برگشت به لس‌آنجلس

CHAPTER SIX

Back to L.A.

I woke up. I was lying on the ground. Where was I? I didn’t know!

Then I remembered. I was in the stables area at Santa Rosita Racetrack. My hands were tied behind my back and there was a bag over my head! My whole body was painful.

What had happened to me? I remembered the two men. How long had I been on the ground? I tried to think.

Then I heard a voice. ‘Who are you? What’s happening here?’

I knew that voice! It was Slim.

I didn’t reply. Slim took the bag off my head, then he quickly untied the rope. I moved my arms. I stood up slowly. It was dark now. I had been tied up for a long time.

‘Lenny! Why are you tied up?’ Slim asked.

I smiled. ‘Hi, Slim,’ I said. ‘I was tired. I lay down here to sleep. While I was asleep, somebody tied me up. And they put this bag over my head!’

‘Lenny, stop joking. I was worried about you. You didn’t return the security pass,’ said Slim. ‘I’ve been looking for you for an hour. What happened?’

‘I don’t know,’ I replied. ‘Someone hit me on the head. They put a bag over my head and they tied my hands with a rope. They kicked me. I couldn’t shout for help. I fainted!’

‘Who did this, Lenny?’ Slim asked. ‘Who do you know at this racetrack?’

‘I know you, Slim. But I don’t know any other people here,’ I said. ‘And I don’t know who did this to me.’

I didn’t want to tell Slim about The Chief, or about the men in the red 4x4.

‘Perhaps someone made a mistake,’ I said. ‘Please forget about this, Slim.’

‘OK, someone made a mistake,’ said Slim. ‘They were trying to kill another person, not you!’ Slim didn’t believe my story. ‘Come to my office and sit down for a few minutes,’ he said.

I went with Slim to his office by the gateway. I sat in a chair while Slim made some coffee. He started to ask me some more questions. Suddenly, the phone rang. Slim answered the call. Then he put the phone down.

‘Stay here and rest, Lenny,’ he said. ‘I have to go to the administrator’s office for five minutes.’

Slim left the office. Quickly, I leant across his desk and opened the drawer. There were lots of yellow and blue passes in the drawer. I took a blue pass and I put it in my pocket. Then I closed the drawer.

Now I wanted to leave Santa Rosita as fast as possible. I left the yellow security pass on the desk and I walked to the car park.

I got into the Chrysler and I started the engine. I drove hack to my office building and I parked the car. My whole body was painful. I had a terrible headache.

There was a red light on my telephone answering machine. There was a message for me. But I didn’t listen to the message. I was tired. I looked at my watch. The time was 8/45 p.m. - dinner time! But I didn’t want to eat anything. I wanted to sleep.

The phone rang. I didn’t answer the phone. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I listened while the answering machine recorded another message.

‘Hi, Lenny!’ said the voice from the answering machine. ‘This is Herman. I’m calling about my $1000. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

Herman! I put my hand in my pocket. I had $200 which Sandy had given me. Would Herman be happy with $200? I didn’t want to think about this problem.

I fell asleep.

It was morning when I awoke. It was about 6.30 a.m. I didn’t have a headache. But I was very tired. I got up and drank some water. Then I sat in my chair again.

‘I’ll sleep for another hour,’ I said to myself.

Soon I was dreaming.