Just Another Sucker Read Online Free PDF Page B

out of the darkness. I didn’t see her arrive. I was sitting there, just about to light a third cigarette, when I saw a movement. I looked up, and there she was: standing quite close to me.
    ‘Good evening, Mr. Barber,’ she said, and before I could move, she sat down in a lounging chair close to mine.
    I could see little of her. She had a silk scarf over her head that partially concealed her face. She was wearing a dark red summer dress. Around her right wrist was a heavy gold bracelet.
    ‘I know quite a lot about you,’ she said. ‘A man who will turn down a ten thousand dollar bribe and refuse to work with gangsters must have a nerve. I’m looking for a man with nerve.’
    I didn’t say anything.
    She lit a cigarette. I was aware she was staring at me. She was sitting in the shadows. I would have liked to have been able to see the expression in her eyes.
    ‘You take risks, don’t you, Mr. Barber?’
    ‘Do I?’
    ‘When you took my money, you risked going to jail for at least six years.’
    ‘I was drunk.’
    ‘Are you willing to take a risk?’
    ‘It depends on the money,’ I said. ‘I want money. I don’t make any bones about it. I want it, I need it, and I’m willing to earn it, but it has to be money, not chick feed.’
    ‘If you’ll do what I want you to do, I will pay you fifty thousand dollars.’
    It was like taking a hard punch under the heart.
    ‘Fifty thousand. Did you say fifty thousand dollars ?’
    ‘Yes. It’s a lot of money, isn’t it? I’ll pay you that if you will do what I want you to do.’
    I drew in a long slow breath.
    Fifty thousand dollars! My heart began to thump at the thought of so much money.
    ‘And what’s that?’
    ‘You sound interested, Mr. Barber. Would you take risks for such a sum?’
    ‘I’d take a lot of risk.’
    I was thinking what I could do with all that money. Nina and I could leave Palm City. We could start a new life together.
    ‘Before we go any further, Mr. Barber,’ she said, ‘it’s only fair to tell you I haven’t any money except the allowance my husband makes me. My husband believes that his daughter and I should be able to manage on the allowance he provides. I admit they are generous allowances for reasonable people, but it so happens neither my stepdaughter nor I are reasonable people.’
    ‘If you haven’t the money, why offer me fifty thousand dollars?’ I said impatiently.
    ‘I can show you how you can make it.’
    I stared at her and she stared at me.
    ‘Tell me – how do I make it?’

    ‘My stepdaughter and I need four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. We must have this money within two weeks. I am hoping you will help us get it, and if you do, you will be paid fifty thousand dollars.’
    I studied her and decided she wasn’t crazy. On the contrary, I had never seen a woman who looked more sane.
    ‘But how do I do it?’ I asked.
    But she wasn’t to be hurried.
    ‘Of course my husband could provide the money without any difficulty,’ she said. ‘Naturally, he would want to know why we wanted such a sum, and that is something neither of us can tell him.’ She paused to tap ash off her cigarette. ‘But with your help, we could get the money from my husband without having to answer awkward questions.’
    My first surge of excitement was waning. This sounded like a confidence trick. I was now very alert.
    ‘Why do you want all this money?’ I asked.
    ‘You were clever to find out who I am.’
    ‘An idiot child could have found that out. If you want to remain anonymous, don’t drive that Rolls.
    Are you being blackmailed?’
    ‘That doesn’t concern you. I have an idea to get this money, but I need your help, and I’m willing to pay you fifty thousand dollars.’
    ‘Which you don’t have.’
    ‘But with your help, I shall have.’
    I was liking this less and less.
    ‘Let’s get to the point. What is this idea of yours?’
    ‘My stepdaughter is going to be kidnapped,’ she told me coolly. ‘The ransom