James Chase - Figure It Out for Yourself

I said I knew about Barratt.

‘He wants watching,’ she said, her face hardening. ‘He fooled me all right. He said Lee had married Serena Marshland to get her money, and as soon as he had it, he would return to me. He asked me to co-operate; to keep away from Lee and give him a free hand. Like a fool, I believed him. I was staying at the Chandos Hotel, and on my way back from seeing Barratt I was shot at. I knew then that Barratt was going to get rid of me, and I moved to the Beach Hotel.’ She glanced at me, asked, ‘Are you enjoying this?’

‘More or less,’ I said. ‘It’s not what I was hoping to but never mind. Go on.’

‘What were you hoping to hear?’

‘Finish what you’ve got to say. I’ll tell you later.’

She shrugged.

‘There’s not much more. I thought if I could only see Lee I might persuade him to come back to me. I found out he was going to Ocean End, and I went there to see him. That’s when I met you, and heard he was supposed to have been kidnapped. He hasn’t been kidnapped, has he?’

‘No. But by faking his own kidnapping he collected five hundred thousand dollars off Serena, and that ain’t hay. The last time I saw him he was staying with Barratt.’

‘I’ve read about that. It’s just the kind of thing he would get away with. Well, that’s about all. I knew Barratt kept his main supply of reefers in the mine. Joe and I hooked up together. I wanted to get even with Barratt. My idea was to burn the stock: it’s worth thousands, but Joe has other ideas. He’s planned to hi-jack the stuff and start an organization of his own. Dope smuggling’s too dirty for me. I’ve had enough of it. Joe won’t get anywhere. He hasn’t the brain for the work. I’m quitting. He’s getting ideas about me.’ Her mouth curled. ‘A woman can’t live under the same roof with a man for long. Sooner or later, he makes a pest of himself.’

‘Some women can,’ I said and grinned at her.

Then suddenly, without warning, the distant sound of gunfire brought us both to our feet.

‘What’s that?’ Mary asked sharply, running to the window.

‘Maybe the cops are chasing Joe,’ I said hopefully, ‘but just to be on the safe side, I’ll put out the light.’

As I turned down the wick of the storm lantern more shots rang out, much closer now, and I hastily lifted the lantern from its hook and blew out the flickering flame.

‘It’s Joe and Mac!’ Mary said, and threw open the door.

The flash of gunfire lit up the darkness outside. Away in the valley came answering flashes and bullets smacked into the wooden roof.

Joe and Mac, breathing heavily, charged into the room, and slammed the door.

For a moment or so neither of them could say anything. They leaned against the wall, panting for breath, while slugs slapped into the solid walls of the cabin and gunfire rolled in the valley.

‘Get the rifles,’ Joe gasped. It’s Barrett!’

Mary stumbled across the room. I heard her open a cup-board. She came back with two rifles and gave them to Joe and Mac.

‘Are you in this?’ she asked, as calm as if she was sitting down to a cup of tea.

‘Yeah; if it’s Barratt, I am,’ I said.

She went back to the cupboard and produced two more rifles and a sack of ammunition.

‘What happened, Joe?’ she asked as we loaded the clips.

‘Jeepers! The boys walked right into them. There are about ten of them and Barratt. I guess he’d come to shift the stuff. They must have spotted our trucks and came down on us.’

Where do you get this us stuff from?’ Mac growled. You weren’t even there.’ He was kneeling in front of the window, and turned his head to look at Mary. ‘They were at the top of the quarry. We were at the bottom. It was like shooting rabbits. They got Harry, Lu and George with their first volley. The rest of us got behind the trucks. They kept crawling around the edge of the quarry, picking us off, until I was the only one left. I just lay there and waited. Finally, they decided they’d picked us all off and came down to investigate. Harry and George were still alive. They were badly hurt, but they were still breathing. Barratt shot them both through the head. I managed to sneak away while they were checking up on the others. I got to the top of the quarry, when Joe turned up. They spotted Joe. The chump was smoking. You could see him a mile away, and they came after us. I told Joe not to shoot, but he kept letting his rod off, and of course, they just kept coming. I was hoping to get away in the dark, but not with Joe lighting up the countryside for miles. So here we are, and right out there, they are, and it’s going to be some picnic.’

Joe said, ‘I got two of them. You don’t think I was going to let that mob shoot at me without shooting back?’

While they were talking, I was examining the-valley below the cabin. There wasn’t much cover until you started to climb the hill. Once they got a foothold on the hill, they could get up to the door of the cabin without being seen.

I edged the rifle over the window sill, sighted into the darkness and pressed the trigger. Almost immediately flashes lit up the shrubs on the far side of the valley and slugs whammed against the walls of the cabin.

‘They’re over on the far side,’ I said. ‘If they can get across the floor of the valley, we’ll be cooked.’

‘The moon will be up in a few minutes,’ Mac said. ‘It’s just below the peak of the hill as we came along. Then we’ll have plenty of light.’

I thought I saw some movement below, shifted the sights of the rifle and fired.

A tiny, shadowy form darted back under cover again. Both Joe and Mac fired at the same time. A faint yell followed the crash of gunfire. These two might not be very strong in the brain department, but they could shoot.

‘That’s another of the punks,’ Joe said with satisfaction.

I put my hand on Mary’s arm and pulled her close to me.

‘Is there any way out of here besides the door?’ I asked in a whisper.

She shook her head.

‘How about the roof?’

‘There’s a ladder that takes you up to the roof, but once up there, there’s no way to escape.’

‘Sure?’

‘You might with a rope, but it wouldn’t be easy.’

‘I guess I’ll take a look,’ I said. ‘Got a rope?’

‘There’s one in the kitchen.’

Joe suddenly fired again.

‘Look out!’ he bawled. They’re coming.’

We could make out six or seven moving figures, running across the floor of the valley. We all fired as fast as we could pull our bolts. Two of the figures fell. The others drifted back again under cover of the opposite bank.

‘Get the rope,’ I said to Mary. ‘And get that trap open. We may have to leave in a hurry.’

‘What are you two whispering about?’ Joe demanded suspiciously.

‘We’re preparing a get-away,’ I told him. ‘By way of the roof.’

‘Fat chance you have,’ he snorted. They’d pick you off like a sitting rabbit when the moon’s up.’

‘We may have to,’ I said, seeing the first rays of the moon appearing over the hill top. ‘Here it comes.’

Two or three minutes later the floor of the valley was flooded with white light.

‘Well, at least, it’s as bad for them,’ Mac said, sitting back on his heels. ‘We can’t miss them from here.’

‘What do you think they’re playing at?’ Joe said, uneasily. ‘They haven’t let off a heater for the past five minutes.’

‘Why should they?’ I said. ‘They’re waiting for the moon to pick this joint out, and it will. They’ll be able to see in through the windows.’

‘I have the rope,’ Mary called from an adjoining room. I’m going up on the roof,’ I said. ‘Keep an eye on them.’