Black Evening Read Online Free PDF Page B

That's my limit! I'm not paying!"
    "Fine with me, Pat. Nice to see you."
    "Wait a minute!"
    "Why? Is something wrong?"
    "Of course, there's something wrong! You're going to kill me!"
    "Well, the choice is up to you."
    "
The winner is —
!" the track announcer shouted.
    Horses rumbled by, their jockeys standing up to slow them. Dust drifted over the crowd.
    "Dammit, yes, I'll pay you," Dolan muttered. "Do it this time. I can't sleep. I'm losing weight. I've got an ulcer."
    "Pat, the race is over. Did you have a bet?"
    "On number six to win."
    "A nag, Pat. She came last. If you'd asked me, I'd have told you number three."
***
    "You'll never guess what Pat did, Bob."
***
    "You'll never guess what Bob did, Pat."
***
    Dolan stopped beside MacKenzie, looked around and sighed, then sat on the park bench.
    "So you figured you'd have him kill me," Dolan said.
    MacKenzie's face was gaunt. "You weren't above the same temptation."
    Dolan spread his hands. "Self-defense."
    "But I should sit back while you sic the IRS against me?"
    "That was just a joke."
    "Some joke. It's costing me a fortune."
    "Hey, it's costing me as well."
    "We've got a problem."
    They nodded, feeding bread crumbs to the pigeons.
    "I've been thinking," Dolan said. "The only answer I can see — "
    " — is both of us will have to kill him."
    "Only way."
    "He'll bleed us dry."
    "If we pay someone else to kill him, the new guy might try something cute as well."
    "We'll do it both together. That way, you can't point the blame at me."
    "Vice versa."
    "What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"
    They glared at each other.
***
    "Hi there, Bob. How's tricks, Pat?" The young man smiled from behind MacKenzie's desk. He munched a taco, going through their records.
    "What the hell is this now?"
    "But he claimed that you expected him," the secretary said.
    "Never mind. We'll deal with this."
    "Just shut the door."
    They stared at him.
    "Hey, fellas, I've been going through your records. They're really a mess. This skimping on the concrete. And that sub-spec insulation. I don't know, guys. We've got lots of work ahead of us."
    A drop of taco sauce fell on the records.
    "Us?"
    "Well, sure, we're partners now."
    "We
are
?"
    "I took the money you gave me. I invested it."
    "In what?"
    "Insurance. You remember how I said I was a business major? I've decided this sideline doesn't suit me. So I went to a specialist. The things a graduate's forced to do to get a job these days."
    "A specialist?"
    "A hit man. If the two of you decide to have me killed, you'll be killed as well."
    MacKenzie's chest felt stabbed. Dolan's ulcer burned.
    "So we're partners. Here, I even had some cards made up."
    He handed one across, a greasy taco stain along one edge. MACKENZIE-DOLAN-SMITH. And at the bottom: CONTRACTORS.

 
    I don't often use humor in my fiction. The story you just read is one of the exceptions. You'll come across a few other examples later. In contrast, this next story, "Black Evening," has no trace of humor whatsoever. Dark and disturbing, it is more in the tone of "The Dripping." Part of a series of stories about houses, it first appeared in a 1981 anthology called
Horrors
, edited by Charles L. Grant, and marks the beginning of a long association with Charlie. A skillful fiction writer, he also edited some of the most influential dark suspense anthologies of the seventies and eighties, including the much-praised
Shadows
series. Part of the reason I didn't write any short fiction from 1971 to 1981 is that I couldn't find a market for the type of stories I wanted to write. When I learned about Charlie's anthologies, I discovered I had a soul mate. Many of the stories in this collection appeared in publications that Charlie edited. Along with numerous other writers of dark suspense, I'm indebted to him.
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Black Evening
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    So we all went out there. I can see you're apprehensive, as we all were, and so I'll tell you at the outset that you're right. The