That Bob Minnow must have been a sharp article too. With Lenny paying off the police and bribing the town into liking the whole setup he had to be. In fact, everybody was on their toes. Harlan, she played it real cute. She found out in a hurry that when Lenny got to be top dog she was deadwood. She was the weak link that could spoil his pretty chain.
So Harlan took out some insurance too. She wrote Bob Minnow a letter and he filed it away. That was the catch. He wasn’t to open it until she died, but at one point in his investigation of Lenny Servo he learned that he was connected with Harlan.
Maybe he suspected the truth. He went ahead and opened the letter anyway and found out he was right. He went out and had it photostated in case something happened to the original. He wasn’t taking any chances on his safe being cracked again.
Just thinking about it put everything right out where I could see it. The insurance wasn’t any good to Harlan unless she let Lenny know what she did. That way he couldn’t afford to knock her off. He had to get the letter back first. Quick, too.
It was quick. Minnow double-checked to verify his source and when the letter came in with the verification he didn’t lose any time getting things started. He went down to his office, but somebody who knew where he’d be and knew damn well he’d have that letter along, passed the word up the line and there was a guy waiting for him.
Me, I said to myself. No, Johnny. Maybe he went there to spill the works to the D. A. and got panicky. Sure, a guy on the run wouldn’t be thinking straight, would he? Hell no! So he got a gun from somewhere in case somebody tried to pick him up and went up to see Minnow.
Panicky. It was hard to picture Johnny getting panicky. The guy was cold as ice no matter what he did.
Feet stamped outside. Metal rasped against metal and a voice swore softly. A door opened and shut and the feet pounded on the floor. Then the door across the room was pushed inward and Lenny Servo was there, his hat spilling water past his eyes. There was a scab on his lip and his face was still swollen. Eddie Packman and the kid were right behind him. Eddie carried a gun. Lenny kept his hands in his pockets while he stared at me, then tossed his hat on the table and shrugged out of his raincoat.
I knew just what was going to happen and the only thing I could do was spit right in his face before Lenny’s hand snapped my head back.
He said, “You stinking bastard!” and hit me again. He kept it up until his knuckles were bloody then he kicked me in the shins with the toe of his shoe and laughed while I vomited bile on the floor.
“You shoulda wore a glove, Lenny,” Packman said. “Now look at your mitt.”
Lenny didn’t answer him. He was looking straight at me, his breath whistling in and out through his teeth. “Where is she, damn you!”
My mouth felt like a puffball of swollen flesh. “Who?”
“Vera! Damn it, you better start talking.”
I said two words to him and they weren’t good night.
Eddie said, “He won’t talk. He’s a tough guy.”
Lenny seemed to relax. He rubbed his knuckles and backed to the table. He liked that pose, perching on the corner with one leg swinging. “That’s right. Tough. I never thought he’d be so tough.”
“He got medals for it in the army,” Eddie said. I brought my head up and it was my turn to stare. I had that creepy sensation again.
Lenny’s eyes were black beads of hate. He was hating me so hard he could hardly get the words between his teeth. “Remember what I told you five years ago? I told you to get out of town and never stop running. I told you once that I’d let Eddie work you over with a knife until there was nothing left but ribbons if you came back and you came back anyway.
“You were scared then, McBride. You knew damn well I wasn’t kidding. You forgot too much. Or did you wonder if I meant it? Now you can find out. Eddie’s got a nasty mind. He likes to see blood run. He likes to start it going with that knife of his and stand there and watch it drip. That’s why I keep Eddie around. People know what he’s like and they never go too far with me.
“Except you, McBride. You had to be one of the wise ones. You and a few others. Now you’ll see how stupid you were in ever coming back.”
Eddie grinned and tossed the gun on the table. It lay there beside the light while he reached in his pocket. The thing didn’t show in his hand until he pressed the button, then the blade jumped out between his fingers, the carefully honed blade the only bright spot in the room.
I got smart for the last time. I said, “You ought to be happy. Three times you tried and now you’re finally going to make out.”
The two of them looked at each other and Eddie shrugged. Lenny cursed silently and lit a cigarette. His hand was still bleeding. He said, “Show him.”
He stepped over and cut a notch out of my right ear. Then the left ear. Pimples got sick to his stomach and Eddie laughed his head off. He said, “Now we’ll have some fun,” and started to unbuckle my belt.
Everybody heard the car brake to a stop outside. The door slammed and a guy came in dripping rain all over the place. He was tall and skinny and wore a gun belt over his raincoat. He looked at the kid who was still sick and over to me. The sight didn’t bother him a bit.
“I got the dame outside,” he said.
Lenny came off the table. “Where was she?”
“Trying to hitch a ride along the highway about eight miles out. She must have been in town all this time.”
“Bring her in.” He waved his thumb at the kid. “You go help him.”
They forgot about me. Even Bloody Eddie. The two of them stood in the doorway waiting for the others to come back. The car doors slammed again and the tall guy came in carrying a woman in a torn gray trench coat. He threw her in a chair and the bandanna came off her head.
Lenny had found Troy Avalard.
There wasn’t much beautiful about her now. Her hair was a soggy mess that was plastered to the sides of her face. She has two long scratches along one cheek and her top lip was a nasty blue color. Her eyes were a dull gaze that reflected the terror she felt, coming to life only when they saw Lenny.
He smacked her across the jaw with his open palm and knocked her right out of the chair. “Isn’t this nice? Isn’t this just plain lovely?” He laughed through his words and hauled her back on the chair. “Now we’re almost finished, It’s too bad Harlan had to do the Dutch or we could have made a real party out of it.”
“Lenny...”
“Shut up, you lousy little tart. I’ve been just waiting for this chance. You don’t think I would have let you get away, do you? You don’t think I’d let you take me for a pile then let you slip out of my fingers. You could do those things when Harlan was alive and get away with it. Not now.” His hand caught her again, this time in the mouth. The chair rocked over backward and she lay there on the floor, her arm up in front of her face.
She tried to scream. He bent down, pulled her arm away and smashed her again. “Lenny! Don’t... oh mother... don’t!” She cowed against the wall without being able to get away from his hand. She was screaming and sobbing, scrambling on her hands and knees, only to be tripped up by the chair.
It was Lenny who knocked her free. She rolled, her dress up to her waist, clawing at the floor as she pulled herself over to me. Her arms grabbed the legs of the chair frantically while the curses poured out of her mouth. They subsided into a long, broken sob that racked her body.
Lenny was smiling. He was happy. He walked to the table, picked up the gun and checked the chamber. His eyes met mine and the smile drew up into a sneer. “You won’t die without company, Johnny. You know why she’s going to die with you?”