Read Online [Mike Hammer 03] - Vengeance Is Mine by Mickey Spillane - Free Book Online Page B

her body. Her breasts rose full and high under the gown, moving gently with her breathing.
    “Drink?”
    I nodded. The music of her voice brought the bartender to life and he put a highball in front of me. Anton joined us in a toast, then excused himself and walked over to the roulette wheel. I deliberately swung around on the stool, hoping she’d follow me so I could have her to myself.
    She did, smiling at me in the mirrors that had the bullet holes.
    “I have news for you, Mike. Perhaps I should let it keep so I could see you again tomorrow.”
    My hand started to tighten around the glass. One of the bullet holes was in the way so I turned my head to look at her. “The girl ...”
    “Yes. I found her.”
    Ever have your insides squeeze up into a knot so hard you thought you’d turn inside out? I did. “Go on,” I said.
    “Her name is Marion Lester. I presume you’ll want to see her yourself of course. Her address is the Chadwick Hotel. She was the third one I spoke to this afternoon and she readily admitted what had happened, although she seemed a little frightened when I told her the full story.”
    “All right, all right, what did she say?” I took a quick drink and pushed the glass across the bar.
    “Actually ... nothing. Your friend did help her into a cab and he saw her home. In fact, he carried her upstairs and tucked her into bed with her clothes on, shoes and all. It seems as if he was quite a gentleman.”
    “Damn,” I said, “damn it all to hell anyway!”
    Juno’s fingers found mine on the bar rail and her smile was replaced by intense concern. “Mike, please! It can’t be that bad. Aren’t you glad it was that way?”
    I cursed under my breath, something nice and nasty I had to get out. “I guess so. It’s just that it leaves me climbing a tree again. Thanks anyway, Juno.”
    She leaned toward me and my head filled with the fragrance of a perfume that made me dizzy. She had gray eyes. Deep gray eyes. Deep and compassionate. Eyes that could talk by themselves. “Will you come up tomorrow anyway?”
    I couldn’t have said no. I didn’t want to. I nodded and my lip worked into a snarl I couldn’t control. Even my hands tightened into fists until the broken skin over my knuckles began to sting. “I’ll be there,” I said. I got that funny feeling again. I couldn’t figure it, damn it, I didn’t know what it was.
    A finger tapped my shoulder and Connie said, “I’m losted, Mike. Hello, Juno.”
    Olympus smiled another dawn.
    Connie said, “Can we go home now?”
    I slid off the stool and looked at the goddess. This time we didn’t shake hands. Just meeting her eyes was enough. “Good night, Juno.”
    “Good night, Mike.”
    Anton Linsek came back and nodded to the both of us. I took Connie’s arm and steered her toward the door. Joseph, Andrew, Martin, Homer and Raymond all yelled for us to join the party then shut up when they saw the look on my face. One of them muttered, “Sour sort of fellow, isn’t he?”
    The joker with the bashed-in face wasn’t in his chair where I had left him. Two other guys were holding the fort and I knew what they were doing there. They were waiting for me. The tall skinny one was a goon I knew and who knew me and licked his lips. The other one was brand, spanking new. About twenty-two maybe.
    They looked at Connie, wondering how to get her out of there so she wouldn’t be a witness to what came next. The goon I knew licked his lips again and rubbed his hands together. “We been waiting for you, Hammer.”
    The kid put on more of an act. He screwed up his pimply face to make a sneer, pushing himself away from the wall trying to make shoulders under his dinner jacket. “So you’re Mike Hammer, are ya? Ya don’t look so tough to me, guy.”
    I let my hand fool with the buttons on my coat. The billy in the empty holster pushed against the fabric under my arm and looked real as hell. “There’s always one way you can find out, sonny,” I