and ring on the bell, I was going to surprise that dame. Then something happened that surprised me. The electric horn on Ackie’s car gave a strangled croak, just like someone had touched it gently. I looked over at the car quickly,, my hand going to my hip pocket, where Katz’s gun was. In the darkness, I could just make out someone sitting in the car.

Pulling the gun out, and holding it by my side, I crossed the street again. I moved with stiff legs, rather expecting a sudden blast of lead. Someone called softly as I got nearer. “Nick—it’s all right—Nick— it’s me.”

It was her, too. Mardi was sitting crouched down in the car, peering at me through the open window with a white, scared face.

I stood there, holding on to the door of the car, looking at her. I just couldn’t believe my eyes. I said, “Mardi—”

“Yes—please get in. We must get away from here. Nick, get in quickly.” The urgency of her voice made me act I pulled open the car door and slid under the wheel. I put my hands on her, and I could feel her trembling.

“But, honey—what happened? What are you doing here?” I said, putting my arm round her and pulling her to me.

With violence that startled me, she pulled herself away from me. “Nick—don’t talk. Get me away from here….” she said. There was a high, note of hysteria in her voice.

I leant forward and started the engine, then rolled the car down the street. I didn’t move it fast, but kept it going. “Where do you want to go, baby?” I said. “Just take it easy, I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

She said, “I’m so frightened, Nick, we must get far away. Don’t talk now, but get me away—anywhere, but get me away.”

I shoved the pedal down and the car picked up speed. It was no use asking her questions when she was like this. Something bad must have happened to have got her so scared. I headed the car out of town. I sat holding the wheel, looking at the two bright pools of light thrown by the headlights ahead of me, and wondering what it was all about. I could feel Mardi shivering against me, but I didn’t look at her. I thought the best thing was to let her calm down before I fussed her.

It wasn’t until I had left the town some miles back, and got on to the desert road, that she began to relax. I could feel the tenseness going out of her body, and her shivering gradually stopped. I put out a hand and found one of hers and squeezed it. She was cold, but she gripped my hand hard, so I knew it was all right between us.

I said, “Suppose we stop an’ have a little talk, baby. We can’t go on like this all night.”

She said, “Don’t stop, Nick—we’ve got to go further than this. Please go on.”

She leant against me and I put my arm around her.

I said, “We’ll go on, if you want to.”

And on we went. After a little while, Mardi fell asleep. I could feel her breathing softly on my hand. When I was sure she was sleeping heavily, I slackened speed. I didn’t know where we were heading, and I didn’t want to get landed somewhere without any gas. I’d got enough for some way yet, but I wanted to have a talk with her before we went much further.

The desert road runs for about a couple of hundred miles through sand and shrub, it links up with a small town called Plattsville, and then starts all over again to the Pacific. Just a long ribbon of road, straight, flat and monotonous, linking up small hick towns, like a string of badly spaced beads.

I checked the time. It was just after two o’clock. I reckoned that in about an hour I should run into Plattsville. I made up my mind, I wouldn’t go further than Plattsville without finding out what was scaring Mardi. Maybe, after a sleep, she’d get a grip on herself.

I pushed the car along at a faster rate. At this time in the morning the wind nips off the desert, and I was beginning to feel cold. I was not only wanting a drink bad, but I was beginning to feel sleepy. I told myself that I’d stop at Plattsville whatever happened.

My guess that it would be about an hour’s run was near enough. The hands of the dashboard clock stood at three-fifteen when I spotted the few street lights of Plattsville. I shoved the clutch out and ran the car to a stop by the side of the road. The little jerk woke Mardi, who sat up nervously.

“It’s all right, baby,” I said quickly. “We’re running into a town. I thought maybe you’d like to talk things over with me before we go any further.”

She peered out of the window, then she turned round to me and put her hands on my arm. “Oh, Nick, it’s good to have you,” she said. Her voice was quite steady, and I knew she’d got her nerve back.

I lit a cigarette and gave her one. “We’ve come a mighty long way,” I said. “So you don’t have to get scared any more.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m all right now. I was so frightened, Nick. I wanted to get away. I don’t want to go back. Promise me you’ll not go back any more.”

I patted her arm. “It’s all right now. We’ve washed them up. You don’t have to worry your head any more. We’ve turned the whole business over to the Federal Bureau to deal with—”

She clutched my arm. “The whole business?” Once more her voice trembled. “Do you have to be in it?”

“Now take it easy,” I said. “I’m out. Ackie’s doin’ it all. You an’ me are out of this.”

She drew a deep breath. “I see,” she said.

I said, “I must know what happened at the lodge.”

She turned her head and looked at me. “Happened? Why, what do you mean? Happened?”

I shifted a little in my seat. “Where were you? I got back to the lodge and you weren’t there.”

She shivered. “No—I got scared and ran away.”

“What scared you, honey? Where did you go to?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Nick. Can’t we drive on now?”

I took her in my arms and pulled her round so she faced me. “I’m sorry, baby, but this is serious,” I said. “When I got back to the lodge I found you gone and Blondie dead.”

I felt her body stiffen. “Dead? You mean someone killed her?”

I said, “Yes… someone killed her.”

Mardi began to cry softly. “Oh, Nick, and she came to warn me. She came and told me that they were coming for me. I was so scared that I ran out of the place into the woods and left her there. She said that Katz had told her that Spencer wanted us out of the way. He thought we knew too much and Katz was on his way to the lodge.”

I said, “But Spencer didn’t know we were at the lodge.”

She hid her head. “He knows everything—I tell you he knows everything.”

I drew her to me. “Well, it ain’t goin’ to do him much good now,” I said. “When the Feds, get on his tail that guy’s going to have a bad time. Listen, baby, suppose we put up at this town until the gang’s smashed up, then we can go back and get started again.”

She shook her head. “I can’t think now. Tell me about the woman… what happened, Nick? Have you told the police?”

I saw she wouldn’t relax until I told her the whole story. So, leaving out the messy details, I told her how I had come back to the lodge, how I had thought it was she who had been killed, how I had found Blondie and the whole set-up. She sat, hiding her face from me, crying softly.

“That’s how it was, honey,” I said. “You ain’t got anythin’ to cry about. Maybe she did come an’ warn you, but she had it comin’ to her. Blondie was a tough baby, you don’t have to mourn for her.”

Mardi put her handkerchief to her nose and looked at me with bright eyes. “What made her come like that, Nick?” she asked. “Why should she risk her life for—me?”

I leant forward and started the engine. “Search me,” I said. “I never would have thought she’d done a thing like that.”

As I began to roll the car, another thought struck me. “How did you know I’d be goin’ to Sarah Spencer’s?’

“I had to take the chance—I didn’t know, but I didn’t know where else to look for you. I thought if you got back to the lodge and found me gone you’d come on to her place.”

“That’s pretty cute of you, baby,” I said admiringly. “That’s pretty cute.”

We drove on after that in silence. I knew Mardi was still tense. I guessed the shock of hearing about Blondie’s death had shaken her pretty badly. I was glad when we ran into Plattsville and found a hick hotel that we could stop at.

The guy behind the desk seemed three-quarters dead, but the other quarter was enough to get us a bedroom and me a drink. When we got left on our own, I hit that bottle as hard as most bottles can be hit. Mardi sank on to the big, old-fashioned bed, her head dropping with fatigue.

I took one look at her and made up my mind. “You’re going straight into the sheets an’ sleep. I’ve gotta ring Ackie, then I’ll be up. Come on, honey, I’ll get you fixed first.”

She raised her head. “It’s all right, Nick, you go and ’phone—I can manage. You’ll be quicker if you go now.”

That was sense, so I left her and got through to Ackie on the ’phone downstairs. That guy was full of it. He just didn’t give me a chance to tell him where I was, but jumped into his story with both feet..

“Boy! You ain’t seen anythin’ like this since the San Francisco fire!” he bawled. “You gotta get into it quick. The lid’s off an’ hell’s hoppin’. I got round to the Bureau and gave them the works; at first they thought I was tight but, knowing me, they finally decided they’d do somethin’, so we all gumshoed along to the jail and had a look at Katz. Gee! That sergeant had certainly patted him around Katz was in no state to crack wise. He just opened his mouth and kept it open. That guy spilled the dope so fast, the G-men couldn’t get it down quick enough. Then they took him outside. I guess no one thought of it except me, but I wasn’t worrying my head. I stayed in the station until it was over. I wanted a story and by Golly I was getting it. The G-men an’ Katz no sooner got outside into the street than a couple of the boys opened up with a Thompson. Katz got a barrel of slugs and folded up an’ one of the G.-men caught it, then the other two started with their artillery an’ there was a grand gun fight up an’ down the street, with yours truly yellin’ the news like a broadcast commentary down the ’phone to the press-room.

“I’m tellin’ you, it was a grand five minutes. Anyway, that did it. The Federal Bureau got so mad that they raided Spencer’s place, the Mackenzie Fabrics an’ the Wensdy Wharf all at the same time. It was a grand clean-up. They’ve got ’em all. Spencer, Gus, the little fat guy, an’ the whole mob of thugs. They got enough evidence that’ll put that bunch away for fifty years, an’ I’ve got the story. It’ll be on the street in a couple of hours.”

I said, “That’s a grand bit of work. You kept me out of it?”

.”Yeah, you didn’t come in at all… like you said. Listen, brother, I was mighty glad that Katz got his, otherwise he’d have pinned Blondie’s killin’ on you. I was scared sick that he’d bring it up right away, but maybe his own troubles tied up his memory.”

I stood, holding the ’phone, going a little cold. I’d forgotten that. Katz could have got me in a jam. I was glad he was dead, I never did have any use for that guy.

“Okay, Mo,” I said, “I’m goin’ back to bed. Listen, I’ve got Mardi, and we’re keeping under cover for a bit. I’ll watch the newspapers; when the trial’s over, we’ll come back. I ain’t riskin’ that baby gettin’ drawn into it.”

“You keep out of it,” Ackie agreed. “Give her my love, an’ look after her, you tramp—she’s a grand girl.”

“You’re tellin’ me,” I said. “’Bye, pal, an’ watch yourself,” and I hung up.

I ran upstairs and into the bedroom. Mardi was sitting up in bed, waiting for ma. I could see something was wrong by the tense expression in her eyes. I didn’t say anything about it, but began to get undressed.

“I’ve had a talk with Ackie,” I said, pulling off my shirt. “He’s crazy with excitement. The whole thing’s blown up an’ Spencer’s in jail. Everyone’s in jail, an’ you an’ I don’t have to worry any more.”

She said, “Is Lee Curtis in jail?”

I stopped, holding my trousers in one hand, and stared at her. “Lee Curtis? Why worry about him? Ackie said they were all in jail.”

“But did he say Lee Curtis was in jail?” Her voice was almost hard.

I came over and sat on the bed. “What makes you ask about him… more than the others?”

She looked at me in an odd way, and shook her head. “I just wanted to know.”

There was something behind this, but I didn’t want to press it. “He didn’t mention Curtis, but he’s being taken care of, all right.”

“Oh,” she said in a flat voice, and looked at her finger-nails carefully. I sat on the bed, in my B.V.D.’s. I was beginning to feel like hell, but I couldn’t get to sleep until I got this straightened.

“Tell me, baby,” I said gently.

She looked up at me, and her eyes were big and wild. “Nick, do you love me?” she said. “Do you really love me? Not just for yesterday and to-day, but for to-morrow and all the to-morrows?”

I put my hand over hers. “You’re everythin’ to me, Mardi,” I said, and meant it.

She said, “Will you do something big for me? Something that’ll mean you love me?”

I nodded. “Sure, what is it?”

“I want you and me to go away. Never come back to this State. To go south a long way, and start all over again—will you do that?”

“You mean never come back?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“But, Mardi, we’ve gotta live. My connections are here. I’ve lived here so long. I’m known here. I’ll keep away with you until the trial is over, but if I’ve to earn dough it’s here that I can earn it.”

She shook her head. “Money doesn’t matter. I have all we want.” She pulled a long envelope out of the bedclothes and put it into my hand. “Look, it’s for you.”

I opened the envelope blankly and shook out a bundle of bearer bonds. There were twenty thousand dollars. I pushed the bonds away from me and sat a little stunned, looking at her.

“They’re mine,” she said fiercely. “They’re for you and me—with that, surely we can go away and you can start again.”

I said, “But, Mardi, that’s a lot of money for a girl to have. How did you get it?”

She said, “At the Mackenzie Fabrics. I saved and I heard tips. Spencer invested for me ”

“I see.”

She began to cry. “Say you’ll take the money and come away with me, Nick—please….”

I rolled into bed beside her, shoving the envelope under her pillow. “Suppose we leave it until to-morrow? We’ll be able to think clearly to-morrow,” I said.

I felt her stiffen. “No,” she said, “it must be now. I couldn’t sleep. I must know. It’s so important to me.”

“Why is it, Mardi? Why should you want to hide yourself away?”

“Nick, you’ll lose me if you go back,” she said, suddenly sobbing violently. “I can’t tell you why, but I feel that is what will happen. You must say now.”

And because nothing really mattered to me except her happiness, and because I knew she loved me as much as I loved her, I gave her the promise.

She said, “You really mean that?”

“Yeah,” I said. “We’ll take the car on and we’ll go to the coast. We’ll get us a small house somewhere near the sea with a garden and we’ll be just you an’ I.”

“And you’ll be happy?”

“Sure, I’ll be happy. I’ll find something to do.” Lying there in the dark, I suddenly felt fine about the idea. We’d got money, we were going to the sun, and we had each other.