Chapter 12

SUDDENLY, EVERYTHING FELL INTO PLACE.

"What's the matter?" Tiki asked.

I ran into the bedroom, around the bed and over to the chair where his slacks lay. I grabbed them up, yanked out his billfold and began fumbling through it.

I stared at the slip of paper. On it were scribbled the names of twelve boondock towns around Chicago. There was a checkmark after each of the first five names. And the last checkmark followed the word .Clodville.

What could be more logical?

Tony was a viper in the nest. Nurtured and protected by Frankie, he decided to build an empire of his own. If he built a ring that encircled Chicago he could challenge both Frankie and Manny. And, being in Frankie's organization, he knew Frankie's every plan and when it was best to move in on a boondock town. He had apparently done it in such a way as to put the heat on Frankie and Manny.

"Watch out!" Tiki yelled.

With a roar Tony bounded off the bed toward me. I dropped the billfold and the slip of paper and snatched up his jacket, lying in the chair.

As the sonofabitch charged me like a bull, head down, roaring and yelling at me, my hand dived into the right-hand pocket of the jacket and closed on a snub nose. I stood my ground, snarling at him.

His big shaggy head was barely twp feet away from me when I shot the sonofabitch in the face.

I jumped to one side and he hurtled past like a runaway locomotive and crashed headlong into the wall.

I turned and faced' Tiki. She was standing there with her eyes like a pair of harvest moons and beginning to shake.

"Why did you do that?" she asked. "Now we will be thrown down the well."

"They'll have to catch us first before they throw us down the well," I told her. "Now snap out of it. Start thinking."

"About what?"

"You've been all over this house, haven't you?" She nodded.

"Where do they keep their guns and ammunition?" She frowned and looked puzzled and shook her head. "I dunno," she finally muttered.

I waved the gun. "This is all we have between us arid being thrown down the well. Now think."

I went over to his jacket and went through it. I went through his trousers. No ammo.

I reached down and picked up his billfold and the slip of paper. I shoved the paper back in his billfold.

"Now we've got to get out of here," I said. "We'll go out of here and lock the door. And then we've got to go searching for those guns."

I didn't know how much time we had before Tony's body would be found, but I knew that we didn't have all day to find those guns and the ammo.

I went over to Tiki and grabbed her and shook her until her teeth rattled. "Now snap out of it. You've seen men killed before. You've lived in the jungle, you claim. So why do you have buck fever now?"

She turned and looked at me, but I knew she wasn't seeing me. "In my jungle, robbery, yes. Murder, no. It was so horrible. You shot him in the face."

"The sonofabitch deserved it," I told her. I shook her again. "Now snap out of it or else."

She stood there still shaking, with her hands to her mouth, and staring at the big hulk piled up over near the wall.

I ran into the bathroom and grabbed up a big towel. I shoved it under a faucet and turned on the cold water. I ran back to the bedroom and faced her.

"Now are you going to snap out of it?"

She stared at me and continued shaking.

WHAP!

I slapped her across the chops with that wet towel. On the return trip, the towel walloped her chops again.

I turned and threw the towel at the big beached whale near the wall. I looked back at Tiki. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here."

We headed for the door and I grabbed up the key from the bureau, near the door. We went out and locked the door and I shoved the key in the billfold, carrying it in my left hand. In my right was the snub-nose, with my finger on the trigger.

"Now think! Is there any one door that you know of that you have seen all of the men coming in and out of? Or have you ever seen them come out of that door with a gun in his hand?"

She frowned and bit her lip as we walked toward the end of the hall and the stairs. We started down it in silence. We had hit the landing when she suddenly stopped. Her eyes brightened.

"I know," she whispered. "Come on."

We went on down the stairs to the fourth floor. I glanced over the banister and looked down the stair well. Someone was coming up.

I looked at Tiki and jabbed my finger downward as I leaned over the railing. She nodded and turned and ran. I followed her. She yanked open a door and darted inside. I was right behind her and pulled the door shut, leaving it open a crack.

It was the big brute who hauled me out of bed that morning. I had a score to settle with him.

He tried to keep his eyes off the door, standing slightly ajar, but he telegraphed his punch. He kept glancing at it as he walked straight forward. I was ready for him. As he passed the door he suddenly lunged to his right and grabbed the knob and yanked the door back.

I rammed the snub nose in his gut and clamped on the trigger. His belly exploded and he twisted around, with his legs wrapped around each other like a licorice stick.

I jumped back. He crashed like a big tree.

"Help me," I whispered to Tiki.

We grabbed his shoulders and dragged him into the closet. My hand rummaged around and found a .45 in a holster under his left arm. There was ammo in the belt.

I glanced up. There was a denim jacket hanging from a hook. I reached for it and shrugged into it. It was a little broad across the shoulders and so long it hung down below my butt, but I had what I needed.

I shoved the billfold and the snub nose in the left pocket and plucked ammo from his shoulder harness and dropped it into the right pocket. Then I 'Stepped over him and went forward,, gripping the .45, my finger nuzzling the trigger.

I peered out the doorway, looking both ways. Nothing. I looked over my shoulder. "Come on," I whispered.

Tiki followed me out of the closet and I closed the door. We headed toward the stairs.

"Where is this room we're going to?" I asked. "In the basement."

We got to the first floor and were rounding the turn, to head down the stairs to the basement.

Twenty feet away a door opened, and there stood the hook-nosed jug-eared goon who had helped rape me the night before.

His hand dived under his lapel.

He died with his right hand over his heart, as if saluting the flag, with a slug through both of them. He did an about face and then crashed backward to bounce the back of his head off the rug.

"Come on," I said, as the blast from my gun echoed in the hall.

We ran to the landing and went down the stairs, not pausing to see if anyone was below.

Another one of the apes who had helped rape me the night before was ten feet away, headed for the stairs. His jaw dropped open and he stared at us for a moment. That was all the time I needed.

His hand hadn't started for his gun when I blasted him. He took the slug in his gaping mouth and the back of his head fell away as he went to his knees, as if in prayer, before toppling forward on his face.

I looked at Tiki. "Now where?"

"Come on," she said, running down the hall.

I was right at her heels as she ran to a door on the right, halfway down. She turned the knob and yanked. The door didn't give. I raced up to it and shoved my gun against the keyhole. My finger clamped. The door bucked and reared and damn near jumped off its hinges.

I grabbed the knob and yanked the door back. In the dim light I saw a switch. I snapped it and pulled the door shut. There was a bolt on the inside. I slammed it home.

There were enough guns and ammo down there in that room to outfit a brigade. Everything from burp guns to derringers.

I grabbed up a burp gun and checked the clip. Then I turned to a shelf and found ammo for it. I filled the clip and dumped the rest of the box in my pocket.

There was a tweed jacket tossed over a wooden box." I snatched it up and held it out to Tiki. I had to roll the sleeves, but she could get by with it.

I put two grenades in each of her pockets. "I don't expect you to use those," I told her. "You just carry them for me. Or do you want the first snubnose I got?"

She shook her head. "I want no part of any guns or killing."

"Okay, but don't get the shakes again."

"I won't," she promised.

"Now where?" I asked.

"Where do you want to go?" she asked.

"Where is the garage?"

"Behind the building."

I went to the door and opened it a crack. I pulled it back and flattened against the wall and peered around the casing.

A pack of the gorillas were clattering down the stairs from the landing, clutching revolvers. They saw my head sticking out. They opened up. I ducked back.

I reached over and grabbed a grenade from Tiki's pocket. I pulled the pin and threw it.

It lit at their feet just as they hit the concrete floor.

There was a tremendous blast and it began raining hardware and arms, legs, hair, eyes and teeth. The explosion was echoing and re-echoing down the concrete-lined hall. I turned and looked at Tiki.

We dashed down the hall side by side, and I was holding my burp gun at the ready.

I heard the thudding of the stampeding feet. I gave Tiki a shove and said, "Get flat against that wall and stay put."

They rounded the turn at the landing and began pouring down the stairs to the basement floor. When they saw me they opened up.

I sprayed them as if I were killing flies. They screamed and toppled forward and landed in a bloody tangled heap at the bottom of the stairs.

Again we ran down the hall side by side, and I kept glancing over my shoulder and then forward, watching for more invaders. We hit a slot in the wall and Tiki swung into it. Just as I was ready to turn I glanced behind me again. Three more apes.

They were going so fast they couldn't stop. They hit the gory mess at the bottom and slipped and slid and fought for balance. I gave them a burst and they joined their bloody buddies scattered around over the floor.

Tiki was right beside me. We bounded up the stairs and hit the door at the top and were in the garage.

A lanky character in white coveralls was wiping down a big black job. He heard the door slam back and whirled around. His hand went for his pocket. One burst through his neck and his head dangled down like a wilted sunflower. Then he fell forward and sprawled across the car's hood. I ran forward and grabbed a handful of coverall and yanked him back and dragged him away.

Tiki ran to the right side and pulled open the door. She climbed in and I raced for the left door and got it open and slid under the wheel. I slammed the door and grabbed at the key in the lock and twisted it.

The big car burst into a roar. There wasn't time to open any doors. I threw it into reverse and jumped on the gas.

We rocketed backward and crashed through the heavy door, with wooden planks snapping and cracking and splintering and flying everywhere. We shot straight backward and then I cut it around. I rammed it into drive and hit the gas again.

Three goons came charging out from the house toward the doorway.

I leaned on the wheel and swerved left and then in a long sweeping arc to the right. I glanced in the rear mirror to see the three of them sprawled and flattened on the concrete apron.

I hit a curving drive and roared down it. I wondered if there would be a guard at the gate. I didn't wait to see. I gave it the gas, and the black behemoth plunged headlong and crashed against the steel gates where they met in the middle of the drive.

The big car bounced and fishtailed, but I fought the wheel and held it on course as glass from the headlights showered backward against the windshield. The whole front end was probably bashed in.

I turned left, not knowing where I was going. I glanced over at Tiki. "Is this the way you were coming when you rolled over in the ditch? Was that gate back there on your right?"

"Yes," she said, huddled down on the seat and beginning to shake again.

I gripped the wheel with my left hand and my right hand went out to stroke her on the back.

"Okay," I told her. "We've won the first round. Now let's see if we can win the second round and keep you out of jail."