The Snatchers by Lionel White

Author:Lionel White [White, Lionel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Zenit champion!
ISBN: 9781944520199
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Fats waited until they had left the house far behind them before he started to talk. He sat in the front seat of the Packard, next to Pearl, who was driving slowly and carefully because of the blinding rain. Looking straight ahead, he spoke out of the side of his mouth to his companion.

“Dent trusts too much to luck,” he said.

For a moment Pearl didn’t answer. She had known Fats Morn for less than a month. What she had seen of him she hadn’t liked.

A stocky, truncated figure of a man with a completely bald head overshadowing tiny, reddish eyes with pure-white lashes, Fats Morn looked fifteen years older than he actually was. He had a flabby, loose mouth and a livid, pock-marked skin. His clothes were shabby and unpressed, his white shirt frayed and dirty. There was invariably the stench of stale perspiration about him.

Fats stuttered slightly and his eyes were very nearsighted. He refused to wear glasses. He coughed incessantly, without bothering to cover his mouth.

But if he was physically unprepossessing, there was nothing wrong with his mentality. He had a reputation for being a clearheaded man in a pinch, as well as being tight-lipped. He was also, in spite of his obesity and poor vision, an excellent man with a gun. He loved money, but unfortunately he loved gambling more, As a result he was always broke.

The windows of the car were raised to keep out the rain, and Pearl unconsciously moved as far from her companion as she could. The air in the closed vehicle was stale and she was anxious to get to the station.

“The trouble with Dent,” Fats went on, “is he wants too much. He should have asked for a couple of hundred thousand, not five.”

Pearl kept her eyes on the road when she answered. “Five is better. We all get more that way.”

“More?” Fats’ voice was a husky wheeze as he spoke. “Dent gets more, you mean. Look at the split he’s handing us. He takes two hundred and fifty of it, and we split the rest. What kind of a deal is that?”

“It was Dent’s idea,” Pearl said. “And he put up the dough to finance it.”

Fats shrugged. “What dough? A lousy couple of grand.”

Pearl didn’t answer, and the fat man continued.

“No,” he said. “It ain’t a good split. Hell, look at the chances we’re taking. Red and Gino had to make the snatch. I gotta do the contact work. I think we should get a better break.”

Pearl suddenly knew that Fats was feeling her out, trying to find whose side she’d be on in case of a break-up at the end. She decided to play along.

“Things aren’t going too smooth, anyway,” Fats continued. “That brawl between Red and Gino. You know Red hurt him pretty bad, and Gino isn’t going to forget it. Sooner or later, when Red ain’t watching, he’s gonna get him.”

“Red can take care of himself,” Pearl said. “Anyway, let ‘em kill each other. Who cares?”

Fats looked at the girl sharply.

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