At one o’clock I was sitting in Murphy’s. The back part of the place was dark and there wasn’t anybody else in the place except an old guy in a wrinkled linen suit drinking a beer.
I ordered a beer and it was still in front of me when she came in about ten after one. She saw me right away and came over and sat down, facing me across the narrow wooden table.
We looked at each other a moment, not saying anything. Our hands were on the table, almost touching. She looked the way I liked her to look. A little tense and with that hard streak in her showing through.
“What is it?” I said.
“We’re leaving town Sunday night for three weeks,” she said. “We’re going to a cottage in Wisconsin for a vacation and then he’s coming back to his job.”
“When did all this happen?”
“Yesterday. He’s already made the arrangements.” She looked down at her hands and then she shot a quick glance at me. “What news do you have?”
“None. I haven’t got it figured out yet.”
“You’d better get busy.”
“This kind of thing can’t be rushed, baby. Why don’t you tell him to go to hell? Tell him you’ve work at the office you can’t leave.”
“He wouldn’t stand for that now, Johnny.” She looked down at the table and when she looked up again her eyes were wet and shining. “Johnny, I’m depending on you. Don’t let him take me away.”
“You’re not going, baby,” I said. I put my hand over hers. “I’ll get you out.”
And right then it came to me. It came just like the first idea, all in one piece, put together and ready to go.
She must have seen it in my face because she leaned forward quickly. “What is it, Johnny?”
“This Wisconsin deal is perfect. We couldn’t have hit on anything better.” I leaned closer to her and shot a look around the room. The guy in the wrinkled suit had finished his beer and gone. We were all alone but I cut my voice down anyway.
“How have you done with Lesser?”
“Just as you told me.”
“Has it worked?”
“Yes, it has. I had a drink with him last night before I went home. He seemed even more interested than usual today. I tried to give him the impression that the first night I had free would be a party for both of us.”
“Perfect. Now tomorrow you’re going to tell him your husband is going out of town Sunday night.”
“But I’m going too, Johnny.”
“Listen to me baby. Tell him exactly that. Tell him you’d like to see him Sunday night at your apartment for a drink. And make sure he gets the idea there’s more than a drink waiting for him. Can you handle that?”
“I think I can. I can get him to come, but what good will it do?”
“I’m getting to that,” I said. “Now you’re supposed to go with Frank Sunday night. How’re you going?”
“By train.”
“Has he got the tickets yet?”
“No, it isn’t necessary to get them in advance. It’s a night train and seldom crowded.”
“What time does it leave?”
“Seven-thirty, railroad time.”
“That’s eight-thirty, city time.” I thought fast, figuring out time angles. She was watching me, her eyes shining.
“Now,” I said, “you get to work on Lesser this afternoon. Don’t wait till tomorrow.”
“I’ll do it, if you say so Johnny, but I can’t see what good it will do.”
“Here’s what I’ve worked out. I want you to have Lesser come to your apartment at eight-fifteen Sunday night. Remember that time. Eight-fifteen. Make sure he’s right on time. And here’s the next step. You aren’t going to Wisconsin with Frank. Tell him you can’t make it and that you’ll meet him there Monday.”
“Johnny, he won’t stand for that.”
“You’ve got to make him stand for it. Everything depends on that. Tell him some work came up that you’ve simply got to handle at the office Monday morning. Tell him anything, but you’ve got to start him off to Wisconsin alone. That’s the way it’s got to be.”
She took a long breath and was quiet for a while. Then she said. “I can do it.” Her voice was bitter. She didn’t look at me, just kept her eyes on the table. “I know one way to make him happy. Tomorrow morning he’ll be agreeable.”
I swallowed hard. She couldn’t have made it plainer. “That’s up to you,” I said.
“All right. Then what happens?”
“I’m going to call Frank,” I said. “Maybe this afternoon. I’ll shoot the bull with him until he mentions the trip. Then I’ll offer to drive the two of you down to the station Sunday night. Got that? When he tells you about it remember to act surprised. Then when I get there Sunday night you won’t be going and that will be my turn to be surprised. But I’ll still take Frank down to the station alone.”
She looked at me. “Then on the way down you tell him I’m entertaining Lesser? So that he’ll come charging back like a wild animal? Is that it, Johnny?”
“I don’t do any crazy goddam thing of the kind,” I snapped. “Use your head, baby. How the hell would I know you were entertaining? Remember I know Lesser. I’ll just casually mention to Frank that I saw Lesser at lunch during the week. And I’ll say it’s too bad he couldn’t see you about those figures some other night. Frank thinks you’re working Monday morning, and when I drop the word that it’s Sunday night — that will touch things off.”
She twisted her hands nervously. “It seems terribly complicated,” she said.
“Well do we, or don’t we?” I said “Make up your mind. Do you want to get rid of that guy and live with me, or what?”
“All right,” she said. “I’ll do what you’ve told me and I’ll call you Sunday afternoon and let you know.”
I closed my hand over hers and squeezed it hard. “It’ll work out,” I said.
We didn’t talk any more about it then. We had something to eat and a beer and I got out. It was a chance being with her, a long one, but still a chance. I didn’t want some guy remembering a thing like that when this deal was over.
I went back to the hotel. My work had been messed up for the last week, and it’s a kind of business that costs you money when you aren’t watching all angles.
The day before, a long shot had come in and that hurt. I’d laid off most with the syndicate exchange, but I was still caught short.
I counted the cash in my wallet. I had twelve hundred bucks. There was a thousand more in the bank. That wasn’t too bad but there were times when it had been a lot better.
I put the money back in my wallet and was ready to go to work when the phone rang and the operator said there was a friend of mine in the lobby by the name of Frank Olson.
I sat there for a while just looking at the receiver.
“Mr. Ford? Shall I send him up?”
“Yes, send him up.”
I put the phone down carefully and sat down on the edge of the bed.
What the hell did this mean? He couldn’t have tumbled to anything.
I lit a cigarette and got up and walked back and forth trying to think of everything at once, and trying to get my nerves under control.
There was a knock on the door. When I opened it he was standing there, looking bigger than ever in civilian clothes now, a sports outfit and a shirt open at the neck.
He smiled slowly, and I thought he look a bit uncertain.
“Hope I’m not barging in while you’re busy, Johnny,” he said.
Chapter VI
I figured from his smile there wasn’t anything to worry about. But it took a few seconds for the sudden tightness inside me to go away.
I smiled and put out my hand, trying to do it easy and natural. I said, “Come on in, hero. You’re looking good for yourself.”