Chapter 14
More days went by and still no sign of Ben. The confinement had become as unbearable for the four men as it was for Sherry. Since that night she had tried to run away, their demands seemed to have doubled. She continued preparing their meals, doing menial chores around the house and accommodating their insatiable sexual appetites.
Each day they grew more and more irritable. With the exception of Denny who had become less talkative and more inconspicuous than ever, they were at each other's throats constantly. Even more than the monotony and the confinement, Louie and Red resented the orders that Gus continually hurled at them.
"Look," Sherry heard Red bark at Gus one day when the man with the shaved head pushed him a little harder than usual. "I agree that you were top dog for the stickup. But I didn't say I was gonna listen to your big mouth tellin' me what to do the rest of my life."
"Red's right!" Louie was quick to tack on, angrily. "You've been givin' us orders like you're suddenly some kind of a goddamn dictator--and we're just a couple pieces of crap!"
Gus' thick-lipped mouth looked nasty.
"You listen to me, you two whinin' bastards," he roared at them. "I'm the guy cut you in on this job. I'm the guy lined your lousy pockets with two hundred T's apiece. And until I tell you it's time to part company, you're gonna do what I say--and I don't wanna here no more of your bellyachin'. Y'understand?"
This outburst prompted considerable thought on Sherry's part. If she handled it right, she might be able to twist the situation to her advantage. So without being obvious and by putting a little more enthusiasm into each individual performance she gave with them in bed, she began to play the three men against each other--particularly Red and Louie against Gus.
"You've got all the money you need," was one of the arguments she used on Red and Louie. "And there're two of you against only one of him. I wouldn't take any more of his guff, or let him tell me when I could leave. I'd stand up to him and do what I wanted to do."
She reminded them of something else, too. Not that they needed any reminding. Gus had talked about it quite a few times and she knew all three of them were very concerned about the eventual appearance of Joey Largo on the scene.
As Gus put it, "That connivin' sister of his didn't fool me for one second. I agreed to give her the fifty grand to keep her quiet for awhile so she wouldn't blow the whistle and bring her lousy brother back before Ben gets here and we can blow this stinkin' craphouse. She's a greedy bitch. She ain't about to settle for no fifty thou', not when she knows we're sitting on a million bucks. I wouldn't be surprised, if she'd already cabled Largo and that he's on his way home right now. Probably taking his time because he figures that we figure he ain't gonna bother us. But the minute we see what kinda plans Ben made, we're leaving and I mean in one goddam big hurry!"
Subtly, without any of them being aware of what she was doing, Sherry continued to use the men, the way they'd used her only in a slightly different manner. Finally, the fruits of her efforts came to a boil and bubbled over.
"I ain't takin' no more!" Red spit out furiously to Gus one evening shortly after dark. "I've had it right up to here." He ran a finger across his throat symbolically. "I'm gettin' the hell outta here."
"You ain't goin' no place!" Gus thundered.
Red ignored him and went straight to the place in his room where he'd hidden his share of the money. He started to pull it out and stuff it into a two-suiter.
Gus went after him, spun him around and grabbed him by the lapels of his coat. "You ain't leavin' here until Ben gets back. You ain't lousin' up our plans and runnin' the risk of getting us all caught."
Red struggled as Gus drew back his fist and aimed it at the redhead's stubbly jaw. "Hold it!"
Gus twisted and looked over his shoulder to find himself staring into the deadly black eye of Louie's .38 revolver. Gus glowered, fiercely. "Put that goddamn gun away--before you do somethin' stupid!"
"Let go of Red," Louie ordered.
Gus faltered then released Red and let his hands drop to his sides.
"Finish putting your dough in the bag," Louie told Red, as he kept the gun pointed at Gus' belly. "We're through listening to anymore of your bullshit, Gus."
"Just what's that supposed to mean?" Gus demanded, perspiration spouting from every pore.
"It means that me and Red are clearing out--tonight--right now," Louie retorted. He glanced at Denny inquiringly and told Denny he was welcome to go along if he wanted to. Sherry they completely ignored.
Denny shook his head, but he made no attempt to dissuade them or interfere in any way.
"You don't know what you're doin'," Gus tried to reason with Red and Louie, frantically. "You know how far it is to the highway? Damn near three miles straight up to the top of the bluff. With those suitcases, you're gonna be knocked out before you even get there. And then what? Even after you reach the highway, you still won't have a car."
"Getting a car never caused us any sweat before," Red reminded him as he took the gun from Louie and kept it aimed at Gus' navel while Louie hurriedly filled one of the suitcases with his cut of the swag.
"You're crazy, both of you. A couple of damn fools," was Gus' parting shot as he watched Red and Louie carry their heavy bags to the door and open it. The cold, damp, fog blew in through the open doorway like the kiss of death. Gus yelled above the roar of the accompanying surf. "If you guys'd only use your heads and listen--in another day or so Ben'll be back and--"
The door slammed on his words and Red and Louie melted into the gray darkness of the chilling fog that swept in off the Pacific in impenetrable sheets.
The instant the door closed, Gus bolted into his room. From the bottom of the closet, he snatched up one of the submachine guns used in the bank robbery. He ran to the back door through which Red and Louie had departed. As he started to open it, Denny's voice interrupted.
"Don't, Gus! Don't go out there," Denny pleaded. "You don't stand a chance in a million of finding them in the fog out there. And suppose they're waiting for you? Louie sees you with the machine gun, he wouldn't think twice about letting you have it."
It was strictly out of character for Denny to even think of stopping Gus, trying to tell him what to do. But this was one time Denny was dead right--and nobody knew it better than Gus. He looked at the knob of the door, then at Denny and then slowly relaxed his grip on the machine gun he was holding.
"Yen, it would be kinda crazy at that, leaving myself wide open for a mad dog like Louie to gun me down," Gus admitted begrudgingly. "Let 'em go. Let 'em get picked up. By the time it happens, Ben'll be back here and we'll be on our way. To hell with both of 'em."
He didn't bother to thank Denny for his loyalty, or his sage advice. He simply tossed Denny the machine gun and told him to put it back in the closet. Then he looked across at Sherry who'd been standing by in silence all this time, watching the little drama she'd arranged, build to it's climax.
"That leaves just me and you," Gus said to her, ignoring Denny's presence. "I'd say that calls for a party--without the booze of course. You know what booze does to Sonny Boy down here."
She followed his eyes to his blossoming arousal. As distasteful as what he had in mind might be, she at least had the satisfaction of knowing that tonight, instead of three of them, she'd only have to take care of his inimitable weapon.