Read Online Baltimore Trackdown by Don Pendleton - Free Book Online Page B

along the aisle of the warehouse when we discovered a sneak thief. First thing I hear is this handgun blasting away. I get out my piece and return fire. The bastard wasn’t more than three feet from us when he blew away Paulson, missed me and darted behind some boxes and ran out the back window. Hell, I thought Ricca explained it all to you. We had a damn two-eleven going down!”
    King rubbed his face with one big hand. Then he looked at Ricca. “No kidding?”
    “Hey, I been trying to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen to nobody, just pissing and moaning about Lieutenant Paulson.”
    “That’s the way it happened, Ricca?” King asked, grabbing the other officer’s arm.
    “Damn right. I thought you heard when the captain explained it to Chief Jansen.”
    “Hell!”
    “Yeah, you been screaming up the wrong damn pole for nothing. You better apologize to the captain for dragging him out here like this.”
    “Captain, what can I say?” King mumbled. “It just looked like a setup, and then when Lieutenant Paulson got shot...”
    “King, no problem. Don’t worry about it. We have to keep on top of things. And I’d appreciate if you forgot whatever you were thinking, all right?”
    “Yeah, Captain, sure. I just wiped it out of my computer banks.”
    Captain Davis reached into his pocket and peeled three twenties from a gold money clip.
    “King, this is for all your worry. Go out to dinner and dancing with the wife somewhere. Forget all about this.”
    The men nodded and stepped out of the car. Captain Davis looked at Ricca.
    “Ricca, you have anything on that gambling operation you spotted on Thirty-fifth?”
    “A little.” He looked at King. “Johnny, get the rig warmed up. I’ll be right there.”
    King got into the patrol car.
    Ricca leaned in the captain’s car window.
    “Kill him, Ricca. Do it tonight. He’s ready to break. He could take both of us down. Use a bad car wreck, hit-and-run and into the bay somewhere. Make it look good.”
    “I get a bonus?” Ricca asked.
    “Two thousand. Now get it done!” Captain Davis scowled at the uniformed patrolman as he returned to the squad car. It would not be long before Ricca himself would have to be taught a lesson, Captain Davis decided.

7
    It was early evening when Bolan finished making the phone calls. He could not find Jo Jo Albergetti at his office or any of his usual hangouts. Bolan took a chance and drove past the Albergetti home in a classy residential district. Lights were on in the downstairs windows.
    He parked three houses down, got out and walked back to the house where he punched the doorbell. He heard the six-note chime inside and waited.
    The woman who opened the door held a glass in one hand. She looked at him, took a sip from the glass, then opened the door wider. She was obviously drunk, and Bolan could tell that she had trouble focusing. She wore a filmy negligee that hid very little of her body.
    “Hi, I’m Angela. You looking for a good time?” She pulled open the garment, and thrust a thigh forward. Bolan concentrated on her face, hoping he would be able to get some answers.
    “Is Jo Jo here?”
    “Not so you could notice. But you’re here and I’m lonely. Why don’t you come in and we’ll have some laughs, get friendly.” She shrugged out of the negligee, then drained the glass in one long swallow.
    “You know where your husband is?”
    “What does it matter?”
    She smiled. She was shapely, blond and hungry for him.
    Bolan stepped back.
    “Do you know where Jo Jo went?”
    “Yeah, some damn pool tournament at the Billiard Palace. Now come inside and let’s play house.”
    The Executioner returned to his car, glad Angela was Jo Jo’s problem, not his.
    The Billiard Palace was a high-class pool hall with a sunken area for tournaments. A sign inside the door indicated that tonight a small tournament of eight ball would be played. It was an open tournament costing fifty dollars to enter, single elimination on a draw