1978 - Consider Yourself Dead (7 page)

There was also a serious possibility now of further kidnap attempts.

Grandi decided to remove Gina from the Italian scene.

One of his aides found Orchid villa and Grandi rented it.

The electrified fence was installed and all the security gimmicks, and within a month, Gina was taken there by her father and Frenzi Amando.

Gina was too awed by her father’s fury to think of protesting. She had no idea who Amando was, but she hated the sight of him.

Before leaving her to return to Rome, Grandi talked to her.

‘You have behaved disgracefully,’ he said. ‘You will remain here until I decide when you are fit to mix with decent people. If, at the end of a year, I get a good report about you, I will then consider giving you supervised freedom. You have betrayed my trust in you, and no one does that without bitterly regretting it.’

Gina moved uneasily. How she hated her father! To have done this to her! To have her caged behind an electrified fence, to have this cold blooded, snake of a man as her custodian! This man continually watched her. She could feel his eyes on her now. He was probably watching her from one of the upper windows of the villa.

Although, from time to time, she missed drugs, she really suffered from the lack of lovers. Sex tormented her day and night.

Apart from the servants who scarcely spoke to her, there was this tough ex-cop who had as much sex in him as the gun on his hip. The other guard was revoltingly fat and he had a hairy wart on his nose. She was sure he was a voyeur. He was always watching her from behind shrubs, giving her leering smiles, his little eyes stripping her.

The one saving grace of this gilded cage was Suka, the Japanese general factotum who ran the villa. Although he was inscrutable, she sensed that he was sorry for her.

It was Suka, as he was serving her tea, who told her that the guard Joe had been caught by Amando sleeping and had been dismissed.

‘There is a new guard, signorina,’ Suka said, and went away.

A new guard? Gina stretched her long legs. She knew better than to ask details. Suka was very careful about his relations with her. Both of them were aware that Amando could be watching.

Could this new guard be interesting? she wondered.

God! How she needed an interesting man!

Her mind wandered back to those marvellous, erotic nights in Rome when she had so often shared a vast bed with two young, rich stags who took her, turn and turnabout.

She was releasing a soft moan as she relived those exciting moments when she heard a gentle cough that made her open her eyes and half start up.

Suka was standing at her side, holding a tray on which stood a glass of tomato juice: she was forbidden any kind of alcoholic drink. As he placed the glass on the table, he said softly, without looking at her, ‘Signor Amando goes to Frisco. Not back until tomorrow. Very important dinner.’ He left her.

Gina drew in a deep breath. The new guard would be on duty! For the first time in days, she smiled.

* * *

Although the fried chicken looked excellent, Frost found he had no appetite. He pushed the food around on his plate, aware that Marvin was eating hungrily.

Since returning to the Grandi villa, Frost’s mind had been in turmoil. He was in the hole for four thousand dollars! He had no possible hope of paying this sharpshooting sonofabitch and he felt in his bones that Silk would insist on payment. He remembered his words: I don’t take on a match with a piker! There seemed to be no solution except to throw up his job and get out of Paradise City. What a sucker he had been!

‘Something bothering you, Mike?’ Marvin asked as he pushed aside his empty plate.

‘I’m fine . . . just not hungry.’ Frost stood up. ‘I guess I ate too much for lunch.’ He looked at his strap watch.

‘You signing off?’

‘Yeah. There’s a good movie on the tube. Watch out for Old Creepy,’ then nodding, he left the guardroom.

Frost stacked the plates on the tray, and put the tray on a chair by the door. Then lighting a cigarette, he slumped down in the armchair, facing the TV monitors.

Would Marcia get him out of this hole? he wondered. He decided she wouldn’t. He couldn’t imagine her giving him four thousand dollars to settle a crazy bet. That he couldn’t imagine! There was something about Silk that made Frost uneasy. Silk looked the kind of vicious bastard who would alert a tough debt collecting service, and if Frost failed to pay up, he would get cornered one night by an experienced gang who could break both his arms.

He knew all about the collection-of-debts-service. The only solution was to throw up this sweet job and return to New York.

He heard the door open behind him and he looked around. Suka was collecting the tray.

‘Signor Amando has left for Frisco,’ Suka murmured. ‘He returns tomorrow,’ and he went out, shutting the door.

Frost shrugged. Now that he would be forced to leave.

Paradise City, Amando could get screwed for all he cared.

The drag was that by leaving after only two nights of duty, he wouldn’t get paid. His money was running dangerously low. By the time he had paid for his air ticket to New York, he would have very little left. What the hell was he going to do in New York anyway? He had already looked for a job there, and nothing had come up.

For the first time since he had left the Army, Frost began to be worried.

He was still worrying, staring at the monitors, when he heard a sound behind him. His hands dropped on to his gun butt as he got to his feet and he swung around in one swift movement.

A girl stood in the doorway, smiling at him.

Gina had watched Amando drive away in the Rolls, then she had taken a shower, hesitated before her vast wardrobe, then selected an emerald green cocktail dress that fitted snugly, revealing her curves: a dress she hadn’t worn since leaving Rome. The dress could be unzipped for immediate action, and when going to a party, immediate action was what she wanted.

Frost’s eyes opened wide as he looked at her. He guessed she was Gina Grandi. He hadn’t expected her to be so spectacularly exciting. As his experienced eyes ran over her compact body, he knew she was naked under the dress.

‘Hi!’ she said. ‘You’re the new guard.’

Frost felt lust stir in him.

‘Mike Frost,’ he said. ‘I know who you are.’

Gina regarded him. What a beautiful hunk of man! she thought, and moved into the room, closing the door behind her.

‘Do you like the job . . . Mike?’

He scarcely heard what she was saying. He knew for sure that she could be taken. His experience with women over the years had taught him to know the signs, and the green light was flashing.

‘I like it a lot better now,’ he said. He didn’t hesitate. What had he to lose? He walked to her while she stood, waiting, and when he reached her, she slid her arms around his neck and thrust her body hard against his.

His lips came down on hers and her tongue darted. They stood, straining against each other for a long moment, then she pushed him away, smiling at him.

‘Let’s have fun, Mike. Not here . . . in my room.’

Holding his wrist, she pulled him into the big lobby and up the broad stairs, along a corridor and into her spacious bedroom.

She was naked and lying across the bed as Frost shut the door.

* * *

Frost came awake as the clock downstairs chimed two.

Hard, white moonlight came through the big window and lit up the bed. He looked down at the sleeping girl at his side. A beauty, he thought, what a beauty! He lay back on the pillow and stretched his long legs, then he thought of Silk. He felt vicious hatred run through him. If it hadn’t been for that crazy bet, he would be home and dry, but now he would be leaving as soon as Marvin took over the guard duty. He would be leaving this sweet job, and worst still, leaving this little nympho who had given herself to him with abandoned savageness. His right shoulder was still bleeding slightly where she had bitten him. His loins ached. He felt as if he had been fed through a rock crusher.

He turned on his side and regarded the girl, lit by the moonlight. As he was admiring her, her eyes opened, and she stretched like a sleek, beautiful cat.

Then it was her turn to regard him. What a man! she thought, and her mind became busy to find the solution as to how they could have many more nights like this. That sonofabitch Amando! This was the first time he had left the villa - after nearly four months! When would he go again? She wanted and needed this hunk of male excitement, lying by her side, every night!

‘Hi,’ Frost said.

She slid her arms around him and rolled over on top of him. She began to nibble at his lips, but Frost was drained.

Marcia had practically demolished him, and now Gina’s fierce lovemaking had reduced him to nothing. Firmly, he pushed her away.

‘That’s it, baby,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to get back to work. This is hello and goodbye. Tomorrow, I’m quitting.’

She stared at him, then sat up.

‘Quitting? What do you mean?’

Frost swung his legs off the bed.

‘I’m throwing up this job.’ He stood up, flexing his muscles, then began to dress.

Gina stared at him in dismay, regarding his lean brown body and his muscles.

‘Mike! What are you saying? Why are you leaving?’

He zipped up his trousers, then sat on the bed.

‘I’m leaving because I’ve been taken for a sucker,’ then he went on to tell her about the shooting match and about Silk. ‘I now owe this jerk four thousand bucks,’ he concluded. ‘There’s no way I can pay him. So . . . I have to get out of town before he puts on the squeeze.’

She caught hold of his hand.

‘You must be kidding, Mike! Four thousand? That’s nothing!’

‘That’s your thinking. To me, that kind of money is a lump. I’m getting out or else I’ll land up with a broken arm.’

‘A broken arm? What are you saying?’

He gave her a wry grin.

‘Forget it, baby. This isn’t your scene. I’m quitting tomorrow.’ He stood up. ‘So long, baby, and thanks.’

‘Mike!’ Her voice was shrill, He paused at the door. ‘Wait!’

She scrambled off the bed, ran to a big closet, jerked open the door and fumbled in a drawer, then she swung around and came to him, smiling.

‘Here, take it! It’s worth at least twenty thousand. My fink of a father gave it to me for my birthday,’ and she dropped a diamond and emerald ring into his hand. ‘Hock it, Mike. Pay off this jerk. I couldn’t care less about the ring.

Frost stared at the ring, hesitated, then grinned. Why not? Here was the solution to get Silk off his back and to keep this job. What did a ring like this mean to this corrupt, little nympho?

‘You really mean you want to bail me out, baby?’ he said, dropping the ring into his pocket.

‘I want you to stay here,’ she said breathlessly, and put her arms around his neck, thrusting her body against his. ‘I want many more nights.’

‘Okay.’ Frost slid his hands down her naked back and pulled her closer. ‘I’ll fix it.’ Then pushing her away, he left the room and ran silently down the stairs and into the guardroom.

He came to an abrupt standstill as he saw Suka sitting in the armchair, facing the monitors. Hearing him, Suka got to his feet, his face expressionless, and moved by Frost.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Frost demanded.

‘Guarding,’ Suka said, and went out of the room.

Frost stared after him, frowning, then shrugged. He dropped into the armchair, and taking out the ring Gina had given him, he examined it. Twenty thousand! Well, for God’s sake!

When Marvin relieved him at 08.00, Frost went to his cabin and slept for four hours, then after a sandwich lunch, completely forgetting he had a date with Marcia at the Spanish Bay hotel at midday, he drove to Paradise City, unaware that a cream-coloured Mercedes, driven by a swarthy, fat man wearing sun goggles, had moved after him.

Mitch Goble had been waiting in a parking bay within sight of the guard barrier leading to Paradise Largo since 09.00, waiting for Frost to appear. He had spent the three-hour wait reading a ‘girlie’ magazine. He was a man of infinite patience, also a man with a gross appetite. He had with him a paper sack of cheeseburgers, and from time to time, he dipped into the sack.

Frost found a hockshop on Seaview Boulevard.

He had his glib story ready.

‘My wife and I are parting,’ he said to the thin, Jewish clerk who was standing behind the counter. ‘We need fast money.’ He put the ring on the counter. ‘I paid I twenty thousand for this.’

The clerk examined the ring, sighed, said it was worth only fifteen thousand, and he would lend six for three months.

Frost was in no mood to haggle. After all, it wasn’t his ring. He took the money and the ticket, and as he walked back to where he had parked the T.R., he remembered his date with Marcia. The time now was 13.25. He decided she had probably gone to the restaurant. He couldn’t imagine she would wait around for any man, so he headed for the restaurant.

Mitch Goble walked into the hockshop.

‘Hi, Issy,’ he said. ‘What gives with that guy who’s just left?’

Issy, who was terrified of Goble, produced the ring.

‘He’s hocked it for six. It’s worth at least thirty.’

Goble examined the ring, grunted, then handed it back.

‘Keep your nose clean, Jew-boy,’ he said, and leaving the shop, he shut himself in a telephone booth. He called Silk.

‘Our creep has just hocked a thirty thousand diamond and emerald ring for six grand,’ he told Silk. ‘He’s heading your way.’

‘Take time off, Mitch,’ Silk said, and he hung up.

After waiting until half past twelve, Marcia had telephoned Silk from her hotel.

‘He hasn’t shown,’ she said. ‘So what do I do?’

‘Come over here,’ Silk said. ‘No problem.’

When Frost walked into the restaurant, he was met by Ross Umney who had been told by Silk to look out for him.

‘Hi, Mike!’ Umney said with his wide, friendly smile.

‘Marcia’s just arrived. She’s asking for you.’

‘I’ve got business,’ Frost said curtly. ‘Is Silk around?’