Джеймс Чейз - I Hold the Four Aces

‘Tell me about this Rolfe woman,’ Bernie said, glancing at his watch. The time was 23.00: Segetti and Belmont should be going into action. ‘She interests me.’

Lucky, who always kept his ear to the ground, became informative. He said Helga Rolfe had inherited Rolfe’s millions, and was now the top shot of the Rolfe Electronic Corporation. In her own right, she was worth around sixty to eighty million dollars, give or take. She had hot pants, and had it off from time to time with hotel waiters, barmen, and especially Italians.

‘Since Rolfe died,’ Lucky went on, ‘she’s quietened down as far as I know. She has now taken up with a fancy man who calls himself Christopher Grenville. They are staying together at the Helios villa.’

‘Who is this fink?’

‘Grenville? He’s English, looks loaded, but that’s probably a front. I’ve no information about him except I hear he has been living in Germany for some time.’

‘Know anything about Jack Archer?’ Bernie asked.

Lucky nodded.

‘He used to look after Rolfe’s money. He was once a big shot with a tax consultant firm in Lausanne and used to come here quite often when Rolfe lived at Helios. Then suddenly, he didn’t come any more. I heard he got into trouble, dipping his fingers into Rolfe’s money, but I don’t know for sure. There was also talk he used to screw Rolfe’s wife, but that could also be talk.’

Bernie considered this information, then nodded.

‘Okay, Lucky. Go to bed. I’ll be fine here.’ He patted Lucky’s shoulder. ‘I’ve got a pot on the stove. When it comes to the boil, I’ll see you get a cut.’

Lucky grinned.

‘With all my kids, I need a little extra, Bernie. Stay here as long as you like. When you want something to eat — coffee, whisky, anything — use the telephone. I’ll bring it to you.’ He was under the impression that Bernie was in trouble with the police and needed a hide-out. Bernie, reading his thoughts, didn’t disillusion him.

‘Fine, Lucky. I could have a couple of friends here too. That be okay?’

‘Everything is okay with you, Bernie, as long as they don’t mind sleeping on the floor.’

‘They won’t.’

The two men shook hands, and Lucky descended the stairs and walked heavily back to his apartment. He told his wife that maybe Bernie was in trouble, and she would have to supply him with food. His wife, five years younger than her husband, threw up her hands, but didn’t protest. For fifty years now, anything Lucky said to her had to be all right with her. She obeyed, and didn’t ask questions.

Bernie lay on the truckle bed and thought. Just before midnight, Segetti and Belmont climbed the stairs and joined him. They gave him a blow-by-blow account of the kidnapping, and then Belmont went on to describe what he had heard at the rented villa between Archer and Grenville.

‘They are taking this broad for two million dollars!’ Belmont said, his little black eyes glistening. ‘Imagine!’

Bernie sneered.

‘They are amateurs. This broad is worth sixty million if not more. In Rome, the other day, our people ransomed some fink for seven million dollars. Now here’s what we do...’

For the next half hour he talked, stabbing the air with a thick finger to emphasize every point he was making. When he had finished, he said, ‘Get the idea?’

‘Mamma mia!’ Segetti exclaimed. ‘What’s our share, Bernie?’

‘That we will discuss later,’ Bernie said. ‘There is some work to do yet. Now I am going to sleep. You two sleep on the floor,’ and settling himself on the truckle bed, he closed his eyes.

Helga came slowly awake, and for some minutes, lay in a relaxed stupor. Then, when her hand reached for Grenville, groped and found nothing, she opened her eyes.

The sun was coming through the blinds. The bedside clock told her it was 10.00. Chris, she thought, was taking a swim, then the memory of the previous awful night struck her, and she sat up with a strangled scream. She found she was wearing only her bra and panties. She looked wildly around the room, seeing again those terrifying hooded monsters as they had burst in, guns in hand.

Her heart began to hammer and she had to clench her hands into fists to stop another scream.

There came a knock on the door, and Hinkle entered, pushing the coffee trolley. ‘I thought I heard you, madame,’ he said gently, and going to her closet, he took out a wrap and draped it around her. ‘I took the liberty to remove your dress last night. I thought you would rest more comfortably.’

She drew in a long, slow breath, and the steel in her exerted itself. She now remembered she had behaved very badly last night. She had completely lost control of herself. As soon as she heard the car drive Chris away, she had run screaming down the long corridor to Hinkle’s room. He had been marvellous. She had clung to him, sobbing, and he had picked her up, speaking soothing words as if she were a child, and had carried her to her bedroom and laid her on the bed. Then he had sat by her side, holding her hand while she hysterically told him what had happened.

‘I can’t lose him! I must get him back!’ she cried. ‘Hinkle, what am I to do? I must...’

‘You mustn’t distress yourself. You must remember this happens so often these days. You must try to relax.’

‘Hinkle! They could hurt him! I love him! I can’t bear to think he is in the hands of those awful brutes!’ She began to sob again. ‘I couldn’t live without him! He is my life now! He is everything I’ve ever longed for!’

‘Madame Rolfe!’ A sudden steely snap in Hinkle’s voice startled her. ‘You are being hysterical. I have told you: this has happened before. I will alert the police and...’

‘No! No! No! You’re not to go to the police! They said they would kill him if the police came into it! You don’t know how vicious they sounded!’

‘Then we must wait for the ransom demand,’ Hinkle said. ‘In the meantime, madame, kindly control yourself.’

But Helga was beyond control, and turning on her side, burying her face in the pillow, she sobbed her heart out.

Hinkle regarded her, disapprovingly, then he went into the bathroom, found her sleeping pills, mixed four in a glass of water, then returned to her. He pulled her around and held the glass to her lips.

‘I don’t want it! I don’t want it!’

‘Drink it, and stop acting like a child!’ Hinkle barked.

She drank, shuddered and dropped back on her pillow.

‘I love him so much,’ she moaned. ‘Pray God they don’t hurt him.’

Holding her hand, Hinkle watched as the drug took effect. Still crying, still moaning, she drifted off into sleep.

Remembering how she had behaved, and how Hinkle had handled the situation, she looked shame-faced at him as he poured the coffee.

‘You have been wonderful, Hinkle,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what I would have done without your help, and I am ashamed I behaved so badly last night.’

‘It is understandable, madame,’ Hinkle said. ‘In a few days, Mr. Grenville will be back with you, and you will be happy again.’

‘I hope so!’ She drank some of the coffee. ‘They said the ransom demand would be today. Will they telephone?’

‘That, I believe, madame, is the usual procedure. I will draw a bath for you. If there is a telephone call, I will take it.’ He looked at her. ‘And, madame, this could be a trying day for you. A woman faced with a difficult situation is always at her best when she is looking her best.’

He walked into the bathroom and turned on the mixer.

Helga bit back her tears. He is right, she thought. He is so loyal and kind! She waited until he had left the room, then she took a bath, worked on her face, put on a pale-blue silk shirt and black trousers and regarded herself.