Baird saw a flash of flame in the driving mirror; at the same instant there came a crash of breaking glass. Glass splinters flew inside the car like shrapnel.
Rico cried out as he ducked down on the floor of the car. Automatically Baird’s foot trod down hard on the gas pedal. The big Buick surged forward, and he whipped it around the bend in the causeway.
He sent the big car hurtling along the narrow road. He could feel blood running down the side of his neck from a cut from a glass splinter, and he swore softly.
‘What is it?’ Rico quavered from the floor of the car. ‘Who shot at us?’
‘How the hell do I know?’ Baird snarled.
But he was quick to realise what this meant. Someone had been close by when he had shot that damned spying red-head. A car like Rico’s could easily be identified. If whoever it was cal ed the cops, and they found the body before the current took it away, Rico would be on the spot. Baird hadn’t any illusions about Rico keeping his trap shut. Any tough cop could make Rico sing like a canary, and Rico would try to pin the whole weight of the killing on Baird.
He kicked Rico hard in the ribs.
‘Get up!’ he said furiously. ‘See what the damage is!’
Rico pulled himself off the floor and looked back at the gaping hole in the rear window. With relief he saw there was no car following them, and he sank down on the bench seat beside Baird, groaning.
‘Aw, shut up!’ Baird snarled. ‘It must have been one of those shamuses who’s been following me.
Start using your head, Rico. We’ve got to take action fast if we’re going to beat this rap. He’s seen the car. We can’t get that window fixed before the cops descend on us. If they don’t find the body we can cook up some yarn, but if they do, we’re sunk!’
Rico turned cold.
‘You got me into this!’ he wailed. ‘I told you I wouldn’t stand for murder! Damn you! Let me get out of here! I’m not going to be caught with you!’
Baird swung his arm. The back of his hand caught Rico across his nose and mouth, stunning him.
‘Shut up, you squealer!’ Baird exclaimed. ‘We’re both in this! You try and walk out on me, and I’ll put a slug into you!’
Rico wilted. He lay back, his hands over his face.
‘Maybe we can tel them the car was stolen from the park,’ Baird said. ‘If you and me can fix an alibi…’
‘That shamus saw us,’ Rico said, fear steadying his nerves and let ing his rat-shrewd brain function.
‘You’ve fixed me this time, damn you! There’s no way out of it! Olin’s been waiting for something like this to break.’
‘Take it easy,’ Baird said coldly. ‘Maybe they won’t find her. We’l get back to the club and find out what’s been going on. Until we know who’s been talking we can’t do a thing.’
‘Listen!’ Rico said, stiffening. ‘Police sirens!’
Baird stamped on the brake, swung the car across the street with a screech of tortured tyres and drove up a narrow side street. He stopped the car, jumped out and stood on the sidewalk, his hand on his gun.
Fearfully, Rico peered through the broken rear window and looked towards the main street. The clamour of sirens grew louder. They watched three black and white police cars flash past, heading for Union Street.
‘That punk tipped them off fast enough,’ Baird growled as he got back into the Buick. ‘But they still mayn’t find her.’
He drove recklessly along the back streets and reached the club in under five minutes. He drove into the parking lot.
‘Get hold of yourself,’ he said, as he wiped the blood off his neck. ‘Come on out. We may be rushed for time.’
As they got out of the car, the parking attendant came over. He stared at the blood on Baird’s col ar, then his gaze shifted to Rico’s damaged nose, and his eyes popped.
‘Some drunk threw a bot le at the car,’ Baird said. ‘Smashed the rear window.’
‘Gee!’ the at endant exclaimed. ‘What did he want to do that for?’
‘Anyone been asking for me, Tim?’ Rico said, holding his handkerchief across his face.
‘Mr Dal as wanted you. I told him you’d gone home. He said he’d try your apartment.’
‘Got another car, Rico?’ Baird asked sharply. ‘We may have to go out again.’
Rico gulped.
‘There’s the Packard.’
‘Get it around the rear entrance,’ Baird said to the parking attendant. ‘We may be leaving in a hurry.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Baird caught hold of Rico’s, arm and hustled him to the rear entrance.
‘Can we trust that guy?’
‘Yes,’ Rico said. ‘Tim’s al right. He’l do anything for me.’
‘That’s swel ,’ Baird said sarcastical y. ‘Dallas fired that shot! He must have come here to see the red-head, found her missing and traced us to the waterfront. I must have been crazy to have used that damned car of yours. A blind man could identify it.’
Rico pushed open the door of his office and went in. He turned on the lights and went over to the cellarette. With a shaking hand he poured two whiskies, gave Baird one and gulped down the other. He poured more whisky into his glass and then flopped into a chair.
‘You got me into this,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to get me out of it.’
‘It’l be easy if they don’t find her, but if they do…’ Baird shrugged. ‘Can’t you find out what’s happening?’
Rico gulped down his second whisky, picked up the telephone and dialled a number. After a slight pause, he said, ‘That you, Sam? This is Rico. Listen, I want you to get down to Pinder’s End fast. The cops are there. Find out what they’re doing and cal back. It’s worth fifty if you give me some fast action.’
He hung up and looked at Baird.
‘Sam’l find out. He’l cal me back.’
‘Where’s that five grand?’ Baird demanded. ‘Get it, and get hold of every buck in the place. Get moving: we may have to dust, and dust fast!’
Rico licked his dry lips.
‘What do you mean? I can’t just walk out of here. It’s my living. What are you talking about?’
‘Get the dough!’ Baird snarled. ‘You can stay here if you want to, but if they fish her out of the river, I’m going to be wel out of reach.’
Rico closed his eyes. He had visions of Olin cornering him. He saw the room at headquarters with its one blinding light, and the big coppers crowding around him with their blackjacks. He started out of his chair, sweat running down his face.
‘Where can I go?’ he yammered, catching hold of Baird’s coat front. ‘What about the club? What the hell am I going to do?’
Baird threw him off.
‘You can come with me to Red River Basin. That’s where I’m going,’ he said. ‘Have you forgot en?
There’s half a mil ion or more to be picked up there, and it’s where Olin can’t get at us. What do you care about this lousy club if you can get your hands on money like that?’
Rico gulped and gaped at Baird.
‘It’l turn out to be another of your bright ideas,’ he whined. ‘How do I know I shan’t be in a worse jam?’
‘You couldn’t be in a worse jam,’ Baird said brutal y. ‘Get moving. Collect all the dough you can lay hands on, and make it fast.’
Rico staggered out of the room, and Baird heard him calling to Luigi. Shrugging his shoulders, Baird sat down and helped himself to another whisky. The only regret he felt for leaving town was that he wouldn’t get the chance of seeing Anita again. He had found out where she worked, and most nights he parked his car near the restaurant to watch her come out when the restaurant closed. Sometimes he followed her home, and spent a half an hour watching the light in her window, seeing her pass and repass as she moved about the room, preparing for bed. He made no attempt to speak to her, and he was careful that she shouldn’t see him. He told himself again and again he was get ing soft in the head, and he was wasting his time, but the fascination of seeing her from a distance was irresistible to him.
Rico returned ten minutes later. He carried a suitcase which he placed on the table.
‘Luigi wil look after things for me,’ he said. ‘I’ve got a couple of grand in here, and there’s the five grand from Kile. But unless I have to, I don’t want to go…’
The telephone bell rang sharply, cutting off his words. He answered it while Baird lounged in his chair and watched him.
‘Yeah, Sam. This is Rico. What’s going on down there?’ He listened, and Baird saw his face go green. ‘They have? Okay. Thanks, Sam. Come up to the club and see Luigi. He’l pay you off.’ He hung up and looked at Baird, who was already on his feet, reaching for the suitcase. ‘They’ve found her! Sam saw them hook her out about three minutes ago.’
‘Come on, then,’ Baird said. ‘Let’s get out of here fast. First stop Red River Basin.’
Rico tore at his hair.
‘Leaving all this! I’ll be ruined…’
Baird was already walking rapidly down the passage to the car park. Rico snatched up his hat and coat and rushed after him.
The dark blue Packard was waiting at the rear exit.
‘There’s another set of licence plates in the boot,’ the parking at endant said, coming up. ‘The tank’s full, and there’s a Thompson under the rear floor boards. Anything else I can do?’
‘Can you ditch the Buick?’
The parking attendant grinned.
‘I’ve already done that. I left it in a vacant lot about a mile away.’
‘Nice work,’ Baird said approvingly. ‘If they ask questions, tel them you haven’t seen us.’
‘Sure.’
Rico scrambled into the Packard.
‘Good luck, Mr Rico. I’ll stall them,’ the parking attendant said.
‘Thanks, Tim. Maybe I’ll be back,’ Rico said mournful y.
Baird let in the clutch, swung out of the parking lot, and headed up town.
MacAdam, who had been sitting in his car waiting patiently for Gillis to show, spotted Rico in the Packard. He thought he recognised Baird at the wheel. He didn’t hesitate. Instinct told him it was more important to go after Baird and Rico than to wait for Gillis.
He trod on the starter and shot his car away from the kerb.