Raymond Chandler & Robert B. Parker - Philip Marlowe 01.5 by Perchance to Dream

Author:Perchance to Dream [Chandler, R & Parker, R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

18

When I got to the Hobart Arms, I noticed the black Buick was parked across the street. The motor was off this time, and it seemed to be empty. I parked a couple of spaces past it and walked back toward my building along Franklin. As I went up the steps a figure detached from the shadow of the shrubs and pointed a gun at me. Another figure appeared behind me.

“Hold it right there, pally,” a voice said. It was a flat voice with very little in it that was human. A flashlight beam hit me in the eyes.

I held it right there. Behind me I felt the press of a gun barrel against my spine, in the small of my back. I could hear its owner’s breath in my ear. Feel it on my neck. There was no one on the street, nobody in sight.

“Got a message for you, pally,” the flat voice said. He was out of sight behind the brightness of the flashlight.

“Who’s your voice coach?” I said. “You sound like a bad movie.”

“Don’t look for Carmen Sternwood anymore,” the flat voice said. “Don’t pay any attention to Randolph Simpson. Don’t go near Dr. Bonsentir.”

“Okay if I eat a pitted prune now and then?” I said.

The voice went on as if it were a recording.

“This is the only warning you’ll get. You don’t behave and the next one will be fatal.”

“Anything else?” I said.

“Yeah,” the voice said, “one other thing.”

From behind the blinding light a fist appeared. I caught the glint of brass knuckles for a moment before they exploded against my jaw. I staggered back against the gunman behind me. Bright lights exploded in front of my eyes. I kicked the flat voice in the general area of the stomach and heard him gasp and then something erupted against the side of my head and the lights coalesced into a brilliant starburst and then blackness into which I slid as peacefully as a drunken seal.

I was drifting through a black sea and above me in the light I could see Carmen and Vivian dancing with a man I didn’t know while Claude Bonsentir played the violin. I tried to swim upward toward them but the sea was thick and cold and I wasn’t making any progress.

When I woke up it was raining. I was on my back with an iron ache in my head and the rain coming down steadily in my face, bright as it passed through the light from the double glass doors to my building. The pain in my head rang like an anvil when I moved. I closed my eyes and lay perfectly still. Okay, Marlowe, you’re a tough guy. You can get up. Just roll over on your side. I tried it and felt my stomach heave. I held still until it passed. Attaboy, Marlowe, halfway there. Now get your eyes open. Good boy. Now get to one knee. Nothing to it, you’ve been sapped before. I stayed there balanced on one knee while the rainy night swirled around me and slowly came to a halt.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.