Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth, Page 2

  “He probably got it from that private eye, Cahill.” And that was Ralph. I ground my teeth silently.

  “Well, take care of him,” said Cassidy. “And do it quick before anyone else finds out. You guys already bungled it by killing the jockey. If you’d just given him a warning, I wouldn’t be worried. Now, the cops will be investigating. It’s bad enough that I have the racing commission digging around. We’re going to have to get out of town for a while.”

  I pulled the girl’s gun out of my pocket and clicked off the safety. I turned the knob and stepped into the room, leading the way with the gun.

  “Hello, boys. Did you miss me? I know I missed you. Make a move and I won’t have that problem again.”

  The two torpedoes started to rise, but stopped when they saw the gun. Cassidy, seated behind his desk, smiled through his thin mustache.

  “Well, speak of the devil and he appears. We were just talking about you, Cahill.”

  “It’s nice to know that a big man like you would know a small-timer like me. Now, tell your boys to take their guns out and drop them on the floor. It’ll get rough if they don’t. It might be strange for them to be on the receiving end this time.”

  The two thugs looked at Cassidy and he nodded. They both pulled out automatics and dropped them on the floor. “Don’t forget the spares,” I said. Reluctantly, they did so.

  “What can I do for you, Cahill, since we’re all unarmed?”

  “It’s this way, Frank, I’d like to know the story behind the Heavy Storm problem. One guy is already dead and you were about send these two to take care of another. What is the big deal? And why did a long-shot like Heavy Storm suddenly win?”

  “What can I say? Miracles can happen.”

  “In your case, Cassidy, miracles are not possible without lots of help. Did you juice the horse?”

  “No, we would never do something like that. You can have Heavy Storm checked out by a vet.”

  “Okay, I’ll do just that. Now, if all three of you’ll get in that corner, I’ll call the cops. I’d love to have some people on my side.”

  As I headed for the desk, I heard a slight creak, but before I could turn the back of my head exploded in pain. The lights went out. Again.

  At first I thought I was in heaven, a shadowy figure stood over me. Then, I realized that I wasn’t quite so lucky. Angels don’t wear aftershave that smells like a witch’s brew of bargain basement perfumes.

  “Welcome back to the land of the living, Benny. Maybe you should start thinking about staying away from doors. You never know who might come through the door,” said Mickey.

  “Where would be the fun in that?” I blinked hard and shook my head. “What happened? Where am I?”

  “In that order, you got knocked out and you’re still in Cassidy’s office. Shortly after you went into Cassidy’s office, a bouncer followed you. When the two torpedoes, the bouncer and Cassidy left without you, I got worried and I called the cops early.” For the first time I noticed the room was full of blue uniforms. It looked like a police officers’ convention.

  “I think this is where I came in.” This time it was the gravelly voice of Lt. Crowley. The sound of his voice almost made me ask to get hit over the head again so I wouldn’t have to hear it.

  I looked at Mickey angrily. He shrugged. “Lt. Summers was not available. Something about vacation time. So they sent Crowley. Not my top choice either.”

  “Listen you, we’ve got things under control. Cahill, now that you’ve had a couple of minutes to wake up fill us in on what went down here.”

  “Cassidy fixed a horse race today. I don’t know how, but the jockey found out and decided to join in on the wealth. Cassidy got wind of his play and had the jockey dealt with. I showed up at the hotel before he did, but they just thought I was a courier. Cassidy also found out that one other guy knew about it, a bookie friend of mine named Saul. He’s got a place over on Blakeley and Bridger. You guys better get over there, I’ll bet my bottom dollar that you’ll find the three of them there.”

  Crowley nodded. “Okay, we’ll head over there right now, but try to stay out of this case, Cahill. It’s our job to catch criminals, not yours.”

  I nodded. Crowley motioned to the cops and they headed out. The room seemed empty with just Mickey and me.

  Mickey helped me out to the bar and ordered me a drink. I pointed to the black doctor’s bag that he always carried when we went in for the final showdown. “Did you bring it?”

  Mickey nodded and handed me the pistol that he carried in the bottom of his bag. “Where are you going, Benny?”

  “Donny and Ralph probably went to take care of Saul. Crowley is smart enough to take care of them. But I’m willing to bet that Cassidy knew things were going to go south and he’s making his escape, leaving his flunkies to take the fall. Luckily, I have a good idea where Cassidy is going. He’s got a cabin cruiser at the marina. I bet that’s where he’ll be.”

  “Go with God,” said Mickey as I turned to leave.

  “Thanks. I’ll need all the help I can get.”

  I knew from past experience where Cassidy parked, I mean docked, his boat. She was called the Fast Wind. I parked my Nash as close as I dared. I didn’t know if Cassidy had any other thugs besides Donny and Ralph on his payroll and I wasn’t about to find out.

  The Fast Wind was at the end of the pier. Luckily, only a couple of people were in sight. I cocked my pistol and hurried along the pier towards the cabin cruiser. All I could hear was the water splashing and the boats creaking as they rode at anchor.

  I could hear sounds below deck of the Fast Wind. I stepped aboard as lightly as I could. Cassidy was busy putting away the contents of several grocery bags in the galley. He left two of the bags, picked up a third and headed towards me. I ducked into a cabin. As he passed, I stepped out and shoved my pistol into his side.

  “Hold it right there, Cassidy. Stand very still or I might be tempted to repay this bump on my head with interest.”

  “Cahill, you must be determined to get your nose broken or worse. I told you once that this did not concern you. I don’t want to tell you again.”

  “Good, I wasn’t listening the first time. I know that you did something crooked to make sure that your horse won the race. My guess is that you switched horses. The only reason you would pull something so obvious would be to make a bundle as quickly as possible. You were sure that the racing commission would probably investigate, but by that time the horses would be switched back. The only other person to know besides you and your two playmates was the jockey. But, you were sure that you could keep him quiet. Once you found out that he made a bet on this own, that was still no problem because he was entitled to his cut. So, you send your boys to make extra sure that he would keep his mouth shut. The problem is that they read a little too much into it and shut him up for good. Now, you’ve got the cops on your trail. You sent your boys after the bookie, while you get your money and sail down to Cuba to wait until this blows over. Without you around, Donny and Ralph will be pulled in and arrested on my say so. You’re smart, but not smart enough.”

  “For once you’re right, Cahill.” It was Donny. He leaned against the stairs. His right hand was pressed to a bullet wound in his shoulder. Blood was trickling between his fingers, but he held his pistol rock steady.

  Cassidy took my gun and pointed it at me. “About time you got here, Donny. I was starting to get worried. What happened?”

  “Like the shamus said, it was a trap. The cops were waiting. Ralph didn’t make it. They’re probably on my trail now. I’m not letting you get away without a little payback.”

  For the first time, I noticed that Donny’s gun was pointed at Cassidy, not me. Cassidy noticed, too. He swung his gun around and opened fire, but the thug was quicker. They both fired at almost the same time. I could feel Donny’s bullets whiz by me and hit Cassidy. Both went down in a heap.

  I checked Cassidy for a pulse. He was dead. Donny was in little bette
r shape. He was only hanging on by a thread. He looked up at me and said, “Cassidy should have known better. He figured that Ralph and me were all muscles and no brains. For a smart guy, he was pretty dumb.” With that he passed away.

  “Cahill, did you leave another mess for me to clean up?” I looked up. This time it was the slightly friendlier face of Lt. Brady Summers looking down at me from the deck above.

  “Just a case of two criminals getting what’s coming to them.”

  “Still, it is a waste. Shooting down each other like that.”

  “I don’t know about that,” I said rising. “They saved the state the cost of a trial and execution. All because a little guy with big dreams tried to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

  ###

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  John Paul W

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