Free 1944 - Just the Way It Is by James Hadley Chase

gave a little whimper, opened her eyes and put her hand to the back of her neck with a grimace of pain. Then she saw Harry Duke and she sat up on her elbow, her smoky, black eyes opened wide.
    ‘Take it easy,’ Duke said. ‘We’re all friends together and there’s nothing to be scared about.’
    Lorelli looked from him to Schultz and her eyes snapped furiously. She got unsteadily to her feet, holding her bruised forehead. Then she began calling Schultz names. The range of her language shocked Duke.
    He said, ‘Don’t get your suspenders in a knot, sister. Paul only meant to scare you. He told me so.’
    ‘If I had a gun, I’d make a hole in the fat swab,’ Lorelli screamed. ‘He threw a glass at me. He never gave me a chance.’ She ran over to Schultz and stood over him. ‘You’ll pay for this. You’ll be sorry you started something with me, you this and that and so and so.’
    Harry Duke looked pained. ‘I hope you didn’t teach her those names, Paul,’ he said. ‘She’s embarrassing me.’
    Schultz suddenly moved and smacked Lorelli’s face with the flat of his hand. She reeled back, screaming in a high-pitched wail.
    The door burst open and Joe rushed in. He came to a full stop when he saw Duke and threw up his hands. His face went the colour of old ivory.
    ‘It’s all right, Joe,’ Duke said, amiably. ‘Don’t stand on ceremony. This can be any one’s fight by the look of it.’
    Joe lowered his hands slowly and then looked across at Schultz who sat in a heap like a malevolent toad.
    Lorelli picked up the poker from the fireplace and suddenly rushed at Schultz. There was a look of vicious fury on her face. As she swept past Duke, he kicked her legs from under her and she went over with a thud that shook the room.
    Duke nodded to the poker and Joe hastily picked it up. Lorelli sat up, sobbing with rage.
    ‘We’d better break this party up,’ Duke said. ‘Otherwise someone’s going to get hurt.’ He grabbed at Lorelli as she scrambled to her feet and frustrated another attack on Schultz. He held her tightly against his side, with his arm round her, holding her wrist. ‘Now, you’ve got to behave,’ he said, ‘or I’ll leave you and then you might get into an awful lot of trouble.’
    She struggled for a moment, then began to calm down.
    Still holding her, Duke looked at Schultz. ‘Well, Paul,’ he said, ‘I guess I’ll drift. You won’t miss this little girl, will you? For your own safety I think I’d better take her along with me.’
    A look of alarm sprang into Schultz’s eyes. ‘Wait,’ he said, sitting forward in his chair. ‘She doesn’t want to leave me.’
    ‘Doesn’t she?’ Duke was amused. He looked down at Lorelli. ‘What do you say about that?’
    Before she could answer, Schultz went on quickly, ‘Let me talk to her alone, Harry. She’s only a child. She doesn’t understand.’
    ‘They certainly rear tough children in this district,’ Duke said. ‘And I don’t think you’d better see her alone, Paul. You might start trying on neckties again.’
    Lorelli said, ‘I’m through with you, you fat heel. I hope the next time I see you, you’ll be filling a hole in the ground.’
    ‘Well, there can’t be any mistake about that, Paul,’ Duke said. ‘Will you come along with me, or do you want to go someplace on your own?’ he went on to Lorelli.
    She glanced up at him, chewing her full underlip, her eyes still bright with anger. ‘I’ll come with you,’ she said, without hesitation.
    ‘You certainly know how to make up your mind,’ Duke returned, releasing her. ‘Sorry, Paul, but I always do what I’m told when I’m told by a telling looking tootz.’
    Schultz gripped the arms of his chair. ‘Don’t be a fool, Lorelli,’ he said. ‘You’re only heading for trouble. You stay here. I’ll see you right. You know what I mean.’
    Lorelli sneered at him. ‘Go bowl a hoop,’ she said, then to Duke, ‘Well, what are we waiting for?’
    Duke