“Sounds nice and simple. How come more people in trouble don’t use that route?”
“A good many of them do, as a matter of fact. But most of them don’t have the money to hire my services.”
“Canada is out,” Nolan said. “I never did like that place.”
Reynolds looked annoyed. “Let’s not become whimsical, Nolan.”
“It’s Mexico for me,” Nolan said. He had never been to Mexico, but he knew of its climate, its tequila, its women. Even after paying off Reynolds he’d have about thirteen or fourteen thousand dollars. That should provide a pleasant few years, he thought.
“Okay, it’s just as simple to get there. Of course, the difficulty in both cases is that you can’t get out quite so easily. Coming back, you’ll have to clear through United States customs and that’s a different matter.”
“Let’s don’t worry about that,” Nolan said, with a humorless smile.
“Very well. I’ll make reservations for you today and get you what identification you’ll need. Meanwhile I suggest you get a bath and a shave. And get a clean shirt from Morris.”
“Okay,” Nolan said.
Morris came in as Reynolds was standing to leave. He carried a tray on which there were two sandwiches and a pint milk bottle full of coffee.
“How about the liquor?” Nolan said.
“All right, all right, I’ve got to go out for that,” Morris said, and stalked out, a sullen expression on his face.
“What a creep,” Nolan said, picking up a fried egg sandwich that was cold and greasy.
“He’s all right. I’ll see you about seven tonight.”
Morris returned in half an hour with two fifths of bonded Bourbon. “This is twenty bucks,” he said.
“You’re a real spender with my money, aren’t you?”
“Why don’t you find somewhere else if you don’t like it here?”
Nolan took a crumpled twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and threw it on the floor. “There it is, you bastard. You’ll look natural crawling for it.”
Morris picked up the bill and put it in his pocket. “I’ve had some tough boys here, Mister. They found it all right. Slick Willie Sutton was here, and the Lanzettis. They had manners. You can always tell a punk by the way he pays off.”
“Damn you,” Nolan said. He put his hand over Morris’s face and shoved him through the door. “Go upstairs and dream about Slick Willie and the Lanzettis, but keep away from me, understand?”
Morris stared at him, trembling and tearful, and then he turned and went up the stairs, taking them three at a time with his long skinny legs.
Nolan opened one of the bottles and took a long drink. He sat down on the cot and thought about Linda. The first Linda, the real one. He drank half the bottle before stretching out and closing his eyes. His gun was beside him, within an inch of his right hand.
The whisky made him feel immensely peaceful. He floated gently in space, his thoughts turning slowly about Linda. Possibly she could meet him in Mexico some day. He could see her in a white dress, her arms and legs browned by the sun, coming across a hotel lobby to him with the bright quick smile on her face. There would be palms everywhere and flag-stoned terraces and strong drinks decorated with mint and ice. Everything would be very clean, and Linda would be smiling.
Nolan raised the bottle.
18
It was late in the afternoon when Mark was allowed to see Linda for the second time. She was much better, he saw at once. There was a touch of color in her cheeks and her eyes were clear. Her arms were outside the covers now but they looked very limp and white. She turned her head toward him as he sat down in a chair beside the bed.
“You’re looking fine,” he said.
“You look just ghastly,” she said, and smiled faintly. “So solemn, Mark. Did they tell you I’m going to die?”
“No, and for Heaven’s sake stop talking that way.”
“I wouldn’t, you know, unless I was sure I was going to be all right. You’ve been here since last night, haven’t you?”
“Yes. I’m a great little vigil-keeper. Do you remember this morning at all?”
“Only vaguely. I was pretty dopey. But I knew you were here and that made me feel better.”
“I talked quite a lot for a normally shy young man,” Mark said, with an attempt at lightness. “Do you remember any of that?”
Linda tried to laugh, but the effort made her wince.
“Are you trying to retract it now?”
“No, not at all.”
“I remember you said some very extravagant things,” Linda said. “They were very pleasant things to hear, Mark.”
“I felt I had an unfair advantage. You were all doped up and susceptible to suggestion.”
“I wasn’t that dopey, Mark,” she said, and moved her hand toward the edge of the bed. “At least I don’t think I was. You did say you loved me, I believe.”
Mark took her hand and patted it gently. “Yes, that’s right.”
They were silent a moment; and then Linda’s faint smile faded from her lips.
“Have they caught him yet, Mark?”
“No, not yet.”
“Why did he do it? Why did he do all of it, Mark?”
Mark sighed. “At the risk of sounding glib, I’d say it had something to do with that ‘Each man kills the thing he loves’ business.”
“But that doesn’t explain all of it, Mark.”
“I suppose not. Nolan was caught in a problem that was complicated by several factors. The big thing was that his capacities were far short of his ambitions. He wanted something that he just couldn’t have, and that’s what drove him to murder and eventually drove him crazy. Lots of people meet that problem, of course, but Nolan had a background of violence and instability, and so he reacted violently to it. He could have gone along indefinitely as a mediocre human being, but when he went on the make, when he got ambitious for something he couldn’t handle, he was through. He couldn’t go up, so he had to go down. And when he realized that, he wanted to take you with him. I think that’s all there is to it. Or maybe I’m completely wrong.”
“Yes, that’s all there is to it,” Linda said. “It’s not even tragic, is it, Mark?”
“Not quite, which is rather tragic, I think. Supposing we talk about it when you’re better. Okay?”
“All right, Mark. Will you hold my hand tighter?”
A moment later she said: “I’m so sleepy, Mark. Is that normal, do you suppose?”
“Absolutely. Girls are always sleepy when I unleash my passionate temperament. The barbiturate people pay me millions to keep myself off the market.”
Mark sat holding her hand until the nurse came in a few minutes later. She put a finger to her Bps and pointed firmly to the door. Mark sighed and disengaged his hand from Linda’s. Bending, he kissed her on the forehead and then tiptoed outside.
Ramussen was waiting for him in the corridor.
“What the hell are you grinning about?” he said.
“Nothing, nothing at all. What about Nolan?”
Ramussen sighed. “We’ve got him pinned down in Camden, anyway. He stayed at a rooming house there last night. The landlady got suspicious and called the police this afternoon. Her description fits, all right, but he’s still loose. I’m afraid he’s made a contact. Now why in the devil don’t you go home and get some sleep?”