THE GRINDING MILL by William J. Coughlin

Author:William J. Coughlin [Coughlin, William J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lume Books Crime, Thriller & Mystery, A Joffe Books Company
Published: 2024-04-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

Dr. William Marshall examined the X-ray of the tooth. ‘Looks bad, Larry,’ he said to the man in the chair. ‘I’m afraid it is shot.’

The patient grimaced. ‘Jesus, I thought it probably was a goner, but I had hoped you might be able to save it.’

‘I’ve saved that old tooth three times, Larry,’ Marshall laughed. ‘I’m afraid it’s three times and out.’

His large powerful hands filled a hypodermic with novocaine. He walked back to his patient. ‘Open up wide,’ he said. He injected the fluid in two places to ensure that the entire area would be deadened.

‘That stuff will take hold in a minute or two, Larry, then we’ll get to work.’ The tall dentist leaned against the wall and looked at his patient. ‘While we’ve got a minute or two, maybe I can figure out something about getting you a job.’

‘I’d appreciate it.’

‘How long have you been out of the army?’

‘Three years,’ the other said.

‘What have you been doing?’

‘Oh, a lot of things. I had a good job with the Simpson Axel Company for a year, but they moved their plant to Ohio. They didn’t have any place for me at the new factory. I didn’t have enough seniority with the union to get placed.

‘Then I had a couple of pick-me-up jobs, car wash work, that sort of thing. I worked with the Zajac Ford people for a while, driving cars around, delivering parts and things. But they weren’t doing so good and they laid me off. Since then I haven’t had any steady work. I’ve been picking up a few bucks off Brother Bondo in the last few weeks.’

‘Oh?’

The other man smiled sheepishly. ‘Well, I really can’t be too choosy about where the money is coming from. Anyway, you know Bondo. He’s always got some screwy thing or other going on. I’ve been training his people in shooting. That was my job in the army for a while, you know, rifle instructor.’

‘What kind of training?’ Marshall said quietly, careful not to expose his sudden interest.

‘They’ve got the use of a big farm out in South Junction. Every week-end I take out ten or twelve of his people, they call themselves “commandos”, but they are just kids mostly. Anyway, I’ve set up a rifle range against a small hill out there and I have them fire .22 rifles. They have some bigger weapons, but I don’t allow them to fire those things, they are too powerful. A wild shot is liable to kill somebody a mile away. I get twenty bucks a trip. It’s eating money.’

‘Sounds dangerous.’

‘No, no. Like I said, it was my army job. These are a bunch of young kids. They are full of a lot of slogans and junk. I don’t pay any attention to them. But I do give them a good schooling in the use of firearms. A couple of them have developed into pretty good shots.’

‘Why is Bondo training them?’

‘Well, to hear them tell it they are going to take over the world.

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