More Deadly Than The Male by James Hadley Chase Page B

company," he said softly, "but now we're here, George wants to talk to you, don't you, George?"

    "If you don't get out," the woman screamed at them, "I'll call the cops!" She slid out of bed, a mass of jiggling flesh, snatched up her dressing gown and wrapped it round her. "Don't stand there like a wet week," she went on to Robinson. "Get 'em out of here."

    Robinson tried to pull himself together. "You'll pay for this, you two," he said, working himself into a rage. "I've a mind to sack you on the spot. You must he drunk. Get Out, and I'll see you in the morning."

    George, wishing the ground would open and swallow him, groped for the door handle, but Brant's voice froze him.

    "Talk to him, George. Tell him what we've come for."

    Robinson turned to George. He felt that he could cope with him "So you started this, did you?" he snarled. "I'm surprised at you! You'll be sorry for this, you see if you aren't. You wait until tomorrow."

    George opened and shut his mouth, but no sound came.

    The woman, afraid of Brant, swung round on George. "If you don't get out, you big, hulking rat, I'll scratch your eyes out!" she shouted at him
    "Tell this tart to lay off," Brant said in a soft, menacing voice to Robinson, "or you'll both he sorry."

    The woman swung round on him with a squeal of rage- then she stepped hack, her furious, blood-congested face paling. Robinson also took a step hack, catching his breath with a sharp, whistling sound.

    Brant was holding an odd-looking weapon in his hand. The harsh light of the unshaded overhead lamp made the blade glitter. The sight turned George's stomach.

    "You'd better be careful," Brant said, addressing Robinson and the woman. "We don't want a scene, and you don't want me to get rough, do you?"

    The woman sank down on the bed, fear and horror on her fat, flabby face. Robinson was so terrified that he looked as if he were going to have some kind of a fit. His face turned yellow-green, and his legs trembled so much that he had to sit on a chair

    George wasn't in much better state. He expected the woman to scream at any minute and for the police to come rushing in.

    Brant seemed to know by instinct that George wasn't going to be much use. He dominated the scene.

    "You've been cheating Fraser," he said to Robinson. "I've found out how much you should have paid him." He took the notebook from his pocket. "It's all here. You owe him thirty quid. We've come to collect."

    Robinson stared stupidly at him. He opened and shut his mouth like a dying fish, but no sound came from him. 

    "Hurry Up!" Brant said impatiently. "I'm wet, and I want to go to bed. You know you've been cheating, so come on and pay up!"
    Robinson gulped. "I—I haven't got it," he said in a voice like the scratching of a slate pencil.

    Brant suddenly leaned forward. His hand moved so quickly that George only caught a brief flash of the weapon. Then Robinson started hack with a faint squeal. A long scratch now ran down his white, blotchy cheek from which a fine line of blood began to well.

    The woman opened her mouth to scream, but the sound died in her throat as Brant looked at her.

    "You'll get it too," he said softly, and he edged a little towards her. "Come on," he went on to Robinson. "Do you want any more?"

    Robinson, blood on his dirty vest and neck, waved his hand in a frantic, despairing gesture to the dressing-table.

    Brant picked up a wallet that was half hidden under a grimy handkerchief. He counted out twenty-two pounds and held them in hand, looking at Robinson.

    "Where's the rest?"

    "That's all I've got," Robinson sobbed. "I swear that's all I've got."

    Brant put the money in his pocket.

    "You're through," he said. "From now on we're working this territory. Do you understand? Get out and stay out. If I see you again I'll fix you." 

    Listening to his words, George experienced a strange feeling that he was witnessing a scene from one of his own fantasies. Those words were the kind of words George