The Lost Angel by Adam C. Mitchell Read Free Book Online

gripped his wrinkly throat and the old man flailed. Paddy, once the experienced pugilist, hit the canvas, old age delivering a fatal haymaker. He panicked, flailing around like a trout trying to push his way to freedom but was no match for Eddy’s strength.
    Eddy pulled a piece of paper from Paddy’s panic drenched coat. It was a flyer for the tour. On the back, something had been scribbled in haste:
     
    VICTOR RENETTI
    THE LOST ANGEL CLUB
    CENTRAL CITY
    487302
     
    Memories of Ruddy’s bullet-riddled body rushed back. Eddy lost it. “You shmuck! You think you can cash in on me, old man?” He leaned closer to Paddy, hissing his words through gritted teeth. “You’re dead wrong.”
    Paddy clawed at Eddy’s hands as they gripped his neck. He started choking.
    Eddy felt the pulse in the old man’s neck as his fingers tightened. Paddy fought in vain, managing to get a feeble weekend punch at Eddy side, but it was too late.
    His eyes bulged and his face paled. In moments he fell to the floor, dead. His lifeless body slumped against the wall. Eddy glared at him, feeling no remorse. He emptied Paddy’s pockets and found the truck keys, a couple of hundred dollars and some loose change.  The dumpster was there so Eddy made use of it, dumping Paddy’s body inside.

Part Four
    Paddy’s body was gone but what to do now? 
    He could ill afford the extra police attention if the body were found. And what would Kim say? He couldn’t lose her, not now. She wouldn’t understand. “But that Irish grass deserved it, thinking he could play me,” Eddy muttered. He checked the parking lot to make sure there was no one around and reorganized the bags of rubbish to conceal Paddy’s body. It was a lucky break considering how many rigs were parked up, but he hadn’t been seen, thankfully. He had time, not much but enough.
    They had to get far away. This dive of a motel was going to be too hot to stay in soon. It would be hard to get Kim to move on, she was exhausted, but he would figure something out. Wiping the sweat from his brow he walked back to the cafe and the smiling face of his doll. Kim was outside. “Eddy, thank God you’re back.”
    “I’m fine, doll-face, relax. Everything’s fine, everything’s just fine.” He tried his best to sound reassuring as they walked back to their table in the crowded café.
    “Where’s Paddy?”
    Eddy shot back the coffee Kim had bought him while he was outside. Eddy’s mind was full of half-baked ideas and schemes. His eyes jumped from his now empty cup to the clock on the wall and back again. “Something came up. He had to rush on ahead, something about one of the fighter’s. We’re going now to join the rest of the troop at Liberty City train station and travel to San Francisco with them.” He smiled. “Paddy said he was sorry he couldn’t take us, oh, and he said to keep smiling.”
    Kim’s face relaxed and her smile returned. “Oh good, I like Paddy. He reminded me of my Pa. I think Ruddy would have liked him too, he was his kind of person.”
    Eddy bit his bottom lip. “Yeah, a real bloody gent,” he said under his breath, clenching his fist from under the table.
    * * *
    Jack woke as the train pulled into Chicago. The smog rolled in, making the view of the station hazy at best.  He tipped his hat off his eyes. He hated this city. He grabbed his brown coat and small bag and headed out of the station. For the next few hours, he was on foot, checking out hotels near the station, greasing hotel coppers with green. He hoped his hunch was right, he didn’t want to have to travel any further out.
    It didn’t take him long to stumble across one which had been the scene of a shooting only a few days before. A coincidence? He thought not. Jack talked and flirted with a few of the hotel staff, though he had to pay for the information eventually. When he was sober, he was good at his job. This was one of those times. He found a young bellboy named Ezra, who was easy to get