I'll Get You For This by James Hadley Chase Read Free Book Online

shoot first. I don't have to." I winked at him. "I'll be seeing you."
      He sat on the floor hating me with his eyes, but he didn't say anything.
    I took Miss Wonderly's arm and we crossed to the elevator.
    The cage doors slid back the second or so after I'd rung.
      "Going down, sir?" the attendant said. It was the guy who'd sworn he'd taken Herrick up to my room.
      I pulled him out of the cage, and hit him between the eyes. He fell down and lay as quiet as a mouse.
      I pushed Miss Wonderly into the cage and stepped in myself.
      "Going down," I said, smiling at the attendant, and closed the cage doors.

Chapter Two
    THE HEAT

1
      "Do they know where you live?" I asked Miss Wonderly, as I shot the Buick out of the hotel garage.
      She shook her head.
      "Sure?"
      "Yes. I changed my apartment a day or so ago. No one knows yet."
      "We'll go there and get you some clothes," I said. "Where is it?"
      She clutched my arm. "No. Let's get out of town. I'm scared."
      "We've got the time," I said. "And you don't have to be scared. They won't get us if we use our heads. Now where is the place?"
      "It's at the corner of Essex and Merrivale."
      I nodded. "I know. I passed it as I came in."
      I pushed the Buick along, and I kept my eye on the mirror.
      No one was following us—yet.
      "You and I have a lot to talk about," I said, casually. "Thank you for being on my side."
      She shivered. "Will they catch us?"
      "They couldn't catch a train," I said, but I wasn't all that happy. I wondered if they'd taken the number of my car at the hotel, and how soon it would be before the attendant gave it to Flaggerty. I wondered where in hell we were going to hole up, or if it'd be better to get out of town. . I didn't want to get too far away because I was determined to go after Killeano. I had to be near at hand if I was going to bust him, and I was going to bust him all right.
      "Listen, honey," I said, in my soothing voice, "I want you to use your head. Is there anywhere
    in town or near at hand where we could stay and be reasonably safe?"
      She twisted around. "We're going to get out of here," she said wildly. "You don't know what they'd do to me if they caught me."
      I patted her hand and nearly pushed in some guy's fender who had pulled out suddenly from behind a truck. We cursed each other amiably.
      "Now take it easy," I said. "No one's going to catch you. But we're bucking the police, and they'll seal up all the highways leading out of town. We shan't get far with their two-way radio sets working against us. We'll have to hole up until the heat's cooled off. Then we'll slide out one night, and blow."
      "We'd better go now," she said, clenching her fists.
      "Well be all right, but you must think. We want a nice snug hideaway for three or four days. Now think, and keep on thinking."
      While I was talking we reached Essex and Merrivale. I whizzed the Buick down Essex Street and nailed her before a shabby looking apartment block.
      "Come on," I said, grabbing the cigar box, "let's hustle."
      We ran up the wooden steps to the house, and she led me up the stairs into a big bedroom overlooking the front of the house. She packed her things as if the devil was pricking her with his fork. She was so efficient that I just stood back and gave her room. In three minutes flat she had a big grip crammed full of the pick of her cupboard and drawers.
      "Swell," I said, grabbing the grip. "Now watch my dust,"
      As I reached the head of the stairs, I paused. She clutched at my arm, looking at me with round eyes.
      "What is it?" she whispered.
      I motioned her to be quiet and listened. The radio was giving a police message. They were telling Paradise Palms to watch out for us.
      "How do you like being called a blonde killer?" I asked, smiling at her.
      She pushed past me and scurried downstairs. At the foot of the stairs, she stopped. A thickset man in his shirt