The Soft Centre

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.’