Pepi’s hands. I had still the last word. The road was straight: on either side were mangrove
thickets. It was as simple as that.
“Well, so long, Ginny,” I thought. “This is the way out. This is the only way out,” and I got
a picture of her in my mind with her copper-coloured hair and her big, serious eyes and her
lovely mouth as I pulled down hard on the wheel.
As I swung the car off the road, I shoved the accelerator to the boards. I felt the car leap
forward. I didn’t look where we were heading. My eyes were fixed on the driving rnirror. I
could see Della’s face.
“Go ahead and shoot me,” I thought. “If this is my end, it’s your end too. You’re not going
to get your dirty claws on Ginny.”
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I saw the fear and horror in her face. I heard her thin, wailing scream. I saw the gun drop
out of her hand as she threw up her arm to shield her face.
Then we hit a tree, bounced off it, shot into the undergrowth and smashed into another tree.
I held on to the steering-wheel for dear life. Della had disappeared. I felt the car turning over.
“This is it,” I thought, and I wasn’t scared. I was thinking of Ginny as the car turned over, and
I was still thinking of her when something crashed down on my head.
187
PART FIVE
CURTAINS
I
“COME on! Snap out of it!” a voice bawled in my ear, and a hand caught hold of
my coat front and hauled me upright. “Wake up, louse!”
I got my eyes open with an effort, and stared into the fat, blue-chinned face of Benno.
Instinctively, I tried to throw a punch at him, but my arm didn’t respond.
Snarling, he slammed me across the mouth with the back of his hand, and I flopped back on
the bed, scarcely conscious.
Dimly I heard a fat voice say, “Don’t hit him like that, you fool! I want him to talk!”
“He’ll talk!” Benno said viciously, and hauled me upright again. “Come on! Take notice or
I’ll yank your goddamn ears off!”
I opened my eyes again and looked around. I was lying bound hand and foot, on my bed in
the bedroom of my apartment on Franklin Boulevard. Benno was sitting on the bed, and
Ricca stood at the foot of the bed.
For a long moment I was confused and bewildered, then I remembered Ginny. Was she still
in the apartment? Had I imagined she had been there? I remembered her coming to the door
and the terror on her face.
“What have you done with her?” I croaked.
Ricca smiled.
“She’s in the other room. You played your hand pretty badly. I wanted her as well as you,
and you led me right to her.”
I strained at the cord that bound my hands, but it didn’t give.
“Better bring her in here,” Ricca said to Benno. “It’s time we started.”
Benno patted my face with a hand that smelt of lavender water.
“You and me are going to have fun before long,” he said.
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He went into the other room.
Ricca continued to smile and puff breath at me. His snake’s eyes were vicious.
Benno came back, dragging Ginny with him. She was gagged, and her wrists were tied
behind her. There was a rip in her skirt, and she had pushed a knee through one stocking. She
looked as if she had had a bad time. She stared wildly at me, horror in her eyes.
“Ginny!” I cried, struggling upright. “What have they done to you?”
“We haven’t done much to her yet,” Ricca said, “but we will unless you are ready to talk.”
“Turn her loose and I’ll talk,” I said wildly. Just to see her in the hands of a rat like Benno
drove me frantic. “But she’s got to go free! She isn’t in this. She’s got to go free.”
Ricca pulled up a chair and lowered his bulk on to it.
“You had your chance when I made my first offer,” he said. “It’s out of my hands now.
Petelli’s claiming you. All I want is the money, then I turn you over to him.” He pulled at his
thick lower lip. “Unfortunately she’ll have to be turned over to him, too.”
“That won’t get you anywhere,” I said. “Either she goes free or the money stays where it is,
and it’s where you’ll never get your claws on it.”
“Don’t be too sure about that. I have an idea I can persuade you to talk.”
“You heard what I said! Let her free or you don’t get the money!” ‘
Ricca lifted his fat shoulders.
“It’s out of my hands. She knows too much. Benno’s going to knock you off. She’ll have to
go, too.”
I turned ice-cold. I had only to look at him to see he wasn’t bluffing.
“She’ll give you her word not to talk,” I said. “I don’t give a damn what happens to me, but
you’ve got to let her go!”
“I happen to hold all the cards in this deal,” Ricca said.
“Ask yourself which would be better for her: a bullet through the head or to be worked over
until you decide to talk. You’ll see Benno at work. Better save her from that. What do you
say – a quick bullet or Benno?”
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Benno put his hand on the front of Ginny’s frock and ripped it down to her waist.
I was licked and I knew it. Ginny would be better off dead than tortured by Benno.
Without looking at her, I said, “Yes. Don’t let him touch her. I’ll talk.”
Ricca rubbed his hands.
“I thought somehow you would. Where’s the money?”
“The Miami Safe Deposit.”
I could see by the momentary blank expression in his eyes he hadn’t expected this.
“I see. Very sensible of you.”
Then suddenly I remembered the .22 I had left in the suitcase. I felt a hot surge of triumph
run through me. With that gun I could fix him and turn the tables on Benno.
“You will write them a letter …” he began, but stopped as I shook my head.
“Do you imagine I’m all that of a dope? I and no one else can get the money. I left
instructions I was the only one to enter the strong room.”
Ricca stared down at his feet. Then he glanced up and waved his hand at Benno.
“Take her away,” he said. “Why doesn’t Pepi come?”
“He doesn’t know we’re here,” Benno said. “How many more times do I have to tell you ?”
“Try to find him. We want him.”
“Forget him! He might be anywhere. Can’t you swing this yourself?”
“Take her away.”
Benno shoved Ginny out of the room. As he reached the door he put his knee in her back
and shot her forward. I heard her fall on the floor.
“If ever I get my hands on you …” I said, straining at the rope that held my wrists.
Ricca smiled.
“It’s your own fault. How can you expect an animal like Benno to treat a girl decently ?”
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He grimaced as he looked through the open door. “You and I will go and collect the money,”
he went on. “After that, Benno takes charge, but I promise you I will see he makes it quick. I
owe you something. I am grateful to you for getting rid of Della. Now, of course, I take over
the casino myself.”
I stared fixedly at him.
“And when we get to the safe deposit, don’t make trouble,” he went on. “The money
belongs to the casino, and I can prove it. Hame will play along with me. There’s nothing you
can do about it.”
“I know when I’m licked,” I said, thinking of the .22 in the suitcase.
He went into the other room and I heard him talking to Benno. While I had a moment to
myself I tried desperately to free my hands. I might just as well have tried to tip over the
Woolworth building.
Ricca came into the room again.
“If I am not back within the hour he will take her away from here. I needn’t tell you what
he will do to her. So no tricks.”