Part 14 (1/2)

There was a sharp yell from one of the men in the background and a knife sailed for him, but the aim was poor. Gordon's gun came out. Two of the men were dropping before the others could reach for their own weapons, and while the rat-faced man was just turning. The third dropped without firing, and the fourth's shot went wild. Gordon was firing rapidly, but not with such a stupid attempt at speed that he couldn't aim each shot.

And at that distance, it was hard to miss.

Rat-face jerked back behind the big hulk of his partner, trying to pull a gun that seemed to be stuck; a scared man's ability to get his gun stuck in a simple holster was always amazing. The big guy simply lunged, with his hands out.

Gordon side-stepped and caught one of the arms, swinging the huge body over one hip. It sailed over the broken railing, to land on the floor below and crash through the rotten planking. He heard the man hit the bas.e.m.e.nt, even while he was swinging the club in his hand toward the rat-faced man.

There was a thin, high-pitched scream as a collarbone broke. He slumped onto the floor, and began to try hitching his way down the steps. Gordon picked up the gun that had fallen out of the holster as the man fell and put it into his pouch. He considered the two, and decided they would be no menace.

”Okay, Sheila,” he called out, trying to m.u.f.fle his voice. ”We got them all.”

”Pie-Face?” Her voice was doubtful.

He considered what a man out here who went under that name might be like. ”Sure, baby. Open up!”

”Wait a minute. I've got this nailed shut.” There was the sound of an effort of some kind going on as she talked. ”Though I ought to let you stay out there and rot. d.a.m.n it ... uh!”

The door heaved open then, and she appeared in it; then she saw him, and her jaw dropped open slackly. ”You!”

”Me,” he agreed. ”And lucky for you, Cuddles.”

Her hand streaked to a gun in her belt. ”Kill him!”

This time, he didn't wait to be attacked. He went for the door, knocking her aside. His knee caught the outside of her hip as she spun; she fell over, dropping the gun.

The two men in the room were both holding knives, but in the ridiculous overhand position that seems to be an ingrained stupidity of the human race, until it's taught better. A single flip of his locust club against their wrists accounted for both of the knives. He grabbed them by the hair of their heads, then, and brought the two skulls together savagely.

Sheila lay stretched out on the floor, where her head had apparently struck against the leg of a bed. Gordon shoved the bodies of the two men aside and looked down at the wreck of a man who lay on the dirty blanket. ”h.e.l.lo, O'Neill,” he said.

The former leader of the Stonewall gang stared up at the club swinging from Gordon's wrist. ”You ain't gonna beat me this time? I'm a sick man.

Sick. Can't hurt n.o.body. Don't beat me again.”

Gordon's stomach knotted sickly. Doing something under the pressure of necessity was one thing; but to see the sorry results of it later was another. ”All right,” he said. ”Just stay there until I get away from this rat's nest and I won't hit you. I won't even touch you.”

He was sure enough that it was no act on O'Neill's part; he wasn't so sure about Sheila. He checked the two men on the floor, who were still out cold. Then he stepped through the door carefully, to make sure that the big bruiser hadn't come back.

His ears barely detected the sound Sheila made as she reached for the knife of one of the men. Then it came--the faintest catch of breath.

Gordon threw himself flat to the floor. She let out a scream as he saw her momentum carry her over him; she was at the edge of the rail, and starting to fall.

He caught her feet in his hands and yanked her back. There was nothing phony this time as she hit the floor.

”Just a matter of co-ordination, Cuddles,” he told her. ”Little girls shouldn't play with knives; they'll grow up to be old maids that way.”

Fury blackened her face, but she still couldn't function. He picked her up and tossed her back into the room. From the broken mattress on the bed, he dug out a coil of wire and bound her hands and feet with it.

”Can't say I think much of your choice of companions these days,” he commented, looking toward the bed where O'Neill was cowering. ”It looks as if your grandfather picks them better for you.”

”You filthy-minded hog! D'you think I'd--I'd--One room in the place with a decent door, and you can't see why I'd choose that room to keep Jurgens' devils back. You--You--”

He'd been searching the room, but there was no sign of the notebook there. He checked again to see that the wire was tight, and then picked up the two henchmen who were showing some signs of reviving.