1963 - One Bright Summer Morning by James Hadley Chase Read Free Book Online Page A

replace his daughter.”
    Moe said nothing. He waited, aware that his heart was beginning to thump uneasily.
    Kramer leaned forward, his face harsh, his eyes glittering.
    “So we snatch his daughter and make a nice, safe private deal with him for four million dollars.”
    Moe stiffened. His heart skipped a beat. His dark eyes open very wide.
    “Wait a minute, Jim!” His voice shot up a note. “That's a Federal rap! We could land up in the gas chamber!”
    “Do you imagine I haven't thought of that?” Kramer asked impatiently. “I've told you: this is going to be a nice, safe, private deal and that's what it is going to be. Think about it for a moment. Van Wylie loses his daughter . . . the only possession he sets any value to. Four million dollars is peanuts to a man like Van Wylie. Imagine what you would do if some hood snatched your daughter and offered to return her, safe and sound, for twenty bucks. You'd pay up, wouldn't you? You'd be glad to have her back for chick feed. Would you call in the Feds? You damn well wouldn't! You'd be glad to do a deal. Four million dollars to a man of Van Wylie's wealth is chick feed! Can't you see that? He gets his daughter back, no fuss, no trouble and he loses what to you would be twenty bucks.”
    But Moe wasn't convinced. He had a horror of any job that carried the death sentence.
    “But when he gets her back, he'll stick the Feds on to us,” he said, thumping his fists on his fat knees. “A guy like that isn't going to part with all that money without trying to hit
    back.”
    “You're wrong,” Kramer said. “I'll convince him if he tries anything smart like that, no matter how carefully the girl is guarded, one day someone will arrive with a shotgun and that will be the end of his daughter. I'll put the fear of God into him. I'll convince him that sooner or later she will be fixed even if it takes a couple of years. He'll see reason. You can't guard a girl for years. He'll see that.”
    Moe considered this for a long moment, then he nodded.
    “Well, okay, Jim. I've always relied on you. If you say so, then it is so.” He hesitated, then asked, “Just what do you want me to do?”
    “You'll have the easy end of it,” Kramer said. “You'll handle the snatch . . . not alone, of course. We'll need two other guys. That's where I 'm relying on you. I used to know plenty of punks who could help out, but I've lost touch now. We need a couple of young, tough kids with good nerves. Their cut will be five grand . . . no need to throw our money around. For five grand, you should be able to dig up someone.”
    Moe was as out of touch as Kramer with the shadowy people of the underworld, but he knew this would be fatal to admit. Kramer wasn't parting with a quarter of a million for nothing. Moe knew Big Jim. So long as you delivered you were in, but if you hesitated or admitted you didn't know, you were out.
    His mind worked swiftly. He had a sudden inspiration.
    “I know a couple of kids who might do . . . the Cranes. Yeah, come to think of it, they're dead right for this job.”
    Kramer sucked in smoke and exhaled it.
    “The Cranes? Who are they?”
    “They live in the apartment below mine. They are pretty wild. They're twins: brother and sister. You know these beatnik kids . . . he runs a gang. They'll want handling, but they have the nerve.”
    Kramer grinned. He had been handling wild ones all his life.
    “I'll handle them,” he said. He flicked ash into the ashtray. “Tell me about them. What do they do for a living?”
    “Nothing,” Moe said. “They never have done anything. Like I said, they are wild ones.” He paused to stub out his cigar. “Their father was a gunman, sticking up small shops or out-of-the-way gas stations, caught their mother in bed with some jerk. He was drunk at the time and he killed them both. He was sent away for fifteen years. He hanged himself after three months in a cell. Their mother was one of the smartest shoplifters in the racket.