Not My Thing

‘Now, Lucky, this is going to be dead easy,’ Kling said, lighting a cigarette. ‘No problems for you. All you have to do is to go with Jamison to the beach. I’ll be there. When Jamison pulls up, you slide out of the car, fast. I’ll take your place. You head for a big clump of shrubs on your right. The kid will be there, and will take you to where we’ve hidden my car. I’ll talk to Jamison and sell him my idea. From what you tell me, he’ll fall for it.’

Lucan lost colour.

‘I don’t like this, Ernie. Jamison warned me he would fix me if I played tricky. With his clout, he will fix me!’

Kling grinned.

‘He can’t, Lucky. Use what brains you have. What can he do to you? We have him in a squeeze. He knows that if he tries to put the heat on you, you can tell the press he tried to hire you to murder his wife. So okay, he’ll deny it. He might threaten to sue, but he won’t. Once the press get on to this that he wanted to get rid of his wife so badly he’ll pay someone to murder her, he’ll never dare get rid of her. So he’s stuck with her for life unless he plays along with us. Get it?’

Wiping his sweating face, Lucan nodded.

‘I hadn’t thought about that. But, Ernie, this is not my thing. I wish I hadn’t listened to that sonofabitch.’

‘Oh, pipe down! Do you or don’t you want to pick up an easy thirty thousand?’

Lucan gulped down the Scotch. His greed overcame his caution.

‘Well, okay, Ernie. I’m relying on you.’

‘So, do just what I’ve told you,’ Kling said. ‘I’ll handle the rest.’ He got to his feet. ‘The kid and I are now going to the beach meeting-place. Just leave it to me.’

When Kling and Ng had driven away, Lucan returned to his cabin. He had another stiff Scotch, then, feeling fortified, and almost reckless, he walked out into the hot sunshine to wait for Jamison to arrive.

5

With Lucan, sitting at his side, Jamison drove towards the beach meeting-place.

Jamison had to restrain himself from asking the vital question: had this professional killer come up with a perfect plan to get rid of Shannon? If he had! His life would be entirely altered. He would have Tarnia, but even more important to him, he would have a son!

He could smell whisky on Lucan’s breath. He could see he was unnerved. A gigolo! What could one expect?

He said nothing while he drove, staring ahead, driving carefully. Let this wet gigolo sweat! he thought grimly. If he doesn’t deliver, I’ll fix him! There are many ways of fixing a gigolo like him. Jamison’s fingers tightened on the driving-wheel. If this gigolo didn’t deliver, he would hire some thug to smash his handsome face: stamp on him: grind a heel. If he didn’t deliver!

He drove the car down the sandy lane leading to the beach, then pulled up.

Now! he thought. Will this be the end of Shannon?

Lucan was waiting for this moment. He was still feeling reckless. As the car stopped and Jamison reached for the ignition key to turn off the engine, Lucan opened the door of the passenger’s seat, was out, slightly staggering, and had run frantically to a clump of bushes to his right as Kling had indicated.

For a brief moment, Jamison sat still, then he swung round in his seat to find himself looking at a tall, lean grey-haired man who had appeared from nowhere and had slid into Lucan’s seat.

Jamison’s nerves jumped and he felt his heart give a little flutter at the sight of this man with his cool, evil smile and his glittering snake-like eyes.

‘Morning, Mr Jamison,’ the man said, in a soft, low voice. ‘I’m Ernie Kling. We have business together… right?’

Jamison sat motionless, but his mind worked swiftly. So Lucan and this killer knew who he was. Well, all right, he couldn’t have hoped to remain anonymous for long.

Still feeling his heart fluttering, Jamison said, ‘I told Lucan I did not want to deal directly with you, Kling.’

‘Yeah, he told me, but I don’t work that way. If I do a perfect job, I deal with the top shot, not a creep like Lucan. Look, Mr Jamison, if that’s not the way you want it, I’ll take off. I’ll leave regretfully because I have a perfect plan. You want to get rid of your wife. I want your money. This is business, Mr Jamison.’

Jamison thought of being free of Shannon. This man had said: I have a perfect plan. He stared thoughtfully at Kling. He had an instinctive feeling this man could deliver the goods.

He said, ‘Very well, Kling, tell me your perfect plan.’

Kling smiled.

‘Not that easy, Mr Jamison. I don’t give away secrets of my trade for nothing. It is understood you and I are now in business? I get rid of your wife without any blow-back, and you pay me three hundred thousand dollars. Right?’

Jamison hesitated, then nodded.

‘Yes, that’s agreed.’

‘Fine. Now how will I be paid?’

‘As you like,’ Jamison said. ‘Cash, gold, you name it, you can have it.’

‘I have a Swiss numbered account,’ Kling said, taking out a pack of cigarettes. ‘How about transferring the money to Switzerland?’

Jamison shrugged.

‘That presents no problem.’