Wild Town by Jim Thompson Read Free Book Online Page B

sheet—Yes?”
    “Nothing,” Bugs said nervously. “I mean, I was just going to say that if you can’t prove something—if you aren’t absolutely positive—”
    “I told you I was positive, dammit! I know that he took that dough, and Hanlon will know it. And he’ll hold me responsible.”
    “But—but how did he get away with so much? Why didn’t you stop him when he first started knocking down?”
    “It’s not something you can spot on a daily check. The loss isn’t big enough. But when it collects over a period of three months…!” Westbrook scrubbed his face irritably. “Would I be kidding you?” he demanded. “Don’t you think I know what I’m talking about?”
    “No, of course not.” Bugs shook his head, he nodded it. “But—”
    “Dudley took that dough. He wouldn’t have banked it or put it in a safety deposit box. It might cause talk, and anyway he’d want it where he could get to it in a hurry. So he’s got it with him, either in his room or on his person. He’s probably changed it into a handful of big bills, and…” Westbrook’s voice faded suddenly. He choked and coughed, stared at Bugs out of desperately belligerent eyes. “You’ve got to get it back, Bugs. Scare hell out of him. Slap him around, beat him up if you have to. But get it back! ”
    It was what Bugs had expected. And he had known what he was going to have to do. But still it was hard to do it. He liked Ollie Westbrook. Few people had been as kind to him as the stiff-necked, haughty-mannered little manager.
    “Let’s see what you’re asking of me, Ollie,” he said quietly. “You can’t recover the loss through the bonding company, right? They’re in the same boat with you. They can’t prove that any dough he may have isn’t his own. And you can’t prove it either.”
    “But, goddammit, where would a guy like that get five or six grand? How can he prove it’s his?”
    “He doesn’t have to. He doesn’t have to say where he got it. So—” Bugs spread his hands. “That’s how we stand, Ollie. I’ve got a criminal record, a damned ugly one. One wrong move, and I’m in the soup up to my neck. And yet you’re asking me to pull a robbery, an act of extortion. To take a man’s money—and it is his, in the eyes of the law—by force and violence…I don’t believe you’ve thought this thing through, Ollie. I don’t really think you want me to take a chance like that. Or do you?”
    Westbrook hesitated. Then, shamed but dogged, he said it was exactly what he wanted. And expected. “I mean, I want you to get that dough back. Make him come across. You’re not taking any chances. A bastard like that isn’t going to make trouble for anyone.”
    “He won’t for me, anyway.” Bugs shook his head firmly. “I’m grateful to you, Ollie, but I think you’ve got a hell of a lot of guts. You’re afraid to tackle this deal yourself, yet you’ll ask me—a guy walking a tight rope—and—”
    “Afraid, hell!” Westbrook exploded. “I’d take on fifty skunks like Dudley if it would do any good. But it wouldn’t! I insisted on hiring him. I swore that he was straight as a string. How can I do an about-face now and call him a thief? He’d laugh in my face. I’d just be tipping him off that it was time to scram. You see that, don’t you? You’re not completely dumb, are you, you overgrown meathead?”
    McKenna colored. He said coldly, “Not this dumb, at least. I’m sorry, Ollie.”
    “You won’t do it? After all I’ve done for you, you—”
    “I won’t do it,” Bugs nodded. “And I’ll be damned careful not to accept any other favors from you from now on.”
    Westbrook brushed the back of his hand against his mouth. He said, hell, he was sorry; he didn’t want Bugs to feel that way. He hadn’t done anything more for Bugs than he’d do for any man that he liked, and Bugs didn’t owe him a cent. But—but—
    His voice rose, turned suddenly ugly. The alcohol washed over him like a