"Do what he says, Angie," Jonas pleaded.
"NO!" she shrieked.
"You're a businessman, Mr. Cord," said Malditesta. "You understand, it's nothing personal. This is my business. It's what I do. It's how I make my living. A man has to make his living doing what he can, what he knows how to do. This is strictly a business deal. You can understand that. Make her understand it."
"Angie," Jonas whispered. "Get away. Let him do it. What he says is true."
Angie shook her head and clung more tightly to Jonas.
"It can be both of you, if that's what it has to be," said Malditesta.
6
"Like shit!"
Malditesta stiffened, then glanced behind him. "Mr. Cord Junior," he grunted. "With a gun pointed at my back. Okay. I've still got one pointed at your father and his new wife. You think you can drop me before I drop one of them? Or both? Even with a slug coming through me I can pull this trigger once or twice. Standoff, huh?"
Angie rolled off Jonas and lurched to her feet. She stood halfway between Jonas and Malditesta. "No standoff," she said. 'The only one you can kill now is me."
Jonas scrambled off the bed.
"No!" Bat yelled. "Stay behind her. He won't shoot her."
"You think so?" Malditesta asked Bat. "And who's this? We're attractin' quite a crowd here. With another gun, yet."
Toni had come through the door and was edging her way around Bat, to confront Malditesta from the side. She did have a gun: her .30-30 Winchester.
"So," muttered Malditesta. "I guess the question is: Just how important is the new Mrs. Cord? I guess you're Miss Maxim," he said to Toni. "You better point that rifle down. It might go off. And if anybody's gun goes off, the new Mrs. Cord is dead. Her at least. Like I asked, how important is she to you folks?"
Bat pressed the snub-nose thirty-eight against Malditesta's lower back. "How important is your spinal cord?" he asked. "You kill her, I'm not gonna kill you. I'm gonna put a thirty-eight slug right through your spine. You'll spend the rest of your life in the Nevada pen and you won't be able to walk or piss. I'm not going to kill you, Malditesta. I'm gonna cripple you. You ever figure on that?"
Malditesta moaned, as if he were already in agony. "I drop my gun, you let me go?" he asked. "It was a business deal, strictly."
"Sure." said Bat. "A business deal."
Malditesta hesitated for a full half minute, as if running past in his mind whatever alternatives he might have; and then he dropped his pistol to the floor.
Bat grabbed for a half-full, heavy champagne bottle that stood on a table behind him. He raised it and brought it down hard on Malditesta's head.
Malditesta dropped to his knees, then sprawled on the floor. "You ... made a deal," he moaned.
"I lied," said Bat as he raised the bottle and struck again.
7
"And he lied," said Toni as she pulled a revolver from inside Malditesta's coat.
Jonas sat on the bed. He breathed heavily.
"We'll get a doctor," said Angie as she covered herself with a flowered silk wrapper.
"No. I don't need a doctor. I needed the pill. That's all I need. You've seen me take those before. The nitroglycerine stops the pain."
"Pain you shouldn't have," she said. "You don't need— "
"We don't need an investigation either," said Bat grimly. He nodded toward the lifeless body of Malditesta. "Uh— You realize that nobody knows but the three of us."
"Whoever sent him knows," said Angie.
"And will be the last to call the police to help find him," said Bat. "I'll drag him out in the desert and bury him," he said. "No one is going to be looking for him. No one else is awake. There are no witnesses but us."
"I'll help," said Angie.
"Then we'll have to get rid of his car," said Bat. "He must have had one. Drive it fifty miles or so and abandon it."
"You can do that in the morning," said Jonas.
8
Bat and Angie dragged the body of Malditesta by a rope looped under his arms. Toni carried their tools: a pickaxe and a spade. Against the cold wind, all three wore sheepskin jackets and blue jeans, boots and gloves and hats.
The moon was setting. In half an hour it would be dark. They walked as the moon dropped toward the distant mountains and covered most of a mile before Bat stopped and began to chop at the frozen earth with the pickaxe. Frost had penetrated only a few inches, and he did not take long to dig a shallow grave.
Toni knelt over the hit man and went through his pockets. He carried no identification.
When the grave was ready they rolled Malditesta into it. Bat filled the hole, and together they shuffled over it until it was all but indistinguishable from the level desert around it. As they walked away the wind had already begun to scatter sand and dust over the grave and over their footprints.
9
Back inside the house they found Jonas sitting in the living room. He had put wood on the embers, and a fire was blazing.
"I'm hungry," he muttered. "And don't stare at the bottle. I'm entitled to a nip. The doctors say so. Bourbon helps reduce tension — and tension was what caused the pain."
"I'll see what's available in the kitchen," said Angie. "Anybody else want a snack?"
Bat and Toni shook their heads. Bat poured two Scotches.
"Well," said Jonas. "What I said had to be settled ... is settled."
Bat stood beside his father's chair and put his hand on his shoulder. "How do you want to settle it?" he asked.
"I'm afraid I've missed something," said Toni. "What are you settling?"
Jonas looked up at her. She stood by the fireplace in her jeans and wool shirt. "If I'm gonna talk business in front of you, I need to know how it stands between you and Bat."
"We're going to be married," said Bat. "We would have told you before we went back to New York."
Jonas smiled and nodded. "That's the best news I've had for a long time. So ... Tonight Angie offered her life to save mine. The least I can do for her is try to keep myself alive as long as possible. What the doctors tell me is I have to avoid tension and too much exertion. Well, you can't ride herd on a business empire without tension and exertion."
Bat moved over to stand beside Toni. He took her hand.
"You said I made you an errand boy," said Jonas. "Well, I never made you an errand boy. But I admit I kept a thumb on you. So, as from tonight the thumb is off. I'm taking Angie to Europe. I don't know how long we'll stay or when we'll be back. We may be gone six months. I don't know. When we do come back, I'll keep my nib out." He stopped, and a wry smile came to his face. "Out of whatever's left."
Bat, too, smiled, and he shook his head. "You never give up, do you?"
Jonas shrugged. "You're gonna have your chance. It's what you wanted, isn't it? I don't think you're entirely ready for it, but ... well, neither was I."
"Stick your nib in one more time, Jonas," said Toni. "Order him to take a vacation."
Jonas pointed a finger at Bat. "You do that, son," he said. "I'm still chairman of the board, and I'm telling you: You take a vacation."
"As soon as— "
"Not as soon as, goddammit! My old man wasn't indispensable. I'm not, either. And neither are you."