The Crime Fiction Megapack by Talmage Powell & Norman A Daniels

Author:Talmage Powell & Norman A Daniels
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: collection, megapack, anthology
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
Published: 2019-11-02T04:00:00+00:00

DRY RUN, by Norman Struber

Originally published in Manhunt, April 1956.

It was near midnight and the streets were sullenly quiet. His heels clattered dully on the sidewalk as he walked along the row of cheap furnished apartments, looking up at the numbers on the dingy brownstones. He finally stopped and mounted the steps of the building he sought, glancing casually at the old man on the top step in his undershirt, searching for a wisp of reviving breeze. He scanned the names on the mailboxes in the dimly lit vestibule, then climbed the flight of rickety wooden stairs to the second floor, pausing at the landing and scrutinizing the shadowy corridor with its closed doors.

He was small and light framed, and young, the Palm Beach hat pulled low over his pale eyes. He took out a handkerchief and mopped his face and neck, softly cursing the humid heat, twitching his nose sourly at the stale cooking odors lingering on the heavy air. A fan hummed faintly through the walls, and the whimper of a child broke the stillness for a brief moment. One of the doors opened, casting a slab of yellow light into the hallway. A flabby man in sodden pajama bottoms stepped partly into the hallway, placed a milk bottle on the floor, glanced at him unconcernedly and yawned, and ducked back into the apartment. He stood in the shadows for a few moments and waited, listening.

He’d finally been assigned to a real job and he felt elated over this long awaited chance to break into the big-time. Vito wanted him as one of his regulars and all he had to do was prove that he was worthy of that trust. No more petty stick-ups, stealing cars, running from the cops. After tonight, he’d be on his way to a solid future.

All he had to do was pass this test, pull a clean job. A gun wanting to go to work for Vito had to try out on a dry run before being put on the regular payroll. Like trying out for a baseball team. Vito was the coach, and he wanted none but the best in his lineup. That’s why his setup was still going strong, while most of the others had folded and cut out when the cops threw the pressure on. The little Sicilian was a sharp brain, careful, on the ball. Nobody was going to get the chance to knock the pins out from under him. Nobody was even going to work up steam about it, without being given plenty of time to cool off in that big filing cabinet downtown.

All of Vito’s boys stuck together, worked like a team, took orders without question. A guy had real security in an outfit like that, not having to worry about being ratted on. Then, too, Vito wasn’t going to live forever. Everybody dies, even from natural causes. A guy who was hip, and ambitious enough, could shoulder his way in as top man some day. Sure, he mused, the guy who takes over from Vito has himself a mighty sweet setup.

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