James Chase - You've Got It Coming

She looked at him, her eyes glittering.

“I'm not going, Harry,” she said, her voice no more than a whisper.

“Yes, you are,” he said. “You've got to face up to it. You and I are washed up. There's no point in you staying here any longer. Besides, it'll be safer for you to leave. If Borg is after us, you're better away from me and I'm better away from you. If you'd rather stay here tonight, that's okay with me. I'll get another cabin, but tomorrow you leave Miami. I don't care where you go, but you're going. Some other guy will come along and look after you. You'll have a thousand bucks to hold you until he does take care of you.”

The muscles in her face tightened.

“You're not going to get rid of me,” Glorie said in a low fierce whisper. “I'm not going.”

He stared down at her. The hard glitter in her eyes made him uneasy.

“Don't be a fool. You wouldn't want to stay here when you know you're not wanted, would you?”

She didn't say anything.

“Listen, can't you see I'm through with you, you fool?” he said, raising his voice.

“You're not through with me, Harry.”

He could see the red marks of his fingers slowly appearing on the side of her face. It made him fed ashamed to look at her.

“I am,” he said. “What's the matter with you? Don't you understand English?”

“You may think you are, but you're not!”

“Now look, I don't want to lose my temper with you. This is the finish. I'll leave you here for tonight. First thing tomorrow morning you're to clear out. I've got my life to think of now. You've no place in it.”

“I did have a place in it, didn't I?”

“Don't start that!” he said impatiently. “The past is past. Don't pull that slop on me, Glorie. I gave you a good time; you gave me a good time. Now we're quits. Why make an agony of it? This isn't the first time you've had the brush off, is it? Your pal Delaney got fed up with you. There've been others, haven't there? This isn't a new experience for you, and you know it. You're through, so accept it and shut up!”

She surprised him by saying, “May I please have a cigarette? I've smoked all mine while I was waiting for you.”

He tossed his pack into her lap.

“I'm getting out of here,” he said and turned to the wardrobe, opened the door and took out his two suits.

“I shouldn't do that,” she said. “You'll only have to put them back again. You're not leaving here tonight.”

He paused, puzzled.

“You mean you want to go?”

“No, I'm not going either. We're going to stay here. We're going to get married, Harry.”

He felt the blood drain out of his face. He was so angry he could have struck her. He just managed to hold on to himself.

“What are you talking about? Have you gone crazy?”

“We're not only going to get married, but we're going to be partners in this air-taxi business of yours. For the first time in your selfish life you're going to do what you're told!”

He stood motionless.

“You must be nuts to talk to me like this,” he said, his voice husky. “We're through. I never want to see you again!”

She smiled, and the smile sent a chill crawling up his spine.

“You don't seem to understand, Harry. You have no choice. Unless you do what I say I’ll call the police and tell them where they can find Harry Green.”

II

Glorie's voice came clearly to Borg who leaned against the cabin wall in the shadows and by the open window that was screened by a thin curtain.

Unless you do what I say I'll phone the police and tell them where they can find Harry Green.

So he had been right, he thought, shifting his bulk to a more comfortable position. He hadn't come all the way to Miami for nothing. This tall, good-looking punk was Harry Green. He would never have guessed it, although he had been watching him all day. His fat, cruel face twisted into a wolfish smile.

This, he thought, was a most satisfactory ending to a long and exacting day. Early that morning he had left his hotel near the airport and had hired a car. From the telephone book he had found out where the Graynor girl lived. He had driven over to the Graynor's residence on Franklin Roosevelt Boulevard and had parked near the gates. He had a long wait. The blue-and-grey Bentley didn't appear until twenty minutes to twelve. He had had no trouble in following it. He had watched the meeting between Harry and Joan, had followed them at a safe distance, had observed their love-making through a pair of powerful field glasses and had stayed near them all day. When they had eventually parted, Harry had led him to the motel and to the cabin.

He had listened to every word that had been said. He wished he could have pushed aside the curtain and seen Harry's face when Glorie had turned on him. It was a sight, he thought, that would be worth seeing.

For a long moment Harry was paralysed, his mind stunned by what Glorie had said. Then very slowly he returned the two suits to the wardrobe and closed the doors. He sat down on the bed as if his legs hadn't the strength to support him. He stared at Glorie, his eyes burning, sweat on his face.

She didn't look at him. She was shaking and her face was taut and white. She had trouble in lighting a cigarette she took from the pack he had tossed into her lap.

“For years now,” she said in an unsteady, quiet voice, “I have behaved like a weak-kneed fool. I've tried to find happiness by giving my love to a number of men. I did everything I could think of to keep their love, but sooner or later they got bored with me and left me. It must have been my fault. I suppose it was because I never considered myself. I did everything possible to make them happy, to put them first, to put myself last. I see now it was a fatal thing to do. They didn't appreciate me. They thought I was a weak fool to be picked up and dropped when they felt like it. When I met you, I couldn't believe it would last. I waited for you to throw me over as the others had done. Then when you told me about your plans for this robbery and you let me help you, I began to think that you were sincere and that you meant to stick with me. I thought after what I did for you, after going to Ben and facing his insults, after helping you to turn yourself into Harry Green, I deserved some consideration. When you told me you were wanted for murder I didn't hesitate to stay with you. You were mine and I was yours. That's the way I looked at it. No matter what you had done, I'd stick with you. Then that blonde came along. The moment I saw you grinning at her I knew you didn't really give a damn about me. You had taken everything I had to give, and now you were ready to walk out. You left me here all day without giving me a thought. For all I knew you might have gone for good. I guess I got a little worked up, and when one gets worked up one sees things differently. It suddenly occurred to me, Harry, that for the first time in my life I was in the position to dictate to a man. I realized you were the first man who could not walk out on me and there was nothing you could do about it. It was a pretty exciting feeling. You're on the hook, and no matter how hard you wriggle, you can't get off. That's something that has happened to me for the past ten years. Now you're on it, and it gives me a lot of pleasure to sit back and watch you wriggle. You promised to marry me. I would like that. I know it won't be much of a marriage, but it will give me security, which is something I have never had before, and it's something I want very badly. You swindled Ben out of fifty thousand dollars. Well, as I am going to be your partner, I want twenty-five thousand of those dollars. I could ask for more, and you couldn't refuse me, but I don't want to be unfair. I want half and I intend to have it. That's the position. If you had been decent to me this wouldn't have happened. We could have been happy together. We could have gone to London and Paris and Rome as you promised. Now we will work together on this air-taxi business as equal partners. You will tell the Graynor girl you have decided you and your wife have enough money to start in a small way and you don't want her help nor her love nor her father's influence. I think I can still make something of you, Harry. You are selfish, unkind and rather stupid, but I think I can change all that. You're going to be told what to do, and you'll do it. If you don't I’ll turn you over to the police. That's not a threat—it's a promise.”