Chapter 15
They stood silently, still clutching each other's hands as someone lit the single oil lamp. Then Rocco flicked off the flashlight. In the dim yellow light he nearly filled the little shack, his flabby shadow leaking across the floor. There were four of them. Rocco and three of the hard looking men Noreen had noticed earlier at the club.
Rocco said: "You play Rocco for a sucker, huh?" With amazing speed for so huge a man he stepped forward and slapped Noreen across the face. The blow sent her reeling back against the wall. "You son of a bitch!" Hank leaped at the fat man, smashing at his face. Rocco smiled, absorbed the blow in his flesh, put one short arm around Hank and pushed his belly against him hard. Hank went spinning into the arms of two of the other men.
Rocco said: "Fix him up a little, huh? Not too bad. Just a once over lightly for now."
Hank struggled vainly, kicking and twisting in the powerful grasp of one of the men. Another man hit him brutally in the belly. Hank sagged. The man hit him in the face with both hands, the blows sounding whap-whap in the morning silence.
"Let 'em go," grunted the man hitting him.
When he was released Hank fell to his knees. The man stepped close and hit Hank across the back of the neck with the edge of his hand. Hank slumped to the floor, blood trickling from his nostrils.
"That's enough," Rocco commanded. "We don't want no murder rap, huh? Now you guys can have the girl."
Noreen, her face a crimson blotch from Rocco's blow, was still clinging to the wall. Stunned, she could hardly see or hear, but she knew they were doing something terrible to Hank. She had to stop them! But her legs were numb, her whole body nearly paralyzed.
As her vision cleared she saw Hank on the floor, bleeding. She staggered toward Rocco, her hands outstretched. "Please, Rocco! Please-please! Don't hurt him. I'll do anything-anything you say! Only don't hurt him! Please, Rocco."
"Go ahead, beg," said Rocco. "I like to hear it. Only it ain't gonna do you any good. You had your chance. Anything Rocco hates is a lying, double-crossing dame!"
He reached suddenly, grabbed her arm, and flung her at the three men. "Go on, you guys. Rocco will watch."
One of the men muttered. "Hell, Rocco, that's a bad rap. This ain't Brooklyn. Maybe this dame-"
"This dame is a big nothing," Rocco spat. "A tramp! A nobody! You can get-her all day and night and nobody cares. And she can't squawk on account the cops want her. So goon. She's so bad she laughs at Rocco and sneaks out with the bum here. So give it to her plenty!"
Noreen started to kneel beside the unconscious Hank. One of the men laughed, seized her around the waist and flung her on the cot. "Okay! Who first? You got a coin, Johnny?"
Noreen closed her eyes and waited. No use trying to fight this. She must endure it. She only wished they would rape her and get it over with so she could start taking care of Hank.
A rough hand was fumbling with her slacks when Rocco said: "Hold it! Somebody's coming!" The hand went away. Noreen kept her eyes closed.
She heard the door slam open. A strange voice, tense with excitement, said: "Rocco! It's a pinch! Law all over the place. State cops, locals, Christ knows what! They got most of the boys already. How you get off this beach without going back?"
Rocco cursed. "Only one way. Down the beach toward Montauk. Maybe a mile I guess. There's a lane takes you to the road. Me, I'm staying. No cops are running Rocco off his own place. You guys better blow fast."
Noreen opened her eyes. The others had already fled the shack. Rocco, squeezing himself through the door, looked back at her for a moment. "You're one lucky little tramp, huh? Okay. Rocco don't fight the odds. You take the bum and blow. Rocco better not see you around again."
When he left Noreen staggered off the cot, feeling sick and weak, her head spinning crazily. She found a jug of water and a towel and went to Hank. He was just coming out of it. As she wiped his face with the damp towel he started upright. "Noreen! Honey! You all right? Where are those-"
She kissed him gently. "Not now, Hank. It's all right. They're gone and they won't come back.
We got to get out of here too, right away. The cops are up at the club. Come on, try to stand up."
She got him on his feet. Led him to the chair and made him sit down a minute. "Where's your money, darling? Hurry!"
"In the piano."
Noreen found the wad of bills and stuffed them into his wallet. As he slumped in the chair, trying to snap out of it, she hastened frantically around the shack collecting his few clothes, his music, and stuffing diem into his suitcase. She did it all in three minutes.
When she went back to get Hank she saw a fishing rod in a corner and had an inspiration. She led him out to the car, got him into the front seat, and hastily lashed the rod on the fender. Then she rail around and climbed in behind the wheel.
"We just might do it," she told him. "I heard Rocco tell those men about a lane off the beach a mile down. Maybe there won't be any cops. But if there are we got to have a story, darling. We been fishing all night, understand?"
Hank nodded. He kept swabbing his bruised face with the wet towel. "Yes. I know the place. Go on. I'll be all right now." He cursed. "Goddamn it! If only I had my strength. Those toughs handled me like a baby!"
She kissed him swiftly. "You're all the man I ever want. I love you. Now here we go. You better pray!"
She drove down the smooth beach. The title was sweeping in, foaming around the wheels of the car as she approached the turnoff.
"just up here," Hank pointed out. "Around that next dune where the sand fence starts."
Noreen found the narrow lane and turned left toward the blacktop road. As she approached the road her heart sank. A State Police car was blocking the turnoff onto the main road.
Hank was fast regaining his composure. "Don't panic," he said. "Maybe we can bluff our way out. Remember we been fishing. If they ask about my face I got drunk and fell against the car. Just act normally, as though we don't know what it's all about."
Noreen slowed and stopped as a State trooper waved them down. He was a young man with sergeant's chevrons. He put one shiny boot on the running board and looked at them with interest. "Let me see your identification, please."
Hank fished out his wallet and handed it to him. The trooper looked at the cards, then at Hank and Noreen. "This looks okay. But what are you doing out here at this time in the morning?"
Hank was a good actor. "We've been fishing," he explained. "Just down the beach there. What's all the excitement, officer? We heard shouting and saw a lot of lights."
The trooper shot a glance at the fishing pole. "Catch anything?"
Noreen smiled at him. "We didn't fish all night, Captain. We're engaged. But what's going on?"
The trooper smiled slightly. "We caught something, just police business. What happened to your face, Mr. Butler?"
Hank managed to look and sound very sheepish. "I-I got a little drunk to tell you the truth. We were sort of celebrating. I tripped and fell against the car."
The trooper studied them for a moment with the impersonal eyes of a good cop. He looked at Noreen. "Your name, Miss?"
"Mary Cassidy. I live in New York." On impulse she gave the address of Buddy Pressman on West End Avenue.
The trooper scribbled in a notebook. He handed Hank his wallet. "Okay. You can go through."
As they turned off on the blacktop Noreen saw another police car parked a little way off. Three men were sitting in the back of it, guarded by two troopers. The men who had been with Rocco.
She glanced at Hank. He was slumped in the seat, looking sick and wilted. "Cheer up," she told him as she rounded a turn and came in sight ol the village. "We did it. We're on our way."
He reached over to take her hand for a moment. His dark eyes were tender. "Yes, sweetheart. We're on our way! But I wonder where and tor how long! Those cops back there made me think. No, I guess I been thinking ever since you told me the truth about yourself. We got to do some talking, Noreen."
A pang of fear shot through Noreen. "What do you mean? You sound like, well, like you're sorry about us!" lie smiled, a sweet smile, and released her hand. "Sorry? No. I'm glad! I've found you and I'll never let you go. That's why we have to work this out. Drive to a motel, honey, where we can get something to eat and a drink. Then I'll tell you what we have to do."