James Chase - The World in My Pocket

Bleck grimaced.

‘It could be rugged, Frank. I don’t like that kind of job. You never know if someone’s going to turn hero.’

‘It’ll be good training,’ Morgan said with a grim smile. ‘We know for sure these two will be heroes. We may as well get used to the idea. That cafe could be worth three grand if we’re lucky. Besides, we’ll take the girl along with us. I want to find out for sure if her nerve is as good as she makes out it is.’

‘Who else will be on the job?’

‘Kitson will handle the car. You and me will handle the heaters and the girl collects the dough.’

‘Gypo on the easy end of it again?’ Bleck asked with a sneer.

‘Look, Ed, you’re always making those cracks about Gypo. We don’t want him on a job like this. He’s our technical man. He’s no good on a caper like this and you know it. He is going to bust open the truck. No one else in this outfit can do it, so he’s going to be reserved for that job and that job alone. Get it?’

‘Oh, sure. One of these days I’ll learn to be a technical man myself,’ Bleck said shrugging. ‘Where are we going to get the caravan from?’

‘There’s a place that sells them at Marlow. As soon as we get the dough I’ll send Kitson and the girl there. Their story will be they’re going on honeymoon together.’

Bleck smiled.

‘Watch out Kitson doesn’t try to kid himself that’s what he is really going to do.’

‘Will you skip it?’ Morgan snarled. ‘We’ve enough on our plates without woman trouble. I’m telling you once and for all: there’s going to be no monkey business. Kitson’s the youngest of the four of us. It’s his job to act the husband, but that doesn’t mean a thing. If he thinks it does, then he has me to talk to.’

‘How about the frill?’ Bleck asked. ‘Have you consulted her on how she’s going to conduct her sex life?’

Morgan drew in a slow, deep breath.

‘I saw this coming,’ he said, his voice low and savage. ‘As soon as I saw her with that body of hers, I knew you three punks would try to reach for her. I told her: if she starts any monkey business, she’s out.’ His lips twisted into a hard smile. ‘It would have surprised you if you had seen her when I said that. Make no mistake about this: there’s only one thing in that baby’s life, and if s not sex. It’s money. Don’t kid yourself otherwise. Neither you nor Kitson nor Gypo are going to get anywhere with that girl. It’s money first and last with her. If Kitson tries to start trouble with her, he’s in for a shock. That goes for you and Gypo too. So get your mind adjusted. She says no monkey business. I say no monkey business, and that means no monkey business. Now do you get it?’

Bleck laughed.

‘Sure. It sounds to me there’s going to be no monkey business.’

Morgan put his cold, thin fingers around Bleck’s wrist and tightened his hold. Startled, Bleck looked quickly around and met the glittering black eyes.

‘I’m not fooling, Ed,’ Morgan said softly. ‘This is my big chance to break out of the prison that’s been my life. This is the big take. If you imagine you can queer my show because you’ve got hot pants for a twenty-year old girl, you have another thing coming. I’ll put a slug in your back if I think you’re going to foul up this job. Remember that. This is the once-in-a-life-time chance, and I’m not having it put on the skids because you or Gypo or Kitson gets a sex itch. Is that understood?’

Bleck’s smile was forced as he said, ‘What’s the matter with you, Frank? I was only fooling.’

Morgan leaned forward slightly. His tobacco-tainted breath fanned Bleck’s face.

‘You’d better be fooling.’

There was a long, tense pause as the two men stared at each other, then Bleck, making an effort to speak lightly, said, ‘Think this car can tow the caravan? It’ll be as heavy as hell.’

‘It’s got to tow it,’ Morgan said, relaxing back in his seat, his nicotine-stained fingers drumming on the steering wheel ‘There’re no really bad hills. The first half-hour will be the toughest. We’ve got to get as far away from the bottleneck as we can in that time. After that it’ll be easy. I want you to check this car, Ed, and I mean check it. If we have a breakdown when we have the truck, we’ll really be in trouble.’

‘Sure. I’ll give it a thorough check over. You can leave that to me. We’ll have to knock off a car for the girl. When do we do that?’

‘A couple of days before we do the job. You and Gypo will have to get new plates for it and Gypo must do a body spray job on it. We mustn’t take any chances of the car being spotted when she’s handling it.’

Bleck gave Morgan a sudden nudge as he saw the big wooden gates of the Armoured Truck Agency swing open.

‘Here it comes.’

Through the gateway came the armoured truck. They were seeing it for the first time, and both of them stared at it, photographing it in their minds.

Bleck was surprised to see how small it was. He had expected something much bigger. It was like a steel box on wheels, plus the driving cab. They could see Thomas and Dirkson through the windshield. Dirkson was sitting upright, looking ahead. Thomas had that easy stance of a born driver, his hands at two o’clock on the steering wheel. He edged the truck out into the flow of traffic as Morgan turned on the ignition of the Buick and moved it out into the traffic, two cars behind the truck.

‘I thought it was going to be bigger,’ Bleck said, trying to get a view of the rear of the truck, around the Lincoln that was in front of them. ‘It doesn’t look so tough.’

‘Yeah? Maybe it’s small, but don’t make any mistake about it not being tough,’ Morgan said.

He saw a gap in the traffic, touched the gas pedal and slid in front of the Lincoln. Ahead of him now was a low-slung sports car, and both men could get a clearer view of the rear of the truck.

Painted across the rear door was a sign that read: THE WELLING ARMOURED TRUCK SERVICE

You are looking at the safest truck ever invented.

If you have anything of value to transport, make use of us.

The safest and best trucking service in the world.

Bleck found he was breathing heavily as he stared at the truck that moved smoothly and fast through the morning’s traffic. It looked like a cube of solid steel on wheels. Instinctively he felt that this moving cube of steel not only offered a challenge to his future but also to his life.

‘On your right,’ Morgan said suddenly.

Bleck’s pale eyes swivelled to his right.

A traffic cop, sitting astride his motorcycle, had just started his engine and had steered his machine into the traffic.

‘Time we shoved off,’ Morgan said. ‘They’ll have this joker with them now until they leave town. If we hang on to them, he’ll want to know why.’

He swung the wheel and steered the Buick out of the flow of traffic and into a side street.

The last glimpse Bleck had of the truck was its steady movement forward with the speed cop riding at its side. He had a feeling of relief when he had lost sight of the truck.

Morgan slowed, swung to an empty parking space and pulled up.

‘Well, you’ve seen it now.’

‘Yes: a steel box. Seeing it doesn’t mean much. Did you get the exact time it left the Agency?’

‘Yes: eight forty-three.’ Morgan took out a cigarette and lit it. ‘Three hours from now, it should go through the bottleneck. I bet Gypo and Kitson are sweating it out there in this heat, waiting for them.’

‘Seeing the truck and the two guys brings the job to life,’ Ed said, shifting lower in his seat. ‘You’re right, Frank: this is the big one and it’s going to be tough.’

‘If we get the breaks, it’ll be okay,’ Morgan said. ‘We’ll take a look at that all-night cafe now. I want to see what the escape route’s like. We may have to leave fast. This is the one job, Ed, where we mustn’t make a mistake.’