went on, “I think you’re handsome, Johnny.”
I leaned against the wall, aware I was wasting precious time. I shouldn’t be talking to this
girl. I should be getting out of here before the crowd left. That was my only chance of giving
Pepi and Benno the slip. But not even Petelli himself could have got me out of this room at
this moment.
“Who are you?” I asked. “Why did you come up here?”
Her face was serious now, but there was still that look in her eyes that kept sending tingles
up my spine.
“Never mind who I am. Call me Della if you must call me something,” she said. “I’m here
because you’re in trouble, and I guess it’s partly my fault. You are in trouble, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but it’s nothing you can do anything about.”
“How bad is the trouble?”
“Two Wops are laying for me. If they catch up with me, it’s probably curtains.”
“You double-crossed Petelli?”
That startled me.
“You know him?”
“That little thug! I know of him, but I wouldn’t know him if he were the last man on earth.
We’re wasting time. I’ll get you out of here.” She went to the window and looked out. “You
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can reach the car-park by climbing down that pipe.”
I joined her at the window. There weren’t many cars left in the park by now.
“There’s my car: the first one on the right in the second row. If you can reach it without
being seen, you’ll be safe.”
“Wait a minute,” I said, looking at the low-slung Bentley coupe she was pointing at. “I
can’t drag you into this. These Wops are dangerous.”
“Don’t be a fool. They won’t know a thing about it.”
“Let’s be sensible about this …”
“Oh, don’t argue! I’m going down to the car now. Lock the door after me. As soon as you
see me down there, come on after me. I’ll drive over to you. Get in the front seat and leave
the rest tome.”
Glancing at the Bentley again, I spotted the expensive-looking item in the seersucker suit.
He was standing by the car, looking to right and left.
“Your friend won’t like this,” I said. “He’s waiting for you now.”
She laughed, a hard, humourless little sound that made me stare at her.
“He’s not a friend: he’s my husband,” she said, and moved quickly to the door. “I won’t be
five minutes. Don’t let anyone in.” She was gone before I could stop her.
I crossed the room and shot the bolt. Now I was alone the room seemed horribly empty. I
returned to the window. Her husband was pacing up and down beside the car. As I watched
him he took out a cigarette-case and lit a cigarette. By the way he threw the match on the
ground I could see he was exasperated.
A faint sound behind me made me turn quickly, my eyes going to the door. I saw the door
handle begin to turn. Someone the other side of the door pushed gently against the panels.
The bolt held, and the handle slowly reversed.
Well, they were out there now. I guessed they thought it was safe to call on me now the
stadium was nearly cleared. Over the loud-speaker system dance music was blaring: loud
enough to drown the sound of a shot.
I tiptoed across the room and examined the bolt. It wasn’t too strong. I heard someone
40
whispering outside. I couldn’t hear what was said, but the sound made the hair on the nape of
my neck bristle.
I caught hold of the rubbing-table and pulled it across to the door and wedged one end
under the handle. I was thinking fast now: a little scared, but not in a panic. They knew the
lay-out of the stadium a lot better than I did. They’d know the climb down from my window
wasn’t difficult, and as soon as they found they couldn’t break in they’d guess it would be by
the window I’d try to escape, and Pepi would be there to pick me off.
It wouldn’t take him three or four minutes to get down the concrete steps, around to the
side door and out to the parking-lot. He was probably on his way now. I had to get going at
once.
As I swung my legs over the window-sill someone drove his shoulder against the door. The
table held the door solid. I didn’t look back, but climbed out of the window on to the ledge.
In my hurry to get to the drain-pipe I took a false step and my foot shot off into space. I
managed to dig my fingers into the chinks of the uneven concrete wall, and hold myself
steady. It was a pretty nasty moment. If I hadn’t had strong fingers I would have fallen.
Somehow I managed to regain my balance. I slowly drew up my foot and found the ledge
again. With my heart hammering I kept on, reached the drain-pipe and began to climb down.
Ten feet from the ground I let go and dropped.
I heard a car start up. I heard, too, the sound of running feet. For a moment I was tempted
to bolt towards the car, but decided it would be safer to remain in the shadow of the wall
rather than go out into the brightly lit car-park.
The Bentley swung towards me. She hadn’t turned on the car lights. Beyond, and away to
the left, I spotted Pepi. He was about a hundred yards from me, standing still, looking
towards the window of the dressing-room as if waiting for me to appear, and I realized he
didn’t know I was already down. Then I heard a loud crash and knew the door of the
dressing-room had been forced open.
The Bentley slowed down as it reached me, and the door swung open.
“Get in - quick!” Della cried, keeping the car on the move.
I scrambled in beside her and she shot the car forward. I managed to get the door shut as
the car raced down the broad drive-in.
As she leaned forward to snap on the lights, she said, “Did they spot you?”
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“I’m not sure.”
I swung around in my seat to look through the rear window. The dark, curly haired man
who she said was her husband was sitting at the back. It was too dark to see his face. I
couldn’t see any following car’s headlights.
“Doesn’t look like it,” I said. “Anyway, they’re not coming after us.”
“You must be crazy to get us mixed up in this, Della!” the man at the back exploded. “Stop
the car and let this fella out!”
She laughed.
“Oh, shut up, Paul. They were going to shoot him. I couldn’t let them do that after he’d
won me a grand.”
“You little fool! You’re always getting into trouble.” Again she laughed. “I’m loving every
minute of this,”
He gave a grunt of disgust and slumped down in his seat.
“Well, let’s get out of here. As soon as we’re away from the stadium, stop and let him out.”
“Don’t take any notice of him,” she said to me. “We’re going to Lincoln Beach. Want to
come?”
“Yes,” I said.
We were approaching the main gates of the stadium now, and it suddenly occurred to me
that Petelli might have got word down there to stop us. I told Della.
“Squat on the floor. You may be right.”
There were a number of cars ahead of us now, moving slowly through the big gates, and
she had to slow to a crawl.
“There’re two guards looking into each car as it passes,” she whispered to me. “I’m going
to stop and let the other cars get on ahead.”
“There’s a car behind us and coming fast,” Paul said, a rasp in his voice.
“You’d better let me out,” I said, but she put her hand on my shoulder and pushed me
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lower.
“Be quiet!”
She swung around to look through the rear window. From where I crouched I had a good
view of one long, shapely leg and a small foot in a white buckskin shoe. I could also see the
glare of headlights coming through the rear window showing how close the other car was. A