In the last episode of Special Delivery, Jesse Weller and her two henchmen tried to bribe Rocky into recovering the statue. The following entry continues Rocky's meeting with them at the exclusive restaurant The Palms:
A thousand bucks sat on my plate. “They're real,” said Jesse, reassuringly. Then she had a thought that made her smile. “This time. So, to continue the story, Frank tests the statue, they find it radioactive, and somehow the Chinese get wind of it. One day they showed up at my door and offered a pretty penny for it. For once, I resisted. I knew those lousy Commies just wanted to send it home to see if they can make a weapon of it.”
“Some Russians, too, or so I hear.”
False Dave raised his hand and pointed at himself and Fake Rollo. “Meet the Russians.”
“We thought it might scare them off,” she sighed. “It backfired. It just made them more keen to get their hands on it. And now, the statue is theirs.”
“You got rid of one of them, though,” I said. It set all of them off. Jesse raised an eyebrow at it and the two men gaped at each other like they were hearing the news for the first time. I added: “There's a man in the morgue with a toe tag that reads 'Made in China.'”
“But they beat us to it,” Fake Rollo pleaded his case to Jesse. “They held us at gunpoint and shoved us into a car, just like I told you, I swear!”
She just looked at him. It wasn't anything much, just the turn of a lip, a twitch of an eyeball, a slight redness in the cheeks, but it was enough to make a man sweat and enough to make a man who knew her well run and hide. Fake Rollo knew her well but he stayed put. Maybe he knew what would happen if he tried to run.
I had a funny thought and I made sure I didn't laugh at it. I wasn't about to say it out loud because I didn't owe these jokers anything. There are plenty of Chinese in the world, I thought, so how do I know which ones are the Communists and which ones aren't? The timing of it all was too perfect. James Wong found the place the same time I did and he got me out of the way, sent me on a wild goose chase while his Nationalist friends could raid the joint.
I liked the idea.
But that guy in the morgue could have been a Nationalist or a Communist and no one would be any the wiser, unless he had a picture of Mao in his wallet. Either side could have made off with that statue and chances are it was on a ship and out of the country already. If Wong scooped it up, fine. Just as long as the Commies didn't have it and Jesse Weller didn't have it back. Only one way to discover if it was true or not: call up Wong. He'd lie to me either way, of course, but I'd know the truth depending on which lie he'd tell.
Jesse Weller was looking at me, waiting for an answer, and it was time I gave it to her. “I won't do it, kid,” I said. “Why should I give it to you? You'll just try to sell it to some other sap.”
“Why not do this?” she smiled sweetly. “I think it would be downright unpatriotic to turn me down. Besides the fringe benefits which up until now you have denied, you'll keep a weapon out of the hands of some very dangerous people. As for selling it again, it's just too dangerous. It will go back to that vault my husband loves so much.” The smile left her face. “And if all else fails, we will visit someone, hurt someone, someone you love.”
I stood quickly and growled: “You little...”
False Dave stepped forward to get in my way just in case I decided to turn the table over. He looked tougher than he did before when he was just a simple truck driver who lost his cargo, but he wasn't going to be tough enough. He was begging to be taken down a peg or two.
“Amanda Stone,” said Fake Rollo. “Your sister. One telephone call from me and three men will be at her door. She lives in San Francisco, I hear. A house on Geary Boulevard. Isn't that right?”
I didn't say a word.
Jesse winked at me. “Everyone has a price. Take the money, Rocky. We don't want to hurt anyone, but we will if we have to. Find this statue and everyone will be much happier.” She slid a finger along her lip. “You want to make me happy, don't you?”
Probably a bluff. If I called Amanda and told her to get out of town, three men wouldn't have been waiting around outside to stop her, but until I got to a telephone, I couldn't take that chance. All I could do was swipe the money off my plate and smile like I meant it. But for some reason that wasn't enough for False Dave. He decided to get tougher. He took two steps in, blocked my way, and smirked.
I remembered an old trick: when a man stands that close to you, you make like you're going to sneeze. Screw up your face, make those “aahh...aaaahhhh...” noises so he can't expect anything else, and then, when he looks for sneeze, wad up your hand tight and send it into his belly as quick as you can. I did just that. False Dave never saw it coming. He caved in. I grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him past me until he landed against a table. The crash was good and loud and woke up the old couple peacefully breakfasting in the corner. It felt right.
The whole scene was great sport to Jesse. She looked delighted. “I'll meet you tonight,” she said. “I will want a full report of your findings, of course.”
“Of course. Where will I meet you?”
“Oh, I'll surprise you.”
Great, I thought. She'll surprise me. I wasn't going to go back to my own bed for any reason for the rest of the day.
Will Rocky find the statue again, and if he does, what will he do with it? Find out in the next episode of The Adventures of Rocky Stone!
0 comments:
Post a Comment