No Orchids for Miss Blandish (21 page)

Miss Blandish gave a sudden sharp cry.

As the minutes passed, the shadows in the room lengthened. Someone in the apartment below turned on a television set. An impersonal voice began to give loud instructions on how to bake a cake. The insistent, domineering voice woke Slim who slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head to look at Miss Blandish, lying flat on her back by his side. She was staring sightlessly up at the ceiling.

"That punk makes it sound like a cake is the most important thing in the world," Slim said. He raised his head to look at the clock. The time was twenty minutes past eight. This surprised him. He hadn't realized he had slept for so long. He got off the bed. The sounds of the traffic had died down. The rush hour home had passed.

"We've got to go," he said. "Ma'll be wondering where we are. Come on, baby, get into that rig."

The girl got off the bed, moving like a sleepwalker. She put on Rocco's shirt and suit. She had trouble fixing the tie. Slim, sitting on the bed, watched her with childish amusement.

"Sort of different, isn't it?" he said. "I used to have trouble with a tie. You get used to it. You look pretty good as a boy." He glanced at Rocco's dead body. "He was a jockey. I got no time for guys who fool around with horses." He kicked Rocco gently. "He got what was coming to him."

Miss Blandish was dressed now. Rocco's suit fitted her quite well. Slim looked at her, nodding his approval.

"You make a fine boy," he said. He stood up and went to the closet and found one of Rocco's hats. "Put this on; hide your pretty hair. You could be my kid brother."

She let him put the hat on her head, standing like a lifeless doll, but cringing a little every time his damp, hot fingers touched her skin.

"Come on," Slim said, "let's go."

He led her into the bathroom, paused to look out of the window down into the yard below, satisfied himself there was no one about, then helped the girl through the window onto the escape.

They went down the escape, Slim holding her arm and pushing her down quickly. On the last stage, a man looked out of the window as they passed. He was fat, balding and elderly.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

Slim looked at him, his yellow eyes gleaming. The man stepped back hurriedly. Slim's pale thin face, his loose mouth and gleaming eyes, his long, unkempt hair hanging from under his hat scared the man silly.

Slim had parked the Buick at the end of the alley. He hustled Miss Blandish to the car and pushed her in. He went around to the driver's seat and got in. He paused to open the glove compartment and to take out the .45 that was always kept there. He put the gun under his right thigh, then he started the car and drove into the main street.

As he headed for the club, the wail of a police siren made him stiffen. He looked into the driving mirror. He saw the traffic behind him pulling over to the right, clearing a broad lane in the middle of the road. He too pulled to the right as he saw three police cars come storming up behind him. They flashed past him. Wondering uneasily where they were going, he followed on behind. After a few minutes, he suddenly realized they were slowing down to stop outside the entrance to the courtyard of the Paradise Club.

In sudden panic, he swung the Buick into a side street, cutting across an overtaking car that braked with a violent scream of tires. He pulled up and looked back in time to see a dozen policemen spill out of the cars and run across the courtyard to the club.

He felt sweat on his face. What was he to do? Where was he to go? He looked at Miss Blandish who was staring blankly through the windshield. He felt lost and scared without Ma and the steel door and shutters of the club. His sluggish mind tried to cope with the situation.

"Hey, you!"

He looked to his right. A cop was looking into the car, first at Slim and then at Miss Blandish. Slim recognized him. He was the patrolman of the district: a big, fiery-faced Mick who always pushed the Grisson gang around when he had the chance.

"I want you," the cop said and his hand slid to his gun holster.

Slim's hand dropped on the hidden .45, lifted it and fired in one quick fluent movement. The slug hit the cop in the middle of his chest, throwing him half across the sidewalk.

Miss Blandish screamed. Startled, Slim swung his hand in a backhand slap, hitting her across the mouth, jerking her hard back against the car seat.

Several passersby flattened themselves on the sidewalk.

Swearing, Slim dropped his gun onto the car seat, then started the car and pulled away, accelerating as a man yelled after him.

Slim was vicious in his fear. His one thought was to get onto the open road where he could use the vast speed of the car.

Fenner and Brennan were just leaving a newly arrived police car as Slim shot the cop. The sound of the gun going off made both men pause. They saw the Buick tearing down the street, scattering other cars.

Fenner ran to the dead cop while Brennan signaled to three motorcycle cops to go after the Buick. They went away with roaring exhausts. Then Brennan joined Fenner who shook his head.

"He's gone," he said. "Who could that have been?"

"One of the Grisson gang," Brennan said grimly. "Come on, let's get at the rest of them. That rat won't get far."

More police were arriving. The street was becoming congested with a gaping crowd.

Inside the club, Ma Grisson watched the activity going on outside through one of the peepholes in the steel shutter that covered her office window.

Flynn peered through another peephole. Woppy cowered against the wall. Doc Williams sat near Ma's desk. He had a glass half full of neat whiskey in his hand: his face was shiny with sweat, his eyes glassy.

Ma turned slowly and looked first at Doc and then at Woppy. Flynn stepped back, looking at her.

"Well, here it is," Ma said in a cold hard voice. "This is the end of the road. I don't have to tell you what's ahead of us."

Flynn was cool. His small, flat eyes were restless, but he didn't look afraid. Woppy seemed on the point of collapse. His eyes rolled with terror. Doc took a swig from his glass, shrugging his shoulders. He was too drunk to have any emotions.

Ma plodded across the room, opened a closet and took out a Thompson machine gun.

"You guys can please yourselves," she said. "I know what I'm going to do. Those coppers won't take me alive. I'll get a hell of a bang taking a few of the bastards with me."

Flynn joined her. He too took a machine gun from the closet.

"I'm with you, Ma," he said. "Let's make it quick and gory."

There came a hammering on the steel door. Then a voice, magnified by a loudspeaker bawled, "Come on out, you in there! Come on out with your hands in the air!"

"They'll take some time to bust in," Ma said. She went to her desk and sat down. She put the Thompson on the desk, pointing towards the door. "Okay, boys, leave me. This is my room and this is where I want to die. You find your own holes. Go on... beat it."

Doc said, "Why not let them in?" He finished his whiskey and set the glass down on the desk. "We have money, Ma. We can hire the best lawyers. We still have a chance."

Ma smiled contemptuously.

"Do you think so? You poor old drunken fool! Go ahead if you feel that way about it. Find yourself a lawyer and see where he gets you. I know better. Just get out of here and leave me alone."

Flynn had already gone. He ran through the dark restaurant to the stairs. The sound of hammering on the steel door made him pause in the lobby. He looked around, then he slid behind the counter guarding the stairs. He rested his Thompson on the counter and waited, his heart thumping, his thin lips screwed off his teeth in a vicious grin.

Woppy came charging out into the lobby. He looked like a rabbit hunted by a fox. As he started towards the front entrance, Flynn yelled at him, "Don't do it or I'll cut you to pieces!"

Woppy spun around and glared frantically at Flynn.

"I've got to get out of here!" he yammered. "I don't want to get killed! I just want to get out of here!"

"You've got nowhere to go now," Flynn said. "You have no future either. Come here."

A gun banged behind Flynn. Woppy's face suddenly became a crimson smear. He fell forward and rolled over, his hands clawing the air.

Crouching, Flynn spun around. Above him at the head of the stairs, two cops had appeared guns in hand.

As Flynn nipped back the trigger of the Thompson, he realized the cops had found a way into the club through the warehouse and this was indeed the end of the road.

The Thompson hammered out its message of death. The two cops seemed to dissolve under the hail of lead. Then another Thompson started up from somewhere above the stairs.

Flynn crouched down as a sheet of lead swept just above his head. He was sweating and grinning, thinking this was the way to die--hit and be hit.

He twisted around, lifted the barrel of his gun and peered around the edge of his cover. The Thompson above yammered out its deadly, roaring note. Four slugs took the top of Flynn's head off. He was firing back as he slumped down onto the carpet in a mess of blood and brains.

Four cops moved cautiously into sight. They looked down into the lobby. Brennan joined them.

"That leaves Doc, the old woman and Slim," Brennan said as Fenner came up.

"One of them got away in the Buick," Fenner reminded him. "Could have been Slim."

Brennan moved out into the open. Cupping his mouth with his hands, he bawled, "Hey, you! Come on out! You haven't a chance! Come out with your hands in the air!"

Doc Williams pushed himself out of his chair.

"Well, Ma, as you said, this is the end of the road. I'm no fighting man. I'm going to give myself up."

Seated behind her desk, her big hands on the machine gun, Ma grinned at him, showing her yellow teeth.

"Suit yourself," she said. "They'll send you away for life or they'll even put you in the gas chamber. It would be better to go quick."

"I'm no fighting man," Doc repeated. "So long, Ma. It looked good, didn't it? But you remember all along I said I didn't like kidnapping. See what's come of it."

"Come, on out, you in there!" Brennan bawled. "This is the last time! Come on out or we'll come on in!"

"So long, Doc," Ma said. "Go out slow with your hands in the air. Those guys sound trigger happy."

Doc turned and walked slowly to the door. He opened it and then paused.

"I'm coming," he called. "Don't shoot."

Ma grinned contemptuously. She lifted the Thompson and aimed it at Doc's back.

As Doc began to move out into the dimly lit restaurant, Ma squeezed the trigger. The gun fired one quick, violent burst and Doc was thrown forward. He slid to the ground, dead before he hit the carpet.

"You'll be better off dead, you poor old fool," Ma said and she got to her feet. Holding the machine gun in both hands, she moved silently and steadily to the door. At the door, she paused.

"Come and get me!" she yelled. "Come on, you yellow punks! Come and get me!"

Gripping the steering wheel, Slim leaned forward, staring with fixed concentration as he drove the Buick at a furious speed down the main road out of the city. His loose mouth hung open; his pale dirty skin shone with sweat. He could hear the wailing sirens as the motorcycle cops chased him. In another mile he would be on the main highway and if he could once get there he was sure the souped-up engine of the Buick would outstrip anything coming after him.

A car came out fast from a side turning. A crash seemed inevitable. Miss Blandish cried out, shielding her face. Grinning, Slim stamped down on the gas pedal as the other driver frantically braked. The Buick swept past with inches to spare.

A hundred yards further on there was a main intersection and as the Buick roared towards the intersection the green lights flicked to red.

Slim put his hand down on the horn button. The motorcycle cops, seeing he wasn't going to stop, opened up then-sirens to warn crossing traffic to get out of the way.

The Buick shot across the intersection as the traffic squealed to a standstill. One driver wasn't quick enough. The Buick caught his wing a glancing blow, smashing his offside headlamp.

Slim, cursing, steadied the Buick with a twist of the wheel and kept on. Then suddenly he was on the freeway. He relaxed slightly, squeezing down on the gas pedal, feeling the big car surge forward.

The light was fading now. In a few minutes it would be dark. The wailing sound of the sirens irritated him. He was pretty sure they wouldn't catch him now he could use his superior speed. He glanced in the driving mirror. About two hundred yards behind he could see two of the motorcycle cops, leaning over their handlebars, belting after him. The third cop had disappeared. He saw a sudden flash and then heard a bang. One of the cops was firing at him. Slim snarled to himself.

"Get down on the floor," he said to Miss Blandish. "Go on--do what I say!"

Shaking, she slid off the seat and onto the floor. He flicked on his sidelights. At least the sirens behind him were keeping the road clear. Traffic coming into the city had slowed and was pulling to one side. One of the cops had fallen back, but the other kept after him.

Slim suddenly eased his foot on the gas pedal. The Buick lost speed. Watching in the mirror, Slim saw the lone cop surging up behind him. Slim waited, his face a vicious snarl. The cop drew alongside, yelling something which Slim couldn't hear above the noise of the motorcycle engine. Grinning, Slim swerved the Buick violently. He felt the side of the car hit the motorcycle. He wrestled madly with the wheel, trying to keep out of a skid. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the motorcycle careening across the road. It hit the verge and disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Slim righted the Buick and shoved down the gas pedal. The car tore on into the gathering darkness. Without the distracting sound of the pursuing siren, Slim was able to consider what to do.

He was on the run, he told himself. He was out in the open. The girl was going to be poison from now on, but he didn't for a moment consider getting rid of her.