James Chase - You've Got It Coming

He should have checked the trains when he had first told her Glorie had left for Mexico City.

“Some time in the morning,” he said, reaching for his glass again to cover his confusion. “For the love of mike, Joan . . .”

“Are you quite sure it was in the morning?” she asked quietly.

He put down his glass with the drink untouched and faced her.

He knew he couldn't hedge anymore. She had cornered him, and whatever he said, she could prove he was lying. He realized he must shift ground and tell her half the truth in the hope he could convince her.

“All right: she didn't go to Mexico City. Now are you satisfied?” he said angrily.

She continued to stare at him, her eyes cold and hurt.

“So you admit lying to me?”

“Yes, I lied,” Harry said, “and I'm sorry. I'll tell you what happened if you must know. Glorie did turn sour as I told you she had. She wanted thirty thousand dollars to let me go. She said she would go to your father and tell him she was my mistress if I didn't give her the money. If I did give it to her I would have no capital to go into partnership with you. I was in a spot. I decided I'd have to give you up and go with her. She wanted to go to New Orleans. She thought she and I could run this air-taxi business there better than here. We got as far as Collier City, then I suddenly couldn't take it. I felt if I gave in to her, I wasn't only ruining my life and yours, but hers as well. I told her so. I told her if she continued to blackmail me, I'd blackmail her. I said I'd give her away to the police: I should have told her that before, but I didn't want to do it. That settled it. She climbed down. I made her take two thousand and promise to leave me alone. I put her on a bus to New Orleans and I came back here. That's what happened and that's the truth.”

Joan continued to stare at him.

“Why didn't you tell me this before instead of making out she had gone to Mexico City?” she asked in a quiet, cold voice.

“I didn't want to worry you, I thought if I told you she was going to her brother instead of going off into the blue to New Orleans you'd be more easy in your mind about her,” Harry said, trying not to show how desperately he was lying.

“So she is in New Orleans now?”

“I guess so. I don't know. I put her on a bus to New Orleans. What's happened to her now I don't know and I don't care.” He finished his drink and set down the glass. “Can't we get her out of our lives, Joan? I'm through with her, and she is through with me. I love you. I want to marry you, and I want to go ahead with my plans. Can't we do that?”

“No, we can't,” she said. “You see, Harry, I just don't know if I can believe you or not. I'm certainly not going into a business partnership with you. I couldn't risk my father's money in anything you were handling. I can't marry you either until I know for certain you are speaking the truth.”

“Of course I'm speaking the truth,” Harry said angrily. “I give you my word . . .”

“Then why are you looking the way you're looking? What are you frightened about? You have something on your conscience,” she said. “Anyone can see that. It's as if you have done something dreadful.” She paused, her hands turning into fists. “You know what I’m beginning to suspect, don't you?”

He stared at her, his face glistening with sweat.

“It's not true, Joan. I swear it isn't.”

“Then you know what I mean?”

“No, I don't, but I've done nothing wrong. You've got to believe me.”

“I’m frightened for you, Harry.”

“You don't have to be. I tell you I've done nothing wrong. You've got to believe me, Joan!”

“All right, I will believe you on one condition,” she said. “I can't accept your word now. You have told me too many lies for me to do that, but I’m willing to be convinced. If you will go with me to New Orleans so I can talk to Glorie myself and hear her version of this business, I’ll be convinced, but not before. Will you come to New Orleans with me?”

He hesitated, and the hesitation was fatal. She had been watching him closely. She saw his eyes shift away from hers, his face slacken while his brain raced to find a way out.

She got to her feet.

“All right, Harry,” she said unsteadily. “Let's leave it at that. I don't think we should meet again, anyway not until you have brought Glorie back to Miami. If you can do that, then we might have another talk.”

He knew this was the end between them. He could tell that by her expression, and he cursed Glorie and cursed himself for spoiling the only love in his lie. Defeated, he got slowly to his feet and followed her across the terrace, around the clubhouse to the car park.

She stopped by the car and faced him.

“Please get a taxi back,” she said. He could see her lips were trembling and there were tears in her eyes. “I would rather you didn't come with me.”

“That's okay,” he said. “Look, Joan, I'm sorry about this. I am in a jam, but it's not what you're thinking. You may as well know the truth now. I've lied to you because I didn't want to lose you. But now it doesn't matter because I see I have already lost you. Glorie's dead. You guessed that, didn't you?”

She went very white, and for a moment he thought she was going to faint, but he was careful not to touch her.

“I'm mixed up with a mob of killers,” he went on tonelessly.

“It was my fault, and I'm making no excuses. Glorie and I pulled a robbery together. You've read about it. I was the guy who took the diamonds from the Moonbeam aircraft. That's how I got the fifty thousand dollars. Up to then I hadn't been worth a nickel, and I would never have been worth a nickel if I hadn't pulled this job. I double crossed the mob, and one of them is tailing me. He killed Glorie out on the beach near Collier City. He now plans to kill me. If I have any luck, I may beat him to it, but maybe I won't have the luck. I may be dead by tomorrow, but I want you to know that I love you: you're the only woman I have ever known who has meant anything to me. Although we haven't known each other very long, the few hours I've spent with you have been the happiest I've ever known.”

“Please don't tell me anymore,” she said huskily. “I don't want to be involved in this. What a fool I've been to have had anything to do with you!”

She got into the car and started the engine.

He stepped back, his face pallid.

“So long, Joan. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done this to you, but I loved you and I still love you. I'd be glad if you wished me luck. I'll need it.”

She engaged gear and, without looking at him, she drove quickly away.

He stood staring after her, knowing the one precious thing in his life had gone now for good.

Borg, sitting in his car across the way, under the shade of the trees, inserted his thick finger into his ear and poked around absently. His fat, cruel face showed his surprised interest.

II

Harry remained at the club house until past two o'clock.

When Joan had driven away, he had walked back to the terrace and had sat staring blankly across the fairway, his mind numb and his thoughts bitter.

But he didn't blame Joan for leaving him. She had done the sensible thing, he told himself. A girl in her position couldn't be expected to associate with him now she knew the truth. He admired her courage to break away. He knew she loved him, and her decision couldn't have been an easy one. As he sat thinking about her, he suddenly realized what Glorie must have suffered during her life. He now realized what it meant to lose someone precious to him, and this had happened to Glorie not once, but several times.

Glorie was dead. He might be dead himself by tonight. He was surprised to find that he didn't care much whether he was or not. He knew he would have to kill Borg to save his own life, and he wondered if it wouldn't be better to let Borg go ahead and finish things for him instead of living out the rest of his life with Borg's murder on his conscience.