Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Read Online Free PDF Page A

stopped with that in the car we’d still been in a hell of a fix.’
    ‘They think you had six or seven men in your mob,’ Mason said, the suggestion of a smile on his face.
    ‘They put out any descriptions?’ I asked.
    ‘The usual crap. Only you’re better-looking than they said.’
    ‘You ought to see me in clothes that fit,’ I said.
    ‘I’ll see you. I got an interest in you,’ Mason said.
    ‘What does he mean by that?’ I asked Holiday.
    Jinx spread his hands in a small gesture of impatience. All this time he had been standing there looking at me, just standing there looking at me. Once or twice I had the feeling that he was curious about me in a clinical sort of way and didn’t quite know how to ease the itch. That is a very aggravating situation.
    ‘Look,’ he said finally, ‘I got to get back to the shop. I’ll see you later, huh?’
    ‘You better call first,’ Holiday said.
    ‘Sure. Okay,’ he said, moving away towards the alley exit.
    ‘Shop?’ I said to Holiday and Mason. ‘What shop?’
    ‘He works in a radio shop,’ Holiday said. ‘He’s a radio man.’
    ‘He’s in the wrong business, way he can drive a car,’ I said, looking at Holiday. ‘He can handle a hell of an automobile.’
    ‘You don’t think I let everybody drive that Zephyr, do you?’ Mason said. ‘You said it, Cotter. That Jinx is some jockey. Yes sir.’ He was so pleased at getting his car back in good shape that I knew the announcer on the police radio had given him a good scare with all that big talk about a gunfight. ‘You’ll be needing him again, won’t you?’ he asked Holiday. ‘Real soon?’
    ‘I suppose so.…’ she said.
    ‘Got anything lined up?’
    ‘I’ll have to talk with Ralph first.’
    ‘You do that right away.…’
    ‘I will. Stash him away for an hour or so …’
    ‘I’ll stash him good. I got an interest in him,’ Mason said.
    I did not know what they were talking about. They were speaking across me, bouncing their words off my shoulders, but it was as if I had not been there. Then Holiday put her hand on my shoulder and said, ‘We better not be seen together. I don’t think they’re expecting us to hole up here, but we better not be seen together. I’ll call you as soon as I can.’
    ‘I’ll stick around.…’ I said.
    The boy who had been changing the license brackets, Nelse, came to the edge of the group. His right forefinger was bleeding and he flung the blood off, looking at Mason.
    ‘Is that all?’ he asked.
    ‘Needn’t even have done that,’ Mason said. This was clean. The cops was just making it sound good.…’
    ‘Goddamn!’ Nelse said. He stuck his knuckle in his mouth, sucked the blood off and spit it on the floor. ‘Ain’t that just like cops? Always beating their gums…’
    He held out his hand and Mason took a ring of keys from his pocket and laid them in it. Then Nelse walked to the rear, somewhere behind the cars.
    Mason turned to Holiday. ‘I’ll worry about that stuff in the car,’ he said. ‘You worry about getting together with Cotter.’
    ‘Keep your pants on, Vic keep your pants on,’ Holiday said. ‘I’ll call you as soon as I can,’ she said again to me, walking away, toward the front, toward the glare of sunlight in the big door. It was the first time I had seen her walking, and seeing her move like this, in silhouette, excited me all over again. She had beautiful legs and a pleasant body and she rolled a little with each step, the effortless sensual roll that very few women can ever acquire, no matter how diligently they practice. She had talent all right, a fine and wondrous talent; but she was simply more than one man could handle and I knew it, but I also knew that I had been a long time waiting.…
    ‘Make yourself at home …’ Mason was saying.
    I looked at him. His blue eyes were wide and bland but there was a wise frozen smile on his lips and I could tell what he had been thinking too. ‘Thanks,’ I said.