Free The Man With the Getaway Face by Richard Stark Page A

battery on the ground beside the cab, and he was getting set to attach the jumper cables.
    The florid man came heavily around the corner. "Now, listen here, buddy."
    Parker turned to him. "I want a new battery," he said. "And new plugs. And fresh oil. And a lube. And enough lights on the box so I don't get stopped by state troopers."
    The florid man was shaking his head, chewing more rapidly on the cigar. "That wasn't the deal. As is, that was the deal, as is."
    "No deal," Parker said. He walked around the florid man and started towards the street.
    "Hey, wait a minute!"
    Parker turned.
    The florid man tried a smile that didn't come off. "No sense goin' off in a huff, buddy," he said. "We can work somethin' out. It might maybe cost you a little more, but just for the parts, not for the labour. I wouldn't charge you for the labour."
    "Do like I said with it," Parker answered, "and new radiator hoses, and I'll take it for seven."
    "Seven! The deal was eight."
    "It isn't worth eight. It'll never be worth eight."
    "Now, buddy," the florid man said, "you got a chip on your shoulder. Now, why don't we just talk this over? Come on back to the office."
    "Tell your boy to put a new battery in."
    The florid man tried another smile. This one worked better. "Not a new battery, buddy, I wouldn't try to snow you. But a better one than you got. Okay?"
    "Good."
    "There you go. You see, we can get along." He turned and shouted, "Hey, Willis! Never mind about that. Take that old battery out of there, and put that Delta in. You know the one."
    "And leave the engine off," added Parker.
    "Yeah, sure, buddy. Leave her off, Willis."
    Willis gathered up his battery and jumper cables and went back through the side door into the garage again.
    Parker and the florid man went back to the office, and this time Parker sat down in the slat-bottomed wooden chair beside the desk. The florid man settled heavily into the swivel chair, making it squeal. "I can see you know about trucks, buddy."
    "I thought you wouldn't snow me," Parker said.
    "Now, there's that chip on your shoulder again." He made a little tsk-tsk sound, and shook his head in a friendly sort of way. Then he pulled an order-blank pad and a pencil over. "Now, then. What else did you want?"
    "Lube. Oil change. New plugs. Check the points. New--"
    "Points? Now, you keep adding something every single time."
    "Are you writing all this down?"
    "I surely am." The florid man wrote "points", and asked, "What else?"
    "New radiator hoses. And the legal minimum of lights."
    The florid man wrote, laboriously, chewing on his cigar. The cigar had gone out, but he kept chewing on it anyway. When he was done writing, he said, "Now, let's see. Lube and oil change, I guess I can do that all right. And plugs, well, we can check 'em out, clean 'em up a little. But I don't see any way we could give you new ones."
    "New ones," Parker said.
    "Now, buddy." The florid man spread his arms. "I give a little, you give a little."
    "Tell me about that Delta," Parker said. "The one you're giving me."
    The florid man cocked his head and sucked on the cold cigar. Then he smiled again. "New plugs. I just might be able to do it."
    "That's fine."
    "Okay, now, let's see what else we got. The points. Well, sure, that's no problem. And those hoses." He nodded slowly, the cigar moving around in his mouth. "I noticed them myself, but I don't think I got hoses like that in stock. I tell you what I'll do, though. I'll have Willis tape them up solid with friction tape. What do you say? You won't leak a drop."
    "There's an oil leak, too."
    "Now, there you go adding things again."
    "The breather's gone."
    "I know I don't have that in stock."
    "Cap it, then. I don't want to keep throwing oil away."
    "Cap it? I can cap it, right enough. It's just I don't have that in stock." He looked down at the list again. "Now, this about the lights. There sure are a lot of lights on there now."
    "Not enough. There have to be lights at all outer corners,