Read Online Night of the Toads by Dennis Lynds - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Dennis Lynds
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pregnant?’ Gazzo said.
‘It’s got the sound.’
‘That Marshall could be covering for her, and the Wiggen girl reported her missing fast—maybe she knew Anne was going to have an abortion, and got worried,’ Gazzo said.
‘It plays,’ I said. ‘Ricardo Vega’s child?’
Gazzo nodded. He got up and went to the telephone. I didn’t hear all he said, but I heard Ricardo Vega’s name. Gazzo came back.
‘Get dressed, Dan.’
I got dressed.
Ricardo Vega was waiting in Gazzo’s office. He looked alert and muscular, and he wasn’t alone. The business manager, George Lehman, stood wrinkled and sleepy. A small, sharp man carried a briefcase and fidgeting—a lawyer. When he saw me, he smiled.
‘Well, Captain, I feel better now,’ Vega said, his dark eyes on me. ‘I begin to understand all this.’
Gazzo sat behind his desk, lighted a slow cigarette. ‘What do you undersand, Mr Vega?’
‘That Fortune there, he’s got it in for me.’
‘Rey!’ George Lehman said quickly.
The lawyer moved. ‘Mr Vega has nothing to say until we know what this is all about, Captain. I protest this high—’
‘Shut up,’ Vega snapped. ‘When I need you, I’ll tell you. Both of you.’
‘Rey, as your lawyer I insist—’
‘Don’t insist,’ Vega said, the princely warning in his smooth voice again. ‘What am I, Mafia? I’ve got to be careful? The Captain’s going to trap me? Hell,’ and he leaned toward Gazzo. ‘Fortune there hates my guts, Captain. He’s out to get me. Any way he can. He thinks I’m after his girl, and he’s worried. Maybe he should be. What’s he got to offer?’
Gazzo looked at me. ‘What about it, Dan?’
‘I hate his guts,’ I said mildly, ‘and he’s chasing my girl. But he chases a lot of girls, and I didn’t bring his name in first, the sister did.’
‘Sister?’ Vega said. ‘What sister?’
‘Sarah Wiggen,’ Gazzo said. ‘She reported Anne Terry missing, and she brought your name in, so we talked to you.’
‘You talked to me, and I told you,’ Vega said. ‘The girl’s in my class, we had some drinks, no more. Who knows where she is?’
‘You had more than some drinks, Mr Vega,’ Gazzo said. ‘We found a cuff link and a tie in Anne Terry’s apartment, both yours. Fortune here has given me what he heard in your apartment between you and Anne Terry. Sarah Wiggen knows, too.’
Vega shrugged. ‘Okay, there was more, we had some good times. I still don’t know where the hell she is.’
‘We do,’ Gazzo said. ‘She was found dead last night in a house in Queens.’
The lawyer came alert like a bird dog on a scent. George Lehman licked his lips, made a sound. Ricardo Vega only stared at Gazzo at first. Then his handsome face seemed to age, grow less handsome and more human in a space of seconds. He took a deep breath, put his hands to his eyes, rubbed at his eyes and his whole face, as if he had just learned that there were a lot of things wrong with this world after all.
‘The poor, stupid kid,’ he said.
‘She had an abortion,’ Gazzo said.
Ricardo Vega nodded very slowly, up and down, like a man saying: Yes, I know how it is, what else is new? His hands rubbed at his thighs, his male loins.
‘You’re not surprised?’ I said.
‘Did you arrange it for her, Vega?’ Gazzo said.
George Lehman stood scared, glanced at Vega. The lawyer could stand it no longer. A police Captain was openly, brazenly, asking his client if he had committed a crime! It was enough to send any lawyer into shock.
‘You listen, Captain! My client—’
‘Shut up, damn it,’ Vega said. ‘I told you.’
‘No, Rey,’ the lawyer stood his ground. ‘I can’t keep quiet when the Captain goes so far. I won’t.’
‘I liked the girl,’ Vega said. ‘My child, maybe.’
Vega got up, paced a few steps but wasn’t aware of his movement. He was thinking. I had a glimpse of the brain that had to be under his gaudy surface to have made him the artist he was.
‘It’s got the sound.’
‘That Marshall could be covering for her, and the Wiggen girl reported her missing fast—maybe she knew Anne was going to have an abortion, and got worried,’ Gazzo said.
‘It plays,’ I said. ‘Ricardo Vega’s child?’
Gazzo nodded. He got up and went to the telephone. I didn’t hear all he said, but I heard Ricardo Vega’s name. Gazzo came back.
‘Get dressed, Dan.’
I got dressed.
Ricardo Vega was waiting in Gazzo’s office. He looked alert and muscular, and he wasn’t alone. The business manager, George Lehman, stood wrinkled and sleepy. A small, sharp man carried a briefcase and fidgeting—a lawyer. When he saw me, he smiled.
‘Well, Captain, I feel better now,’ Vega said, his dark eyes on me. ‘I begin to understand all this.’
Gazzo sat behind his desk, lighted a slow cigarette. ‘What do you undersand, Mr Vega?’
‘That Fortune there, he’s got it in for me.’
‘Rey!’ George Lehman said quickly.
The lawyer moved. ‘Mr Vega has nothing to say until we know what this is all about, Captain. I protest this high—’
‘Shut up,’ Vega snapped. ‘When I need you, I’ll tell you. Both of you.’
‘Rey, as your lawyer I insist—’
‘Don’t insist,’ Vega said, the princely warning in his smooth voice again. ‘What am I, Mafia? I’ve got to be careful? The Captain’s going to trap me? Hell,’ and he leaned toward Gazzo. ‘Fortune there hates my guts, Captain. He’s out to get me. Any way he can. He thinks I’m after his girl, and he’s worried. Maybe he should be. What’s he got to offer?’
Gazzo looked at me. ‘What about it, Dan?’
‘I hate his guts,’ I said mildly, ‘and he’s chasing my girl. But he chases a lot of girls, and I didn’t bring his name in first, the sister did.’
‘Sister?’ Vega said. ‘What sister?’
‘Sarah Wiggen,’ Gazzo said. ‘She reported Anne Terry missing, and she brought your name in, so we talked to you.’
‘You talked to me, and I told you,’ Vega said. ‘The girl’s in my class, we had some drinks, no more. Who knows where she is?’
‘You had more than some drinks, Mr Vega,’ Gazzo said. ‘We found a cuff link and a tie in Anne Terry’s apartment, both yours. Fortune here has given me what he heard in your apartment between you and Anne Terry. Sarah Wiggen knows, too.’
Vega shrugged. ‘Okay, there was more, we had some good times. I still don’t know where the hell she is.’
‘We do,’ Gazzo said. ‘She was found dead last night in a house in Queens.’
The lawyer came alert like a bird dog on a scent. George Lehman licked his lips, made a sound. Ricardo Vega only stared at Gazzo at first. Then his handsome face seemed to age, grow less handsome and more human in a space of seconds. He took a deep breath, put his hands to his eyes, rubbed at his eyes and his whole face, as if he had just learned that there were a lot of things wrong with this world after all.
‘The poor, stupid kid,’ he said.
‘She had an abortion,’ Gazzo said.
Ricardo Vega nodded very slowly, up and down, like a man saying: Yes, I know how it is, what else is new? His hands rubbed at his thighs, his male loins.
‘You’re not surprised?’ I said.
‘Did you arrange it for her, Vega?’ Gazzo said.
George Lehman stood scared, glanced at Vega. The lawyer could stand it no longer. A police Captain was openly, brazenly, asking his client if he had committed a crime! It was enough to send any lawyer into shock.
‘You listen, Captain! My client—’
‘Shut up, damn it,’ Vega said. ‘I told you.’
‘No, Rey,’ the lawyer stood his ground. ‘I can’t keep quiet when the Captain goes so far. I won’t.’
‘I liked the girl,’ Vega said. ‘My child, maybe.’
Vega got up, paced a few steps but wasn’t aware of his movement. He was thinking. I had a glimpse of the brain that had to be under his gaudy surface to have made him the artist he was.
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