1978 - Consider Yourself Dead by James Hadley Chase Read Free Book Online

told him to forget the idea. No one, they said, was going to snatch Grandi’s daughter, not, at least, as the present setup stood.
    They explained about the security of the island, the dogs, and particularly about Marvin.
    ‘If this fink could be approached,’ Goble said, ‘there’s a good chance, but no way. Marvin can’t be bought. I’ve gone into his background in depth. He’s one hundred percent straight ex-cop, and no one, repeat no one, will bend him. No dice, Lu, skip the idea.’
    So regretfully, Silk had put the idea out of his mind.
    When Goble said there was no way, he meant just that.
    Silk had learned to trust Goble’s judgment. A couple of times in the past he had brushed Goble’s advice aside, and each time, he had nearly run into disaster. Now, he knew better.
    So okay, he thought regretfully, Grandi’s daughter stays safe.
    But listening to the conversation between Marcia and Frost, he realised that the chance to pick up around twenty million dollars was no longer a pipe dream.
    When Marcia had excused herself to Frost to make a telephone call, she had contacted Silk. He had told her to give Frost the V.I.P. treatment.
    ‘Sink your hooks into this guy,’ Silk had said. ‘I need him.’
    As Silk moved into the room, Marcia gave him a scared, hesitant smile.
    ‘Was it okay?’ she asked.
    ‘Okay, so far,’ Silk said. ‘Get this into your head, chick, we need this guy, so keep him hot. I’ll handle the rest of the scene. Your job is to keep him hot.’
    Marcia nodded. When Silk gave instructions, she always obeyed.
    ‘You’re a smart chick,’ Silk said as he sat on the arm of a chair. ‘You’re asking yourself why we need this guy. I’ll spell it out to you. In a few months this joint is going to fold. You don’t understand figures, but I do. Your overheads are far too high. That black boy playing the piano is fine, but he eats your profits. Your wage bill is also eating into your profits. I looked at your balance sheet for last month. You’re already in the red. Did you look at it?’
    ‘Charlie showed it to me. I thought next month . . .’
    ‘There could be no next month. Do you want to keep this joint?’
    Marcia’s eyes opened wide.
    ‘Keep it? It’s my future!’
    ‘What it now needs is a big shot in the arm, and Frost can give it, and he can give it to me too, so keep him hot.’
    ‘How can he? He’s worth nothing.’
    ‘You keep him hot. I’ll handle the rest of the scene.’ He stared at her, his glass eye glittering in the sunlight, then he reached for the telephone.
    ‘Give me Mr. Umney,’ he told the operator on the club switchboard.
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    He waited.
    Then Umney came on the line.
    ‘Hi, there, Lu!’
    Silk began to talk.
     
    * * *
     
    ‘Hi, there, Mr. Frost!’
    Frost, who had been standing in the shade, watching the clients disporting themselves in the vast swimming pool, looked around.
    A heavily built, jovial looking man had come up to him. His fleshy face, with a wide, friendly smile, exuded charm. Tall, muscular, around thirty-six years of age, dark and sun-tanned, wearing only white slacks, Ross Umney conveyed a bonhomie that was slightly overpowering.
    It was said of Umney, and with reason, that he could charm a rat out of its hole, a lollypop from a child, a big chunk of money from a shrewd businessman, and even the platinum dental plate from a dowager.
    Umney was considered by the Paradise City’s criminal fraternity as the best con man in the game. Behind his jovial, smiling face and his charm lurked a ruthless, vicious mind intent only on conning some sucker out of his/her money.
    Silk, who was top of his profession as a hired killer, regarded Umney as a big asset. Without Umney to set up an operation, Silk’s various assignments would have been next to impossible.
    Umney had a remarkable ability to finger closely guarded, near inaccessible men whom Radnitz wanted out of the way. Umney was able to gather essential data without