Free 1968 - An Ear to the Ground by James Hadley Chase Page B

different face: a face you see in a nightmare. Cohen snatched up another telephone receiver. ‘I’m busy! I’m not taking calls! What? Hong Kong? Who the hell cares about Hong Kong?’ and he slammed down the receiver. For a long moment he scowled at the telephone, then he worked himself into a good mood again. ‘What was I saying? Oh, yeah. Now look, Harry, I don’t believe a man can be happy without some kind of work. Lisa didn’t want you to work. She thought you should stick around in the house and on the yacht and have fun with her, but I don’t go for that. I think you should have some work to do. I’ve got fifty thousand acres of building land out in Florida. My father bought it for a song. I’ve sat on it for years, but three months ago, I began to sell. I’ve set up an office in Paradise City. The punk in charge is as useless as a newborn babe — all he does is to make a noise. So I telephoned him this morning and gave him the heave-ho.’
    Harry suppressed a shiver. ‘When a guy is no use to me, I get rid of him,’ Cohen went on, ‘and this punk has a hole in his head. Well now, Harry, here’s a job that’ll give you interest. It’s not hard. There’s a clever little bitch down there who knows all the answers. She practically runs the office on her own, but I like a man in the front. I thought twenty thousand would be about right. . . we can adjust that later. That’ll be your own personal spending money. Of course, the heavy money will come from your joint account. The other money is for your cigarettes. Get all this?’
    Still Harry said nothing, but by now his mind was beginning to function.
    Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. . . a house . . . a yacht. . . $20,000 a year. . . a job in an office.
    Miss Selby put her gorgeous head around the door.
    ‘Excuse me, Mr. Cohen, but the American Ambassador is calling from London and Hong Kong is still on the line.’
    Cohen raised his hands and grimaced at Harry.
    ‘You see, boy . . . no peace. Well, okay, you get back to Paradise City and clear up. Lisa will be down in a couple of days. Excuse me, huh? I know you two are going to be very, very happy.’
    Harry felt a touch on his arm from Miss Selby and he got slowly to his feet. He left the office as Cohen began talking on one of his many telephones.
    Miss Selby eyed Harry over. Her eyes were hostile, her smile freezing.
    ‘Congratulations, Mr. Lewis,’ she said and went to her desk.
    Harry walked to the elevator. He moved like a man under a shock.
    During the three weeks that Harry remained a bachelor, every now and then, he decided to cut and run, but he hadn’t the guts. The prize was too glittering. When he saw the house Lisa had chosen, his eyes nearly fell out of his head. It had eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, four living rooms, a magnificent garden and swimming pool. . . the whole works.
    There was a Rolls, a Caddy and the Aston Martin in the garage. There was a Jap butler, a housekeeper and five other staff and three Chinese gardeners. There was a yacht which had luxury accommodation for twenty people . . . a small liner. Suddenly Harry was handed on a plate everything a man could dream of, but he also had Lisa.
    While he was clearing out his desk in the small poky office at the self-service store, the day following his interview with Sol Cohen, the door opened and Lisa came in. She shut the door and turned the key. She came across to where Harry was standing and looked up at him, her dark eyes shining. ‘Hello, Harry,’ Lisa said and smiled. ‘Surprised?’
    By now, Harry had made his decision. Whatever else he might have been, he was honest and he was now determined, since Lisa had bought him, he would somehow give her value for her money. He knew what she wanted, and if it half-killed him, he would give it to her. All the way back from Frisco, he had thought about the deal. At first, he had decided to pack his bag and get the hell out. Then he thought what it could mean to be