Chapter V

28

STRANGE FISH

Then a waiter came. Not to get their orders. To tell one of them he was wanted on the telephone.

The man went to the phone. He came back in a hurry.

The four got up and left the bar.

Doc looked around uneasily for Monk and Ham. They weren't in sight. There was nothing to do but follow the men himself.

He trailed them two blocks. They met four other men. Two of this four were strangers. The other two were Monk Mayfair and Ham Brooks.

Doc Savage stared at the group. A coolness crawled into his nerves. He wasn't close, but he could see the strange expressions on the faces of Monk and Ham. Something was wrong.

No guns were in sight. No hands were in pockets, which was the way a man on the street was supposed to hold a gun and avoid suspicion. But one of the men with Monk and Ham had a small newspaper−wrapped package. Doc decided the package was a gun, and that the man had his finger thrust through the paper, resting on the trigger.

Doc watched long enough to decide they were going to come back toward him.

He swung over to the curb and walked along looking into parked automobiles. The third one had the keys in the ignition lock, the door unlocked. He slid under the wheel.

He waited for the group across the street to get past.

This, he thought, is car stealing. Not good. But Monk and Ham across the street, being kidnapped, wasn't good either.

He got out his business cards and put one in the glove compartment, stuck another between the wire spokes of the steering wheel. Having done that, he felt a little less guilty.

The group of men passed on the other side of the street. He pulled out slowly. It was his guess that they had a car waiting.

Then they started across the street. They strung out, four ahead in a group, two behind with Monk and Ham.

Doc fed the car gas. He headed for the four in the lead.

He hit all four of them with the car. A moment before he struck them, he cut the motor and yanked the emergency brake on hard.

The four went down. One screamed. One went under the car. The other three were just knocked down.

Doc came out on the driver's side. He went after the man with the newspaper parcel. Astonishment held the fellow long enough for Doc to reach him.

Doc hit him. He hit him in the middle, not wanting to break his hands. The man doubled, still kept hold of his package. Fire and noise and lead came out of the package. The bullets, two of them, drove into the blacktop street covering. The newspaper began smoking. Doc hit him again.