The only first-aid equipment in the medicine cabinet was a box of flesh-colored band-aids. Two of these on Skeets’s forearm stopped the bleeding. Then Shayne opened his box of hypodermic syringes. Skeets twitched as the needle went in.
Marti, returning to consciousness, lifted his head, knocking it on the bed rail. He came out talking.
“I’ll pay anything you want, anything, but don’t kill me. Don’t tell me you can’t use a little extra money.”
“How much have you got with you?”
“Not much in cash, but I can get more. Give me a break, Jack. Harriet’s got some diamonds.”
“Who’s Harriet — in the bathroom?”
“A bracelet, some nice rings…”
“I need cash. Get up and see how much you can find. I hope for your sake it’s enough to make this worthwhile.”
Marti scrambled up. He winced and touched the back of his neck, then looked at the blood on his fingers.
“That’s not your blood,” Shayne told him. “I’m setting up a little con here, because I’m not sure De Blasio still has the clout to protect anybody on a homicide rap. But I can always change my mind. Get me some money. That’s the kind of argument I can listen to.”
Marti went through his wallet and the woman’s pocketbook. She had a little over a hundred; he had six hundred. The sum didn’t impress Shayne.
“Take the bracelet,” Marti offered. “You can fence it for a couple of grand.”
“Don’t be dumb. What terms are you on here, Marcello? Would she mind if you got killed?”
“Sure she’d mind! She’s crazy about me! She’ll write a check like a shot.”
“And how do I cash it?”
“Go down to the desk with her. They know her. They’ll cash up to five G’s.”
“Marcello, use your head. I want to stay anonymous. Sit down, let me think about it.”
Marti collapsed into a chair. “Did you kill him?”
“I gave him some dope. He’ll be out four hours. Shut up and don’t bother me. Maybe there’s a way I can work this.”
Marti watched him. Shayne stuck a cigarette in the mouth hole of the mask.
“How the hell did you get yourself in a position like this?” he said after a time. “Didn’t you know the Don would have to knock over the first guy who tried to shylock in these hotels?”
“Bobby said there was coverage from inside. I had his assurance.”
Shayne lit the cigarette. “What kind of coverage?”
Marti said desperately, “I took his word! I didn’t push him for details, that’s his business. Do you think I’d try to break into a new town unless I was convinced it was an open market? The way they explained it to me, the cops are on top of Mr. D. every minute, so I could get established.”
“Where do you come from?”
“Brooklyn. But I’m not a complete stranger, I used to peddle smack here, years ago. I can refer you to people who can vouch for me.”
“Who staked you?”
“It all came through Bobby. Goddamn it, he told me time and again I had nothing to worry about!”
“He was lying to you, Marcello. Do you ever watch the Late Show? You’ve seen it happen — the Indians have the wagon train surrounded. The hero puts his hat around the corner. If he pulls it back with an arrow in it, that tells him something.”
“An arrow?”
“If you made it through the week without being shot, Bobby’d know it was safe to turn the rest of his guys loose. If not, tough. Then he’d have to go for the Don himself, or show his strength and try for a deal. How many guns has he got?”
“Twenty. But they’re under wraps. Like you say, he’s taking it step by step.”
“What kind of people?”
“The best.” Marcello clapped his heart with his fist. “To the death.”
“If I make a mistake on this,” Shayne said doubtfully, “it’s my ass. We’ve got you outnumbered eight to one, but I don’t know about the Don — he’s ninety percent flab. Carl — well, the less said about Carl…”
“I heard he’s flitty.”
“He’s married, if that means anything, and in Carl’s case I doubt if it does. Siracusa’s been scratched.”
He considered for another minute before pronouncing judgment. “Marcello, when they gave me the assignment, you got lucky. I’m going to take a chance with Bobby. You’re sure he has financing?”
“Heavy! This is no fly-by-night thing. I’ll sponsor you, I can get you in.”
“I’ll get myself in. Now I’m going to explain something.” He picked up the harmless.38 and demonstrated the trigger action. “I took out the hammer spring. That was a sincere thing for me to do, and you know you’re grateful.”
“I am!”
“And now you’re going to do exactly what I say.”
“Exactly what you say. Anything at all.”
“How about the chick’s husband? When’s he due?”
“He’s in Vegas for two days. No problem.”
“I want to talk to her. Get her out here.”
Marti ran to the bathroom. She had knotted a towel around herself, and improved her appearance by combing her hair and repairing her lipstick, but she was still frightened. Her eyes flickered from Marti’s blood-soaked undershirt to the man on the floor.
“It’s O.K.,” Marti told her. “He’s being reasonable.”
“Don’t count on it,” Shayne said. “Did you notice I took some photographs?”
“No,” she said faintly.
Shayne took out his tiny camera, told them to join hands, and made one more shot, which finished the roll.
“All right, Harriet. What shape is your marriage in?”
“Please,” she said faintly.
“Did Marcello tell you what he does for a living? He’s an outside shylock who’s been loaning money in the hotel without an O.K. He’s the wrong kind of playmate. I had the feeling you were blowing him when we walked in. Maybe not, but the camera knows. This is a great lens — very good definition in eight-by-ten enlargements.”
“Do you want money?” she said.
“Damn right I want money.” He took out his flask, which was warm to the touch, opened it, and drank. “And on top of that, I don’t want to end up on the losing side. Marcello, I want you out of Miami inside an hour. You’d be making a big mistake to say good-bye to anybody but Harriet. When you get to wherever you’re going, stay out of sight. Don’t use the phone. You’re dead, and I’ve got pictures to prove it.”
Marti was nodding quickly.
“Maybe you think you can get away with one phone call to Burns—”
“No! I promise.”
“You’ve been marked by De Blasio, and you know he has a million connections. Stay dead until we can work this out. Just remember, you have no options at all.”
“My God, after you have a gun at the back of your head like that, you need a vacation.”
Shayne took out another hypodermic syringe. “Skeets will need another one in the ass four hours from now. That’s going to be your job, Harriet. Do you know how to give an injection?”
She gave a terrified shake of the head.
“Baby, you do, too,” Marti said. “Unless you want Jerry to see those pictures.”
Shayne showed her how the plunger worked. “I don’t care what you do so long as you’re here to give him his shot. Then you can leave him and let him wake up by himself.”
“Wouldn’t it be safer,” Marti said, “if we, you know…”
“Stop trying to use your head. It’s too late for that. I’ll leave you now. I always hate to interrupt people when they’re having sex, so if you want to finish…”
Harriet said coldly, “What a revolting idea.”
“Sweetie…” Marti complained.
16
At the door, his back to the others, Shayne pulled off the stocking mask and tossed it aside.