The Mike Hammer Collection Volume 4 by Mickey Spillane

Author:Mickey Spillane [Spillane, Mickey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Noir, Crime, Mystery & Detective, Hard-Boiled
ISBN: 9780451492739
Google: PVRADwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2018-03-06T08:00:00+00:00

3

Burke had wanted Velda to stay quiet as long as possible, so I didn’t get to the hospital until eight. We had coffee in the lounge and I asked him how she was progressing.

“She was lucky. You can’t imagine how lucky. She was probably on the phone and tossed her hair all to one side while she was talking—” “

“A habit she has,” I interrupted.

“Anyway, she’s awake and sedated.”

“Did she say anything to you?”

He popped five spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee and stirred it around. “Sweet tooth,” he explained. “No, she said nothing except hello and the usual ‘Where am I?’ but she’s pretty aware of what’s going on.”

“Can I talk to her?”

“Gently, Mike, gently, and not for long. Nothing exciting.”

“How long will she be here?”

“At least two more days. If that was just a simple knockout-type blow she would be home by now, but somebody tried to kill her.”

I told him thanks and didn’t bother to finish the coffee. I could see why Burke used all that sugar.

Pat had called ahead, and the cop at the door looked at my ID and let me in. The room was in deep gloom, only a small night-light on the wall making it possible to see the outlines of the bed and equipment. When the door snicked shut I picked up the straightbacked chair by the sink, went to the bed and sat down beside her.

Little by little I started to bunch up again, my hands squeezing the rails of the bed. My lips were stretched across my mouth and I wanted to hurt something or tear somebody apart. He should have told me. He never should have let me come in cold and see her like this.

Velda. Beautiful, gorgeous Velda. Those deep brown eyes and that full, full mouth. Shimmering auburn hair that fell in a page-boy around her shoulders.

Now her face was a bloated black-and-blue mask on one side, one eye totally closed under the bulbous swelling, the other a flat slit. Her hair was gone around the bandaged area and her upper lip was twice normal size.

I put my hand over hers and whispered, “Damn it, kitten …”

Then her wrist moved and her fingers squeezed mine gently. “Are you … all right?” she asked me softly.

“I’m fine, honey, I’m okay. Now don’t talk. Just take it easy. All I want is to be here with you. That’s enough.”

So I just sat there and in a minute she said, “I can … listen, Mike. Please tell me … what happened.”

I played it back to her without building it up at all. I didn’t tell her the details of the kill and hinted that it was strictly the work of a nut, but she knew better.

Under my fingers I could feel her pulse. It was steady. Her hand squeezed mine again. “He came in … very fast. He had one hand over his face … and he was … swinging at me … with the other. I … never saw his face at all.

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