James Chase - The World in My Pocket

‘Well, maybe. It depends what my cut would be,’ he said.

‘A hundred and twenty-five grand,’ Morgan said promptly. ‘Because Gypo’s a technical man, he’ll get a hundred and seventy-five grand. The hundred grand you two don’t get would be split between Ed and me.’

Kitson and Gypo exchanged glances.

‘If those guys act tough, one of us or maybe one of them could get killed,’ Kitson said, breathing heavily. ‘I don’t like it. Up to now the jobs we have pulled have been small and sweet.

The worst we could have drawn could have been a year in jail, but this is a murder rap. Count me out.’

‘That’s right,’ Gypo said. ‘Count me out too.’

Morgan smiled wolfishly.

‘Okay. Let’s vote on it. The rules of this outfit are that we always vote on a job. So let’s vote.’

‘We don’t have to vote,’ Kitson said sharply. ‘It’s a tie anyway even if Ed throws in with you. Your rules say if it’s a tie we don’t do the job — remember?’

‘Sure, I remember,’ Morgan said, grinning. ‘Let’s vote all the same. Let’s keep this outfit business-like. Whatever the decision, we stick to it — right?’

Kitson shrugged.

‘Yes, but why waste time?’

Morgan pushed back his chair and stood up. His big muscular frame threw a black shadow across the table.

‘Get the voting slips ready, Gypo.’

Gypo, his moon-shaped face puzzled, produced a notebook and tore a page from it. He cut the page into four strips with a penknife and dropped the strips of paper on the table.

‘There you are, guys,’ he said. ‘Help yourselves.’

Morgan said softly, ‘Why only four, Gypo?’

Gypo stared up at him blankly.

‘It’s always four, isn’t it?’

Morgan smiled.

‘This is a five-way split — remember? The girl has a vote too.’

He walked to the door, threw it open and said, ‘Come on in, Ginny. They want to vote on this job, and I need your vote.’

She came out of the darkness into the hard light from the overhead lamp and stood beside Morgan, looking at the three men who stared back at her. She was young, not more than twenty-three, and slightly above average height. She had copper-coloured hair, piled to the top of her head. Her eyes were large and greenish-grey and as expressionless and as impersonal as a cupful of seawater. Her mouth was over large, her lips full and sensual, and there was an arrogant, determined tilt to her chin.

She was wearing a blood-red silk shirt tucked into a black overlap skirt. Her body was full breasted and narrow waisted. Her full hips tapered down to long, slim legs. It was a body made fashionable by Italian film stars, and it caught the three men’s attention the way a hook catches a fish.

Morgan’s black eyes roved around the faces of the three men and he grinned. He knew the girl would make an impact on them and it interested him to see just how great the impact would be.

Gypo’s hand had gone to his string red tie, adjusting it, while he peeled his thick lips off his big, dazzling white teeth in a leering smile.

Bleck, frankly startled, lifted his eyebrows and pursed his lips in a soundless, appreciative whistle.

Kitson looked as if someone had hit him on the head with a hammer. He stared at the girl the way a tortured bull stares at a matador the moment before the estocada.

Morgan said, ‘This is Ginny Gordon.’

Bleck got to his feet. After a moment’s hesitation, Gypo also got to his feet, but Kitson sat there, his big hands into fists on the table, his eyes a little glassy, his expression still stunned.

‘Reading from right to left,’ Morgan went on, ‘is Ed Bleck who takes care of the gang when I’m out of the way. Gypo Mandini, our technical man and Alex Kitson who handles the car when we need a car.’

Kitson suddenly lumbered to his feet, nearly upsetting the table. He continued to stare at the girl, his hands still in fists.

The girl’s eyes moved quickly from face to face, then she pulled out a chair beside Morgan and sat down.

‘I’ve given the boys an outline of the plan,’ Morgan said to the girl, standing over her. ‘Two of them think it’s too big for us. Our rules are if there’s any disagreement about the job, we vote on it. So we’re going to vote.’

The girl frowned, her face suddenly puckering into a puzzled frown.

‘Too big for them?’ she repeated. ‘You mean two of them don’t want to pick up two hundred thousand dollars?’ Her voice was cold and incredulous.

‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Morgan said and grinned. ‘They think someone might get hurt and that bothers them.’

The girl looked at Gypo, then her greenish-grey eyes moved to Bleck, then flickered over to stare at Kitson.

‘I thought you said your outfit was good,’ she said.

The sudden scorn in her voice made Kitson flinch and turn red.

‘That’s what I said.’ Morgan’s grin widened. ‘But this is the first job we’ve planned that’s really big and two of us aren’t too happy about it.’

‘This is the big one,’ the girl said, her voice tense. ‘It pays off a million dollars. You said your outfit could handle it and I believed you, otherwise I wouldn’t have come to you. Now you are taking a vote. What is all this?’

The three men were startled. The contemptuous, reckless note in the girl’s voice angered them.

Bleck, who had the reputation of treating his women rough, said, ‘You sound a little loud, baby. Suppose you relax a little?’

The girl pushed back her chair and stood up. Her pretty face was cold and hard.

‘I guess I’ve come to the wrong address,’ she said to Morgan. ‘We’ll skip it. I’ll peddle this idea to a mob who has blood in its veins. I’m not going to waste my time talking to a bunch of powder puffs.’

She swung around on her heels and started towards the door.

Still grinning, Morgan reached out and caught hold of her arm, checking her.

‘Take it easy!’ he said. ‘These boys are okay. They’ve just got to adjust themselves. Gypo here is the best safe man in the business. Ed has nerves as good as mine. Kitson can handle a car the way no one else can. Just take it easy. You’ve caught us on the wrong foot. Maybe I shouldn’t have got around to the facts so fast. These boys are technically good, but they’re scared someone is going to get hurt.’

She stood staring at each man in turn.

‘Hurt? Who’s the dumb cluck who imagines we can pick up a million dollars without getting hurt?’ Her voice was harsh as she looked at the three men. ‘It’s a million dollars! For that kind of money I wouldn’t give a damn what happened to me or to anyone else!’

She shook off Morgan’s restraining hand, moved back under the hard light.

She looked directly at Kitson.

‘Are you scared to get your pretty skin bruised when there’s two hundred thousand dollars for the taking?’

Kitson had to make an effort to meet her steady, scornful eyes.

‘The job can’t be done,’ he said sullenly. ‘I know. I’ve worked for these people. This could be a murder rap and I don’t go for that.’

‘All right, if that’s the way you feel about it,’ the girl said, ‘we can do without your help. If you don’t want the money, now’s the time to pick up that beautiful, muscular body of yours and get out of here!’

Kitson’s face darkened and he pushed back his chair.

‘Who do you think you’re talking to? I tell you this job can’t be done! It’s a pipe dream!’

She flicked slim fingers towards the door.

‘And you are a pipe dream too. Run away, powder puff. We can handle this without you.’

Slowly, Kitson got to his feet, his breath snorting through his broken nose. He walked slowly around the table towards the girl who pivoted on her heels so she faced him.