Free Carla by Lawrence Block Page B

you want this house and the expensive clothes, but there are things you want more, baby.
    â€œYou’re gonna want me. Me, understand? You’re gonna come crawling to me, begging me just the way you begged me with that hot little body of yours. You’re gonna forget all about being Mrs. Ronald Macon and driving a hot little foreign job. You’re gonna crawl to me, and when you do I’ll turn you over my knee and wallop all the spoiledness out of you. I’ll beat you black and blue and you’ll love every minute of it, understand?”
    She started to form a retort, started to tell him how wrong he was. But the words stuck in her throat and before she could say a thing he was out the door. He slammed it behind him, loud. She walked to the window and watched until he was inside the Ford and the car had made its way down the street and out of sight.
    When he was gone at last she sank into an armchair, totally exhausted. She was too weak to move, completely shaken inside. What a vile, impossible man he was!
    While she sat motionless in the armchair, every detail of that first meeting with Danny Rand went through her mind automatically. She remembered the way she threw her clothes to the floor and the way he took her—harshly, violently, almost viciously. Every detail came back to her, every crude and frightening caress, every gesture, everything that passed between them until she drove away and left him behind.
    Involuntarily she found herself mentally comparing Danny to Charles. That was ridiculous, she decided at once. The two men had nothing in common. Charles was refined, sophisticated, clever and gentle—in short, the perfect lover. But Danny was rough and crude and boorish, an animal without a brain in his head or an iota of sensitivity in his whole being. She hoped that she would never see him again, but she couldn’t avoid feeling that he would be back, that there would be a scene between them once again.
    Finally she pulled herself to her feet, shook her head forcefully, and walked into the hallway, calling for Lizzie. The girl appeared momentarily.
    â€œWhy did you let that man in?” Carla demanded. At the same time she fought to keep from revealing any of the situation. If she showed too much in the way of anger or irritation, the girl might guess the real situation.
    â€œHe said he knew you, Mrs. Macon.”
    â€œAnd so you let him come into the house?”
    Lizzie lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Macon. He said he knew you and you would be expecting him, so I guessed it was all right.”
    â€œNever mind,” Carla said, more gently. “He was selling something and he managed to waste some of my time, but there’s no harm done. But be more careful in the future, will you? He could have been a thief, for that matter.”
    Lizzie nodded. “I should have thought of that.”
    Carla dismissed the girl, but she couldn’t overcome a decided feeling of nervousness. Twice she started to call Charles and each time decided against it. She played several games of solitaire and started reading a couple times but couldn’t concentrate on anything. When Ronald came home a few minutes after noon, there was nothing forced about her greeting. She was glad to see him, glad to have a man in the house with her.
    Ronald told her about his trip. While she hardly listened to the details, she gathered that it had been neither wholly successful nor a total disappointment. The case was more or less the same, difficult without being impossible.
    Once more she realized how disastrous scandal could be. Why, if that fool Danny came around again it could be the end of everything! That was all she needed—a juicy scandal involving her with a garage mechanic. Well, he would be afraid to show up for awhile at least. It was a good thing she had thought to threaten him with the police. The idea came to her on the spur of the moment and saved everything.
    She was