Betting Blind

I can see the blood now, runnin' down a crack in the cement like a little river. It just keeps leaking out from between my fingers. You wouldn't think it would be able to get out of a tiny thirty-eight caliber hole so quick. And now the smoke is starting to sting my eyes.

You're probably wondering how I got here. Man, you ain't the only one. Lemme just tell ya how my day went, it was a little something like this...

The phone rang. Frank looked at the clock, swore, and crawled over Lorraine to get out of bed. He picked up the phone.

“This had better be damn good to be callin' me at my house at six in the mornin'...(indistinct chatter on phone)...Who is this?...You want me to believe that and you won't even give me your name?...Yeah yeah, keep your pants on, I heard ya. Ten o'clock tonight, dock nine. And how am I supposed to meet you there if I don't know your name or what you look like?...Is Jimmy your real name or you just...Yeah, well you ain't the only one stickin' your neck out are ya? I'll be there, but for your sake this had better be some real good stuff. We both know what happens if it ain't.”

Frank hung up the phone and stood there for a moment before finding his cigarettes on the counter and lighting one up.

“What was that about Frankie?” Lorraine asked.

“Sorry about that doll, didn't mean to wake ya. Just work callin', nothin' to worry about.”

“Sounded pretty important, do you have to go?”

Frank answered through the cigarette in his mouth, “No, no...You want some coffee? Eggs?”

“That sounds lovely Frankie dear.”

Frank took the few steps from the phone to the sink and filled the percolator. “That was some night last night. I ain't danced like that in years.” He placed the percolator on the stove and lit it with a match. He turned around to look at Lorraine, who was still laying in bed watching him like a hungry cat.

“How did a guy like me pick up a beautiful dame like you?” he asked.

There was a twinkle in her blue eyes as she replied, “I don't quite know, how did you manage it?”

With that, she stood up and let the sheet fall to the floor before searching for her dress. Frank just leaned against the sink and watched, arms folded, mouth open, cigarette begging for attention. It took her a little longer than it should have to find her clothes. She scooped them up and held them to her chest smiling.

“I'm gonna go freshen up.”

Frank watched her until the bathroom door shut, and even then he stared at that until an inch long ash landed on his arm and brought him back to reality.

I gotta butt in here for a minute, tell you a bit about Lorraine. I met her one night while I was working undercover, trying to find out who was behind this big underground casino in town. I finally faked my way in after weeks of making the right dirty connections. I decided to take it easy my first night in, so I get myself a drink at the bar and just soak in all the faces. Now don't be judgin' me too hard, ten years into prohibition, I might as well enjoy the perks of the job. It would be suspicious if I didn't anyway.

So, I'm sittin' there and this dame walks up and takes the seat right next to me, orders a drink. Plenty of open seats, why she chose that one was beyond me. Lonely maybe, cuz she started talkin' to me right away. She asked me what I do, so I give her my cover story that I decided on weeks ago, tell her I'm a bookkeeper at the textile mill on the edge of town. Thought that might just bore her enough to leave me alone and I could get back to scoutin' the place out. It would have been a lot easier to ignore her if she wasn't so drop dead gorgeous. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a body that could knock a lesser man unconscious from across the room. Anyway, she keeps talkin' and I find out this dame is a regular here. I figure there are worse ways to get information, so I try to work the angle, really lay on the charm. One thing led to another and before you know it, we end up back at her place for the night. Been a couple weeks now and I been spendin' more nights with her than not. We'd go down to the speakeasy in the underground casino and she'd fill me in on who and what she knows while we drink and watch the gamblin'.

We better get back to the important stuff, I'm runnin' outta juice here...

After breakfast, Frank walked Lorraine down to the lobby.

“You sure you don't want me to give you a ride? I got my car right there, I'm heading to work anyway.” He asked as he held the front door open for her. He knew she would refuse, she always did.

Lorraine smiled at him and put her hand on his face as she passed, “You are a real charmer, you know that? I'm sure though, it would be too far out of your way. I don't mind the taxi anyway, you know I like to hear the latest gossip from the drivers.”

“Suit yourself, can't say I didn't try.”

Frank lit a cigarette for Lorraine, gave it to her, and hailed a taxi. When it stopped he opened the door and helped her in.

“When do I get to see you again?” Frank asked as he leaned into the taxi.

“How about you take me to dinner tonight?” Lorraine asked as she looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

“Ah, I can't tonight. How about tomorrow?”

“Oh, I forgot, you have to meet your friend at the docks. How about you just give me a call when you're done there and we can figure it out?”

Frank smiled, “Sure thing doll.”

He watched the taxi until it turned out of sight before heading to his car.

That afternoon Frank went to the deli across the street from the precinct for lunch. He had just got back to his desk and hung up his jacket when his phone rang. He picked it up.

“This is Baker.”

“You Frank? The gumshoe?”

“Yeah, who's this?” Frank asked cautiously.

“Never you mind who this is, just be sure you listen good. We know who you are. We know you been hangin' around our joint for the last few weeks. And we also know you got a call today. If you know what's good for ya, you won't be stickin' your nose where it don't belong, specially tonight. You understand what I'm sayin'?”

“...Yeah...I understand what you're sayin'. And suppose I decide you ain't worth listenin' to?”

“Listen here Frank. You may not know who I work for, but you damn well know how much power they got. Let's just say if you don't drop this, you'll be gamblin' with somethin' more valuable than your money tonight. You look the other way, we might even be able to work out a mutually beneficial arrangement, if you catch my drift. Make the right decision Frankie boy.”

There was a loud click as the person on the other end roughly placed the receiver on the hook.

Frank showed up at the docks at nine fifty-three. He parked a few blocks down and walked the rest of the way. It was easy to stick to the shadows, this was the rougher side of town and not all of the street lights were kept up with.

As Frank entered the dockyard he got a funny feeling. Everything was quiet, a bit too quiet for his taste. He started to make his way through the crates and buildings, hugging the walls and keeping out of sight. Before long he had reached dock nine. He looked around a pile of crates and could see two men guarding the ramp to a large boat. He watched for a couple minutes, but when Jimmy didn't show up he decided to move in a little closer. He checked around for anybody watching. When he deemed the coast to be clear, he snuck out and began to make his way through the maze of crates lining the dockyard.

Halfway to the boat he tripped over something and fell to the ground. Cursing, he picked himself up and turned to see what had been lying in the way. It was too dark to see. Frank lit a match. The light fell over a body.

“Damn it,” Frank hissed under his breath.

Just as his curse fell from his lips, Frank heard the series of clicks that was the harbinger of death. The match fell to the ground as he spun. His hand never made it to his revolver. He saw a flash and felt a burning tug at his stomach. He looked down at his shirt in time to see a small red spot start to burn outward from a tiny hole in it. When he looked back up the smoke had cleared enough to see the outline of a figure in the shadows, still pointing the smoking barrel at him. Frank backed into a crate and slid down it. He looked down again and decided maybe he should try to hold in some of the blood.

Frank looked up as the figure holding the gun lowered their arm and stepped into the light. He couldn't help smiling as he said, “I shoulda known it was too good to be true.”

Lorraine walked over to Frank and lowered herself to his level. “You should have taken me out to dinner lover boy.” She leaned over and took the cigarettes and matchbook out of Frank's pocket. Standing back up, she took out a cigarette and lit it.

“You know Frankie, at first it was all business. I couldn't have you comin' into my place and causing a ruckus.” The match sizzled as she dropped it in the puddle of blood starting to form. “After a few nights though, I was actually enjoying myself. In fact, after a couple weeks I thought you might have given up on doing your job so you could keep having fun with me. And then Jimmy there,” she motioned toward the body laying next to Frank, “had to go and mess it all up. I even had Marco call and try to talk you out of it.”

Lorraine lowered herself again, her face inches from his. She stared into his eyes for a few seconds before glancing down. “Depending on what that bullet found,” she looked back into his eyes, “there might still be hope for us yet.”

She kissed Frank on the cheek and put the cigarette into his mouth before standing back up. She started walking toward the boat but paused about twenty feet away and looked over her shoulder.

“Don't forget to call me tonight when you're done here.”

Sitting there with a stream of cigarette smoke rolling up his face, Frank watched Lorraine until the door on the boat shut behind her.

So now you're all caught up. And you thought you had a rough day, huh? They say true wisdom is learning from other people's mistakes, right? So why don't you take some advice from me. Make sure you know who you're gambling with before you sit down, cuz if you don't, odds are it's gonna cause you a lot of grief.

Now I should probably get up and drag my ass to the hospital before I paint the whole dock red. Plus, I still got a phone call to make tonight.

This short story was written for the Elegant Literature contest #18. The final draft was completed 31 March 2023.