Safer Dead

I went out and shut the door.

Juan was still unconscious. I sat down where I could see him and waited.

After twenty minutes or so, Lydia came out of her room. She was wearing a dark grey suit and she had a fur coat over her arm. Her face was fine drawn and white. She glanced quickly at Juan and then her eyes shifted.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ she said.

I went into her room and collected her two suitcases. As I reentered the sitting room, Juan gave a muffled groan and moved uneasily.

‘He’ll be all right,’ I said. ‘Come on.’

I went to the door, set down the cases, opened the door and stepped into the passage. At the far end I could see the front door. A man’s shadow lay across the glass panel: a short bulky man with shoulders that looked as wide as a house.

I stepped back quickly into the sitting room, motioning Lydia to stay where she was. My warning gesture made her catch her breath sharply.

I peered cautiously into the passage. The front door was opening. I quickly shut Lydia’s apartment door.

‘What is it?’ she whispered.

‘There’s a guy out there.’

Softly I turned the key in the lock and waited, listening.

I heard soft footfalls coming down the passage. They stopped outside the door. Then I saw the door handle turn. Lydia backed away, her face ashen, her hand to her mouth. In the silence of the room, knuckles rapping on the door panel made a loud, startling sound.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I

I stepped away from the door as knuckles rapped again. Lydia asked in a voice no louder than the rustle of leaves, ‘Who is it?’

‘I don’t know. A short, thickset guy.’ My voice matched hers.

Her eyes dilated.

‘It’s Borg. He won’t be alone.’ She looked around the room wildly. ‘Don’t let him in.’

I saw the door handle turn, and a weight leaned against the door, making it creak.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the bedroom, shut and locked the door.

‘You’ll have to leave your cases,’ I said, going over to the window. I raised it and looked out on to a strip of garden of dark shadows and shrubs. ‘We’ll go this way.’

She joined me. I picked her up and swung her through the window into the garden, then scrambled out after her.

‘My car’s at the corner. Can we get around to it?’

‘Yes. I’ll show you.’

She ran down the strip of lawn to a gate.

‘Let me go first,’ I said, pulling out Juan’s gun.

I opened the gate and stepped into a deserted alley that stretched away into darkness.

I started down the alley, moving quietly. Lydia followed, almost treading on my heels. I could hear her quick, frightened breathing. The end of the alley led out into a side street. At the top of the street I could see the gleam of my parking lights. The street seemed empty. Taking Lydia’s arm and keeping in the shadows, I started towards the car.

‘Who’s this guy Borg?’ I asked her.

‘One of Royce’s men,’ she said. ‘They won’t let me get away.’

‘They haven’t got you yet.’

We reached within twenty feet of the Lincoln, then I stopped.

‘I’ll go first. You wait here. Be ready to move fast.’

I stepped away from her and cautiously moved to the street corner. I looked up Lennox Drive. A big car stood outside Lydia’s apartment house. A man stood by it, looking towards the house. I crossed the sidewalk to the Lincoln, opened the door and slid into the driving seat.

‘Come on!’ I called softly.

I had the engine running as she darted into the car, and the car moving as she slammed the door.

Maybe Benn had looked after the Lincoln, but as soon as I started to feed gas into the engine, I knew I wasn’t going to get much of a performance from it. This wasn’t a car to be in to shake off a fast pursuit.

The driving mirror remained dark: no telltale headlights showed behind me, and I hoped that our getaway hadn’t been spotted.

I swung the car on to the main road leading out of Tampa City and gradually built up the Lincoln’s speed to fifty-five. At that speed the car began to rock.

I took out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket and dropped it into her lap.

‘Light me one and have one yourself,’ I said, my eyes shifting to the driving mirror again to make sure no car was following us.

‘Can’t you go faster?’ she asked.

Her hands were shaking so badly she had trouble getting the cigarettes out of the pack.

‘I might at a pinch, but this is fast enough so long as they’re not following us.’

She lit the cigarettes and gave me one.

‘Let’s talk,’ I said. I didn’t want to scare her, but I wasn’t too sure how much time we had before they came after us. What do you know about Frances Bennett?’

‘What has happened to her? Where is she?’

I gave it to her without gloves.

‘She’s dead. She was fished out of a pond in Welden. Royce stayed with her at a hotel in Welden. She was working at a club there. The night she disappeared, Royce left the town.’

I saw Lydia clench her fists tightly in her lap.

‘So she’s dead. Well, I warned her, the little fool. She wouldn’t listen. I told her Royce was using her for his own convenience. He wouldn’t fall for a stupid little fool like her.’