1951 - Strictly For Cash by James Hadley Chase

Author:James Hadley Chase [Chase, James Hadley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

chapter nineteen

I had finished a regal breakfast served by a Sphinx-faced Filipino, and had wandered out on to the verandah to smoke a cigarette in the sunshine when I saw Della coming from her cabin towards me.

The sight of her in a sky-blue, off-the-shoulder linen dress, a big picture hat and a pair of sun-glasses the size of doughnuts started my heart thumping. I ran down the steps to meet her.

“Hi, Johnny,” she said, smiling up at me.

“You look good enough to eat.”

“You don't look so bad yourself.” Her blue eyes approved the white slacks and the sweat-shirt the Filipino had laid out for me-. “And they fit, too.”

“They sure do. Where did they come from?”

“I fixed it. I've been busy fixing all kinds of things this morning. We'll go down to the tailor's shop some time and get you properly fitted out. You have to dress the part here.”

“I can't believe this is happening to me. I expect to wake up and find myself in a truck heading for Miami.”

She laughed.

“It's happening all right. Come and look at the place before we talk to Nick.”

We spent an hour wandering around the vast estate. There wasn't a trick Wertham had missed. There were acres of pleasure gardens, an aquarium and sunken lily ponds. Not far from the casino was an arcade of shops where you could buy anything from a diamond necklace to an aspirin tablet. An artificial waterway surrounding the estate, screened by oak trees, hung with spanish moss, offered a fine hiding-place for you and your girl if you wanted to go for a tour in an electrically driven canoe. There was even a zoo at the back of the casino where peacocks, flamingoes and ibis strutted on the vast stretches of lawn.

“Come and look at the lion pit,” Della said. “This is Reisner's pet idea. He's crazy about lions. You'd be surprised how many people come here just to gape at them.”

We stood side by side, our arms touching, and looked down into the deep pit, guarded by steel railings where six full-grown lions sprawled lazily in the sunshine.

“I can gape at them, too,” I said. “There's something about a lion . . .”

“Reisner feeds them himself. He gives up all his spare time to them.” She turned away. “Well, we'd better get on. There's still a lot to see.”

Farther along the broad carriageway we passed an open-air restaurant with its glass dance-floor. A fat, middle-aged Italian in a faultlessly cut morning-coat and a white gardenia in his buttonhole hurried towards us.

“Johnny, this is Louis who looks after our three restaurants,” Della said as he bent to kiss her hand. “How are you, Louis? I want you to meet Johnny Ricca.”

The Italian gave me a quick, appraising stare, bowed and shook hands.

“I have heard about you, Mr. Ricca,” he said. “Is all well in Los Angeles?”

“Certainly is,” I said, “but we've got nothing to touch this.” He looked gratified.

“And Mr. Wertham? He is well?” he asked, turning to Della.

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