5
This is ridiculous, George thought, as he followed Brant down the stairs. He can’t get away with this. Who does he think he is? He can’t steal my thunder in this way and then calmly walk off as if nothing had happened.
George had enacted the kind of interview they had just had so many times in his mind that Brant’s flagrant trespassing on his preserves angered and humiliated him. Of course, he hadn’t been particularly bright at the interview. He had to admit that. He had been scared of Robinson and the woman, but that was only because he had felt defenceless. How was he to know that Brant would produce a razor and commit violence? If he had known, he would have brought his gun. Then it would have been quite a different story. With the Luger in his hand, he would not only have dominated Robinson and that ghastly slut of a woman, but he would have also dominated Brant. What an opportunity to have missed! All because Brant hadn’t taken him into his confidence. A sullen anger began to rise in him against Brant. It was like Brant to horn in, to push him aside and take all the credit.
Out in the darkness and the rain, George grabbed hold of Brant and jerked him round.
Anger and disappointment and a feeling of shame gave him courage.
“What are you playing at?” he asked roughly. “Why didn’t you tell me what you were going to do? I could have handled it. I know how to handle a job like that—without messing or cutting people.”
Brant stared at him: his gaunt, cold face startled. “What are you talking about?” he demanded, shaking off George’s hand. “A fat lot of good you were…”
“So that’s what you think?” George said furiously. “Well, it was your fault. I didn’t want to go. I told you. If I had known what you were up to, it would have been different.”
“How different?” Brant asked. “I’ve got the money and I’ve kicked him out of our territory. We’re free to do what we like now. What more could you have done?”
George was a little taken aback, but he was so envious and angry that he blurted out, “It would have been different if I’d brought my gun.”