"searchlightsontheriver" - читать интересную книгу автора (Barton Gary)

I piled out of the coupe.

"Give me ten minutes," I told Murphy. "Then crash the place."

I made my way through the crowded bar and back through the gambling room to Lombardi's
office. A little punk with his coat sleeve dangling emptily stepped in front of me.

"Mike's busy," he said.

"Maybe you'd like the other wing busted," l told him.

I pushed into the office.

The door closed quickly behind me, and I saw Mike Lombardi, his huge bulk filling the
chair behind his desk. But the gun in his hand looked even bigger. He was breathing hard.

"Greetings, copper." he said nastily. The gun never wavered.

I looked around the room. There were two hoods near the door behind me. Ricky Sloane
wasn't around.

"Where's Sloane?" I said.

"How should I know?" Lombardi's eyes were narrowed, and his lips were tight around the
cigar in his mouth. "Maybe he's been lucky enough to dodge the cops. Maybe he's lying some
place with a bullet in his belly." He nodded toward the small radio. "We're waiting for the
returns from outlying precincts."

And suddenly I realized that I hadn't tailed Ricky Sloane here. I'd tailed Mike Lombardi
--or one of his hoods, These boys were experts at clouting cars. As I thought of it, I had
been certain that Ricky Sloane pulled away in my cruiser only because he'd been the only
logical one to lift it. I saw now that when Ricky had raced out of the house, one of these
punks had already been waiting, then, when I had chased out, pulled away to decoy me.

The keys to the cruiser? A piece of wire or a silver coin, pressed against the points of
the ignition switch, will start any motor.

So I had been led right to the spider's parlor. And I knew from the look on Lombardi's
face that I was one fly that was going to get his wings clipped!

"Frisk him, Danny," Mike told one of the hoods.

Danny came across the room and lifted the automatic from my shoulder holster. I didn't
care much; it was still empty. But as I pulled away from him, he crossed a right to my face.
I fell back across the floor, blood running into my mouth.

I heard the sound at the door as I pushed myself to my feet. I looked up. Ricky Sloane
was standing in the room, the punk with the broken arm behind him. I saw his gun come up and
dived.