The Hot Rock Read Free Page A

“About money,” he said. “Kelp tells me it’s thirty gee a man.”

    “Thirty thousand dollars, yes.”

    “No matter how many men?”

    “Well,” the Major said, “there should be some sort of limit on it. I wouldn’t want you enlisting an army.”

    “What’s the limit?”

    “Mr. Kelp spoke of five men.”

    “All right. That’s a hundred fifty gee. What if we do it with less men?”

    “It would still be thirty thousand dollars a man.”

    Dortmunder said, “Why?”

    “I wouldn’t want to encourage you,” the Major said, “to attempt the robbery with too few men. So it will be thirty thousand per man no matter how many or how few men are involved.”

    “Up to five.”

    “If you tell me six are absolutely necessary, I will pay for six.”

    Dortmunder nodded. He said, “Plus expenses.”

    “I beg your pardon?”

    “This is going to be a full–time job for maybe a month, maybe six weeks,” Dortmunder said. “We need money to live on.”

    “You mean you want an advance on the thirty thousand.”

    “No. I mean I want expense money over and above the thirty thousand.”

    The Major shook his head. “No, no,” he said. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t the agreement. Thirty thousand dollars a man, and that’s all.”

    Dortmunder got to his feet and stubbed out the Camel in the Major’s ashtray. It smoldered. Dortmunder said, “See you around,” and, “Come on, Kelp,” and started for the door.

    The Major couldn’t believe it. He called, “Are you going?”

    Dortmunder turned at the door and looked at him. “Yeah.”

    “But why?”

    “You’re too cheap. You’d make me nervous to work for you. I’d come to you for a gun, you wouldn’t want to give me more than one bullet.” Dortmunder reached for the doorknob.

    The Major said, “Wait.”

    Dortmunder waited, hand on knob.

    The Major thought fast, adding up budgets. “I’ll give you one hundred dollars a week per man living expenses,” he said.

    “Two hundred,” Dortmunder said. “Nobody can live in New York City on one hundred a week.”

    “One–fifty,” the Major said.

    Dortmunder hesitated, and the Major could see him trying to decide whether or not to hold out for the full amount.

    Kelp, who’d just been sitting there all this time, said, “That’s a fair price, Dortmunder. What the hell, it’s only for a few weeks.”

    Dortmunder shrugged and took his hand off the knob. “All right,” he said. He came back and sat down. “What can you tell me about how this emerald’s guarded and where it’s kept?”

    A wavering thin ribbon of smoke extended up from the smoldering Camel, as though tiny Cherokees had set up a campfire in the ashtray. The line was directly between the Major and Dortmunder, making him feel cross–eyed when he tried to focus on Dortmunder’s face. But he was too proud either to stub out the cigarette or move his head, so he squinted one eye half shut and went on to answer Dortmunder’s questions:

    “All I know is, the Akinzi have it very well guarded. I’ve tried to learn the details, how many guards and so on, but they are being kept secret.”

    “But it’s in the Coliseum now.”

    “Yes. Part of the Akinzi exhibit.”

    “All right. We’ll go take a look at it. Where do we get our money?”

    The Major looked blank. “Your money?”

    “This week’s hundred fifty.”

    “Oh.” It was all happening a little too fast. “I’ll call our finance office downstairs. You can stop in there on your way out.”

    “Good.” Dortmunder got to his feet, and a second later so did Kelp. Dortmunder said, “I’ll get in touch with you if I need anything.”

    The Major was sure of that.

Chapter 4
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    “Doesn’t look much like half a million bucks to me,” Dortmunder said.
    “Just so it’s thirty thousand,” Kelp said. “Each.”

    The emerald, many–faceted, deeply green, a little smaller than a golf ball, nested in a small white trivet on a cloth of red satin