Chapter 3

It was nearly four-thirty and a tentative grey streak showed through the palm fronds to the east before I broke the silence.

“By the way,” I said. “What was the routine with the steel shutters, and the bullet-proof glass in the kitchen, and the handy home-model machine gun covering the front door? Mice bad around the place, are they?”

“Those things were necessary--and more.”

“Now that the short hairs along my spine have relaxed,” I said, “the whole thing looks pretty silly. We’ve run far enough now to be able to stop and turn around and stick our tongues out.”

“Not yet--not for a long while yet.”

“Why don’t we just go back home,” I went on, “and--”

“No!” Foster said sharply. “I want your word on that, Legion. No matter what--don’t ever go near that house again.”

“It’ll be daylight soon,” I said. “We’ll feel pretty asinine about this little trip after the sun comes up, but don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody--”

“We’ve got to keep moving,” Foster said. “At the next town, I’ll telephone for seats on a flight out of Miami.”

“Hold on,” I said. “You’re raving. What about your house? We didn’t even stick around long enough to make sure the TV was turned off. And what about passports, and money, and luggage? And what makes you think I’m going with you?”

“I’ve kept myself in readiness for this emergency,” Foster said. “There are disposition instructions for the house on file with a legal firm in Jacksonville. There is nothing to connect me with my former life, once I’ve changed my name and disappeared. As for the rest--we can buy luggage in the morning. My passport is in the car; perhaps we’d better go first to Puerto Rico, until we can arrange for one for you.”

“Look,” I said. “I got spooked in the dark, that’s all. Why not just admit we made fools of ourselves?”

Foster shook his head. “The inherent inertia of the human mind,” he said. “How it fights to resist new ideas.”

“The kind of new ideas you’re talking about could get both of us locked up in the chuckle ward,” I said.

“Legion,” Foster said, “I think you’d better write down what I’m going to tell you. It’s important--vitally important. I won’t waste time with preliminaries. The notebook I showed you--it’s in my jacket. You must read the English portion of it. Afterwards, what I’m about to say may make more sense.”

“I hope you don’t feel your last will and testament coming on, Mr. Foster,” I said. “Not before you tell me what that was we were both so eager to get away from.”

“I’ll be frank with you,” Foster said flatly. “I don’t know.”

Foster wheeled into the dark drive of a silent service station, eased to a stop, set the brake and slumped back in the seat.

“Do you mind driving for a while, Legion?” he said. “I’m not feeling very well.”

“Sure I’ll drive,” I said. I opened the door and got out and went around to his side. Foster sat limply, eyes closed, his face drawn and strained. He looked older than he had last night--years older. The night’s experiences hadn’t taken anything off my age, either.

Foster opened his eyes, looked at me blankly. He seemed to gather himself with an effort. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not myself.”

He moved over and I got in the driver’s seat. “If you’re sick,” I said, “we’d better find a doctor.”

“No, it’s all right,” he said blurrily. “Just keep going...”

“We’re a hundred and fifty miles from Mayport now,” I said.

Foster turned to me, started to say something--and slumped in a dead faint. I grabbed for his pulse; it was strong and steady. I rolled up an eyelid and a dilated pupil stared sightlessly. He was all right--I hoped. But the thing to do was get him in bed and call a doctor. We were at the edge of a small town. I let the brake off and drove slowly into town, swung around a corner and pulled up in front of the sagging marquee of a run-down hotel. Foster stirred as I cut the engine.

“Foster,” I said. “I’m going to get you into a bed. Can you walk?” He groaned softly and opened his eyes. They were glassy. I got out and got him to the sidewalk. He was still half out. I walked him into the dingy lobby and over to a reception counter where a dim bulb burned. I dinged the bell. It was a minute before an old man shuffled out from where he’d been sleeping. He yawned, eyed me suspiciously, looked at Foster.

“We don’t want no drunks here,” he said. “Respectable house.”

“My friend is sick,” I said. “Give me a double with bath. And call a doctor.”

“What’s he got?” the old man said. “Ain’t contagious, is it?”

“That’s what I want a doctor to tell me.”

“I can’t get the doc ‘fore in the morning. And we got no private bathrooms.”

I signed the register. We rode the open-cage elevator to the fourth floor, went along a gloomy hall to a door painted a peeling brown. It didn’t look inviting; the room inside wasn’t much better. There was a lot of flowered wallpaper and an old-fashioned wash-stand and two wide beds. I stretched Foster out on one. He lay relaxed, a serene expression on his face--the kind undertakers try for but never quite seem to manage. I sat down on the other bed and pulled off my shoes. It was my turn to have a tired mind. I lay on the bed and let it sink down like a grey stone into still water.

I awoke from a dream in which I had just discovered the answer to the riddle of life. I tried to hold onto it, but it slipped away; it always does.

Grey daylight was filtering through the dusty windows. Foster lay slackly on the broad sagging bed, a ceiling lamp with a faded fringed shade casting a sickly yellow light over him. It didn’t make things any cheerier; I flipped it off.

Foster was lying on his back, arms spread wide, breathing heavily. Maybe it was only exhaustion, and he didn’t need a doctor after all. He’d probably wake up in a little while, raring to go.

As for me, I was feeling hungry again. I’d have to have a buck or so for sandwiches. I went over to the bed and called Foster’s name. He didn’t move. If he was sleeping that soundly, maybe I wouldn’t bother him...

I eased his wallet out of his coat pocket, took it to the window and checked it. It was fat. I took a ten, put the wallet on the table. I remembered Foster had said something about money in the car. I had the keys in my pocket. I got my shoes on and let myself out quietly. Foster hadn’t moved.

Down on the street I waited for a couple of yokels who were looking over Foster’s car to move on, then slid into the seat, leaned over, and got the floor boards up. The strong-box was set into the channel of the frame. I scraped the road dirt off the lock and opened it with a key from Foster’s key ring, took out the contents. There was a bundle of stiffish papers, a passport, some maps--marked up--and a wad of currency that made my mouth go dry. I riffled through it: fifty grand if it was a buck.

I stuffed the papers, money, and passport back in the box and locked it, and climbed out onto the sidewalk. A few doors down the street there was a dirty window lettered MAE’S EAT. I went in, ordered hamburgers and coffee to go, and sat at the counter with Foster’s keys in front of me, thinking about the car that went with them. The passport only needed a little work on the picture to get me wherever I wanted to go, and the money would buy me my choice of islands. Foster would have a nice long nap, and then take a train home. With his dough, he’d hardly miss what I took.

The counterman put a paper bag in front of me and I paid him and went out. I stood by the car, jingling the keys on my palm and thinking. I could be in Miami in an hour, and I knew where to go for the passport job. Foster was a nice guy and I liked him--but I’d never have a break like this again. I reached for the car door and a voice said, “Paper, mister?”

I jumped and looked around. A dirty-faced kid was looking at me. “Sure,” I said. I gave him a single and took the paper, flipped it open. A Mayport dateline caught my eye:

POLICE RAID HIDEOUT

A surprise raid by local police led to the discovery here today of

a secret gangland fortress. Chief Chesters of the Mayport Police

stated that the raid came as an aftermath of the arrival in the

city yesterday of a notorious northern gang member. A number of

firearms, including army-type machine guns, were seized in the raid

on a house 9 miles from Mayport on the Fernandina road. The raid

was said by Chief Chesters to be the culmination of a lengthy

investigation.

C.R. Foster, 50, owner of the property, is missing and feared dead.

Police are seeking the ex-convict who visited the house last night.

It is feared that Foster may have been the victim of a gangland

murder.

I banged through the door to the darkened room and stopped short. In the gloom I could see Foster sitting on the edge of the bed, looking my way.

“Look at this,” I yelped, flapping the paper in his face. “Now the cops are dragging the state for me--and on a murder rap at that! Get on the phone and get this thing straightened out--if you can. You and your little green men! The cops think they’ve stumbled on Al Capone’s arsenal. You’ll have fun explaining that one...”

Foster looked at me interestedly. He smiled.

“What’s funny about it, Foster?” I yelled. “Your dough may buy you out, but what about me?”

“Forgive me for asking,” Foster said pleasantly, “But--who are you?”

There are times when I’m slow on the uptake, but this wasn’t one of them. The implications of what Foster had said hit me hard enough to make my knees go weak.

“Oh, no, Mr. Foster,” I said. “You can’t lose your memory again--not right now, not with the police looking for me. You’re my alibi; you’re the one that has to explain all the business about the guns and the ad in the paper. I just came to see about a job, remember?”

My voice was getting a little shrill. Foster sat looking at me, wearing an expression between a frown and a smile, like a credit manager turning down an application.

He shook his head slightly. “My name is not Foster.”

“Look,” I said. “Your name was Foster yesterday--that’s all I care about. You’re the one that owns the house the cops are all upset about. And you’re the corpse I’m supposed to have knocked off. You’ve got to go to the cops with me--right now--and tell them I’m just an innocent bystander.”

I went to the window and raised the shades to let some light into the room, turned back to Foster.