Джон Макдональд - A Key to the Suite

“Screw them all, every one.”

“But you’re not doing Jesse any good. Don’t you have any loyalty? He’s given you your break. Maybe you don’t care what you do to yourself, but you’re hurting Jesse in front of this Hubbard.”

“Screw that little Greek too.”

“Who says he’s Greek?”

“He looks Greek. And you look like a Swede pimp. You know that, Freddy? Just like a Swede pimp.”

Frick stood up. “You’re too drunk to make any sense. I didn’t come in here to...”

“Sit down or I’ll sit you down!” Dave Daniels roared. His voice softened. “Okay. So maybe I’ve been a little bit out of line. I’m willing to admit it.”

“So?” Frick said warily.

“What’s got me so all messed up, old buddy, is that little Barlund broad, and that’s what I brought you in here about. She keeps brushing me off, and I want her so bad it makes my teeth ache. You’re in charge of arrangements, Freddy, and this is one arrangement you’re going to help me make, by God, or I’ll spread pieces of those big yellow teeth of yours all over this goddam hotel.”

“But...”

“I don’t care how we work it, just as long as we work it. If I could just get her into this room and get ahold of her before she turns to run, I’ll carry on from there, and she’ll love every minute of it. But what you got to do, you got to think up some kind of story conference on this thing she’s writing, and then...”

“You shouldn’t get yourself so worked up about that little prostitu...”

“What was that, Freddy? What was that you said?”

“Just a manner of speaking, Dave. Honest. That’s all.”

Daniels stared at him. Frick looked uneasily at the bloodshot eyes, and at the long, heavy, leathery face and the brute hands. Daniels said, “That little girl wouldn’t be a whore, now would she?”

“What’s the matter with you, Dave? That’s a silly question.”

A big hand grabbed the front of Frick’s suit, lifted him lightly off the bed, and ran him backwards into the far wall. He hit so hard it dazed him. Daniels’ big face was inches from his. “You don’t lie worth a damn, Frick. What do you know that I don’t know?”

“Honest, Davie, there’s nothing at all that...”

The big fist slammed him in the stomach. Frick fell onto his hands and knees and gagged helplessly. Daniels picked him up and stood him against the wall again.

“Are you nuts?” Frick shouted. “I’m not a well man. I got an ulcer. You could kill me doing that, you silly bastard!”

Daniels hit him again, picked him up again and held him against the wall. He grinned at Frick and said, “Honest to God, Freddy, I’m so drunk I don’t know what I’m doing. I just might stand here and belt you until I’m worn out.”

“Wait! Hey, wait!”

Daniels lowered his big fist. “Going to talk?”

“Okay. Yes. But let me sit down. Damn you! You ought to be locked up.”

“You start kidding around, Freddy, and you get it again, maybe a little lower.”

Fred Frick sat on the bed and made a grimace of pain. “You better not tell Jesse I told you. Cory is a call girl. We lined her up through an old friend of mine and Jesse’s. She’s as high class as anything you can find this side of New York. This story thing is a fake. We sicked her onto Hubbard.”

“Onto Hubbard?”

“The idea being that she gets him to make an obvious damn fool of himself, and if he doesn’t, she’ll pull one hell of a scene in front of everybody that’ll give him a different kind of reputation with AGM than the one he’s got. Then he won’t be so anxious to slip the knife to Jesse, and if he does, they’re going to maybe take it with a grain of salt, because word will get back about how he got a little carried away at the convention.”

“What makes you think that’ll do any good?”

“What else is there to try?”

“Remember that auditor in St. Louis? They gave him a mickey and stripped him raw and turned him loose in the lobby, and it didn’t do those boys at UFA a damn bit of good. All they got was a new auditor.”

“Jesse thought it was worth a try.”

“So Hubbard is getting it? I get near him and get a little kicking room, and he won’t want any more of it for a long time.”

“Now, dammit, Dave, you stay the hell out of this.”

“Dave Daniels doesn’t get brushed off by a whore.”

“Dave, listen to me. This girl isn’t any twenty-dollar trick. I know all about her. She’s as choosy as if she was a debutante. She takes the business she wants to take and that’s all. You knowing the score won’t make any difference to...”

“Freddy old Frick, it’s going to make a lot of difference, a hell of a lot of difference.”

“Please, Dave, don’t mess it up. You don’t need her. Listen, fella, let me line you up something that’ll make her look like...”

“No thanks.”

“She’s a scrawny kid, Dave.”

Dave grinned at him. “Yeah. Isn’t she though?”

“Don’t mess me up with Jesse. And don’t mess Jesse up. And there’s another thing, Dave. If you give Hubbard a hard time, how long do you think you’ll stay with AGM?”

“You’re scaring me. I got a place I can go any time, for more money. In fact, pal, I’m sending in my resignation as soon as I get back. So what do I owe you, or that slob Jesse Mulaney, or that Hubbard shit?”

“I took a hell of a chance telling you all this, Dave.”

“You would have taken a worse chance not telling me. You would have been carrying your guts in a hand basket, Freddy.”

Frick got up hastily, moved out of Daniels’ reach, and sidled to the door. “Just be reasonable,” he begged.

Daniels laughed at him. “I know why you’re in a big hurry. You want to find her and warn her. It won’t do any good.”

“You ought to be locked up. You go crazy when you drink.”

Daniels faked a lunge toward him. Frick popped out into the corridor and slammed the door and ran a half dozen steps before slowing down. He wiped the palms of his hands on his handkerchief. With each deep breath he tried to take, his stomach hurt, and he felt slightly nauseated.

He stopped and leaned against the wall and wiped the sweat off his face. In a few minutes he was able to think more calmly and logically. He went to one of the bedrooms of the hospitality suite, found a number in his notebook and called it.

“Al, boy? Fred Frick. How’s everything with you? That’s good to hear. Al, I’m at a convention at the Sultana, and I’ve got a little problem maybe you can help me on. One of our crowd is heading for trouble. A nice guy, but he doesn’t drink good, you know? So I want him taken out of the play before he can do himself some real harm. No, I think he might talk himself out of there too fast. He looks like he’s handling it better than he is. I was thinking in terms of that ward at the hospital, and some shots to keep him quiet until... maybe Sunday? What’s that? Oh, sure, you clear it with the hotel people. I understand. They don’t want a fuss any more than I do. Dave Daniels, his name is. Chicago, Illinois. Al, one thing, he’s a big son of a bitch. Yes. And use an ambulance? Sure. Do it any way you think best. Not until when? Al, I was hoping for a little faster service on this. It’s seven-fifteen now. Well, I guess all we can do is keep our fingers crossed until ten. I’ll make it a point to be right here in the suite at ten o’clock then. Eight sixty. You fellows come right on up. Yes, I’ll take full responsibility. Dave will thank me when it’s all over. Thanks loads, Al boy.”

When Hubbard went into his room after coming from the cabana party, he was becoming increasingly curious about Cory Barlund. He could not quite believe she had given up. Dusk had brought shadows into the room. He turned the lights on. The maid had turned both beds down. He tossed the towel in a corner of the bathroom, pulled the swim trunks off, kicked the sandals off, and adjusted the shower to his liking. A few moments after he was under the hard spray, without any warning, slim arms clasped him around the waist. He made a reasonable attempt to jump out of his skin. “Guess who?” she called gayly.