‘Right. Thursdays and Fridays.’
‘I guess we could go on over to my place any time,’ Neal said. ‘Glitt probably won’t show up till sometime after dark, but the earlier we get there, the better.’
‘Is that what you have in mind?’ Marta asked. ‘We wait for him to show up at your apartment?’
‘I guess so.’
‘Then what?’
Neal shrugged. ‘We grab him.’
‘Make him tell us where to go for the money,’ Sue explained.
‘Or I’ll get into his mind with the bracelet,’ Neal said, ‘and find out that way.’
‘Okay.’ Marta nodded her understanding. ‘We learn whatever we need to know. Then what?’
‘Go and get it,’ Sue said.
‘What about Glitt?’ She looked at Neal. ‘You’re saying we grab him inside your apartment, make him talk . . . whatever. Then do we leave him there? Take him with us?’
Neal realized he hadn’t actually given much thought to the matter. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I guess that depends. Would all three of us be going to the pick-up?’
‘We don’t wanta leave anybody behind to stand guard on him,’ Sue said. ‘I wouldn’t do it, not even if we had him hogtied ’n blinded.’
‘It’d be too dangerous,’ Marta agreed. ‘And we can’t exactly let him go.’ Eyes on Neal, she asked, ‘Would you want to kill him?’
‘Maybe. I mean, yeah. He has to be killed, I think. I’ve always figured I would kill him. But not in my apartment. If I did do it there, we’d have to haul out the body. We couldn’t just leave him. And somebody might see us.’
‘Dead or alive,’ Sue said, ‘we can’t just let him stay in yer rooms.’
Neal shook his head. ‘No. And either way, it’ll be a major problem.’
‘Not to mention,’ Marta said, ‘the whole idea of trying to “grab” him in your apartment when he shows up to kill you tonight. How do you plan to manage that?’
‘Stick my gun in his face.’
‘What if he puts up a fight? If you have to shoot him, we’ll never find out where to go for the money.’
‘I’ll try to just wound him.’
‘He can’t get killed anyhow,’ Sue pointed out. A single side of her mouth lifted. ‘Right?’
‘It almost looks that way,’ Neal admitted.
‘But even if you only wound him,’ Marta said, ‘your neighbors will hear the shot. One of them might phone the cops.’
‘Nobody in L.A. calls in about gunfire,’ Neal said.
‘I bet they do when the shots come from their own building. Or if not call the cops, they might do some checking around on their own. Which they might do if there’s any sort of major disturbance – shouts, a struggle . . .’
‘I gotta hunch y’ain’t keen on the big plan.’
‘It seems to have some big problems.’
Nodding, Neal said, ‘Maybe we need to jump him outside, huh? Right after he leaves his car. Before he gets to the building.’
‘And then what’ll we do, interrogate him on the sidewalk?’
‘Well . . .’
‘Ya want my plan?’ Sue asked.
They both looked at her and nodded.
‘Here’s what I think,’ Sue said. ‘I think Marta’s already figured out how to get the job done and we oughta do it her way.’
Marta grinned. ‘How did you know?’
‘Oh, I know more than I think.’
Neal turned to Marta. ‘Let’s hear it.’
She grinned. ‘We don’t wait for Glitt to show up at your place tonight. Instead, we make a pre-emptive strike.’
‘A who?’ Sue asked.
‘Means we beat him to the punch,’ Neal explained. ‘We go out and nail him before he comes for us.’ To Marta, he said, ‘Only one problem with that. We don’t know where to find him. That house last night, I haven’t got the slightest idea . . .’
‘We don’t know where to find Glitt, Rasputin, the Beast of Belvedere. But I’ll bet we can find Vince Conrad.’
Neal stared at her. He suddenly felt a little shaky. ‘Pay him a visit?’
Marta nodded. ‘He’s the guy with the money. If he’s planning to hand over half a million bucks to Glitt tonight, he probably has it in his house right this very minute.’
‘You’re probably right.’
‘When’ll we go?’ Sue asked.
Marta grinned and said, ‘Now?’
‘Haw! That’s the ticket!’
‘I don’t know,’ Neal said.
‘It’s perfect,’ Marta said. ‘This way, we find out whether he really did hire Glitt to kill Elise. If he’s got the payoff money, we find out where it is. That’s where your bracelet should come in handy. You get inside him and find out whatever we need to know. If we’re lucky, maybe we can take it from him.’
‘Yeah!’ Sue blurted. ‘We swipe the bundle right out from under his nose!’
Neal moaned.
Still grinning, Marta said, ‘Then here’s poor old Vince minus the half a million bucks he owes Glitt. Comes two o’clock in the morning, what’s he going to do?’
Sue gleefully threw in, ‘What’s Glitt gonna do?’
‘Not the sort of chap I’d like to have mad at me,’ Marta said.
Neal took a deep breath. He felt trembly and sick, but excited by the plan. ‘In other words,’ he said, ‘we steal the money from Vince. He can’t make tonight’s payoff. Glitt gets pissed off at him and all hell breaks loose.’
‘Beautiful?’ Marta asked.
‘Brilliant,’ Neal said. Wrinkling his nose, he added, ‘Now if we could just hire someone to do it for us.’
‘You got no reason to be scared,’ Sue told him. ‘Yer gonna be all safe and sound in the bastard’s head. Anybody gets hurt, it’s gonna be me or Marta.’
‘Maybe that’s why I’m scared.’
‘We’ll be safe,’ Marta said. ‘Vince didn’t have the guts to kill Elise – had to hire someone else to do it. So he’s not about to try anything with a couple of friendly babes like us.’
‘Anyhow, yer gonna be in his head. If he takes on any funny ideas, just get back in yer own self and come to the rescue.’
‘You’re kidding,’ Neal said when they returned to the living room. They both wore suntan oil that made their skin glisten, swimsuits that showed most of it, and nothing else.
Neal had seen Marta’s suit before. A skimpy, two-piece affair the color of butter, its imitation leather was cut in a shaggy style that made her look like some sort of Hollywood jungle woman – Tarzan’s Jane or Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.
Sue wore a shiny black bikini. Smiling, she raised her arms and twirled around, modeling it for Neal.
‘You’re not wearing that over to Vince’s, are you?’
‘Sure am.’
‘We’re going there to distract the guy,’ Marta pointed out.
‘Well, you’ll distract him all right. Both of you will. If your naked breasts don’t . . .’
‘They are not naked,’ Marta said.
‘As good as.’
‘A gal’s decent long as her nips don’t show,’ Sue explained. ‘Marta’s don’t and mine don’t . . .’
‘Your ass shows.’
‘A dang nice ass it is, too,’ she said, and gave one of her bare buttocks a soft slap.
‘A lot of people wear thongs these days,’ Marta explained. ‘I’ve thought about getting one, myself.’
‘Jeez.’ Sighing, Neal shook his head. ‘Don’t get me wrong, okay? You both look . . . great. But can’t you wear some clothes, or something? At least on the way over?’
Smiling at Marta, Sue said, ‘He just don’t want anyone else to get an eyeful.’
‘Terribly selfish of him.’
‘I’ll say. Here he gets to have the both of us, and he don’t want nobody else to even look. Doesn’t want anybody.’
Keeping a straight face, Neal said, ‘If people start looking, they’ll start crashing. Might even crash into u
s. I’m only concerned about your safety, ladies.’
‘Well, he’s got a point,’ Marta said.
‘I hate to hide my new bikini from the world,’ Sue said.
‘If you don’t put on something,’ Neal told her, ‘you’ll burn your butt on the car seat.’
Marta and Sue started shaking their heads and laughing. Neal suddenly realized they had intended from the start to wear clothes over their swimsuits. Without a word more, they headed back for the bedroom.
‘Very funny!’ he called.
‘We thought so,’ Marta called back.
At Sue’s request, they used Marta’s Jeep Wrangler. They agreed to let her ride in front, so Neal took the back seat. Which was fine with him, even though the space was so narrow that he had to sit sideways. The car had no top – only a windshield and roll bar – so the rear seat was a great place for catching the late afternoon sunlight and wind.
Neal also had a wonderful view of Marta and Sue. They sat side by side in the bucket seats, their hair blowing behind them, gold in the sunlight. He could see the right side of Marta’s face and neck, the left side of Sue’s. They both wore sunglasses. They both wore sleeveless tops. Marta’s right arm was out, bent slightly at the elbow, her hand on the steering wheel. It gleamed with suntan oil all the way up to her shoulder. The soft golden hairs were slicked down. Sue’s arm hung by her side, elbow resting on the center console. It gleamed like Marta’s, but didn’t seem to have so much hair.
My God, they’re both so beautiful.
We oughta be going to the beach, not. . .
‘Hey,’ he said, speaking loudly to be heard over the road noises and the wind. ‘Why don’t we skip Vince’s place and head for a beach?’
Marta turned her head and called, ‘The beaches are too dangerous. Do you want us to get shot?’
‘You think we’ll be safer dropping in unexpectedly on a murderer?’ Neal asked.
‘You bet.’
Sue turned her head and laughed.
Both women had their heads turned toward the middle and Neal could see the profile of their faces.
They could be sisters, he thought. Marta and her kid sister, Sue. Marta older, larger, with a lush body that Sue probably envied. Marta the more sensible of the two, the better educated, the more refined. But Sue the wilder of the pair. A tomboy to Marta’s woman. A kid, somehow tough and vulnerable at the same time.
But both women very much alike with their fine blonde hair and smooth skin and blue eyes, with their gentleness, with their mischief, with their passion and love for Neal.
How could I be this lucky? he wondered.
Can’t last.
Sure it can, he told himself. They like each other. Hard to believe, but they do.
The best of all possible worlds . . . But somebody could get hurt.
‘Let’s not do this,’ he called.
‘What’s the matter?’ Marta asked.
‘I don’t care about the money. You know? Not really. Let’s turn back, okay? Before we get ourselves into some kind of a real mess.’
Sue looked over her shoulder at him. ‘It’s half a million buckaroos, hon.’
‘It’s not worth dying for.’
‘Nobody’s gonna die,’ Sue said.
‘How do you know?’
Marta’s head turned. ‘What else can we do?’ she asked. ‘If we just go back to my place and forget the whole thing, Glitt’s still going to be looking for you. If he doesn’t get stopped, he’ll kill you, sooner or later.’
‘Not if he can’t find me. We could all take off . . . move away. Maybe to Arizona or New Mexico, or . . .’
‘That wouldn’t guarantee anything,’ Marta said. ‘No matter where we might go . . . even if we change our names . . . there would always be a risk of him finding you. Anyway, you still want to write for the movies. You almost have to live in L.A. for that . . .’
‘Wouldn’t have to.’
‘The thing is, as long as he’s alive, Glitt’s going to be after you. You shot him full of holes. He isn’t going to forget that. He’s going to keep hunting you. Eventually, he’ll find you.’
‘Not to mention me and Marta, we’ll more than likely be with ya when he does. Ya don’t want him gettin us, do ya?’
Neal started to remember what Glitt had done to Elise . . . started to see it in bloody color on the screen of his mind. To stop the images, he quickly said, ‘We could go to the police and tell them everything. Then they could take care of the whole mess.’
‘They haven’t taken care of much so far,’ Marta pointed out. ‘Glitt’s still in the world. Vince is still a free man. Last I heard, he isn’t even a suspect. And if the cops do grab them, who’s to say there won’t be a team of slick attorneys come along and get them both off the hook with a bunch of lies?’
‘I know,’ Neal said. ‘I know.’
‘This is Los Angeles.’
‘I know.’
‘You want these guys to get away with murdering Elise?’
‘No, of course not.’
Sue called over her shoulder, ‘We gotta take these assholes down. If we don’t, who’s gonna?’
Marta nodded. ‘We’ll never be safe, the three of us, until they’re both dead.’
‘I know you’re probably right,’ Neal said. ‘I’m just scared, that’s all.’
‘Tell ya what,’ Sue said to him. ‘Quit lookin on the dark side of stuff and start thinkin about half a million smackeroos.’
‘I’ll try,’ he said.
He realized they were now rushing along San Vicente and bearing down on Greenhaven, the road to Vince Conrad’s house.
If we just don’t make the turn, we’ll be at the beach in a few minutes . . .
With no instructions from Neal, Marta made the turn.
Forty-Six
‘I’m surprised the place isn’t crawling with reporters and gawkers,’ Marta said as she drove slowly up Greenhaven.
From here, they could see a fair distance ahead. There were no news vans, no crowds.
‘This guy ain’t exactly O.J.,’ Sue pointed out.
‘Still . . . he is an actor and Elise was an Olympic star.’
‘What kind of coverage has it been getting?’ Neal asked. ‘We’ve mostly tried to avoid it.’
‘Fairly big. A day doesn’t go by that it doesn’t get some kind of coverage. Elise’s funeral was yesterday. That was one of the top stories.’
‘Vince attended?’ Neal asked.
‘Oh, sure. How would he look if he didn’t?’
‘Has there been anything about my letter to the cops?’
‘Nary a word.’
‘It obviously didn’t do much good, since . . . here we are. This is it on the right.’
Though Neal had never seen the place in daylight, he recognized the heavy foliage bordering the road, the small entrance gate and the larger gate at the driveway. Through its iron bars, he glimpsed the garage door.
‘No car in the driveway,’ Marta mentioned.
‘Maybe he’s not home,’ Neal said.
‘Easy way to find out,’ Sue said.
A few feet past the driveway gate, Neal said, ‘This’ll be a good place to park.’
‘Shouldn’t we go farther away?’ Marta asked.
‘Just so we can’t be seen from the house. I want to be near enough to get inside fast if there’s trouble.’
Nodding, she slowed the Jeep and eased it to the right. The side tires dropped slightly. They made crackly sounds crunching the leafy ground-cover. Then bushes squeaked against the door.
Marta stopped and shut off the engine. She and Sue both turned to look back at Neal.
‘I guess we’re really going ahead with it,’ he said.
Marta nodded. ‘How long will it take you to go in and scout around?’
‘With the bracelet? A minute or two.’
‘And you’ll come back right away if there’s a problem?’
‘Yeah.’
‘If there isn’t a pro
blem,’ she said, ‘just go ahead and . . . enter him, or whatever you do with that thing. We’ll get ready. If you aren’t back in four or five minutes, we’ll assume everything is okay and we’ll go to the door.’
Neal took a deep, trembling breath. He blew it out slowly. He shook his head. He muttered, ‘Oh, man.’
‘Relax,’ Sue told him. ‘Yer makin me nervous.’
‘Everything’ll be fine,’ Marta assured him.
‘Okay,’ Neal muttered. ‘Okay.’ He settled back in the seat, leaning to the side and stretching out his legs.
‘Maybe you should get lower,’ Marta suggested.
‘I don’t want to seem like I’m trying to hide. You know, if someone comes by. This way, I’ll look like I’m taking a little snooze while I wait for my friends to come back.’
‘Better not stay out for very long at a time,’ Sue told him. ‘Check on yerself every so often.’
‘We’ll see. With any luck, Vince won’t even be home.’
‘Don’t say that,’ Sue said. Thrusting her arm though the gap between the seatbacks, she gave his leg a gentle slap.
‘Be careful,’ Marta told him.
‘You, too. Both of you. Just remember, I’ll be inside him. If he decides to pull anything, I’ll bail out and come after you as fast as I can.’
He could feel the pistol against his thigh, and patted it through his pocket.
‘Hope it’s loaded,’ Sue said.
‘It’s always loaded,’ Neal told her. He sighed again. ‘Guess that’s it, unless . . .’
‘If everything goes all right,’ Marta said, ‘just give the horn a couple of toots when you’re ready to leave. We’ll try to make a graceful exit so we don’t arouse his suspicion.’
‘It’ll get aroused damn fast when he finds out that his money’s gone. So use fake names. Try not to give him any way of figuring out who you are.’
‘We’ll be amazingly cagey,’ Marta said.
‘Just watch and see.’
‘I will. One more thing . . . While you’re busy being so cagey, see if you can bring up a subject that’ll make him think about the payoff. But be subtle about it.’
‘Will do,’ Marta said. ‘Ready?’
‘Not really.’
‘Let’s get this show on the road.’
‘All right. Good luck. So long. Be careful.’ He took another deep breath, then raised his arm and kissed the serpent’s head.