by S G Read
‘Go on? No one likes me cos I'm too young!’ The boy continued.
When his misty eyes cleared, he realized he had seen the boy before.
‘I know you don't I? What's your name?’ Dan asked.
‘Ronald.’
‘You was at the bank!’
‘Yes they made me watch from across the street.’
‘How long did you stay?’
‘Until the bank shut, I was taking car numbers.’
‘Can you write then?’
‘Not very well but I only have to copy the shapes. I often get left all alone, so I do it a lot.’
‘Did you see the girl taken?’
‘Yes. A nice black limousine. I wrote it in my book.’
‘You'll get your ride, do you have the book with you?’
Ronald held up the book.
‘Where we going?’ He asked.
‘Out of town. When you got to be in by?’
‘Before dark.’
‘What about food?’
‘I have a dime for candy.’
‘We'll find you something more wholesome where I'm going.’
Dan drove back to the retirement home with his passenger.
‘Why have you brought him here?’ Drummond cried in obvious complaint.
‘He has the number of the car that was used in Cally's kidnap.’ Dan replied. ‘I promised him some food.’
‘How is knowing the car number going to help?’ Drummond asked. Then he turned to Archie. ‘Can you find out who owns it through your mates downtown?’
‘It would do no good. False name, false address. We need to find it and follow it.’ He replied.
‘I seen it since then!’ Ronald offered.
‘Where?’ Drummond asked.
‘Always the same place.’ Ronald replied. ‘The Nickelodeon on the corner of 3rd and Richter.
‘Come on young Ronald. Come into the kitchen with me and I'll find you some food.’ Barbara said and as if to insist without insisting, she took his little hand as she walked by.
‘Cally might be there!’ Drummond cried. ‘Let's call the lieutenant and get them to pull it apart!’
‘We'll do no such thing young man but we do need to send them a message Dan, if it's okay with you.’ Archie answered.
‘All my tries have proved useless so far, you hold up a straw and I'll have a go at it.’ Dan replied.
‘Good! Drummond go up and make sure the money is well hid. If we don't know where it is we can't tell anyone who is asking us, can we?’
Drummond looked at the two men.
‘You're just trying to get rid of me!’ He accused.
‘Now you know how little Ronald feels all the time.’ Archie replied. ‘And I thought it was better than saying go away. Now go and do as you have been asked.’
As soon as he had gone Archie wrote a note for Dan to deliver. Dan read it.
‘This leaves us wide open to double cross!’ He warned.
‘Just how it's meant to read but I have something up my sleeve.’ Archie replied.
Dan smiled, he liked Archie. He walked to the door then stopped.
‘How do you think I should do it?’ He asked.
‘Wrapped round a brick and thrown from some way away, knowing what they are like.’ Archie answered.
Dan nodded.
‘I'll come back for Ronald, best he stays here while I do this.’
When Drummond came back down, Dan had gone and Archie was talking on the phone in the hall.
Peter walked in to where Dermot lay on his back unmoving. He picked up the empty tray of food.
‘Did someone feed you or are the rats getting fat, as you waste away?’
There was no reply, in fact there was no response at all, which is just what Peter expected.
‘Cat got your tongue?’ He said with a sly grin. ‘Well don't stick it out or the rats will get that as well.’ He walked out with the tray.
Dermot smiled and carried on chewing, he was now a one armed man.
Dill was in his favourite restaurant waiting for his food when two men walked in and sat opposite him. Dill knew who they worked for. The smaller of the two spoke.
‘Mr. Zicci wants to talk to you.’
‘No problem. I'll go when I've eaten.’ Dill replied, sliding his hand into his coat pocket to Harry's pistol.
‘Mr. Zicci doesn't like to be kept waiting!’
‘And I don't like my meal to be interrupted. Now if you were here to, how does it go? Ice me! Then I'd be dead now, so cut the crap and order yourselves, my treat.’
The bigger man stood up and Dill pulled the gun to the top of his pocket, just out of sight.
‘Sit down Tom.’ The smaller man said quietly and held up his hand for a waiter. The man came immediately. ‘We'll have what Mr. Dill is having and coffee.’
The waiter hurried away.
Cally still sat tied to the chair as the man read a paper sitting on his makeshift bed by the window. The room had two windows, the one Cally was facing and the one to the left of it close to the door. Over the last few hours she had tried to manoeuvre the chair she was tied to closer to the metal plate with the wire protruding next to it but when daylight arrived, she was still some way from it. Her plan was crude and demeaning but it was all she had and she had to have a plan or she was going to go mad! Whenever her gaoler left the room she wiggled nearer to the wire until she was close enough to move the wire toward the plate with the chair leg but she had to move away from it slightly before he came back in case the plan backfired. When she was satisfied that she had done all she could she sat and waited, after all that was all she could do! Every time the urge to go to the toilet came she turned her thoughts onto other things. Below in the vestibule the cashier, who was none other than the same hotel clerk from Clo’s lot, was startled by a brick as it was thrown through the window. He drew his pistol and investigated but saw no one. There was a note attached to the brick. He phoned the glass works, then phoned Michael upstairs. Peter came down and collected the note. He was followed up the stairs by Dill as he returned from his meeting.
‘We have a Billy do Bertram.’ Michael called as he walked by.
Bertram chose to consider than as an invite to come in and listen. He waited while Michael read the note.
‘They want to trade the girl and her father for the money! That ought to please you. We choose the place! What a trusting lot!’
‘Does that mean you'll go along?’ Dill asked.
‘Of course Bertram! You don't think I want to kill the girl and her father?’
Dill smiled a limp smile, one that was meant to be disarming but it was just a limp smile, he knew the truth.
‘You need somewhere well away from witnesses.’ He said.
‘What about the farm boss.’ Peter responded. ‘We only just got that place! The law can't know about it yet.’
‘A good idea Peter, if somewhat colloquially put but we'll leave them no time to arrange an ambush.’
Dill walked up to his room to work, before going to bed, on his way he made a phone call. Even though no name had been mentioned, he was the main bookkeeper at the moment and every purchase passed in front of him in the way of receipts. Until things settled down they were stuck in the nickelodeon but it was a large building, with an upstairs screen which was no longer used.
Chapter 6
Darkness was a long time coming and Cally breathed a sigh of relief when it arrived. She waited until her gaoler was snoring, before she tried to put her plan into action. All she had to do was let her well full bladder leak over the plate and the wire without killing herself in the process. Then get him to step on the plate! It either worked or she was in for another beating. She did her best to make the area around her and the plate as wet as possible without electrocuting herself. The light in the kitchen was still on as Cally could see a glimmer of light coming up from below, now that she was nearly over the top of it. The glimmer of light also helped her set her trap. When she was ready s
he started ranting at the sleeping man, calling him names, some not very ladylike. He awoke with a start, banged his head on the sloping roof again and stumbled cursing to the light switch. From there he charged like and angry elephant across the room to swung a vicious blow at Cally. His foot landed on the plate but the blow still arrived and as he was being electrocuted, it was supercharged. Cally was thrown across the room and sprawled unconscious on the floor. The man remained where he was for some time, squirming uncontrollably but Cally saw nothing of it.
‘What the hell’s wrong with the light?’ Jacob asked, sitting in the kitchen.
‘It does that sometimes, the wiring here aint exactly top hole.’ Peter replied using one of Michael’s favourite phrases and walked over to the switch. ‘I usually wiggle it a bit to sort it out.’ He turned the light off and on and the light returned to normal. ‘See what I mean.’
A thud above them made them look up.
‘Is that Sean hitting that girl again?’ Jacob stood up, ready to go and investigate.
‘It don't matter, Michael's already told me what to do with her and her father. We go out to the farm to dig the holes tomorrow.’ Peter replied. ‘Stay and have another beer.’
‘She's tied to a chair Peter!’ Jacob stressed.
Peter took another mouthful of beer.
‘She will be when I put a bullet in her little brain. If you want, we can do Sean at the same time.’ He replied, savouring the beer.
Jacob sat back down.
‘I'll bury him alright, but he won't be dead!’ He said after listening for more noises from above a few moments. When he heard none he was satisfied that Sean had stopped hitting her and settled back in his chair.
Peter smiled.
‘Good one. I wish I'd thought of it.’ He said and threw a beer over to Jacob.
Dan returned from the visit to the nickelodeon and took Ronald home, much to Ronald's displeasure but to Drummond's relief.
‘Now what?’ Dan asked when he and Archie were the only ones still up.
‘Now we wait. If things go well, we'll know where to go in good time to arrange a reception.’ Archie replied but there was no phone call and they both slept in chairs, next to the kitchen table.
Barbara found them there.
‘Now is this a fine carry on or what?’ She complained. ‘I hope you can remember where we're going today?’
Dan looked up and stretched his aching bones.
‘Give me a clue.’ He said when nothing sprang to mind.
‘You big lug. It's Charlie’s funeral today and you best look your best or you'll be in trouble.’ Barbara replied passionately.
When she turned to her father he was already on his feet and going at his top speed for the door, he'd heard that tone before!
‘Amazing how you can move fast when you want to!’ She called after him.
‘We were expecting a phone call.’ Dan said as a reason for being there.
‘Well the police disconnected it, just as quick as they reconnected it, when they found out who was Charlie's next of kin. We were told where the funeral was to be and when, then they were gone. A fine body of men indeed.’ Barbara replied.
Dan hurried to his room, he'd liked old Charlie and some of the tales he told.
They piled into the truck and headed for the cemetery with Drummond hidden among them, just in case the fat woman tried to get him while they were gone but she was otherwise engaged.
‘What do you mean, he has a father? How the hell can I adopt him if he has a father?’ She ranted.
‘I'm just doing my job lady.’ Fromes replied. ‘If you don't like the answers that isn't my problem: Unless of course we start talking about serious money!’
‘Now listen here you little toad! You are paid by the state to find out what I need to know.’
‘I did some overtime.’ Fromes replied and sat down. ‘Does the fact that the blind man left him well breeched, have anything to do with you wanting to adopt the little angel?’
‘You really are good aren't you?’ The fat woman replied with a completely different tone.
‘I've done this all my life and look what I have to show for it! A seedy office in a slum and a rented house. I can find this father and we can work a deal with him.’
‘What if he won't deal?’ The fat woman asked.
‘Then it's back to the first plan.’
The fat woman smiled.
‘I'm beginning to like you little man, tell me more.’
The service was held by the open grave, with a wealth of flowers around it. The group from the retirement home sat together, another group included Alcosio Zicci. The service ran its course and to his due, Zicci waited until all those who wanted to throw soil on the coffin had before he moved forward. He was obviously upset as he had to keep mopping his eyes. Archie fought the uneven grass to reach his side after he had been there sometime.
‘Things are in hand with us but the phone has been cut off again, how goes it your end?’ Archie asked.
There was a pause before Zicci said. ‘I have it in control, the meeting is at a farm out of the city, Walter will write the address down for you. Thank you for coming Archie.’ Zicci embraced Archie then returned to his grieving.
Archie was amazed. He wondered how Zicci knew, when they had not been told yet.
‘No wonder they never get caught.’ He said quietly and followed the man Walter to Zicci's car for the address.
Cally woke and found the light still on. She lay on her side facing away from the center of the room and not able to see if the man was on his bed. Her head hurt where he had hit her and she did not want to be hit anymore. Very slowly she tried to move but the chair was fed up with being wet and knocked about. As she tried to move it fell apart with rattle. She froze but there was no response. The ropes that held her were loose and she freed herself of them before looking round. The man lay in the middle of the room unmoving. She tried to stand but found her legs useless and had to crawl over to him to see if he was still alive. His gun lay on the floor next to him and she grabbed it. He was not breathing. Cally moved closer and whispered in the dead man's right ear.
‘I warned you.’
She crawled to the bed and pulled herself up, she needed to be gone.
‘Come on legs work!’
She knew she smelt awful but that was not her main concern. She needed to find her pa and then they needed to escape. She forced her legs to take her weight and walked unsteadily to the door, carrying the pistol with her to make her feel better, not that she knew how to use it. The door was locked! She cursed and had to find the key. She walked back to the dead man and prodded his body with the pistol but there was no noise or jerking and she could see that the light below was now off. She found the key in one of the man's trouser pockets and as dirty as she was, it made her feel even dirtier to fish it out.
Once the door was open she went out into the hall, turning off the light and closing the door behind her. She had had a problem unlocking the door and did not want to waste time trying to re lock it, instead she started to search for her father. If the door was closed she listened, she knew his snore. On the next floor down a door stood open with the light inside on. She hesitated and listened, she knew that snore! She peered inside but there was no one guarding her father, there was no need. She shook him before she remembered that he could only answer by blinking. She saw his eyes open.
‘Pa it's me, Cally.’ She whispered.
‘How many daughters do I have then?’ He asked.
The sound of his voice made Cally cry. When he squeezed her hand with his hand, she cried even harder, letting out days of accumulated worry about him.
‘We got to get out of here!’ She said through her tears. ‘Unless you want to end up drownded.’
‘It's drowned,’ Dermot corrected, ‘and we are going nowhere. You go and find a patrolman.’
‘No pa I won't leave you now that you're all right.’ She argued, still crying.
‘I'm
far from alright!’ He said sharply. ‘One arm works and so does my mouth. When they find that out I will be persuaded to tell them where the money is.’
‘We got the money pa! I think so anyway. They took me before Drummond came out of the bank with it.’
‘Then he has the keys, which means he's in big trouble! Get out and warn him and get help! The keys fit lockers at the station, that's where the money is!’
Cally wanted to stay or take him with her but she knew both were out of the question.
‘I don't want to leave you pa.’ She cried and clung on to him.
‘Calliaster Doyle! Do as you are told!’ Dermot put more strength in his voice, than he felt in his entire body.
Cally pulled back from him.
‘Do your fingers work good enough to use this?’ She offered him the pistol she had taken from the dead man.
He took it in his only working hand and slid it under the mattress.
‘Now go!’
She kissed him once more and left. Now she had to explore again and while she was hesitating by an open door she heard someone coming, and with the light coming from Dermot's room they were bound to see her. She hid behind the door holding her breath while they passed by, then explored the room. From the window she saw wire crossing the street higher up and remembered the one she had slid across before. She had nearly drowned then and she had no intentions of trying that again! She turned away and saw lots of things around her and an idea formed. She took a belt that lay on the floor and stuffed a pair of trousers with things to give them some weight. Now all she had to do was to find the room, open the window, slide it across the wire and if it fell out of sight they might think she went out that way. She went back up the stairs cautiously and walked to the room she thought the wire was nearest to, carrying her dummy. Another door opened when she tried it and she saw the bottom of a stairway. She looked up in the darkness and looked for a light switch. A small bulb glowed showing a dusty flight of stairs not tread by human feet in a long time.
‘And that's where I'll be.’ She said smugly but she had to hide up the stairs as she heard someone else coming. She waited until they had walked by and then tried the door, after listening outside for a few moments. She heard no one and opened the door. She closed it behind her and tried to open the window: It did not move! She looked about for a lever and tried a broken chair leg but that broke. She thought for a moment then hurried to the door to the corridor, all was quiet. She hurried back to the room her father was in and found him asleep again. She took the pistol and used it to force the window open, then hurried back with it. Her Father slept on and she put it back without waking him, lingering only to look at him one more time. It might be the last time! Then she returned and slipped the belt round the wire and hung the load on it, trying to get it to drop off in the bushes she could see on the other side of the street. The light on the other side of the street helped with that. If it landed on the road or stayed on the wire she had wasted her time. She launched it but the trousers fell immediately. She tried to catch the belt but it slid away and she nearly fell out of the window. She pulled herself back in and looked at the belt. It was still moving, not fast but in the right direction. She urged it on and when it stopped against the other wall and stayed on the wire she was over the moon.
