Finally I said, “How would you go about it?”
“How’d you know I wasn’t asleep, Enos?”
“I could tell. I asked you a question.”
“Well, I’d do it with witnesses. Then I’d call the law, hand over the gun, and stand trial. That way, when you walk out of the courtroom, a free man, there can never be any kickbacks.”
“Just like that, huh? I’m going to confess to a murder and get off scot free?”
She sat up and turned to face me. Her face had changed. It was as if the angles and bones had shifted to form new shadows. She laughed, soft and low.
“Who said anything about murder, Enos? You know your people here in south Georgia. You know their code, the way they live, their outlook. Do you think a jury of such men will condemn another man for protecting the sanctity of his home?”
I wanted to tell her to stop talking right now. I didn’t want to think about killing Sam. He was a hard, greedy cookie without much mercy in his makeup, but he... Well, he had me in a corner.
He would use any weapon at hand. He’d proved that.
I’d worked hard. My part of the business was worth plenty. Sam was a swine, grabbing his chance to take it all.
It was really his fault. He was leaving me no out. He knew I wouldn’t face prison.
He’d asked for it...
He wasn’t in the office the day I got back to Mulberry. It was four o’clock before he came in. I heard him in the outer office talking to Miss Sims, our secretary, and then the door of our private office opened to admit him.
“Hello, Enos. Sims said you were back.”
He was a big, florid, meaty man. Meaty lips, hands, nose. His brows and hair were pale red. Sims had said he’d been out to the turpentine fields all day inspecting a new lease.
“How does the lease look?” I asked.
He gave me a smug grin. “You think the lease really concerns you, Enos?”
I studied his face. All I could see was a man gloating. “I’d hoped you’d softened your attitude, Sam.”
His laugh was his reply.
“You know I can make that few thousand up in a matter of weeks, Sam. We’ve been in business...”
“And business is business, Enos.” A sneer came into his eyes. “You should have thought of that. I needed a partner when we started this company.”
“And you don’t now?”
“Not a stinking crook. No, I don’t need that kind of partner.” He sat down behind his desk. “What’ll it be, Enos? Sign the papers? Or go to jail?”
“I don’t hanker to be locked up, Sam.”
“No,” he said acidly. “I was sure you wouldn’t. You’re too great a lover of life for that, too much the gladhanded popularity guy.”
It struck me that he hated me, had always hated me. To him, in this case, business was going to be a pleasure.
“I’ll make one last appeal, Sam...”
“Save it. I’ve said all I’m going to.”
“But I’ll say it anyhow. You know what my portion of the company is worth. Many times the few thousand I borrowed...”
“Stole, Enos, that’s the word.”
I drew in a breath while he sat and watched me and enjoyed himself.
“Well,” I said. “Surely you could pay a few thousand more...”
“You’ve had every dime you’re going to get for your share, Enos. That’s it. Now make up your mind. We either have the papers signed before noon tomorrow or I’m swearing out a warrant.”
I sat and looked at him for a minute. But I didn’t need to make a decision. It had been made all ready. It was seething in my blood and flashing hotly across my brain.
“Have you mentioned any of this to another living soul?” I asked.
“No.”
“If I make this sacrifice,” I said, “I’ll be doing it to keep my name absolutely clean.”
“I know that,” he said. “I know it’s my lever, my weapon, Enos. Made up your mind?”
I stood and nodded. “Come out to the house tonight. About eight. I have an errand to do, but Doreen will be there. You can chin with her if I’m late. Have a drink, if you like. I guess we might as well settle this with as little rancor as possible.”
“That’s sensible talk, Enos. I’m glad you’re taking it this well.”
“What can I do?”
“Not a damn thing,” he said in huge enjoyment. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there. Waiting for you.”
Early that evening I drove over to Macon to see a cousin who had been ill for some time. He was surprised and glad to see me. We made small talk for an hour or so. Business. My marriage. The weather. I left with a promise that I’d bring Doreen and we’d have a real old-fashioned Georgia watermelon cutting sometime soon.
I was back in Mulberry by nine-thirty. Driving through the elm and maple-lined back streets in the darkness I felt tension building in me. There was a thickness in my throat and a tingling in the tips of my fingers. The large, old houses, set beyond wide lawns, were peaceful, serene.
At the edge of town I turned left, picked up the sideroad that ran to The Willows, the fine old place I’d bought for Doreen.
I drove down the dark tunnel with weeping willows on either side. Then my headlights picked up the house, the wide veranda, the white columns. A portion of the downstairs was lighted.
I parked in the driveway beside the house, cut the lights, opened the glove compartment, and transferred the .38 revolver to the side pocket of my coat.
I found Sam and Doreen in the front parlor of the house. A pig about everything, Sam had partaken well of the brandy from the bottle on the sideboard.
His eyes were heavy-lidded, his face reddish purple with blood. He looked up at me and grinned. “You took long enough, Enos.”
“But I’m here now,” I said. “Everything all set, I suppose.”
Doreen had risen to stand behind Sam. She nodded. Sam said everything was set. His words meant nothing. Her nod was what interested me.
Only minutes of life remained to Sam now. I tried to keep from thinking about it. My knees were weak, and my mouth was so dry I wondered if I could get the next words out.
“Okay,” I said. “Come on and we’ll get it over with.”
Doreen started from the room. Her eyes were glinting as if sheened with satin.
Sam sat a moment, shrugged, and got up.
We went down a corridor. Doreen opened a door on a dark room.
We entered and I heeled the door closed. I palmed the gun and pulled it out of my pocket.
Doreen switched on the light.
Sam started. “Hell, this isn’t an office or a den — it’s a bedroom!”
I heard Doreen breathing. “That’s right, Sam,” she said softly.
He turned to look at her, and I let him have it. Another five seconds and the last of my nerve would have been gone. I had to do it then.
The bullet hit him in the left temple, ranged upward, and left a hole the size of a half dollar when it came out of his skull.
And yet he didn’t die immediately. He lived for perhaps five seconds. He twitched, the breath rattled in his throat. He half-turned himself on the carpet where he lay. Then he was dead.
Doreen had watched every bit of it. She was half-kneeling, to watch the final flick of light fade from his face. She rose, and in her face and eyes was a rapt expression.
I felt like shaking at her, yelling at her.
She turned her face toward me, her eyes trying to focus through the fever in them. She didn’t seem to know where she was for a moment. Then she started laughing, low and soft.
“Cut it out!” I said. “Doreen — stop it!”
She brushed her glossy hair away from her temples with both hands. “Hello, Enos. Dear Enos. I feel higher than the proverbial Georgia pine right now. Did you see it, the way death came creeping over him? He fought, Enos. Every cell, of him wanted to live. But we had that power over him, didn’t we? The power to smash the life out of him...”