Sadie was terrified of him. “You can’t come in,” she said; “wait downstairs.”
Lu had heard tales about Raven and Sadie. “He said I was to wait here,” he told her firmly. “You don’t want him to get mad with you?”
She dropped her hand from the door and stepped back. Lu looked hastily up and down the corridor and then came in. He shut the door.
Sadie backed away from him, and then almost ran into her bedroom.
Grantham had been very plain. “She’s got to go, Lu,” he had said. “We can’t use her against Raven any more. He’s doin’ well, an’ any time she might spill it. Raven would rumble it at once. No, she’s got to go.”
Lu eased his fingers a little. He’d got to work fast. Raven might change his mind and come back any moment. Lu was a little nervous. She wasn’t small and she might be stronger than he could manage. There was no question of shooting. His hand groped round to his hip pocket and he drew a short heavy−bladed knife from its sheath. He slipped the blade up his cuff, holding the handle hidden in his palm.
He went over to the bedroom door and rapped.
She said with a little catch in her voice, “What do you want?”
Softly he turned the handle and looked in. “Can you fix me a drink, lady?”
“Get out of here!” Sadie was frightened of him.
“Aw, come on, lady, Raven said for you to make me at home.” Lu smiled at her. He edged his way further into the room.
“Get out, or I’ll scream,” Sadie said, retreating to the other side of the room.
“What’s bitin’ you, lady?” Lu asked, moving forward very slowly. “I just want a drink. Ain’t anythin’ in that.”
He was halfway across the room by now. Sadie saw the cold, merciless gleam in his eyes and she screamed. Lu swore softly and jumped forward. The blade gleamed as it swung towards her. She dodged desperately, thudded against the wall and fell.
Lu grunted and stabbed down at her. She rolled away, the knife cutting through her sleeve and making a long scratch on her arm. She screamed again.
Lunging again, Lu nearly had her this time, but with unsuspected speed she again dodged him, and ran past him into the outer room.
Lu was getting into a panic. She’d have all the hotel up in a minute. He went after her. She was just opening the front door to get into the corridor. He didn’t hesitate. His arm flashed up and the knife hissed through the air. Sadie heard the sound and flung herself sideways. The knife buried itself in the fleshy part of her arm. She fell on her knees with a faint cry of pain.
As Lu ran towards her a thunder−bolt struck him. Jay, hearing the uproar, had come to investigate. He saw Sadie lying on the floor and Lu coming at her, his face livid with fury and panic, and Jay launched himself full tilt at him.
The two men went down in a heap. Lu brought his knees up and tossed Jay away. Both of them scrambled to their feet. Lu’s hand flew to his gun, but Jay was already on him again and they went down in a mass of flaying arms and legs. Jay brought over his right and hit Lu hard on his cheek−bone. Lu’s hands got a grip on Jay’s throat and they rolled over and over across the corridor.
Jay got hold of Lu’s wrists and tried to break his hold, but Lu was too strong for him. Already the pressure on his windpipe was beginning to tell. His head seemed to be expanding like an inflated toy balloon. He drove his fist into Lu’s face. The grip loosened as Lu grunted with the unexpected pain. Jay hit him again and wriggled clear. Lu recognized him then. In that split second of recognition Lu realized that this guy must not escape. Grantham had given instructions to shoot at sight. Now he was here, right in the middle of everything.
He groped for his gun, swearing because it had caught in the lining of his pocket. He jerked feverishly on the handle.
Jay came at him again, his fists hit Lu on the side of his head and face, smashing him to the floor. The gun came away from his pocket.
“No, you don’t,” Jay panted, stamping on Lu’s wrist. The gun dropped on the thick carpet, and Jay kicked it away.
Lu dived after the gun, stooped to grab it, and got a paralysing kick that sent him hurtling down the corridor. He picked himself up and ran. Jay chased him to the end of the corridor, but Lu beat him to it. He fell down the first flight of stairs, and then, picking himself up, he beat it as if hell were at his heels.
Jay dusted himself down and went back to Sadie, who was half sitting up watching with fascinated eyes the steady flow of blood from her arm.
Jay picked her up. “Take it easy, sister,” he said, “I’ll get you out of here.”
He carried her into his room and kicked the door closed. When he put her on the bed he ran back and turned the key in the lock. Then he went into the bathroom, grabbed a couple of small hand−towels, and stopped the bleeding.
She went very white when he took the knife out, but she didn’t faint.
He said, “That’s fine. I’ll get you a drink. Just lie quiet.”
He rang down to Harris. “Listen, bud, I’ve had a little trouble on up my floor,” he said, when Harris came on to the line. “Will you come on up and keep an eye on me?”
Harris said, “What sort of trouble?”
“Now don’t start askin’ questions, come up an’ bring a rod.” He hung up with a grim little smile.
He fixed Sadie a drink from the small flask he always carried around with him, and then went out into the corridor to meet Harris.
Harris came up at a rim. His big face was alight with excitement. “What is it?” he asked.
“If this guy Cruise shows up I want you to tell him that some hood tried to stab his wife. Tell him the cops took both of them down to the station. For God’s sake don’t let him know I’ve got her in this room.”
“I can’t do that,” Harris exploded; “it’ll cost me my job.”
“Do it,” Jay said shortly; “this guy won’t go near the cops, I’m sure of that. If he gets an idea that I’ve got her here he’s goin’ to get very tough. If you do this I’ll give you twenty bucks.”
Harris’s eyes brightened. “Let’s have it,” he said quickly.
Jay gave him the money. “Look, go into his apartment and get that cigarette−case of mine. Snap into it.”
Harris returned in a few minutes, holding the case. “Here it is. Now what?”
“Just hang around the corridor until he comes back. You’d better make a good show or else that guy will do things to you.” Jay left him and went back to Sadie. She was lying on the bed. Although she was still very white, she looked stronger.
Jay locked the door and came over to her. “I’m Jay Ellinger, late of the St. Louis Banner,” he said. “You’re Mrs. Perminger, ain’t you?”
Sadie sat up, once more terrified. “Nono! You’ve made a mistake. I’m Mrs. Cruise,” she said.
Jay sat down on the bed. He took out a packet of cigarettes and offered her one. “Go on,” he said, when she refused. “It’ll steady you.”
She took it nervously, looking at him all the time. Sitting close to her, he could see the ravishes of time and horror stamped on her face. He could see the hard lines, the frightened eyes, and he knew that she’d been through some terrible experiences.
When he had lighted the cigarettes he said, “This is your chance to get out of this mess. I know you’re Mrs.
Perminger. I was talkin’ to your husband a while ago.”
Sadie looked at him, and then her face crumpled. She hastily put up her hands and began to cry.
Jay said, “Take it easy. You’re safe now. Tell me. It’s true, isn’t it?”
She nodded without speaking.
“Now listen, Mrs. Perminger. It’s goin’ to be all right. You’ve got to take me into your confidence. I can guess something of what happened to you but I want the full story. You saw the guy who killed Mendetta, didn’t you?”