The Lost Angel by Adam C. Mitchell Page A

The young clerk put down Miss July and smiled uneasily at the toothless giant. “Yes Sir, can I help you?”
    “A bottle of your best house wine for my good friend Eddy Kovakx. He’s in room fif… No. No, that’s mine.” He slapped his hand on the desk. “Room… seventeen.” Mac winked. “He’s got a female caller if you get my drift.”
    Jack smiled from the shadows as Mac leaned closer to the clerk. “Charge it to Mr. O’Neal’s account.”
    “Mr. Paddy O’Neal?” 
    “That’s him!”
    The boy nodded. “Certainly, sir.”
    Mac glanced at the skin mag and roared with laughter. “Better wash your hands after you’ve finished with that.”
    * * *
    Jack slipped away from the lobby and headed for the backstairs. “Room nine, eleven, thirteen, fifteen… seventeen. Got you. You’re mine, matey.”
    He took out the lock picking set from his inside jacket pocket, using the picks to tickle the tumbler until it hit the doors sweet spot. It wasn’t a problem, not for a decent P.I. He eased the door open and slipped inside. A slant of light spilled from the bathroom. Kim was inside, fixing her hair in front of the broken wall mirror. From the fleeting glance he’d got, Jack had to admit she was a swell dame. Eddy was in bed, muttering in his sleep.
    Jack knelt down. He eased the key from the bathroom door, pulled it shut and locked it. He didn’t want the broad to see this. If he had to kill Eddy, she might never get over it. He was a gentleman like that.
    He tucked the key in his pocket and took out his gun, leveling it at the blanket-covered figure in front of him.
    “Don’t try it, gum-shoe,” came Eddy’s low, gravelled voice from under the white covers. “I got you covered, mate.” His gun pointed square at Jack from beneath the covers.
    Jack’s trained eye locked on to the snub nose barrel.
    “Who sent you?” Eddy’s voice was a mix of anger and concern.
    “The name’s Jack Malone. P.I from Central. You’ve got a price on your hide. I’m here to see you answer for the murders of Big Mike and the others, plus a mutual friend of ours wanted to say hello!”
    “Well, dick, it ain't going to be as easy as all that. I’ve been ducking and diving all my life. This is my big chance and you, pal, aren’t taking it from me.”
    Eddy’s head slid up over the top of the covers. The two men eyeballed each other long and hard. Each man studied the other, looking for a mistake, a wrong move; a slip-up to give the other the edge. Both men had way too much to lose. Eddy couldn’t help himself. He glanced at the leather bag. That one split-second was all Jack needed. He dived for the floor as he let some hot lead loose.  Eddy fired back. The bullet went wide, dinging Jack’s left arm, smashing a lamp and embedding in the wall. The pain burned into him as he dived for cover behind the chest of drawers.
    Eddy wasn’t so lucky. He took a bullet square in the chest, his blood spraying a crimson ribbon across the peeling wall. He was dead and dripping blood on the cheap wooden floor. A pool of blood framed his corpse.  Kim screamed. Her voice carried high. It would bring attention Jack could do without. She screamed even louder when she couldn’t get out, banging the door like a crazed creature.
    Jack glanced around. The chaos from the bathroom subsided as the words of a well-known prayer chimed. He recognized it from Sunday school and couldn’t help but chant Kim’s plea to the Lord. Jack was saying it more to himself than anything.
    “The Lord will keep you from all harm, he will watch over you all your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more.”
    Jack grabbed the leather bag Eddy had been so interested in. There was no time to check, but gut instinct told him it contained the money from the heist. He searched through Eddy’s jacket. Inside was his driving license. It would do, proof of a job well done.
    The gunshots and hysterics had woken people up. It