"Avenger - 4303 - Calling Justice, INC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Avenger)

dragged the policeman's body over against the wall where it would be out of the way. Then all six
entered the hotel, leaving one man at the wheel.

Smitty's face became flushed. "Damn them! That must be the Haggard gang. That's the way they
operate‹cold-blooded fish. Come on, Dick, let!s take them--"

But Benson put a hand on his arm.

Not so fast, Smitty. Follow me!" Smitty followed him, both men edging carefully back, hugging
the shadow of the overhanging balcony. till they turned the corner. Benson climbed into their car
and Smitty crowded in beside him.

"If this outfit has Nellie," Benson explained swiftly, "it'll do her no good for us to tackle
them here!"

Smitty's eyes glittered, He nodded. "You're right, Dick!"

He put his big hands on the wheel, tooled it around in a complete turn and switched the
lights off. He pulled up just far enough so that they could see the front of the hotel. They had
only a few minutes to wait before the six men emerged from the hotel. In the clear night air
their voices carried, sharp and distinct.

"She lied, Corbey," said a suave voice. "The stuff isn't in the safe!"

"Damn her!"

"She'll be damned, all right! Wait till we get back!"

The men piled into the limousine and it pulled away.

Smitty eased the car around the corner, still without lights, and fell in behind, keeping
about a hundred yards in the rear.

"This," he said viciously to Dick ~Benson, "is going to be a party!"

Benson said nothing. He only sat grimly, staring after the car they were following.


Nellie's position was extremely uncomfortable. Her arms were still handcuffed around the back
of the chair and she was unable to move to any extent. And the cigarette burn on her forearm hurt
excruciatingly. In the other room she heard two or three of the men moving about, waiting for the
return of the rest. She estimated that forty minutes had passed before she heard the car outside,
and then the voices of the returning killers. She steeled herself for the ordeal that was to
come. There would be no more delay now. They would stop at nothing now to drag the truth from
her. And she knew enough about Haggard to understand that he would not cease the torture when she
finally talked. He would want to make sure she was telling the truth this time.

But her head was high when the door opened and Haggard walked in, followed by Corbey and
Sturm. He said not a word. He only stood in front of her and deliberately took a cigarette from
his pocket. Just as deliberately he lit it and puffed it into a vicious glow. Then he reached out