1950 - Mallory by James Hadley Chase Read Free Book Online Page A

the bush,’ he said with sudden curtness. ‘Either you’ll take the job or you won’t. What’s it to be?’
    ‘I wouldn’t do it for a thousand.’
    Ranleigh looked sharply at him.
    ‘Does that mean ...?’
    ‘Of course,’ Corridon broke in. ‘I’ll tackle anything if the price is right. A thousand isn’t enough. This is a business proposition. You’re asking me to gamble with my life. This fella might be too smart for me. I might go the way the others went. If I succeed I might make a mistake and hang. I’m risking my life, and I value it above a thousand pounds.’
    ‘Yes,’ Ranleigh said. ‘That’s fair enough.’ He said candidly, ‘The trouble is we haven’t much money. I’ll have to talk to the others. But fifteen hundred is the best we can do, and if we give you that it’ll put us in a hole.’
    Corridon studied him. There was no guile in the ravished face, and Corridon was disappointed. He liked to bargain. He had had much experience in screwing money out of others. It was a game he enjoyed. But Ranleigh was too honest. Corridon could see he was speaking the truth. The bargain was stillborn; the battle of words over before it began.
    After a moment’s hesitation Corridon said with a shrug, ‘All right, I’ll do it for that. I could use fifteen hundred. I thought I could get more out of you.’
    Ranleigh laughed.
    ‘I know you did, that’s why I put my cards on the table. I’m no good at haggling. But I’ll have to ask the others. They may not want to pay all this: it’s practically all the money we have.’
    ‘Talk to them,’ Corridon said. ‘Half down and the rest when the job is done.’ He concealed a smile. ‘See what they say.’
     
    III
     
    C rew came into the room. He stood hesitating, looking at Corridon who lounged in the chair and grinned at him. Ranleigh had sent him out while he talked with Jeanne and Jan.
    ‘You’d better sit down and keep quiet,’ Corridon said. ‘I’ve been asked to keep an eye on you.’
    ‘What are they going to do with me?’ Crew blurted out.
    Horror lurked in his eyes. ‘You know what they’re up to, don’t you? You’re in this too, aren’t you?’
    Corridon lit a cigarette and surveyed Crew through a cloud of smoke.
    ‘I suppose. I am,’ he said indifferently. ‘And I’ve no idea what they are going to do with you. I don’t give a damn. You were a fool to try blackmail.’
    ‘Yes.’ Crew suppressed a shiver. ‘But how was I to know? She scares me.’ He looked fearfully at the door. ‘She’d do anything. I think she’s cracked.’
    ‘You never know with foreigners, but I wouldn’t say she’s cracked.’
    ‘They’ve been here four days now,’ Crew said, clenching and unclenching his fists. ‘I can’t move without one of them comes with me. There’s no privacy. I can’t stand much more of it. I can’t see how it’s going to end.’
    ‘You shouldn’t have picked his pocket.’
    Crew flinched, and his face turned a dull red.
    ‘He told you that, did he?’
    ‘He said you were a pickpocket and you tried blackmail.’
    Crew began to excuse himself.
    ‘I was short of money. They shouldn’t be in this country. Their papers aren’t in order. They could be arrested. ‘I - I only wanted fifty pounds.’
    ‘You should have left them alone,’ Corridon returned. He was getting bored with Crew’s misery. ‘It’s no good appealing to me. I can’t help you. After all, it’s your funeral.’
    Crew began to pace up and down, his hands clenched tightly behind his back.
    ‘You don’t think . . .’ He broke off, unable to voice the thought that had been haunting him for the past two days. He looked helplessly at Corridon, and then resumed his pacing. ‘They’re getting on my nerves. If I could see how it was going to end. They wouldn’t...’ Again he stopped, biting his lip and staring at Corridon. ‘They don’t trust me. That’s the trouble. I wouldn’t do anything. I’ve given my word. I even offered to