The Mystic's Accomplice by Mary Miley Theobald

Author:Mary Miley Theobald [Theobold, Mary Miley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448305216
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2021-02-07T16:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

Feeling like a balloon with the air let out, I turned to retrace my steps when engine noise caught my attention. On the far side of the deserted building, an old Ford truck was rattling out of a narrow alley. A second one followed closely behind. Curious, I walked toward the alley.

No barbed wire here. The alley did, indeed, lead behind the building. When the trucks drove off, an eerie silence descended over the block. I made a complete circle where I stood and saw no sign of life in any direction. The only sound came from the wind in the leafless trees lining the sidewalk and the scratching of a squirrel that scampered to the top branch.

I hadn’t gone to this much trouble to be scared off now. Resolutely, I turned into the narrow alley and followed it the length of the factory building, down a bit of a slope. Rounding the corner, I peered down to a packed-dirt lot with a few automobiles and trucks parked at one edge. A vacant railroad siding led into the factory’s lower level. Then came the screeching sound of rolling doors, and two more trucks pulled out and headed toward the alley where I was standing.

This was Chicago with Prohibition in full swing – I was clearly looking at some sort of illegal bootleg operation, one that used this abandoned factory to make or store booze and ship it out. When the colored man had told Judge Weidemann he worked at Elgin Shoes, I’ll bet my life the other man spoke up to smooth out that mistake. No one wanted it known that there was anything going on at the old shoe factory, especially if the person they were talking to was an honest judge. This being the Near South Side, I could be pretty sure I was looking at an Outfit operation. Perhaps one like where Tommy had worked. Or maybe Tommy had worked right here, on this very spot. I felt a chill creep over me.

But it was no time to get sentimental. If caught, I could probably talk them out of anything they were of a mind to do, seeing as who my husband was and that I knew Johnny Torrio, but there was no guarantee this was an Outfit operation. I couldn’t take any chances, especially not with Little Tommy along. Quick as a cat, I darted behind some overgrown bushes and pressed up against the building where the twilight shadows hid us both. The two trucks passed by within three yards of our hiding place. If the drivers had turned their heads, they would have seen me.

After the trucks had passed, I stepped out of my niche and stared down at the empty staging area again while considering my next move. There was no one around and darkness would soon fall. It would be quitting time for the workmen, wouldn’t it? If I waited for the shift to end, wouldn’t they walk this way? Wouldn’t I have

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