‘Those bonds Klaus gave me,’ I said, watching him. ‘Joe tells me your father did them. They looked good to me.’
He paused and grinned at me.
‘Joe talks too much.’ He laughed, cocky and confident. ‘Yes, Klaus made you a sucker. Those bonds would look good to anyone. My father was an artist, but he was also stupid, He was so goddamn greedy, he got careless and he landed himself and me in jail. Working together, we could have made a fortune, but he tried to rush it, and a set of bonds were spotted. We had the Feds after us.’ He shrugged, ‘That’s the way the cookie crumbles, but this time, I’m not handling dud bonds, I’m handling real money.’
‘And what are you going to do when you get the money, Harry?’
‘A million — maybe more! With that kind of bread, a smart guy like me can drop out of sight.’ He gave me a sly grin, ‘With that kind of bread, I can buy me a regiment of women. That’s my thing — women. I’ll keep moving and keep screwing. I can’t wait to start.’
‘Once the police are alerted, Harry, they’ll come after you.’
He laughed.
‘They’ve come after me before. I’ll get lost this time. They only caught up with me last time because I had no money, but with a million — I’ve got no problems.’ He scratched at his beard. ‘What do you plan to do with fifty grand and Glenda?’
This was something I hadn’t thought about. Just suppose Harry wasn’t conning me, and he did give me fifty thousand dollars and a gun, and I did get Glenda... what would I do?
I knew the moment the police found I had left Sharnville, they would come after me, knowing that I was behind the bank break-in. But the bank break-in wouldn’t be discovered until 08.30 Monday morning. If Harry wasn’t conning me, I would have twenty-four hours to get out of the country.
‘I guess I’ll fly to Canada,’ I said. ‘Once there, I’ll have time to make plans.’
He nodded, and again his grin was sly.
‘Glenda’s a smart cookie. You two talk it over. She’ll fix something.’
I looked at my watch. I had another hour to wait.
‘I’m still feeling pretty bad, Harry. While we wait, I’ll rest on my bed. Okay with you?’
‘Go ahead.’ He poured himself another drink. ‘Waiting around is hell.’
I went into my bedroom and stretched out on the bed. I was sure Harry wouldn’t give me fifty thousand dollars, and I was even more sure he wouldn’t give me a gun. I lay still and thought. I concentrated my thoughts on the vault. Harry, Joe, Benny and I would be in the vault for some twenty-seven hours. I thought of the slide-up door in the vault that gave access to the cellar garage. I had so arranged this door that when it opened, the vault doors automatically closed. The electronic control which opened the slide-up door was operated by a press button, inserted in the wall by the slide-up door, and painted white, as the walls were painted white. The button was practically invisible unless you knew where to look for it.
I continued to think, and finally, a risky solution to my problem began to take shape.
I was still lying on the bed, still thinking, when Harry looked in.
‘Time to move, buster,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’
I got off the bed, put on my jacket and went into the living-room. The time was now 02.35. I picked up the plastic sack containing my gimmicks and tools.
‘You’re sure you’ve forgotten nothing?’ Harry asked.
‘I’m sure.’
‘You feeling okay?’
‘I’ll survive.’
‘Benny’s watching the bank. When the guard goes around the back of the bank, Benny’s going to light a cigarette. I’ve got my chick staked out, waiting to chat up the guard. As soon as Benny lights a cigarette, we move in fast.’
We got in the elevator and rode down to the ground floor, I wondered, as I moved out of the elevator, if I had many more hours in which to live.
We went on to the street.
Car headlights flashed, then died.
‘That’s Joe,’ Harry said.
The Chevy was parked a few yards down the street. We reached it, then I saw Harry stiffen and stop short.
I could see Joe sitting at the driving wheel. There was another man, sitting in the back of the car.
‘Come along, Harry. Time is running out.’
With a cold sense of shock, I recognized Klaus’s clipped voice.
Klaus!
I heard Harry say, his voice uncertain, ‘You here, boss?’
‘I have decided to join in the fun,’ Klaus said. ‘You sit in front, Harry. Mr. Lucas will sit beside me.’
As I got into the car and sat beside Klaus, I saw he was holding a revolver which pointed at me.
As Harry dropped into the front passenger’s seat, Joe engaged gear and drove the car at a sedate pace towards the National Californian Bank.
As we drove through the deserted streets and swung into Main Street, my mind was working furiously.
Here was Klaus, seated by my side! What had happened to Glenda? Had he already murdered her? My insides cringed at the thought. If not, would he have left her unguarded?
Klaus said quietly, ‘I can read your thoughts, Mr. Lucas. Your woman is quite safe. I have arranged for a guard to look after her. When you have done your job, there will be no problem. You and she will be free to do what you wish.’
A psychopath!
If he imagined I believed one word he was saying, he was crazier than I believed he was!
Joe swung the car to the kerb and doused the lights. We were within two hundred yards of the bank.
From where I sat, I could see the bank’s guard, sitting in his sentry-box. I knew him, having once played golf with him: an ex-cop with a nice wife and four children.
Joe kept the engine running while we all sat watching the guard. The hands of the dashboard clock moved to 03.11.
‘Get moving, you sonofabitch,’ Harry muttered.
We waited another ten minutes, then the guard yawned, stretched himself, and stepped out of his sentry-box. He looked to right and left, then with his rifle slung on his shoulder, he began to plod slowly along the front of the bank.
Joe shifted into gear and moved the car forward, ‘Take it easy,’ Harry said. ‘Wait for Benny.’
Joe stopped the car.
Harry turned around to look at me.
‘You take the food sack and your gimmicks. Are you ready to open the bank doors?’
‘Yes,’ I said, and accepted the plastic sack he shoved over the seat at me.
We waited. The guard was now out of sight. Then across the way, in a dark doorway, a match flared up. Joe moved the car fast to within ten yards of the bank’s entrance and parked.
‘Get the doors open!’ Klaus snapped at me.
I slid out of the car, as Joe ran around to open the trunk. Benny joined us and grabbed a pile of collapsible cartons that Joe handed to him. I used the neutralizer and the bank doors slid open.
Klaus was the first to enter, and he paused, facing the rest of us as we rushed in.
‘Stay right here.’ He looked at me. ‘Are we safe here from the alarm beam?’
‘It’s six feet behind you,’ I said, and using the neutralizer, I closed the bank doors.
The whole operation had taken less than forty seconds, ‘Well, we’re in,’ Benny said, grinning,
‘You and Harry open the vault,’ Klaus said to me, regarding me with his ice-grey eyes. ‘No tricks, Mr. Lucas, or you won’t leave here alive. We’ll wait here.’
I dropped on hands and knees and crawled under the invisible beam, then I stood up. Following my movements, Harry joined me. Again using the neutralizer, I opened the elevator doors.
‘This will take a little time,’ I said to Klaus.
Klaus glared at Harry.
‘Watch him!’
I pressed the second floor button and the elevator doors swished closed, and the cage started its smooth journey upwards.