Read Online Dark Passage by David Goodis - Free Book Online

and
absent a lot and I guess they finally got fed up with him. About a
year ago I tried to get in touch with him and I called Kinney and
they said he didn't work there any more. They didn't know where he
was.”
    “Why did you want to get in touch with
him?”
    “I was lonely. I wanted a
date.”
    “What about Bob?”
    “I had an idea you’d remember that. You
remember things, don't you.”
    “Certain things stick in my mind. What
about Bob?”
    “That was during a time when I wasn’t
seeing Bob. Every now and then it happens that way.”
    “What way?”
    “Well, I get afraid. Or maybe it’s my
conscience, because he's married. Not really married. He's
separated, but his wife won't give him a divorce. She doesn't want
him and at the same time she won't let anyone else have him. She
gets a kick out of it. But I don't have to tell you, Vincent. You
know what she is. You know who she is.”
    CHAPTER 6
    Parry looked at the window. Now it was
dark grey out there and getting darker. He said, “I better be
going.”
    “She worked against you at the trial,
Vincent. She works against everybody. She has a way about her. She
won’t leave people alone. And the way she pesters me—”
    “The way she pesters you has nothing to do
with me,” Parry said. He got up and moved toward the door. “All I
know is she couldn’t see me through the door and she didn't see me
through the window. That's all I want to know. You've been good to
me. I won't forget it but I want you to forget it. Being good to
people sounds nice but it's hard work. From here on there's only
one person you'll need to be good to. That's yourself. Good-by,
Irene.”
    “Good-by, Vincent. Wait, you’ve got things
here. I'll put them in a grip—”
    He opened the door and walked out. He
looked up and down the corridor and then he stepped quickly to the
elevator. When he reached the street he saw it was even darker than
it had looked from the window. He walked quickly, walked south,
searching for a drugstore. Three blocks and then he saw a drugstore
and instinctively his hand went into the right side-pocket of the
grey worsted trousers, groping for change. His fingers touched
paper and he was taking bills from the pocket. All new bills, crisp
and bright. It amounted to a thousand dollars. Eight one-hundred
dollar bills. Two fifties. The rest in tens and fives. He wondered
how she knew he kept his money in the right side-pocket of his
trousers. He started toward the drugstore, then told himself a
telephone call was out. A taxi made a turn and started slowly up
the street. Parry stepped to the curb and raised his
arm.
    The taxi came to a reluctant stop. The
driver was a thick-faced man close to forty. The driver said, “How
far? I’m on my way to a fare.”
    “It’s not far.”
    The driver examined the grey worsted suit.
“North?”
    “Yes. A couple miles. Just keep going
north and I’ll tell you how to get there.”
    “All right, hop in. Mind a little
speed?”
    “I like speed.”
    The taxi went into a sprint, made a lot of
wracking noise as it turned a corner to get on a wider street.
Parry sat low, trying to get his face away from the rear-view
mirror because he sensed the driver was studying the mirror. He
wondered why the driver was studying the mirror.
    “That’s a nice suit you're wearing,” the
driver said.
    “I’m glad you like it. What are we
doing?”
    “Forty. Another turn and we’ll do fifty.
On this kind of deal I usually take her up to sixty.”
    “What do you mean this kind of a deal?” He
could see the driver grinning at him in the rear-view mirror. He
wondered why the driver was grinning.
    “A double job,” the driver said. “Two
fares on one trip. Is your trip really necessary?”
    “Sort of,” Parry said.
    “It’s crazy the way they get these slogans
out,” the driver said. “What they do with words. Take necessary,
for in- stance. It means different things to different people. Like
me. What’s necessary to me?”
    “Passengers,” Parry said. “And I’ll tell
you what's necessary to