Dillinger (v5) Read online

  As he drove the Ford away, he looked once in the rear view mirror. That white convertible was one helluva car.

  He parked in the business district, and asked a policeman if there was a nearby ice-cream parlour.

  'Yes, sir,' the cop said, 'right around the corner.'

  Dillinger saluted the cop in thanks.

  There were four teenagers at the counter, drinking ice-cream sodas. When the soda jerk came over, Dillinger said, 'I'll have a black and white.'

  The chocolate soda with vanilla ice-cream tasted like all of his childhood memories together.

  'Ten cents,' said the soda jerk.

  'That,' said Dillinger, 'was the best ice-cream soda I've had in a long, long time.'

  The soda jerk beamed. 'Those kids,' he said, pointing to the teenagers, 'never say nothing nice about my sodas.'

  Dillinger put two bits on the counter. 'Keep the change.'

  'Gee, thanks,' the soda jerk said, hoping the stranger would become a steady customer.

  But the stranger hit the road like there was no tomorrow, driving through Roswell, Portales, Clovis, and then into Texas, through Amarillo and Phillips and Perryton into Oklahoma, past Hooker and into Kansas, where he pulled up at a gas station in Meade, and used the public phone booth to make the one call he had to make.

  The secretary said, 'Mr Hoover, there's a collect call from John Dillinger. Shall I accept?'

  J. Edgar Hoover nodded, because you didn't need to put a tracer on a collect call. The operator could tell you where the call was made from. He got on the line and motioned the secretary to pick up the extension so she could write down what was said.

  'Mr Hoover,' Dillinger said, 'you can find that white Chevvy convertible, you're looking for in a town called Las Cruces in New Mexico. I don't want you to say I've never been helpful to you.'

  Hoover thought Dillinger was very helpful because a line could be drawn from Las Cruces to wherever he was calling from now and they'd know which direction he was headed in.

  'Thank you,' Mr Hoover said.

  'Don't hang up,' Dillinger said. 'I'm not finished.'

  'Goodbye,' Hoover said, thinking you are finished.

  'Don't hang up, you son-of-a-bitch,' Dillinger yelled. 'I'm the best thing that ever happened to you.'

  But the line was dead.

  Three months later, on Sunday 22 July, 1934, John Dillinger was shot dead outside the Biograph Movie Theater in Chicago by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was betrayed by a woman.

  A Biography of Jack Higgins

  Jack Higgins is the pseudonym of Harry Patterson (b. 1929), the New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy thrillers, including The Eagle Has Landed and The Wolf at the Door. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.

  Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Patterson grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As a child, Patterson was a voracious reader and later credited his passion for reading with fueling his creative drive to be an author. His upbringing in Belfast also exposed him to the political and religious violence that characterized the city at the time. At seven years old, Patterson was caught in gunfire while riding a tram, and later was in a Belfast movie theater when it was bombed. Though he escaped from both attacks unharmed, the turmoil in Northern Ireland would later become a significant influence in his books, many of which prominently feature the Irish Republican Army. After attending grammar school and college in Leeds, England, Patterson joined the British Army and served two years in the Household Cavalry, from 1947 to 1949, stationed along the East German border. He was considered an expert sharpshooter.

  Following his military service, Patterson earned a degree in sociology from the London School of Economics, which led to teaching jobs at two English colleges. In 1959, while teaching at James Graham College, Patterson began writing novels, including some under the alias James Graham. As his popularity grew, Patterson left teaching to write full time. With the 1975 publication of the international blockbuster The Eagle Has Landed, which was later made into a movie of the same name starring Michael Caine, Patterson became a regular fixture on bestseller lists. His books draw heavily from history and include prominent figures--such as John Dillinger--and often center around significant events from such conflicts as World War II, the Korean War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

  Patterson lives in Jersey, in the Channel Islands.

  Patterson as an infant with his mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. He moved to Northern Ireland with his family as a child, staying there until he was twelve years old.

  Patterson with his parents. He left school at age fifteen, finding his place instead in the British military.

  A candid photo of Patterson during his military years. While enlisted in the army, he was known for his higher-than-average military IQ. Many of Patterson's books would later incorporate elements of the military experience.

  Patterson's first payment as an author, a check for PS67. Though he wanted to frame the check rather than cash it, he was persuaded otherwise by his wife. The bank returned the check after payment, writing that, "It will make a prettier picture, bearing the rubber stampings."

  Patterson in La Capannina, his favorite restaurant in Jersey, where he often went to write. His passion for writing started at a young age, and he spent much time in libraries as a child.

  Patterson visiting a rehearsal for Walking Wounded, a play he wrote that was performed by local actors in Jersey.

  Patterson with his children.

  Patterson in a graveyard in Jersey. Patterson has often looked to graveyards for inspiration and ideas for his books.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  copyright (c) 1964 by Jack Higgins

  ISBN: 978-1-936317-78-3

  This edition published in 2010 by Open Road Integrated Media

  180 Varick Street

  New York, NY 10014

  www.openroadmedia.com

  Cover design by Liz Connor