Dawson's Web by William Hutchison Read Free Book Online Page B

weren’t there.
    He came out and sat down in front of Blondie.
    “Ok. Charlene’s not here. Where is she,” he demanded pointing the gun between Blondie’s bloodshot eyes.
    “For Christ’s sake, I don’t know any Charlene.” He looked terrified. He started to bawl.
    “Don’t shoot. I was outta town for the last two weeks.”
    Then it hit him.
    Randy. He’d loaned his apartment to Randy.
    “Maybe Randy knows. While I was gone, I asked him to house-sit for me. Water the plants. Pick up the mail. You know so the place wouldn’t look vacant. Even in this nice part of town you can’t be too careful.”
    “Now we’re getting somewhere,” Hans thought.
    He put the gun down.
    “OK. Who’s Randy?”
    “He’s a friend. I met him in a bar a few months ago. We hang out together. I thought I could trust him.”
    “Where does he live?”
    “I don’t know. We meet at Charlies’ a couple of blocks from here. I met him there after work a couple of days before my trip. I gave him my extra key. When I got back, the place was locked up. It was clean. The plants were watered and the key was under the mat. Honestly mister. That’s all I know. Maybe Randy had some chick named Charlene here while I was gone. I told him as long as the place was clean when I got back, I didn’t care who he had over.”
    Hans believed him.
    “All right, give me directions to Charlies’ and a description of this guy named Randy. I’ll track him down. In the meantime, if you run into him, give him my card. Tell him I want to talk to him and ask him if he knows where Charlene is. But if you say anything about this (pointing his gun at Blondie) to the police, remember I know where you live. Next time it won’t be me at the door. It will be one of my business associates who doesn’t know how to hold his temper as I do. Do you catch my drift?”
    Blondie was shaking. “Right!”
    Hans put his gun into his coat pocket and turned to the door taking one last glance back to Blondie to punctuate he meant business before he slammed it and left.
    Blondie waited a couple of minutes until he heard the elevator ding. He locked the deadbolt, grabbed his cell phone and speed-dialed Randy, who answered on the first ring.
    Randy saw the caller id on his phone and answered. “So, Francis, you made it back from London. How was the trip and when did you get in? Did you find the key?”
    “Where are you?” Francis (Blondie) asked.
    “At Charlies’ having’ a cold one. Why don’t you come on down and join me? There are some really good lookin’ babes here.”
    “Listen. I don’t have time for that and you certainly don’t either. Get the hell out of there now. There’s a guy with a gun who’s on his way to see you. He’s looking for you to find out about some chick named Charlene. (Randy had not told Blondie/Francis about her, choosing instead to keep her for himself. Blondie was notorious for being a babe magnet. He’s already jumped a couple of Randy’s accomplices, although that wasn’t the point. The point was Randy had used Francis’s place several times before. He couldn’t afford to piss him off, lest he loses his access to Francis’s place.)
    Francis started speaking again. “He was here five minutes ago and I thought for sure he was gonna pop me with his gun. I don’t know what Charlene did to him, but he sounded seriously pissed off. So if I were you, I’d lay low.”
    “So what’s this guy look like?”
    “He’s in his mid-sixties. Salt and pepper hair. About 6 feet. Medium build. Dressed in a trench coat, which is where he keeps his gun.”
    “Thanks. I’m leaving Charlies’ now. I’ll call you back in a couple of days.”
    “Who’s this Charlene chick, Randy?” Francis pressed for an answer.
    “She’s my new business associate.”
    “You mean girlfriend?”
    “Ok. She’s my girlfriend.”
    “What happened between the guy and her? Why’s he so pissed?”
    “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later. Right