“Oh darn it honey, there goes a perfectly good witness” Peggy drawled cynically.
“You won't need any witnesses,” he barked “not where your going.”
Peggy gave up trying to pull herself to her feet. Instead sat back on the floor and looked into the relentless face from the Malone's past. “So its like that, hey Henley?”
The man just nodded “just like that, games up.” he stepped sideways so that he could get a clear, unobstructed shot of the downed caped female.
Peggy sighed “Just one question. I think you owe me that much, be a gent if you can. Why just why?”
“I guess that's fair, this game of ours has been fun over the last two years, even if you didn't know all the players. Well where shall we begin, oh yes I know Dunham, remember him. Well after that fool got what's was coming to him, courtesy of you. The House fell. No loss all games have to end, eventually. But I lost everything, my life, my son the lot. You and your bloody husband forced me to run. I did to until I hit Cuba where I met a nice chap named Pelham at a bar. It didn't take long to get him drunk enough to kill the fool. Plus with a little bit of slight of hand and an expert wardrobe courtesy of another fallen house member. I was able to take his place.” he smiled as he looked down on one half of his downfall “Little did I know then that he was a police inspector, and one who knew your brave yet foolhardy husband. Well it was to good to be true. Oh and that Rogers think that was just fun, it took the rest of the dwindling resources of the House to figure out, who he was behind the badge. That it was he who took our last payday, my last payday my get out money. I was going to go legit with the bankroll it gave. But no when that snake took out the smuggling gig, well he had to go to. It was just coincidence that I find all three of you knew each other, I only found that after the hit order was given. That deserved a drink and drink I did, well my dear that's all I'm going to say, if you have anything else to ask, please feel free to ask Lei, when you meet him in hell!
Abruptly another loud roar thundered through the silence. Peggy's first impression was that Henley had fired and she was now dead. The fake inspector stood with his arm still outstretched but now his gun had vanished and his hand was dripping with blood. Peggy called up every last drop of her strength to drag herself to her feet. She managed to guide her battered body weakly to face the crook, but Charlie Lei still lay dead bleed out where he had fallen. Then a door burst open and Captain Parish and none other than her husband Jack Malone came hurtling into the room. Parish covered Henley. Jack hurtling to his wife's side arms outstretched, ever the gallant hero. She swayed to meet her man, then the floor rose suddenly and she went out cold.
Peggy recovered consciousness in the hospital to find Jack sitting on he edge of the bed, himself recovering slightly from his wolfing down of the fruit baskets, gifted to his wife by their friends and family. Holding his wifes hand tight he smiled as she came to, it had been three days since the events in the cabin, and was touch and go weather she'd make a swift recovery or not, the stress and trauma being two much for her and the baby. “Take it easy, darling” he whispered with a kiss.
“How'd I get here?” Peggy wanted to know.
A familiar voice answered from the foot of the bed “They started to put you in the meat-wagon.” Parish growled “bloody men to lazy to check for a beat, but always ready for a feel. Thankfully your husband here put one of them in an ambulance for not listening. Then to make sure you got to a doctor and not a medical examiners table, climbed into the ambulance with you. So I guess to answer your question, you got here in an ambulance.”
Peggy winced as she tried to move her leg. “Say where's Henley- I mean Pelham, whoever the hell he was? Did you kill him?”
“I wish” grumbled Parish “We're saving him to hang; I'll try and get us all front row tickets- we can all make a day of it!”
Jack shrugged “My dear, we must decline, the Malone's are going to Europe.”
Peggy groaned “They can't hang him, not on the evidence we got, we need more, unless they use the House of Games evidence, well then that puts it all in a nice little bow doesn't it. Say, hold up darling how did you and Parish manage to find me out at the cabin, and show up just when you did?”
Parish chuckled “Oh that's a long story, but I figured as long as you didn't want the date with swell-looking fop in the saloon. I'd mosey over. I dated him instead and well' we ambled up here. By a strange coincidence you was here.”
Peggy scowled at her husband. “So,” he sneered, “you don't trust me? You follow me—”
“Oh, shut up” Jack said “about Lei butted in, he ain't dead. Henley or whoever he was shot screwy, his slug ceased his skull, but it didn't do him no damage. However me'n the doc made him think he was worm food, and boy did he sing, Ha!”
“Plenty” added Jack “First, he says—” Jack stopped as a physician motioned him to silence.
“Our patient has had enough, I'm afraid Mr Malone,” the doctor said firmly. “The details can wait until—”
“The hell they can!” shouted Peggy from her bed “I want to know why that git Henley framed my man?”
“Oldest reason in the book, Revenge. He wanted payback for busting the House Of Games up, losing him his office as deputy mayor, then finding Pelham and bumping him off the rest is kinda history. Plus when he knew, Rogers was a cape like you and we both knew him. Well he must have thought his Christmas's had come early. He was going to use me as a goat for the Rogers murder. So his gorilla's tipped him off to the fact that Christie and Harmsworth were set to crack the bank at midnight. Henley with his new found sense of power, set a watch on the bank job, and sent Lei and Rué to kill Rogers the same way they did Rogers the same way as Steven's.
According to Lei, it was Rué who pulled the trigger on Steven's. Christie and Harmsworth followed so that they couldn't establish an alibi, but somebody tipped Christie off and they hot footed back to our place.”
“humph!” grunted Mrs Malone thoughtfully.
“I'm beginning to see through it. So who killed Rogers?”
“Henley. They followed me to Speedly's house, guessed what I was going to do, So the fake inspector figured it a good chance to frame me proper an' have a sucker for the bank job as well as the murder. He gave Steven's the work. Lei saw him do it. Henley began to get restless though, when he knew the Queen Of Spades was now on his heels, so he sent his goons to polish you off. Right I'm off before this doctor puts him in the bed next to you.”
The doctor took Jack by the arm and gently pushed him out the door.
“No more questions, for this young lady.” he announced firmly.
“Just one.” shouted Peggy. “Just one Doc.”
“And that is—”
“How soon can a dame travel to Europe with a leg like this?”
* * *
THE END
The Queen Of Spades
Will Return...
About the Author
Hello, readers, I live in Shropshire, UK, with my young daughter Holly, who is my inspiration in some way for all my writing. While writing I'm always pestered by a caffeine addicted dog named Molly.
With all my book’s I try to bring awareness that people with Dyslexia can accomplish anything, and it should never hold them back from reaching their goals. I suffered terribly with Dyslexia for most of his life, it affected me mostly at secondary school because of the bullying and pressure to get on with and not make a fuss. This resulted in a very truant young teenager who had a few too many run-ins with his dad for skipping school. But also where I found my eternal love for the printed word. Especially Crime Capers of the 30's and 1940's.
Find at more at:
http://mitchell-ac.wixsite.com/acmwriter
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Follow him on Twitter
@acmitchellpulp
And on Facebook as Adam C. Mitchell
https://www.facebook.com/NoirWriter/
Also by Adam C. Mitchell
The Lost Angel
&
nbsp; The Lost Angel.Eddy Kovakx robs the Lost Angel, central city's newest night club, owned by Victor Renetti. Pulling off the job was the easy part. Now on the run with his partner's broad, the sultry Kimmie Saint Clair, he also has an unstoppable PI on his case. Jack Malone is in hot pursuit thanks to the sadistic mobster Victor, putting a price on his head. Can Eddy and Kimmie get away with the money and their life. Or will Jack Malone get his mark.
Danger, mystery, and adventure in the noir thriller.
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Available in both print and e-book
Central City Tales.
When PI Jack Malone walks into his office one morning and finds a man dead on his floor, he has no choice but to take the case. Clues lead him to the door of Sally Kovax and her female lover, Mrs Josephine. Jack soon realizes he’s in over his head.
Rudy, another character from The Lost Angel, needs a lot of money and fast if he’s too help out his gal, Kimi who got herself in serious trouble. So when offered a job of robbing a toff’s house, he takes it. But things don’t go to plan.
A bunch of letters follow a flirtatious relationship between a young rich girl and a brewery owner. However, the love letters soon hint that all may not be what it seems.
There are many stories in Central City. Here are just three of them
Available in e-book
The Queen and The Viper Page 22
