| OCR Text |
Show page 89 stopped near his shanty office doorway and switched off extra security lights that always burned until his arrival. He placed his snack on his desk beside a phone, reached up to the wall above the light shade to check his fire ax, a thing he considered his personal measure of security. The fire ax was missing. He began sweating heavily. He had checked the entire warehouse x»rhen he heard the muffled sound of a diesel truck. He moved out of his lighted office and stood near a forklift across a corridor, where he could see through a wide doorway to the loading ramp. He heard cab doors close and saw two men huddle together. They stood just in the outside dimness of his office light. They moved up the loading ramp and came into the warehouse, looking in his office and around the adjacent area, peering through light and under light doxvn the warehouse corridors. They were small men with narrowbrim hats and narrow faces underneath. Neither of them had the missing fire ax. One of the men shaded his eyes and caught Fad's presence. "Fad, you hiding? I could spot you in a coal yard." "Where's Sutherland?" Fad asked, moving out into the light. "Sutherland doesn't show on a job. Let's load." "Who's carrying my money?" Fad asked. The second man slapped his breast pocket. "Me, Tommy. Right here, safe. Just load and we pay." "I like to see the money," Fad said. The first man reached and pulled a brown packet from his companion* <? inside coat Docket, held it up and said, "See?" |
