The voluptuous young blonde paused in fear and confusion, not really wanting to go out, then walked a few steps from the sink. Suddenly a flash of pain struck her face and sent her head reeling. "Ya didn't hear what I said?" Sylvia gritted her teeth and slapped her open hand hard against Ellen's face once more. "Get it moving!"
The blow had brought Ellen to her senses, and for one split second she surveyed the gang girl with equal enmity. She forced herself to turn away from the girl and turned impassively to the door. As she tried to step into the next room Sylvia's taller frame moved out from the doorway and partially blocked her. She could feel the brunette's hot breath against her cheek and could sense electric shocks of hatred radiating out from her tensed body.
"You mess with Billy, and it's the last time ya mess with anything, do you hear me?" Sylvia said in a whisper so that the others couldn't understand. "I had him before ya even laid eyes on him, and I'll cut your tits off and shove 'em up your cunt if I have to to keep him," she hissed, inching past the girl and through the door.
"All right, what's goin' on?" Billy demanded as the two women entered the living room. When neither answered, he said, "Both of you – over there where I can keep an eye on you… and keep quiet."
Ellen brushed the tears of rage from her eyes and sat down on the bare mattress behind the table. She watched Sylvia cross the room and stand next to the window. She noticed that the girl's eyes still glowed with the reviling contempt that had sent her into the tantrum a moment before, and Ellen turned her head towards the men seated around the table.
"We got a little plan that's real interesting," Billy said, staring at Ellen, a half-grin of obvious pride on his face.
"I'd like to know what the girl has to do with the plan," the older man at the head of the table said sharply. "After all, there is a certain amount of risk involved in a venture of this nature. The greater number of participants only increases the probability of something going wrong."
"Ya keep your big words to yaself," Billy said. "She's here and she's going to be part of it."
Suddenly the large German Shepherd rose up from his prone position on the floor and came to attention next to his master's side as though he had sensed a note of urgency or danger. Billy ran his hand nervously down the animal's back, and shifted his eyes from Ellen back to the angry face of the man who pulled out some papers from his briefcase, setting them on the table before them.
"Alright, Billy," the man said condescendingly. "But let us keep in mind that you are putting yourself into a jeopardizing position. There are men higher up who won't appreciate your methods."
"Thanks for the advice fella," Billy said and slapped the dog affectionately on the rear. "But let's get on with it."
Ellen tried to appear disinterested in what was going on around her, but she found it difficult not to follow the discussion. It was obvious that the men were planning a murder that would effect the political and social life of the entire area, if not the whole country, but it was still impossible to discover the reason for the assassination or who was to be shot. Ellen almost didn't want to know, as she was aware that the very possession of such knowledge would make things increasingly hard for her. She also felt that Billy had little, if any, understanding of the implications of the horrible act he was about to commit, yet he appeared to rush headlong into the plot like a blindfolded animal being led to its slaughter.
"I want you and your friend here," the man said, pointing to Cash, "to be at the entrance to the rally before the parade begins. This will give you the opportunity to survey the area. Our men will be waiting at the first exit to pick you up after the job is completed. The senator should be the first speaker on the program, and you'll have a perfect vantage point to get a bead on him from behind his head."
"And what if they see us?" Cash asked. "There's gonna be a big crowd there and if they get a look at us, we're done for."
"There will be no problem. On the opposite side of the stadium there will be a fist fight planned – and some of our own men will be doing it – and just before you shoot, the crowd's attention will be deflected from Senator Jorgens."
Ellen suppressed a gasp of recognition on hearing the senator's name being spoken. She realized that the man they were about to assassinate had been an important figure in Florida politics for several years, and had developed several enemies in the underworld that centered around Miami because of his brave attack on organized crime. She recalled with a painful sense of irony that Senator Jorgens had been the very man who had been pushing hard for prison reform within the state, and along with his investigation of crime had been exposing the inequities of the penal system in Florida. Certainly the four criminals in their ignorance did not realize this – but if they did, the question was whether it would make any difference. Yes, Billy and the rest were truly being used as tools that would be discarded after their purpose had been served. There was no doubt in her mind that their death warrants had already been signed by the underworld lords. Ellen, herself, could see that as plain as daylight; but in their desperation and ignorance the escaped convicts were in no position to view the consequences of their acts.
"Yeah, but if any of them people get a glance at us, it still looks like it'll all be over," Billy answered after a moment of thought.
"We have prepared for that eventuality, Billy," the man said smoothly, talking to Billy as though he were a small child who just couldn't understand. "The moment you shoot him, another shot will ring out from behind our fist fight. It will actually be a firecracker, and there will be no weapon to be found. By the time the police get to our decoy, you and your friend will be out of the stadium."
"I don't like it," Pop said for the first time.
"What don't you like about it?" the man said, turning sharply to the new speaker.
"The part about gettin' out. That street is gonna be packed and there'll be cops to hell and back."
"Now we come to the next stage in our plan," the man said and leaned closer to Cash and Billy who sat on either side of him. "We've got to make the killing look as though it came from the protectors who've been making trouble recently. There will be a demonstration, as there always is, planned by us, and the student protectors will be uncomfortably close to our little fist fight. Now, knowing the temper of these times, who do you think is going to get fingered, you or the Students Alliance?"
"I don't want nothin' to do with no Goddamn protest," Billy muttered, looking uncertain.
"My dear boy, don't you understand that the demonstrators will be your salvation? Who would suspect a couple of wanted men – actually appearing in public to kill a controversial senator, when a bunch of noisy college kids will be waving signs and shouting their usual obscenities. You've just got to understand the dynamics of mob behavior. A crowd has no individuality; it does not think, it just acts – and our three ingredients, the fight, the firecracker, and the demonstrators, will more than assure you of complete success and escape."
"I don't know whatcha talkin' about," Billy said morosely. "But I get the feeling that you haven't leveled with us about why you want this Goddamn senator ripped off so real bad."
"Yeah, what's in it for you?" Vito's nasal voice joined in.
"My motives are of no special importance to you," the man nodded seriously. "Knowing too much may, in fact, be disadvantageous. I am a careful man who works for careful men, and I do not think you need to attach much importance to what you are doing. Just remember that it is through my employers that you have been able to make your escape from prison. We did that for you. We're prepared to go the rest of the way and see you get to Mexico in safety."