Джеймс Чейз - So What Happens To Me?

I grinned at him.

‘No: my problems are your problems now.’

He got to his feet.

‘Then I’ll run away.’ He lifted his wig and bowed to Pam. ‘Bye dears,’ and he moved around the table, then paused, looking at Bernie. ‘You’ve found a smart boy, Bernie... watch him, he could get too smart,’ and then be waddled away down the steps to his yellow and black Cadillac and was driven away.

I lit a cigarette and looked at Bernie.

‘So what have we got?’ I said. ‘We now have an extra million to cut up between us. We’re now going to find out who is buying the kite. When I go out there, I’ll find him. I’ve fixed at least half the money comes to us even if Fatso gyps us out of the other half and he could. How do you like it, Bernie?’

Olson smiled crookedly.

‘Why else do you imagine I picked on you?’

But I could tell by his eyes that I had taken the lead out of his hands: I could see he now knew who was the better man.

I then looked at the other two.

‘How do you like it?’

Erskine stared for a long moment at me, then he said, ‘I apologise Jack for being hostile. The way you handled it was marvellous. From now on, I cooperate. What you say goes with me. Hell! I never thought of any of this stuff you fed to him. You’re right. We’re just goddamn amateurs.’

‘Fine.’ I shifted my eyes to Pam. ‘And you? You happy?’

She didn’t even look at me. She just shrugged.

‘Baby! I’m talking to you... are you happy?’

‘Let’s leave her out of it,’ Bernie said sharply.

‘Oh, no!’ I leaned forward. ‘She’s part of the team. I want to hear her angle.’

She looked at me, her eyes snapping.

‘You did very well. You are the miracle boy. Is that what you want to hear?’

I swung around and looked at Bernie.

‘Do we need her?’

Olson rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth. ‘Pam and I are together and we go together.’

‘Fine. So... you take care of her. From where I’m sitting I have you and Harry. You take care of her... right?’

Pam got to her feet.

‘I’m going, Bernie. I can’t stomach this... this...’ She stopped as Erskine grabbed her wrist and jerked her down on her chair again Bernie half started up as Erskine said quietly to her. ‘Cut it out, Pam!’

She looked at him and I knew he had screwed her as I had screwed her and looking at Bernie’s white, drawn face, I knew he knew it too.

She stared at Erskine, then lifted her hands helplessly.

‘I’m sorry.’

There was a long pause, then I said, ‘No more drama for the moment?’

No one said anything.

‘So... here’s another thing. While we’re talking we may as well talk this out.’

‘Sure,’ Erskine said. ‘Let’s have another drink.’ He snapped his fingers and the girl appeared. He ordered another round of drinks. It was a good idea. The atmosphere grew cooler while we waited.

‘You got something else on your mind Jack?’ Erskine asked after the girl had delivered the drinks and had gone away.

‘The idea is that when we have radio silence, we have accepted the fact that we are dead people. We have all gone into the sea,’ I said. ‘Have you thought what that means? I go along with the idea. We can’t take the risk of coming back to the U.S. of A. We have to stay in Mexico, but the thing is we have to act as dead people.’

‘I told you that,’ Bernie said impatiently. ‘Life in Mexico could work out for all of us, but if it didn’t, with all this money, we could get lost in South America or even Europe.’

‘You’re not catching, Bernie,’ I said. ‘Kendrick and his client will also know we have to be dead people to get away with this. Have a think about it.’

Bernie stared at me, his eyes puzzled. He looked at Erskine who was also staring at me.

‘Still doesn’t jell?’ I said. ‘You still don’t catch!’

‘Just what are you talking about?’ Erskine demanded, his voice angry.

‘Oh, you babes in the wood! Hasn’t it entered your innocent minds that when we land the kite, how convenient it would be for Kendrick and his client for us to be met by a bunch of Mexican thugs who would slit our throats, bury us in the jungle, and Kendrick and his client pick up a ten million dollar kite without paying us for our services?’

Erskine shoved back his chair, his expression startled.

‘I never thought of that!’

‘Kendrick would never do a thing like that,’ Bernie said feebly, but he looked sick.

‘No? Anyone smart and Fatso is smart, wouldn’t bother about four lives if he could net six million dollars.’ I said. ‘We could be walking into a trap. I’m not saying we will, but we could.’

‘You’re right,’ Erskine said. ‘Goddamn it! It could happen!’

‘You’re a trusting bunch, aren’t you?’ I said. ‘If ever you say your prayers, thank the Lord you picked on me to handle this.’

‘So what do we do?’ Erskine asked.

‘We use our brains. We have two months to get this operation fixed. I’ll go out there and find out who is handling the deal, then we all concentrate on the important thing... how we remain dead and yet still keep alive.’

I was just dropping off to sleep when I heard a tapping on my cabin door. I snapped on the bedside lamp and swung myself out of bed, looking at my strap watch. The time was 00.15.

Again the tap came on the door.

I crossed the living room and opened up. Harry Erskine came in and I shut the door.

‘I want to talk to you,’ he said.

The only light came from my bedroom. He loomed before me: big, broad, like the shadow of a tree.

‘I was just going to sleep.’

‘Never mind about sleep.’ He moved further into the cabin and dropped into a chair. ‘Listen, Jack, I’m sorry I got off on the wrong foot with you. I thought you were a phoney, blown up by Bernie, but when I saw you handle that greaseball, I knew you were my man. I want to talk to you about Bernie.’

I sat down near him and reached for a pack of cigarettes. I lit one and tossed the pack to him. He lit up and we regarded each other.

‘So talk about Bernie,’ I said.

‘He’s going downhill so fast he could be on a toboggan. This goddamn bitch has fixed him.’ He flicked ash on the floor. ‘He has her continually on his mind. I don’t have to tell you, she screws around and this is poison to him, but he can’t part with her. It’s affecting his mind.’ He leaned forward. ‘At the speed he’s failing, he can’t last more than three or four months as a pilot. I know. I work with him. He’s so goddamn absent minded, he’ll start to take the kite of the floor before going through the flight routine. Three times recently I’ve stopped him and he has given me an odd blank look and then started the routine. He’s got this bug in his mind that he must have money to start an air taxi service in Mexico. The way he’s sliding he couldn’t handle one taxi, let alone a fleet. Now look Jack, don’t think I’ve got anything against Bernie. We’ve worked together for nine months. At first, I admired him. He was a fine pilot, but this woman has really fixed him. If you knew the number of times I’ve averted a certain crash you wouldn’t believe it. His mind just isn’t on flying.’

I listened to this with growing dismay.

‘Well, for God’s sake!’

‘Yeah... and what’s he going to do with the new kite? We’re both going up to the Condor’s works at the end of the month for a course of instruction. As he is now, the test pilots will murder him. Essex will get a report that will give Bernie the gate in seconds.’

‘I can’t believe this! Bernie can handle anything with wings! He’s the finest pilot I’ve ever worked for!’