tell me about you to start with. I won't permit you to see her again. This business you are involved in is none of her affair."
The Chinese dropped his other hand heavily on my shoulder. "Is he mine now?"
"Not yet," Alida told him. She pointed a long fingernail at me. "You got to the girl with your talk of Moose beating a woman to death. Maybe you lied. Maybe you have other reasons for looking for him."
"What would they be?"
"Two hundred thousand dollars, for example."
It was just a matter of time until she turned Shang loose on me, and I had no intention of leaving without talking to Trudy. So with a savage backward motion, I slammed my elbow into Shang's hard belly. He grunted with pain and surprise.
Pivoting, I spiked him with my knee. His face was anything but inscrutable. Lines of pain rippled up toward his eyes and he sank into a stoop like a pigeon-toed man trying to hold a walnut between his knees.
As he reached for me, I feinted, then hit him with the edge of my right hand. The blow, which would have split a plank, caught him on the side of his thick neck. His eyes protruded and his breath whistled between his teeth. Catching him by the coat, I yanked him off balance and hurled him over my hip. He hit the floor like a piano falling two stories.
I pulled the Luger. "Now, where's Trudy?"
Alida stood up and pitched the cat at my face. I dodged and the Siamese sailed past, a ball of spitting fury. He landed on Shang's back and clawed his way up. The Chinese tried to buck him off and the cat sank his claws into the man's head.
Poor Shang screamed loud enough to shatter glass.
I rapped the cat lightly on the spine with the Luger. He meowed and sprang to a nearby table.
"You all right?" I asked Shang, but he wasn't listening. I turned on Alida and she was pulling open the drawer of a table. I had an idea the lady wasn't looking for a guest book for me to sign. I grabbed her by the back of the tight gown and it tore as she writhed away. When she wheeled, she had a .38 Beretta in her hand.
She called me a name she hadn't learned from her Chinese ancestors. It was 100 per cent back alley American. Before she could pull the trigger, I slapped her wrist with the heavy Luger and the Beretta spun out of her fingers and struck the wall.
I put the point of the Luger right between her hate-filled eyes. "The question was, where's Trudy?"
Alida took me upstairs. The girl was sitting on a bed playing solitaire. She gave me a sullen glance. "Look who's here. My lucky charm."
"I tried to keep him away from you. Take my advice and tell him nothing," Alida said.
Trudy had a day-old shiner. I walked over to her and tilted her chin. "Who did the job on you?"
"A guy named Oscar. Oscar Snodgrass."
"I don't think that was his name."
"The word is out that a Mafia
capo
got hit and a piece of the Mob's cash heisted. Moose is wild enough to pull a caper like that. And you come looking for Moose. Alicia says that's an odd coincidence."
"I'm not interested in the money. I told you the reason I wanted Moose."
The girl looked at Alida. "What am I going to do? I believe him."
"I went to see Haskell. He didn't tell me anything I needed to know. But someone has tried to kill me and now I find you and the sweet-tempered madam here up-tight. What's the story, Trudy?"
She swept the cards together into a pile on the bed. "Alida, I'm going to tell him."
Then hurry up. I want him out of here. I don't want any more trouble with the Mob."
"Two men came here last night," Trudy said. "I can't tell you their names, but I can tell you who they work for."
"The Mafia."
"That's who. They knew you had been to see me. They wanted to know what you were after. The short ugly one hit me and I got scared. I told him you were looking for Moose."
They had been following me, I thought. I'd led them here like I'd led them to Idaho. They were patient and they were tenacious and now they knew what they hadn't known before, that Moose was their heist
The Chinese dropped his other hand heavily on my shoulder. "Is he mine now?"
"Not yet," Alida told him. She pointed a long fingernail at me. "You got to the girl with your talk of Moose beating a woman to death. Maybe you lied. Maybe you have other reasons for looking for him."
"What would they be?"
"Two hundred thousand dollars, for example."
It was just a matter of time until she turned Shang loose on me, and I had no intention of leaving without talking to Trudy. So with a savage backward motion, I slammed my elbow into Shang's hard belly. He grunted with pain and surprise.
Pivoting, I spiked him with my knee. His face was anything but inscrutable. Lines of pain rippled up toward his eyes and he sank into a stoop like a pigeon-toed man trying to hold a walnut between his knees.
As he reached for me, I feinted, then hit him with the edge of my right hand. The blow, which would have split a plank, caught him on the side of his thick neck. His eyes protruded and his breath whistled between his teeth. Catching him by the coat, I yanked him off balance and hurled him over my hip. He hit the floor like a piano falling two stories.
I pulled the Luger. "Now, where's Trudy?"
Alida stood up and pitched the cat at my face. I dodged and the Siamese sailed past, a ball of spitting fury. He landed on Shang's back and clawed his way up. The Chinese tried to buck him off and the cat sank his claws into the man's head.
Poor Shang screamed loud enough to shatter glass.
I rapped the cat lightly on the spine with the Luger. He meowed and sprang to a nearby table.
"You all right?" I asked Shang, but he wasn't listening. I turned on Alida and she was pulling open the drawer of a table. I had an idea the lady wasn't looking for a guest book for me to sign. I grabbed her by the back of the tight gown and it tore as she writhed away. When she wheeled, she had a .38 Beretta in her hand.
She called me a name she hadn't learned from her Chinese ancestors. It was 100 per cent back alley American. Before she could pull the trigger, I slapped her wrist with the heavy Luger and the Beretta spun out of her fingers and struck the wall.
I put the point of the Luger right between her hate-filled eyes. "The question was, where's Trudy?"
Alida took me upstairs. The girl was sitting on a bed playing solitaire. She gave me a sullen glance. "Look who's here. My lucky charm."
"I tried to keep him away from you. Take my advice and tell him nothing," Alida said.
Trudy had a day-old shiner. I walked over to her and tilted her chin. "Who did the job on you?"
"A guy named Oscar. Oscar Snodgrass."
"I don't think that was his name."
"The word is out that a Mafia
capo
got hit and a piece of the Mob's cash heisted. Moose is wild enough to pull a caper like that. And you come looking for Moose. Alicia says that's an odd coincidence."
"I'm not interested in the money. I told you the reason I wanted Moose."
The girl looked at Alida. "What am I going to do? I believe him."
"I went to see Haskell. He didn't tell me anything I needed to know. But someone has tried to kill me and now I find you and the sweet-tempered madam here up-tight. What's the story, Trudy?"
She swept the cards together into a pile on the bed. "Alida, I'm going to tell him."
Then hurry up. I want him out of here. I don't want any more trouble with the Mob."
"Two men came here last night," Trudy said. "I can't tell you their names, but I can tell you who they work for."
"The Mafia."
"That's who. They knew you had been to see me. They wanted to know what you were after. The short ugly one hit me and I got scared. I told him you were looking for Moose."
They had been following me, I thought. I'd led them here like I'd led them to Idaho. They were patient and they were tenacious and now they knew what they hadn't known before, that Moose was their heist
Similar Books
Chained (Brides of the Kindred)
Evangeline Anderson
Enemies & Allies
Kevin J. Anderson
Demands of Honor
Kevin Ryan
Redemption (Red Dragon Book 1)
H.J. Bradley
Savage Lands
Clare Clark
The Clockwork Dagger
Beth Cato
Advantage Disadvantage
Yale Jaffe
Desert Bound (Cambio Springs)
Elizabeth Hunter
Blackcollar: The Judas Solution
Timothy Zahn