“Better cool it,” the younger one said. “Looks like she’s coming out of it.”
She picked up her cue, making a great show of blinking her eyes vacantly and yawning and stretching. Stretching was difficult, as she seemed to be tied to a chair. It was an odd sensation. She had never been tied up before, and she didn’t care for it.
“Hey,” she said, “where am I?”
She could have answered the question herself. She was, to judge from appearances, in an especially squalid shack. The shack itself was fairly close to a highway, judging from the traffic noises. If she had to guess, she would place the location somewhere below the southern edge of the city, probably a few hundred yards off Highway 130 near the river. There were plenty of empty fishing shacks there, she remembered, and it was a fair bet that this was one of them.
“Now just take it easy, Carole,” the thin man said. “You take it easy and nothing’s going to happen to you.”
“You kidnapped me.”
“You just take it easy and—”
She squealed with joy. “This is too much! You’ve actually kidnapped me. Oh, this is wild! Did you call my old man yet?”
“No.”
“Will you let me listen when you do?” She started to giggle. “I’d give anything to see his face when you tell him. He’ll split. He’ll just fall apart.”
They were both staring at her, open-mouthed. The younger man said, “You sound happy about it.”
“Happy? Of course I’m happy. This is the most exciting thing that ever happened to me!”
“But your father—”
“I hope you gouge him good,” she went on. “He’s the cheapest old man on earth. He wouldn’t pay a nickel to see a man go over the Falls. How much are you going to ask?”
“Never mind,” the thin man said.
“I just hope it’s enough. He can afford plenty.”
The thin man grinned. “How does seventy-five thousand dollars strike you?”
“Not enough. He can afford more than that,” she said. “He’s very rich, but you wouldn’t know it the way he hangs onto his money.”
“Seventy-five thou is pretty rich.”
She shook her head. “Not for him. He could afford plenty more.”
“It’s not what he can afford, it’s what he can raise in a hurry. We don’t want to drag this out for days. We want it over by morning.”
She thought for a minute. “Well, it’s your funeral,” she said pertly.
The shorter man approached her. “What do you mean by that?”
“Forget it, Ray,” his partner said.
“No, I want to find out. What did you mean by that, honey?”
She looked up at them. “Well, I don’t want to tell you your business,” she said slowly. “I mean, you’re the kidnappers. You’re the ones who are taking all the chances. I mean, if you get caught they can really give you a hard time, can’t they?”
“The chair,” the thin man said.
“That’s what I thought, so I don’t want to tell you how to do all this, but there was something that occurred to me.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Well, first of all, I don’t think it’s a good idea to wait for morning. You wouldn’t know it, of course, but he doesn’t have to wait until the banks open. He’s a doctor, and I know he gets paid in cash a lot of the time—cash that never goes to the bank, never gets entered in the books. It goes straight into the safe in the basement and stays there.”
“Taxes—”
“Something like that. Anyway, I heard him telling somebody that he never has less than a hundred thousand dollars in that safe. So you wouldn’t have to wait until the banks open, and you wouldn’t have to settle for seventy-five thousand either. You could ask for an even hundred thousand and get it easy.”
The two kidnappers looked at her, at each other, then at her again.
“I mean,” she said, “I’m only trying to be helpful.”
“You must hate him something awful, kid.”
“Now you’re catching on.”
“Doesn’t he treat you right?”
“All his money,” she said, “and I don’t even get my own car. I had to take the bus tonight; otherwise you wouldn’t have got me the way you did, so it’s his fault I was kidnapped. Why shouldn’t he pay a bundle?”
“This is some kid, Howie,” the younger man said.
Howie nodded. “You sure about the hundred thousand?”
“He’ll probably try to stall, tell us he needs time to raise the dough.”
“So tell him you know about the safe.”
“Maybe he—”
“And that way he won’t call the police,” she went on. “Because of not paying taxes on the money and all that. He won’t want that to come out into the open, so he’ll pay.”
“It’s like you planned this job yourself, baby,” Ray said.
“I almost did.”
“Huh?”
“I used to think what a gas it would be if I got kidnapped. What a fit the old man would throw and everything.” She giggled. “But I never really thought it would happen. It’s too perfect.”
“I think I’ll make that call now,” Howie said. “I’ll be back in maybe half an hour. Ray here’ll take good care of you, kitten.” He nodded and was gone.
She had expected that Howie would make the call and was glad it had turned out that way. Ray seemed to be the easier of the two to get along with. It wasn’t just that he was younger and better-looking. He was also, as far as she could tell, more good-natured and a whole lot less intelligent.
“Who would have figured it?” he said now. “I mean, you go and pull a snatch, you don’t expect anybody to be so cooperative.”
“Have you ever done this before, Ray?”
“No.”
“It must be scary.”
“Aw, I guess it’s easy enough. More money than a bank job and a whole lot less risk. The only hard part is when the mark—your old man, that is—delivers the money. You have to get the dough without being spotted. Outside of that, it’s no sweat at all.”
“And afterward?”
“Huh?”
The palms of her hands were moist with sweat. She said, “What happens afterward? Will you let me go, Ray?”
“Oh, sure.”
“You won’t kill me?”
“Oh, don’t be silly,” he said.
She knew exactly what he meant. He meant, Let’s not talk about it, doll, but of course we’ll kill you. What else?
“I’m more fun when I’m alive,” she said.
“I’ll bet you are.”
“You better believe it.”
He came closer to her. She straightened her shoulders to emphasize her youthful curves and watched his eyes move over her body.
“That’s a pretty sweater,” he said. “You look real good in a sweater. I’ll bet a guy could have a whole lot of fun with you, baby.”
“I’m more fun,” she said, “when I’m not tied up. Howie won’t be back for a half hour. But I don’t guess that would worry you.”
“Not a bit.”
She sat perfectly still while he untied her. Then she got slowly to her feet. Her legs were cramped and her fingers tingled a little from the limited circulation. Ray took her in his arms and kissed her, then took a black automatic from his pocket and placed it on the table.
“Now don’t get any idea about making a grab for the gun,” he said. “You’d only get hurt, you know.”
Later he insisted on tying her up again.
“But I won’t try anything,” she protested. “Honest, Ray. You know I wouldn’t try anything. I want everything to go off just right.”
“Howie wouldn’t like it,” he said doggedly, and that was all there was to it.
“But don’t make it too tight,” she begged. “It hurts.”
He didn’t make it too tight.
When Howie came back he was smiling broadly. He closed the door and locked it and lit a
cigarette. “Like a charm,” he said through a cloud of smoke. “Went like a charm. You’re okay, honey girl.”
“What did he say?”
“Got hysterical first of all. Kept telling me not to hurt you, that he’d pay if only we’d release you. He kept saying how much he loved you and all.”
She started to laugh. “Oh, beautiful!”
“And you were right about the safe. He started to blubber that he couldn’t possibly raise a hundred thousand on short notice. Then I hit him with the safe, said I knew he kept plenty of dough right there in his own basement, and that really got to him. He went all to pieces. I think you could have knocked him over with a lettuce leaf when he heard that.”
“And he’ll pay up?”
“No trouble at all, and if it’s all cash he’s been salting away that’s the best news yet: no serial numbers copied down, no big bills, no runs of new bills in sequence. That means we don’t have to wholesale the kidnap dough to one of the Eastern mobs for forty cents on the dollar. We wind up with a hundred thousand, and we wind up clean.”
“And he’ll be scared to go to the police afterward,” Carole put in. “Did you set up the delivery of the money?”
“No. I said I’d call in an hour. I may cut it to a half hour though. I think we’ve got him where we want him. This is going so smooth it scares me. I want it over and done with, nice and easy.”
She was silent for a moment. Howie wanted it over and done with, undoubtedly wanted no loose ends. Inevitably he was going to think of her, Carole Butler, as an obvious loose end, which meant that he would probably want to tie her off, and the black automatic on the table was just the thing to do the job. She stared at the gun, imagined the sound of it, the impact of the bullet in her flesh. She was terrified, but she made sure none of this showed in her face or in her voice.
Casually she asked, “About the money—how are you going to pick it up?”
“That’s the only part that worries me.”
“I don’t think he’ll call the police. Not my old man. Frankly, I don’t think he’d have the guts. But if he did, that would be the time when they’d try to catch you, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s the general idea.”
She thought for a moment. “If we were anywhere near the south end of town, I know a perfect spot—but I suppose we’re miles from there.”
“What’s the spot?”
She told him about it—the overpass on Route 130 at the approach to the turnpike. They could have her father drive onto the pike, toss the money over the side of the overpass when he reached it, and they could be waiting down below to pick it up. Any cops who were with him would be stuck up there on the turnpike and they could get away clean.
“It’s not bad,” Ray said.
“It’s perfect,” Howie added. “You thought that up all by yourself?”
“Well, I got the idea from a really super-duper movie—”
“I think it’s worth doing it that way.” Howie sighed. “I was going to get fancy, have him walk to a garbage can, stick it inside, then cut out. Then we go in and get it out of the can. But suppose the cops had the whole place staked out?” He smiled. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, kitten. It’s a shame—”
“What’s a shame?”
“That you’re not part of the gang, the way your mind works. You’d be real good at it.”
That, she knew, was not really what he’d meant. It’s a shame we have to kill you anyway, he meant. You’re a smart kid, and even a pretty kid, but all the same you’re going to get a bullet between the eyes, and it’s a shame.
She pictured her father, waiting by the telephone. If he called the police, she knew it would be all over for her, and he might very well call them. But if she could stop him, if she could make sure that he let the delivery of the ransom money go according to plan, then maybe she would have a chance. It wouldn’t be the best chance in the world, but anything was better than nothing at all.
When Howie said he was going to make the second phone call she asked him to take her along. “Let me talk to him,” she begged. “I want to hear his voice. I want to hear him in a panic. He’s always so cool about everything, so smug and superior. I want to see what he sounds like when he gets in a sweat.”
“I don’t know—”
“I’ll convince him that you’re desperate and dangerous,” she continued. “I’ll tell him—” she managed to giggle “—that I know you’ll kill me if he doesn’t cooperate, but that I’m sure you’ll let me go straight home just as soon as the ransom is paid as long as he keeps the police out of it.”
“Well, I don’t know. It sounds good, but—”
“It’s a good idea, Howie,” Ray said. “That way he knows we’ve got her and he knows she’s still alive. I think the kid knows what she’s talking about.”
It took a little talking, but finally Howie was convinced of the wisdom of the move. Ray untied her and the three of them got into Howie’s car and drove down the road to a pay phone. Howie made the call and talked for a few minutes, explaining how and where the ransom was to be delivered. Then he gave the phone to Carole.
“Oh, Daddy,” she sobbed. “Oh, Daddy, I’m scared! Daddy, do just what they tell you. There are four of them and they’re desperate, and I’m scared of them. Please pay them, Daddy. The woman said if the police were brought in she’d cut my throat with a knife. She said she’d cut me and kill me, Daddy, and I’m so scared of them—”
Back in the cabin, as Howie tied her in the chair, he asked, “What was all that gas about four of us? And the bit about the woman?”
“I just thought it sounded dramatic.”
“It was dramatic as a nine-alarm fire, but why bother?”
“Well,” she said, “the bigger the gang is, the more dangerous it sounds and if he reports it later, let the police go looking for three men and a woman. That way you’ll have even less trouble getting away clear. And of course I’ll give them four phony descriptions, just to make it easier for you.”
She hoped that would soak in. She could only give the phony descriptions if she were left alive, and she hoped that much penetrated.
It was around three-thirty in the morning when Howie left for the ransom. “I should be about an hour,” he said. “If I’m not back in that time, then things are bad. Then we’ve got trouble.”
“What do I do then?” Ray asked.
“You know what to do.”
“I mean, how do I get out of here? We’ve only got the one car, and you’ll be in it.”
“So beat it on foot, or stay right where you are. You don’t have to worry about me cracking. The only way they’ll get me is dead, and if I’m dead you won’t have to worry about them finding out where we’ve got her tucked away. Just take care of the chick and get out on foot.”
“Nothing’s going to go wrong.”
“I think you’re right. I think this is smooth as silk, but anything to be sure. You got your gun?”
“On the table.”
“Ought to keep it on you.”
“Well, maybe.”
“Remember,” Howie said, “you can figure on me getting back in an hour at the outside. Probably be no more than half of that, but an hour is tops. So long.”
“Good luck,” Carole called after him.
Howie stopped and looked at her. He had a very strange expression on his face. “Yeah,” he said finally. “Luck. Sure, thanks.”
When Howie was gone, Ray said, “You never should have made the phone call. I mean, I think it was a good idea and all, but that way Howie tied you up, see, and he tied you tight. Me, I would have tied you loose, see, but he doesn’t think the same way.” He considered things. “In a way,” he went on, “Howie is what you might call a funny guy. Everything has to go just right, know what I mean? He doesn’t like to leave a thing to chance.”
“Could you untie me?”
“Well, I don’t know if I should.”
“At least make this looser?
It’s got my fingers numb already. It hurts pretty bad, Ray. Please?”
“Well, I suppose so.” He untied her. As soon as she was loose he moved to the table, scooped up the gun, wedged it beneath the waistband of his trousers.
He likes me, she thought. He even wants me to be comfortable and he doesn’t particularly want to kill me, but he doesn’t trust me. He’s too nervous to trust anybody.
“Could I have a cigarette?” she asked.
“Huh? Oh, sure.” He gave her one, lit it for her. They smoked together for several minutes in silence. It isn’t going to work, she thought, not the way things are going. She had him believing her, but that didn’t seem to be enough. Howie was the brains and the boss, and what Howie said went, and Howie would say to kill her. She wondered which one of them would use the gun on her.
“Uh, Carole—”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing. Just forget it.”
He wanted her to bring it up, she knew. So she said, “Listen, Ray, let me tell you something. I like you a lot, but to tell you the truth I’m scared of Howie.”
“You are?”
“I’ve been playing it straight with you, and I think you’ve been straight with me. Ray, you’ve got the brains to realize you’ll be much better off if you let me go.” He doesn’t, she thought, have any brains at all, but flattery never hurt. “But Howie is different from you and me. He’s not—well, normal. I know he wants to kill me.”
“Oh, now—”
“I mean it, Ray.” She clutched his arm. “If I live, Dad won’t report it. He can’t afford to. But if you kill me—”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Suppose you let me go.”
“Afterward?”
She shook her head. “No, now, before Howie comes back. He won’t care by then, he’ll have the money. You can just let me go, and then the two of you will take the money and get out of town. Nobody will ever know a thing. I’ll tell Dad the two of you released me and he’ll be so glad to get me back and so scared of the tax men he’ll never say a word. You could let me go, Ray, couldn’t you? Before Howie gets back?”
He thought it over for a long time, and she could see he wanted to. But he said, “I don’t know, Howie would take me apart—”
“Say I grabbed something and hit you, and managed to knock you out. Tell him he tied the ropes wrong and I slipped loose and got you from behind. He’ll be mad, maybe, but what will he care? As long as you have the money—”