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

A shot crashed over my head as I hit Ricky's legs and scrambled over the floor with him.

"Lombardi!" I yelled, but the words were drowned out by another crash, seemingly right
in front of my face! I could see the red flash of the gun and then I couldn't see anything,
and the skin felt as if it had been seared from my face.

I tried to fight my way through the room but still I couldn't see anything except those
orange-red flashes and at first I thought the lights had gone out. There were gunshots like
rolling thunder, and the biting stench of cordite was in my nostrils. I heard someone
screaming; then I realized that I was yelling, too, because I'd caught a slug in the leg,
high, and it was hurting like hell and the blood was hot and sticky.

There were more shots. I felt a hot gun being pressed into my hand, and I fought to keep
from pulling the trigger and shooting blindly. Then the fog before my eyes cleared. I could
see Murphy standing in the doorway, his legs spread wide and his gun smoking. The sweat
shined on his face in the yellow light, and there was a red smear on the shoulder of his
uniform.

The other patrolman was beside Murphy, and Ricky Sloane was leaning against the wall at
the other side of the room. Mike Lombardi lay sprawled across his desk, and a red pool was
growing dark on the green blotter beneath him. The others stood against the far wall, their
hands high, and the little hood with the broken wing was whimpering and holding his
shattered kneecap.

Then everything was quiet.


Later, I said to Ricky, "Don't worry, kid; that little punk with the broken arm talked his
head off. He was the guy I winged through the window at Norma's house. On a hunch, I told
him that his gun would check with the bullet that killed Barney Walters, and he got the
idea he could sing himself out of the hot seat by blaming it all on Mike Lombardi."

Ricky looked puzzled. "Then Norma wasn't in on my escape tonight, Johnny?"

"No, I thought you believed she was. I was pretty sure that whoever had engineered your
escape had led you to believe that your sister was behind it. You were caught off base
because you still weren't sure that she herself hadn't killed Gordon, were you?,'

"I didn't think she was, but--Well, no. I wasn't sure. Norma was at Gordon's house on
the night of the murder. She was already there when I got there, in fact, and was caught in
the frame that had been set for me. And Mike Lombardi held that over me, so I had to take
my chances on the rap or else drag Norma into it."

"The little guy said something about that," I said. "He told us that Vincent Gordon had
been covering Lombardi's rackets and that he and Mike had framed you and had you kicked
off the force when you found out about it. Then Lombardi took advantage of the case that had
already been built and knocked off Gordon, framing you. I guess Gordon had been chipping too
much off Mike's take."

I lighted a cigarette and handed one to Ricky.