Hostage For A Hood by Lionel White Page B

haven't you?"
    Santino didn't answer.
    "Where's Luder now, by the way."
    "What's it matter?"
    "It doesn't," the lawyer said. He drove on for several minutes in silence and then once more spoke.
    "Look," he said, "don't get me wrong. It's just that I'm annoyed the way things turned out. This isn't my caper, you know. I told Harry that I'd handle the stuff after you got it, and that I'd represent you boys if there was any trouble. It isn't that I don't want to help you, but I have to watch my step. I'm a lawyer and a respectable businessman and I don't take chances."
    "I'm not asking you to," Santino said.
    "Then don't. As far as a car is concerned, I can let you have some dough if you're short. You'll have to work out the details yourself."
    "I'm not short," Santino said crisply. "And I can get a car all right. I'll borrow one. You can drop me off anywhere. I'll grab a cab."
    "I'll take you back to the bar where I picked you up. And you and Luder take it easy. I talked with Harry last night after I heard from you. He knows about Mitty, and there's nothing to worry about there. Just you and the old man take it easy and don't rush up to the country. Harry'll wait."
    "Sure—sure," Santino said. "Why shouldn't he? He's got plenty of company. Two good-lookin' broads. Why shouldn't he wait?"
    For a moment the lawyer looked startled and he slowed down for a traffic light and waited until it had changed before he again spoke. "What the hell do you mean, two broads?" he asked. "I thought that that girl of yours was up there alone."  
    Santino laughed without humor. "Yeah—two," he said. "My Paula, and the other one. The one he snatched when we pulled the job."
    Goldman for the first time reached up and took the cigar out of his mouth. He pulled over to the curb and stopped and turned toward the other man.
    "The girl he snatched?" he said in a hollow voice. "What in the name of Christ do you mean, the girl he snatched? What girl?"
    Santino took his time telling about it, and enjoyed watching the blood leave the lawyer's sallow face and watching as his hands began to shake imperceptibly as he tried to get the cigar butt back between his lips.
    For several minutes after the little man finished speaking, Goldman said absolutely nothing. Then at last he reached down and again started the car. He spoke once again when they were under way.
    "That does it," he said. "That does it up just fine! A kidnapping—that's all we needed."
    "It will have to be a little more than just a kidnapping," Santino said. "The girl was there when I used the chopper. She was there when it happened."
    * * * *
    Bart Sherwood needed a shave. He also needed something a lot more substantial than the dozen cups of black coffee he had existed on during the last thirty-two hours. He'd finally managed a little rest early on Tuesday morning with the help of several sleeping tablets, but by seven o'clock he was up and nervously pacing the floor.
    He put the coffee on, started to open the refrigerator and get out the bowl which held the eggs. But there was something about the kitchen, with the dirty dishes still there from the previous morning, which brought a lump to his throat. This was Joyce's job, making the breakfast. Something she always did. Suddenly he had no desire for food. He'd just have coffee and let it go at that.
    He walked into the bathroom, and there, at the edge of the black-tiled sink, was the twisted tube of toothpaste, with the cap off, where she had left it in her hurry to prepare his breakfast and get ready to take him to the station. It was one of those little things which they had fought over a hundred times, but somehow this morning, instead of the sense of irritation he had always experienced, he felt a constriction in the region of his heart.
    Carefully he picked up the tube, found the cap and screwed it back on. He forgot about brushing his own teeth. The bathroom was like the kitchen. It reminded him of Joyce. She was everywhere in the house;