Hunter and the Trap Read Online Free PDF

Lancaster. Can you imagine, Burt Lancaster.”
    â€œWell, that’s flattering.”
    â€œI don’t want flattery, believe me, Monte. How soon can you get here?”
    â€œI got to wash and shave—say a half hour.”
    â€œPare it a bit. I’ll stay at the bar. God bless.”
    I put down the phone, and there was Liz at the door, not looking her best, with the day blinders hanging around her throat like some kind of pop art necklace.
    â€œWho the hell was that?” she asked me.
    â€œAndy.”
    â€œBuddy-boy. What did he want?”
    I never could feel hostile enough to say that it was none of her damn business. I told her that Andy was in trouble, and then I went into the bathroom and began to shave. She followed me.
    â€œTrouble. What kind of trouble is big enough for golden boy to wake us up like this?”
    â€œHe’s being hunted.”
    â€œWhat? Who?”
    â€œAndy.”
    â€œAndy’s being hunted? Oh, no—no, I don’t believe it.”
    â€œWell, that’s what it is.”
    â€œYou’re not pulling my leg, Monte?” I didn’t reply, and after a moment, she said, “What about you?”
    â€œHe wants me. He needs me.”
    â€œHe’s being hunted, and you’re going to him?”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œYou’re not scared?”
    â€œI’m so scared I can’t hold this razor. I’ve cut myself twice already.”
    â€œShmuck,” she said. It was pretty ethnic for a woman who was part Irish, part Polish and a little Presbyterian. She could come up with the right word. I could not.

10
    I found Andy at the bar in the St. Regis, and he took his drink to a table. He was holding a brandy, and mostly he was holding it and not tasting it.
    â€œI can’t drink,” he said. “Do you want to order something?”
    The waiter was hovering over us, so I sent him away for a dry vermouth on the rocks.
    â€œThe thing is,” Andy said, “that I can’t bear to have it on my tongue or my stomach. I tried. I figured I would get drunk.”
    â€œThat’s not easy for you.”
    â€œNo, it’s not.”
    â€œI’ve been thinking about it,” I said. “I’ve been trying to work something out. I even thought of calling Jose and telling him to meet us here with one of your guns—or maybe that pistol you talked about.”
    â€œThat would be stupid!” he snapped.
    â€œI didn’t do it.”
    â€œAll right. I’m sorry. I’m tense and as I said, I am scared shitless. I wouldn’t have said anything like that to you otherwise, Monte. You know that.”
    â€œI know that.”
    The waiter came with my drink. We were silent until he was gone, and then Andy said gently, “You see, Monte, it’s no damn good to have a gun or anything like that. That’s for the hunter. I’m the hunted.”
    â€œYou’re sure, Andy?”
    â€œOh, so right, Mr. Bell.”
    He nodded.
    â€œI thought of something else.”
    â€œOh?”
    â€œObvious. Not like some stupid notion about a gun, but just obvious.”
    Andy waited.
    â€œGet away,” I said. “You make a run for it. Out of the city. A long, clean run.”
    He was silent for a while, and then he shook his head.
    â€œYou said you were clear—you said you broke clean. This may be the only moment.”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œI got six hundred and change in my pocket. They know me at the desk. I could cash another two—three hundred there. It’s no great stake, but along with a couple of charge cards, it can take you a long way.”
    He shook his head again. “Thanks.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œI don’t know. Pride.”
    â€œYou’re going to be brave,” I said. “Jesus Christ, Andy, you’re being hunted and you’re going to be brave. You got to make a big score in opinion. For