“You stay here with her, copper! Just stay here and talk to her for a while.”
Elrick called himself a few hundred fancy names.
“Where do you think you’re going, Vince?” he asked.
“I’m running to the drug store for an ice cream soda,” Vince said. “Then I’m leaving town. Maybe South America. Maybe Canada. You can guess at it.”
“You’re not smart, Vince. You’ll be picked up in no time.”
“Let me go, copper!” Gladys yelled. “Let me go! I don’t care if he shoots me! At least I’ll get in his way — you’ll be able to grab him!”
“You wouldn’t do a thing like that, would you, copper?” Vince said.
He was near the door. There was a smile on his face and there was something sad about it.
“I’ll be sayin’ good-by, Gladys,” Vince said. “I don’t want to leave you, baby, but I don’t have any choice now. Maybe some day you’ll find that you made a mistake. If I had the time, if I had the breaks, I’d prove it to you now. But the way things are lined up, the only thing for me to do is to powder — but fast!”
And he made an exit.