Things Beyond Midnight Read Online Free PDF Page A

his hand. “It’s the real McCoy.”
    “I’m glad,” said Laurie.
    “You want to go back across?”
    Laurie looked pensive. “I thought I did. But now I’ve changed my mind. Screw the bank! Take me downtown.”
    And they headed for—Wait a minute. I’m messing this up. I’m sure Laurie didn’t say, “Screw the bank.” She just wouldn’t phrase it that way. Ernest would say, “Screw the bank,” but not Laurie. And Ernest wasn’t in the cab. I’m sure of that. Besides, she was finished at the bank for the day, wasn’t she? So the whole—wait! I’ve got this part all wrong.
    Let’s just pick it up with her, with Laurie, at the curb in front of the U.S. Grant Hotel in downtown San Diego, buying a paper from a dwarf who sold them because he couldn’t do anything else for a living.
    Gary walked up to her as she fumbled in her purse for change. He waited until she’d paid the dwarf before asking, “Do you have a gun?”
    “Not in my purse,” she said.
    “Where then?”
    “My brother carries one. Ernest has a gun. He’s a police officer here in the city.”
    “He with you?”
    “No. He’s on duty. Somewhere in the greater San Diego area. I wouldn’t know how to contact him. And, frankly, I very much doubt that he’d hand his gun over to a stranger.”
    “I’m no stranger,” said Gary. “You both know me.”
    She stared at him. “That’s true,” she said. “But still...”
    “Forget it,” he said, looking weary. “A policeman’s handgun is no good. I need a machine gun. With a tripod and full belts. That’s what I really need to hold them off with.”
    “There’s an Army Surplus store farther down Broadway,” she told him. “They might have what you need.”
    “Yep. Might.”
    “Who are you fighting?”
    “Franco’s troops. They’re holding a position on the bridge.”
    “That’s funny,” she said. “I just came off the bridge and I didn’t see any troops.”
    “Did you take the Downtown or the South 5 off-ramp?”
    “Downtown.”
    “That explains it. They’re on the South 5 side.”
    He looked tan and very lean, wearing his scuffed leather jacket and the down-brim felt hat. A tall man. Raw-boned. With a good honest American face. A lot of people loved him.
    “Good luck,” she said to him. “I hope you find what you’re after.”
    “Thanks,” he said, giving her a weary grin. Tired boy in a man’s body.
    “Maybe it’s death you’re really after,” she said. “I think you ought to consider that as a subliminal motivation.”
    “Sure,” he said. “Sure, I’ll consider it.” And he took off in a long, loping stride—leaving her with the dwarf who’d overheard their entire conversation but had no comments to make.
    “Please, would you help me?” Little girl voice. A dazzle of blonde-white. Hair like white fire. White dress and white shoes. It was Norma Jean. Looking shattered. Broken. Eyes all red in the corners. Veined, exhausted eyes.
    “But what can I do?” Laurie asked.
    Norma Jean shook her blonde head slowly. Confused. Little girl lost. “They’re honest-to-Christ trying to kill me,” she said. “No one believes that.”
    “I believe it,” said Laurie.
    “Thanks.” Wan smile. “They think I know stuff... ever since Jack and I... The sex thing, I mean.”
    “You went to bed with Jack Kennedy?”
    “Yes, yes, yes! And that started them after me. Dumb, huh? Now they’re very close and I need help. I don’t know where to run anymore. Can you help me?”
    “No,” said Laurie. “If people are determined to kill you they will. They really will.”
    Norma Jean nodded. “Yeah. Sure. I guess they will okay. I mean, Jeez! Who can stop them?”
    “Ever kick a man in the balls?” Laurie asked. ( Hell of a thing to ask!) “Not really. I sort of tried once.”
    “Well, just wait for them. And when they show up you kick ’em in the balls. All right?”
    “Yes, yes, in the balls! I’ll do it!” She was suddenly shiny-bright with blonde