Rainbow's End by James M. Cain Read Free Book Online Page B

the passenger exit and made Lefty Johns, who was our copilot that night, open it.
    â€œBut then he lost his nerve. He looked out and couldn’t jump. That’s when we hit the air pocket and dropped I don’t know how far—couple hundred feet at least. Two or three women screamed. I’m used to air pockets, and it wouldn’t have bothered me, except that the whole plane creaked and I knew all of a sudden, that with the door open like that, another drop could tear us apart. Lefty knew it too because he yelled at Shaw real loud: ‘If you’re going to jump, jump! Will you for Christ’s sake jump!’ or something like that. But still nothing happened. Shaw just stood there looking out, a scared look on his face. When the plane creaked one more time I spun him around and pushed. But he grabbed me to keep from going out. Then the two of us were spinning down through the night, him hanging onto me and me hanging to him. Then I remembered the ripcord and found it and pulled. I was almost shaken off when the parachute opened. Then, like in some horror movie, I was over my head in water, but water so cold it stabbed inside me like ice. I screamed, but when the water went down my throat I cut it off quick. Then I came up and could see what looked like shore, with bushes and stumps and trees against the sky. I swam to it, but when I crawled out and stood up, it hurt my feet horribly. The water had taken my shoes off, and I was in my stocking feet. Nothing on but my pantyhose and my skirt, bolero, and bra—but they were soaking wet.”
    â€œWait a minute,” said Edgren. “You’re now on that island out there?”
    â€œI was and he was, soon as he climbed out beside me—but we didn’t know it was an island then. He was the one who found it out after circling around. He still had his shoes on and could walk. Then he turned on me, blaming it all on me, saying that we were ‘trapped in this Godawful place’ and saying that he would kill me. For that, he began drying the gun, blowing into the barrel and rubbing it on his trousers to get the water off. Then he saw what looked like a house, with a light showing upstairs.”
    â€œThat was this house?” asked Edgren.
    â€œI don’t think so.”
    She turned to me and I started to speak, but Edgren cut in with his speech about my rights. Bledsoe then motioned to me, and I explained about the other house. She went on: “He yelled at it and so did I. I’m here to tell you I did. Then two flashlights came over the hill, and Mr. Howell was there with this lady.”
    â€œJust a second,” said Edgren. “While this was going on, while he was drying the gun and while you were yelling at the house, did he still have the money?”
    â€œSergeant Edgren, it was dark. I couldn’t see. It was cold, so cold. All I could see was that gun—but I couldn’t rightly see that. When he jammed it against me, sometimes against my head, I could feel it.”
    â€œDid he mention the money at all?”
    â€œNot as I recall.”
    â€œDidn’t blame you, or something like that, for its being lost in the river?” That was Mantle, getting into the discussion.
    â€œHe said nothing about it at all.”
    On that, Edgren, Mantle, and Knight put their heads together, and Bledsoe looked at me. I knew what he was thinking: that Knight and both officers thought it peculiar that if Shaw had lost his money, slipped it off when he unsnapped the parachute, he wouldn’t have mentioned it to her, to blame her for it, as one more reason for killing her or at least to start to search for it. But when Edgren resumed, he told her: “OK, take it from there. Mr. Howell came with his mother. What then?”
    â€œShaw asked, did he have a boat, and Mr. Howell said yes. Shaw said, go get it or he would kill me. So he left and Mrs. Howell started hollering at Shaw and he hollered