Free 1979 - You Must Be Kidding by James Hadley Chase

home.
    Karen came to his office door.
    ‘I have a date,’ she said, and smiled at him. ‘See you tomorrow and don’t look like the prophet of doom. It doesn’t become you. Bye now,’ and she walked to the counter, lifted the flap and started for the entrance door as it swung open and Lu Boone came in.
    Karen stopped short. She felt her heart skip a beat, but she switched on her sexy smile.
    ‘We’re closed for the day,’ she said. ‘Could you come back tomorrow?’
    Lu grinned at her. Now here was a tough cookie, he told himself. He instinctively knew she recognized him.
    ‘It won’t wait, baby,’ he said and closed the door, then half turning, he shot the bolt. ‘Brandon here?’
    ‘Yes, he’s here. Did you want to see him? I don’t have your name.’
    ‘Call me Lu,’ Boone said, lounging forward. ‘I want to see him and you. Did he give you a good lay last night, baby?’
    Sitting at his desk, listening to this conversation, Ken turned cold and sick with panic, then with an effort, he pulled himself together. Moving swiftly, he opened a desk drawer, switched on the tape recorder he used when talking to clients, then half closed the drawer. He got to his feet and walked to the door.
    ‘Here is Mr. Brandon,’ Karen said. She turned and looked at Ken. ‘This is Lu. He wants to talk to us.’
    ‘Hi, bud!’ Lu said, and grinned. ‘Did she give out last night?’
    Ken said huskily, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about. What do you want?’
    ‘Don’t feed me that crap,’ Lu said, his voice toughening. ‘You know. What do I want? Let’s all sit down and talk.’
    Ken moved back into his office and Lu followed him.
    Karen remained at the doorway.
    Lu looked around.
    ‘Not much of a dump, but I like your home, bud . . .real nice.’ He sat down on one of the upright chairs. ‘Come in, baby. Let’s all be sociable.’
    Ken moved around his desk and sat down. Karen, looking relaxed, moved into the office and leaned against a filing cabinet.
    ‘Is this a hold-up?’ she asked. ‘Or are you high?’
    ‘Don’t act too smart, baby,’ Lu said. ‘I know all about you. I’ve been asking around. I know all about you, bud.’
    He grinned at Ken, then at Karen. ‘Last night, a hooker got killed right by your love nest, baby. I was looking for Paddler’s Creek, and you two directed me. I have a good memory for faces. I know you two didn’t kill this hooker, but I do know you were screwing in that cabin. This morning the fuzz talked to me. I don’t dig the heat. It seems the fink who killed this hooker got blood all over his clothes so the fuzz went through my things. I don’t dig that either. They can’t pin the killing on me, so they are looking elsewhere. They wanted to know if I had seen anyone at the time of the killing as I was walking to the camp.’ He grinned. ‘I don’t give information to the fuzz. I told them I hadn’t seen anyone.’ Again he grinned. ‘I guess I did you two a big favour. If I had told them I had seen you, you would have them around you like flies, and the word would have got out that you two had been screwing. I didn’t tell them, so you owe me for a favour.’ He paused, looking first at Karen and then at Ken. ‘I do something for you, you do something for me . . . right?’
    Neither Karen nor Ken said anything.
    ‘That’s the way I see it,’ Lu said, after a long pause. ‘I’ve been bumming around, living rough, for some time. I’m changing my lifestyle. I want money. Now you, bud, have a nice wife. I know all about her, working for this guy who fixes abortions. You, baby, have a rich pa. I know all about him. I guess between us three, we can work out a deal that would put me on easy street, and save you two problems. You with me so far?’
    So it was to be blackmail, Ken thought. He glanced down at the half open drawer. He could see the spools of the recorder revolving and was thankful he had had the presence of mind to have switched on the