Read 1967 - Have This One on Me for Free Online

to hijack the payroll. What the hell? It was asking to be hijacked. So one day, a month ago, we did the job. We had to tap my officer, but we didn’t hurt him much. His skull was solid bone. So we found ourselves with fifty thousand dollars and a lot of heat.’ He sipped his drink and looked thoughtfully at Girland. ‘Boy! Was the heat fierce! Well, keeping it short, we got to East Berlin. Ferdy had the bright idea of moving to Prague, and from there eventually to Cairo where he had friends.’ Again he paused, and this time he looked sharply at Girland. ‘You interested or am I boring you?’
    ‘Keep going,’ Girland said. ‘I’m never bored when anyone’s talking about money.’
    Moss’s thin lips curved into a smile.
    ‘That goes for me too. Well, we finally made it to Prague. They were right on our tails. The Czech Security Police came after us. We thought the heat was fierce before, but Boy! did it get white hot!’ Moss frowned and shook his head. ‘A girl in West Berlin had given us the name of a contact. Did he turn out to be a snake! He hid us in an apartment and took twenty thousand dollars off us. The deal was he should supply us with food, keep us hidden and get us out of Prague when the heat cooled off. He certainly put us in this apartment and he certainly took the money, but that was it. We never saw him again. We stayed in that joint for three days, starving. You ever been without food for three days?’
    ‘Why should you care?’ Girland said ‘Keep talking.’
    ‘Yeah ... well, by the fourth morning, we were ready to eat each other,’ Moss said. ‘So we tossed up and Ferdy lost. He went out to buy food He hadn’t been gone three minutes when I heard police whistles. Did I lay an egg! I imagined he would bring them right to me. I beat it up on the roof. I was in such an uproar, I forgot to take the money with me.’ He paused to pick his nose, then went on, ‘From the roof, I saw Ferdy running like hell. There were two cops after him. They were running like elephants with ingrowing toenails. Ferdy was going like a streak. Then one of the cops lifted his automatic and let Ferdy have it. I saw bits of his shirt fly off his back and blood.’ He grimaced. ‘Well, that was the end of Ferdy.’ He took another drink. ‘I panic easily. I went down the fire escape, touching one step in six. Right at that moment, I had forgotten the money. I just blew.’ He paused. ‘You want to give me a cigarette? Don’t if you don’t want to.’
    Girland tossed his pack of Pall Mall on the table. His face was thoughtful. This story could be true. Then again, it could be a lie, but why tell him if it was a lie?
    ‘I won’t bore you with details,’ Moss went on after he had lit a cigarette. ‘There was a girl ...’ his thin lips curved into a sneering little grin. ‘What would creeps like me do without a girl? Anyway, she got me out of Prague and here I am. I’ve been here two weeks biting my nails. All I can think about is that money waiting for me in Prague.’
    Girland sipped his drink.
    ‘Is that all?’ he asked.
    ‘That’s the story ... that’s the problem. The money’s still there. I want someone like you to go to Prague, pick it up and bring it back here. We split the take. Fifteen thousand to you ... fifteen thousand to me.’
    ‘How do you know it’s still there?’ Girland asked.
    ‘It’s there. That’s the one thing I’m certain about. We hid it where no one would think of looking for it. It’s all in one hundred dollar bills ... three hundred of them. It doesn’t take up too much space.’
    ‘What gives you the idea I can get it if you can’t?’
    ‘They’re watching for me ... they aren’t watching for you. Maybe you don’t know it but Prague is the softest touch of the Iron Curtain. The Czechs are in a financial mess. They must have foreign currency so they love tourists. You go in as a tourist, stay two or three days, pick up the money and then come out. It’s that