Wild by Gil Brewer Read Free Book Online Page A

What is it?”
    I asked him if he had any inside stuff on the Laketown robbery; names and faces in particular.
    “Whyn’t you go see Garlik?”
    “Wouldn’t be judicious, at present. But it would be extremely judicious on your part if you keep this phone call all to yourself. Now, any old raveled shred will help.”
    Silence.
    “Hoagy?”
    “Yeah. You make my nose itch. It’s a bad sign.”
    “Oh, for Christ’s sake, come down off the roof.”
    “I’m with the lab. Whyn’t you talk with one of the busy little boys in blue?” he hedged.
    “Whyn’t you cut this crap? You know something.”
    “There was an APB this morning to watch for a guy named Barton Yonkers. Broke out of Raiford a while back. Somebody in Laketown came up with a description that seemed to tally. I think it’s malarky. Some pigeon at Raiford told the warden Yonkers was planning to meet a guy outside on some deal. That’s about it.”
    “What’s this Yonkers’ description?” I asked.
    “I don’t know.”
    “Who was he meeting?”
    “Don’t know that, either.”
    I sighed and scratched my chin. “Okay, Hoagy.”
    “Oh, there was one other thing. Not much, though.”
    “What’s that?”
    “The bulletin said this guy Yonkers was a sick man.”
    I stopped scratching my chin, told him again that I’d buy him a bottle of rum if he’d keep quiet about talking with me, hung up, and returned to the Crafford receiving room.
    “Hi!”
    She was on the hassock, very bright-eyed. I sat in the chair and looked at her.
    I said, “Your sister told me Carl had a visitor recently. Said they didn’t get along. Name of Bill Black.”
    “Oh?”
    “Meet him?”
    She frowned faintly, moved her head slowly from side to side. “Nope. Never heard of him, never saw him.” She paused, still frowning. “Strange Carl never mentioned him.” She smiled. “Probably Ivor had a dream.”
    “Maybe. Then again, there’s the possibility Carl’s not even dead.”
    Red lips parted across very white teeth. “I’m beginning to think you just wormed your way in here with a tall story.”
    “Yeah. Ever hear of anybody named Yonkers?”
    “Yonkers. No, I don’t know anyone by that name. Why?”
    “Nothing. Why don’t you and your sister get along?”
    “Simple. Did we ever? I’m sure you remember. She always had everything. I never had anything. She had you, didn’t she?”
    “Come off it.”
    “Well, I still resent her. She always got the boy friends. So I took them away from her.” She paused. “I took them under the porch, where she wouldn’t go. It was fun, but it didn’t do any good.”
    “Can you think of any enemies Carl might have?”
    “I think we really should go up to my room.”
    “Maybe I agree. But not right now.”
    She said, “What man worth his salt hasn’t enemies?”
    “Have you seen your sister lately?”
    She smiled broadly. She crossed her legs and opened the dress over her knees again, letting it hang down the sides of her legs. The slit of the dress went up beyond the taut rims of her stockings. Plump white flesh was dented by the stockings and tight black garters.
    Her eyes got sly. “Say. Was it you I spoke to earlier on the phone about Ivor?”
    I pressed my fingers into the arms of the chair. “No.”
    She scowled. “Somebody phoned earlier tonight. A man. He asked for Ivor—he was trying to locate her. I told him I didn’t know where she was and cared less. He said his name was Caramba, something like that. Sure that wasn’t you?”
    “Was the name Gamba?”
    “That’s it. It was you.”
    “No. He say anything else?”
    “Said to tell Ivor to meet him at the Royal Palms Apartments. Said to tell her if I saw her. I asked him where that was. He said she’d know, that he’d be waiting. He said it was very important, or he wouldn’t have bothered me.” She paused, fussing with the top of her stocking.
    I stood up, looking at her legs. “Aside from your affair with Carl, did Elk have any reason to