“He did, huh? Well, what’s that got to do with you?”
“It’s got everything to do with me. Think I’d spill this if it didn’t? As long as Slink only wanted to be leader of the gang, I was for him. But now that I know he wants you, I’m against him.
“Stell. Benny must have at least a hundred grand soaked away, maybe two hundred. You an’ me are goin’ to take that coin, baby, an’ beat it to New York. From there we’ll go to Paris, we’ll see the world. To hell with the gang — an’ with Slink Douglas, too!”
Stella Maud opened her hand-bag, took out a powder puff and patted her nose with it. When she replaced it she neglected to close the bag.
The Rat rambled on. “I’ve always known you was crazy about me, Stell,” he stated with noticeable lack of modesty, “only you didn’t dare cross Benny. Now that he’s out of the way, you’re gonna be my girl, an’ we’ll take a long trip—”
Her hand stole again to the handbag. “You mean you’re going to take a long trip. Rat.” Her voice broke, rose in a shrill falsetto of passionate, ungovernable hate. “A trip to hell, damn your dirty soul, a trip to hell!” The automatic gleamed evilly in her hand.
“Listen Stell, for God’s sake put that thing down! Stell! Don’t be a damned fool!”
His face livid with fear, he flung himself at her and she pressed the trigger twice. His body fell against her, almost knocking her from her feet, and there were twin holes in the center of his forehead.
She dropped the pistol back in her bag and deliberately placed her foot upon his still writhing mouth, ground down upon it with a cruel heel, elemental hate and fury in the action. Almost instantly she regained her composure and stepped hastily to the window.
A policeman walking his beat had heard the shots and was running towards the building. Without an instant’s hesitation she jammed her hat lower over her face, pulled up the fur collar of her coat and flung up the window.
“Help! Police!” she screamed at the top of her voice. The cop saw her, increased his pace and clattered up the stairs. She met him in the dimly lighted hall.
“Oh, my God!” she moaned, apparently half-fainting. “They got him, they got him!”
“Pull yourself together, miss,” the policeman cried hoarsely, catching her not ungently by the arm. “What’s the trouble? Who got who?”
“Oh, quick, quick!” she screamed. “They’ll get away — down the back stairs!” She leaned weakly against the wall, and the cop dashed away, revolver in hand.
As soon as he was out of sight she walked down the steps, turned the corner without haste, entered the Cadillac and a few minutes later was back in her room.
“The Rat talked,” she told Steve with a grim little laugh. Then as an afterthought: “But he won’t talk again.”
The gunman shot a quick glance at her but said nothing. She walked the floor with quick, nervous strides, her graceful body swaying with unconscious seduction. Her keen mind was working in swift flashes, forming plans, revising them, rejecting them. Gradually a light dawned in her eyes, a triumphant light. She turned to Steve.
“Listen, Steve, I croaked the Rat. He had it coming to him, but he was only a tool in the hands of the one who got Benny from spot.” She paused, her body strangely tense.
“Steve, you know how Benny always was. When anybody did him dirt, he didn’t hire a gun to even things for him. No, he always settled his scores in person. Steve, let the word go out that before Benny is put underground, he’ll get the one who killed him!”
“Stell, stop that!” Steve’s voice was sharp. “Don’t let this thing get you. You talk like that an’ you’ll land in the bughouse. Benny’s dead, Stell.”
“You do as I tell you, Steve,” she insisted. “I know it sounds crazy, but if you want to help me, do as I say. Pass the word around that Benny’s not through yet. Tell ’em Benny’ll get the rat who croaked him!”
Steve looked at her thoughtfully. “Why not let me know who killed him, Stell. I’ll get him for you. You know you can depend on me.”
“I know, Steve, but think how it would please Benny to know that he’d steeled this affair himself.” She choked suddenly, then straightened defiantly, forcing back her emotion. “I’ve got a better way, Steve. Please do as I say.”
Again he looked at her with that curiously appraising stare that seemed to bore straight into her innermost thoughts.
“Oke, Stell,” he said at last.
“And Steve — be sure the mob is at the funeral this afternoon; all of ’em.”
He nodded. “They’ll be here,” he said briefly, and turned silently away.
A few minutes later Slink Douglas entered and leaned in the doorway, his eyes flaming as they devoured her lithe body.
“Rotten luck, Stell, Benny gettin’ it like that. But it’s how he’d like to pass out — with a bullet in ’im. The boys are givin’ him a great shove-off, too. Benny was a grand little guy.”
For an instant she bit her lips savagely, fighting desperately for self-control. Her hands twitched at her breast and she lowered her eyes so that he could not see what was in them.
“Yeh,” she said at last, “and it’s the grand little guys who always get bumped off — shot in the back — by their friends. Friends!” She fairly spat the word.
“Aw, Stell,” Slink remonstrated, “you shouldn’t ought to say that when nobody knows who croaked him. But, whoever done it. I’ll find him, kid — I’ll get him for Benny — an’ for you.”
“Lookit, Slink!” Stella Maud whirled on him so passionately that his beady black eyes narrowed swiftly. “Lookit, Slink. Benny never needed nobody to get a guy for him — an’ never will. He never asked nobody to do what he could do himself, and do better.”
“Sure, Stell, sure, but you gotta remember that Benny’s gun finger is stiff now!”
Stella Maud reached into the front of her black dress and brought forth a small revolver which was constructed with the care and delicacy of a high-priced watch. Slink straightened up and eyed her calculatingly.
“That’s Benny’s rod,” said Stella Maud, fondling it, caressing it, “and I’m going to plant it with him. He’ll need it maybe where he’s goin’. He didn’t think no more of it than he did of the hand he used it with. See, it’s got a hair-trigger, Slink. If you breath hard it says ‘hello’ and ‘good by’ at the same time. Slink, Benny knows who got him, and as sure as hell, Slink, he’ll get the yella, lousy rat that croaked him before they put him under the dirt!”
Slink Douglas shifted his feet uneasily and fumbled for a cigarette.
“All right, Stell,” he soothed, “this thing’s gettin’ on your nerves. Now listen, baby, I don’t want to rush matters, but Benny’s as dead right now as he’ll ever be. The boys all know me an’ they’ll take orders from me. I’m ready to carry on where Benny left off. Stell, you know I’ve always been crazy about you—”
“Too crazy, maybe,” she said evenly.
His eyelids flickered rapidly. “What do you mean by that?” he snapped. “What do you mean by it?”
She shrugged her shoulders. A little smile came to her lips as she raised her eyes slowly to his. There was seduction in her eyes, a promise in her smile. His heart leaped as he stepped towards her.
“I always loved you, kid,” he said softly, “an’ now that Benny’s gone, you could do a lot worse than play along with me. Gee, kid, what do you suppose I’ve hung around all these years for? Just waitin’, Stell, for the time when I could have you!”
His face flushed, he reached out his arms for her. For an instant she hesitated, filled with a terrible nausea. In her green eyes were little flecks of red light. She swayed forward, allowed her slender body to mold itself against his.