The Handle (aka Run Lethal) by Richard Stark

Author:Richard Stark [Stark, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Criminals, General Interest, Mystery & Detective, Hard-Boiled, Fiction, Crime, General, Parker (Fictitious character)
ISBN: 9780226771069
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Published: 2009-08-15T04:59:40+00:00

Grofield bouncing on the springs and then lying

there sprawled out with his face against the

springs.

Midday sunlight poured through the windows,

shining on him. He was exposed, vulnerable,

open to his enemy, but he was no longer aware

of it. He had passed out again.

8

AT noon on Sunday Baron came to land, not

because he had gone as far as he wanted but

because the boat ran out of fuel. He had been

fleeing south for nearly fourteen hours, and the

scrubby rocky beach off to his right was

Mexico, about two hundred miles south of the

border, about twenty miles south of the village

of Pesca.

He beached the boat, then went below in

search of food. He hadn't eaten since last night,

hadn't slept since the night before.

He noticed nothing wrong in the main cabin.

Fatigue was part of the explanation, plus relief

at having escaped once again, plus impatience to

be off and moving.

There was little to eat on board. A box of

Ritz crackers, some liquor and soft drinks, some

cheese spread and a few cans of soup. Baron

made himself a quick meal, tomato soup and

crackers and cheese and some bourbon straight

from the bottle, and then he went back on deck

for a look around.

The area was deserted, as far as the eye

could see. The land sloped upward gradually

from the sea, then levelled out towards the

distant horizon, and everywhere Baron could

see it was the same; tan dry grassless earth,

littered with small rocks and pocked with hardy

clumps of desert greenery. The shallow water

all around the boat was scattered with boulders.

This was some of the wildest country Baron

had ever seen. Gazing at it from the deck of the

boat, he was filled with misgivings. If only the

fuel had lasted a hundred miles longer, enough

to get him to Tampico, to civilization.

All right, that wasn't important. He was free

of the island, that was enough. Now there was

nothing for it but to cross this semidesert until

he found a road, a town, any sign of human

habitation. From there on everything would be

all right, everything would be fine.

He gathered up the suitcases, full of his

worldly possessions, and went over the side. He

waded to shore, holding the suitcases high

because he didn't know if they were waterproof

or not, and when he reached dry land he set the

suitcases down and sat awhile on a boulder to

collect his breath and his thoughts.

He felt naked, without Steuber at his side.

Steuber had been with him for a quarter of a

century; it seemed impossible that Steuber now

was dead. As though he and Steuber had

somehow become Siamese twins, and it wasn't

possible for the one to be alive without the

other one still living.

But that was nonsense. Self-interest, that was

paramount. Steuber had merely been an

adjunct, a crutch, an assistance in the problem

of self-preservation. The problem still remained,

without Steuber, and he could still face and

solve it, without Steuber.

He got to his feet, picked up the suitcases,

and started walking.

He walked west, due west, towards the sun.

The suitcases, which had at first seemed so

light, quickly became heavy, forcing him to

make frequent stops for rest. He had brought

the bourbon bottle along and used it sparingly to

rinse out his

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.