“Christ,” Leo replied while running his hand through his hair, “I have to blouse outta here if that’s the way it is.  But still, I want to be sure.  Can you take a message for me to Pendergast?”

“Still stupid huh?  Don’t you get it, you need to leave Lee!”

“Will you?”
“Damn, if it helps get you outta here, sure.  What’s the message?”

“Hang on,” Leo answered, rummaging around in his pants pocket for a moment before producing a neatly folded up piece of paper.  “Here, take it and get an answer quick, ok?  I can’t be around here much longer if I’ve been burned.”

Red had a look in his eye as he replied, sympathy mixed with anger.  “You’ve been burned Lee, you’re just too stupid to see it.  Go pack your bag.”

Red walked off, back out the door, and Leo returned upstairs, opening a suitcase but not putting anything into it.  He really wanted this to work out, for his risk to have been worth it, for his rank as a real criminal to be on the rise.  Forty minutes later he answered Red’s knock at his door.

“Well?” Leo asked with a look of hope.

“You really don’t get it do you, Lee?   I almost feel sorry for you, but just almost.  Someone as stupid as you probably deserves to be dead by now.”

“Damn you, what’s the answer?”

“It’s simple.”  Red held up his left hand as he spoke, like he was making a proclamation.  “Mr. Pendergast thanks you for your work but due to present circumstances cannot provide you with any immediate assistance.  He will in the future, if an opportunity presents itself, and you are welcome back in Kansas City anytime.”

“Bushwa!” Leo shouted back, sitting down on the arm of his Crocker lounge and burying his head in his hands.  “Damn, damn, damn!  I can’t believe they would burn me like this, after what I did.  That wasn’t no easy caper to pull off and then they give me the icy mitt?  I just can’t believe it.”

“Listen Lee, you gotta leave now.  I know this ain’t easy to hear, but it’s true just like I said it was and you’re a dead man in KC right now.  So, pack up your things and leave and do it right now.”

“How am I supposed to get out of here?  They’ve got the place surrounded, they must have by now, I’m trapped in this damn building and burned by everyone!”

Red sighed and replied.  “Stop the antics Lee, it’s not a good look for you.  I can get you outta here, just get your things packed like I told you to do already.”

“You really think you can get me out?  Safely?”

“Yes, yes I can and I will, now please.”  Red motioned toward the open suitcase and Leo finally got up and walked over to his dresser.

It only took him fifteen minutes to pack up his life in Kansas City and then he rang up the manager of the Savoy and turned over his key and final payment.  It was not a pleasant moment for Leo as he had hoped to make his mark in the city and had been planning on staying around for the indefinite future.  He was not happy at all with the way he was being treated by Pendergast, he still feared for his life even with Red’s assurance, and he was once again feeling like he had missed a chance to gain some kind of evaluated standing in the criminal world.  The only thing he felt good about was his own performance and behavior, except of course the scared and frightened emotions that embarrassed him so much when they came to the surface.  Maybe that was the thing holding him back, he just needed to get tougher and things would start to look up.

For now, he grabbed his suitcase and another smaller valise and followed Red down into the basement of the Savoy.  Once down the stairs Red walked fifteen feet and pulled back a large piece of plywood that was leaned up against the wall.  That revealed a door, and when they stepped through it was into a narrow tunnel which was dark and smelled of stagnant water.  Flicking on a flashlight, Red explained that this was an old access tunnel which the workers had used while constructing the Eighth Street trolley tunnel, and that it led away from the hotel and directly into the main tunnel itself one block away.  Leo was amazed but also a little put off by the claustrophobic and damp  feeling of the narrow passage, wincing each time he bumped into one of the walls.  Finally though, they approached a dark, iron door which Red opened with a key, and Leo emerged into the Eighth Street tunnel.

Eight Street tunnel

“You better hurry,” Red said, already turning back to return to the Savoy, “that trolley is going to come past here in about fifteen minutes.  Go that way.”  Pointing to Leo’s left, he waved and finished with, “And stay away for a good while.  They have a warrant out for you now on that Shannon theft, it’s under Lee O’Dare, which I know isn’t your real name.  So maybe you shouldn’t use that one anymore.  Good luck.”  He was gone after that, just a shadow being led down the passageway  by the flickering beam of the flashlight.  Leo made it, clearing the tunnel before the trolley came, and then he quickly eased out of town, a plan already forming in his head to return to Washington.

…to be continued