‘I hear you,’ I said.
Klaus looked at Harry.
‘Get it moving, Harry: the truck, the uniforms, the cutter and the cartons. I want the operation to begin Saturday at 3 a.m. You will discuss with Mr. Lucas all the necessary details tomorrow night. Where will you meet him?’
Harry scratched his beard as he thought.
‘Nine, tomorrow night, at the Golden Rose motel on the Frisco highway.’ He looked at me. ‘Do you know it?’
‘I’ll find it.’
‘Ask for cabin six.’ He gave a sly, cocky grin. ‘They know me there.’
Getting up, he left the room.
‘Are you satisfied?’ I asked Klaus.
‘If Harry finds no problems, I will pay you as agreed.’ He took from a drawer a bulky envelope. Opening the envelope, he produced bearer bonds. ‘Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, Mr. Lucas. Look at them.’ He pushed the bonds across the desk. ‘They should give you an incentive.’
I picked up the bonds. They were each of the value of $25,000. Ten of them: they looked as if they had passed through many hands. I put them back on the desk, and Klaus scooped them up.
‘These bonds will be delivered to you at your office next week if I am satisfied Harry thinks there are no problems.’
I picked up my brief-case and got to my feet.
‘No money... no operation,’ I said.
‘If there are no problems, you will get the money. From what you have told me, I don’t anticipate problems. When. you get the bonds, be careful. If you decide to sacrifice your woman’s life, and bolt, don’t do it.’ Once again his face turned into a snarling mask. ‘From now on, you will be watched. I have an organization: not just three men. If you try to bolt, you won’t get far, and your end will be unpleasant.’ The slate-grey eyes lit up. ‘They will cut off your hands, blind you and cut off your tongue. You will be left to bleed to death. So don’t try anything tricky, Mr. Lucas.’
Then I knew he was utterly mad.
‘I hear you,’ I said, and leaving him, I walked into the lobby.
Benny, standing by the front door, sneered at me.
‘Be seeing you, fink,’ he said.
I went out to where Joe, playing his harmonica, sat in the Chevy.
As I slid into the passenger’s seat, I thought thankfully that Klaus wasn’t as smart as Joe said he was. I had taken a risk. Neither Klaus, Harry nor Joe had an idea that I had a tape recorder built into the lid of my brief-case, and I now had a tape recording of every word they had said.
Joe sat silent as he drove down to the highway. I glanced at him, seeing his black sweating face dimly lit by the dashboard lights. He looked, as I hoped he would look, like a man with a load on his mind. When we reached the highway, and were heading towards Sharnville, I said, Your boss, Joe is happy. We break into the bank at three o’clock Saturday morning.’
He grunted, the worried frown on his face deepened, but he still said nothing.
It wasn’t until we were nearing my apartment block that I said, ‘Come on in, and have a drink with me, Joe, or have you a date?’
He stared at me for a brief moment. I could see the whites of his eyes.
‘You asking me to drink with you, Mr. Lucas?’ There was surprise in his voice.
‘Look, Joe, we are all in this. With luck, we’re all going to be rich.’ I underlined the word luck. ‘Cut out this crap, don’t call me mister... call me Larry.’
He pulled up outside my apartment block.
‘Harry has never asked me to drink with him,’ he muttered.
‘Oh, come on, Joe.’ I got out of the car. ‘Don’t act like an Uncle Tom.’
I walked across the sidewalk, willing him to follow me. As I was pushing open the glass doors to the lobby, he joined me. We rode up in the elevator. I unlocked my front door and moved aside to let him pass. He stood uneasily while I shut and locked the door.
‘Whisky and Coke, okay?’ I said, going over to the liquor cabinet.
‘Yeah, man.’ He looked around the room, wiping sweat of his face with the back of his hand. ‘I don’t catch this. What do you want to give me a drink for?’
‘Quit being servile, Joe,’ I said impatiently. ‘You’re a man like I am, and we’re going to work together. Sit down, for Christ’s sake!’
Muttering to himself, he sat down in an armchair, resting his elbows on his knees.
I fixed him a drink that could have knocked over a mule.
Keeping my back turned, I poured myself a Coke and left out the whisky. I gave him his drink and sat down, opposite him.
Speaking casually, I told him how we would break into the bank, all about the gimmicks and the neutralizes, how Harry was fixing the getaway truck. I gave him all the details, and he sat forward, his black face intent, listening, while he kept sipping his drink.
‘So that’s it, Joe,’ I concluded, noticing by now his glass was nearly empty. ‘With luck, by next Monday morning, you will be rich.’
His eyes narrowed.
‘Didn’t I tell you, man, I’m never lucky? I’ve been thinking about what you said. I’m not even sure of Harry now.’
‘Oh, come on, Joe. You said you could trust Harry.’
‘Yeah.’ He finished his drink and grimaced. ‘Harry and me shared a cell for three years. That’s a mighty long time. We got along fine together. He fixed me up with the boss.’
‘What was he in for, Joe?’
‘Harry? His old man was the finest forger of bonds ever. Harry handled them. Harry told me his old man got careless, and they caught him and Harry. Harry drew six years.’
The finest forger of bonds!
The nickel dropped.
I realized why Klaus had agreed to pay me in bonds. I was now sure the bonds he had shown me had been forged by Harry’s father!
Looking at Joe, I could see the drink was hitting him. There was now a dazed look in his eyes, and he kept rubbing his mouth aimlessly with the back of his hand.
‘Harry seems okay with me,’ I said, ‘but Benny scares me, I get a feeling once the money is in die truck, he’s going to kill me. He could kill you and Harry too.’
Joe shook his head as if trying to clear it. He stared at me, ‘Yeah, man. I don’t dig Benny.’
‘Have you a gun, Joe?’
‘Sure, I’ve got a gun.’
‘I wish to God I had one. Together — you and I — could take care of Benny if he started something.’
Joe gaped at me.
‘What’s that mean, man?’
‘Neither of us need worry about Benny if I had a gun. I could watch him when you’re doing the work, and you could watch him while I was doing the work.’
He screwed up his eyes while he thought.
‘But Harry would be watching him.’
‘I’m going to talk to Harry, Joe. With the three of us watching Benny, he won’t stand a chance of double-crossing us.’
He thought some more, then nodded.
‘Yeah, that’s right.’ He reached in his hip pocket and produced a .38 police special. ‘You have this, man. I’ve got another in my pad. Yeah, between the three of us, we can handle Benny.’
I took the gun, not quite believing it would be as easy as this.
‘Another thing, Joe: don’t entirely trust Harry. That’s a lot of money. Harry could knock Benny off. He could also knock both of us off.’
Joe again screwed up his eyes, then shook his head.
‘I don’t dig that... not Harry.’
‘It’s a lot of money.’
He thought some more, then nodded.
‘Yeah, it sure is.’
‘Look, Joe, it’s up to you to take care of yourself. Three million dollars! You’ve got to be sure you get your share. I have no worry. As I told you, I’m getting my cut in advance, but you have to worry about Benny and Harry. I’ll watch you, and you watch me. Don’t say anything to Harry. You just never know.’