Black Evening Read Online Free PDF

he bumped his head against the ceiling. "
What
?"
    "Your partner hired me. You're worth ten thousand dollars."
    "If you think this is a joke — "
    "I think it's business, Pat. He paid five thousand down. You want to see it?"
    "But that's crazy!"
    "Pat, I wish you hadn't said that."
    Dolan flinched. The young man reached inside his jogging coat.
    "No, wait a minute! Wait, I didn't mean that!"
    "Pat, I only want to show you the note your partner gave me. Here. You'll recognize his writing."
    Dolan glared at the note. "It's just my name and my address."
    "And your description and your habits. See, he wants your death to seem an accident."
    And Dolan finally accepted that this wasn't a joke. His chest heaved with sudden rage. His face went red. "That dirty bastard! Why, he thinks he's so damn smart! He's always bitching at me!"
    "Temper, Pat."
    "He wears that crummy hairpiece, and he wants to buy me out, but I won't let him have the satisfaction!"
    "Pat, I understand. It's like the two of you are married, and you want to make him suffer."
    "You're damn right I want to make him suffer! I put up with him for twenty years! So now he figures he can have me killed and take the business for himself? That sneaky, rotten — "
***
    "Bob, I'm afraid I've got bad news for you."
    MacKenzie almost spilled his Scotch. He turned. The young man stood beside him, eating popcorn at the bar.
    "Don't tell me you botched the job!" MacKenzie's eyes went wide with horror. He glanced quickly all around as if expecting he'd be arrested.
    "Bob, I never got the chance to start." The young man picked at something in his teeth.
    "My God, what happened?"
    "Nearly broke a tooth. These kernels aren't all popped. I ought to sue — "
    "I meant with Dolan!"
    "Keep your voice down, Bob. I know you meant what happened with him. No one cares if someone breaks a tooth. They only care about themselves. A shame. Do you believe in competition?"
    "What?"
    "Do you support free enterprise, the thing that made this country great??
    MacKenzie felt his knees go weak. He clutched the bar. "I do," he muttered weakly.
    "Then you'll sympathize with my position. When I went to see your partner — "
    "Oh, my God, you told him!"
    "Bob, I couldn't simply kill him and not let him have a chance to make a bid. That wouldn't be American."
    MacKenzie started trembling. "Bid? What kind of bid?"
    "Don't get excited, Bob. We figured he could pay me not to kill him. But you'd just send someone else. So what we finally decided was that he'd pay me to come back and kill
you
. He offered double, ten grand now and ten when you were shoveled under."
    "He can't do that!"
    "But he did, Bob. Don't go simple on me now. You should have seen his face. I mean to tell you he was angry."
    "You accepted what I offered! You agreed to take my contract!"
    "But a verbal contract isn't binding. Anyhow, you're in a seller's market. What I'm selling is worth more now."
    "You're a crook!"
    The young man's face looked pained. "I'm sorry you feel that way."
    "No, wait. Don't leave. I didn't mean it."
    "Bob, you hurt my feelings."
    "I apologize. I don't know what I'm saying. Every time I think about that guy — "
    "I understand, Bob. You're forgiven."
***
    "Pat, you'll never guess what Bob did."
    At the railing, Dolan shuddered. He was watching as the horses thundered toward the finish line. He turned. The young man stood beside him, chewing on a hot dog.
    "You don't mean you told him."
    "Pat, I had to. Fair is fair. He offered double our agreement. Twenty grand now, twenty later."
    "And you've come to me to raise the price?"
    "
They're at the stretch
!" the track announcer shouted.
    "It's inflation, Pat. It's killing us." The young man wiped mustard from his lips.
    "You think I'm stupid?" Dolan asked.
    The young man frowned.
    "That I'm a moron?" Dolan asked.
    "Excuse me, Pat?"
    "If I pay more, you'll go to him, and he'll pay more. Then you'll come back to me, and I'll pay more. Then…