Part 7 (2/2)
”At what? I never did any work in my life.”
”How do I know what? I'm not an employment counselor. Is it a deal, or isn't it?”
She thought about it for a minute. Then she shrugged. ”All right. But suppose you get the money? What guarantee do I have that you'll carry out your end of it? Just your innate sense of honor?”
”That's right.”
”Enchanting prospect, isn't it?”
”Yeah,” I said. ”Now, where's the money?”
She smiled. ”That's the only thing I have in my favor. You'll have to go through with at least part of your bargain before you even get it.”
”Why?'
”It's in three safe-deposit boxes in Sanport.”
”Safe-deposit boxes!” I stared at her. ”Well, how in the name of G.o.d are you going to get at it? With every cop in the state looking for you!”
”Well, naturally, they're not rented under my right name.”
”Oh,” I said. ”And where are the keys?”
”At home.”
”In your house?”
She nodded, her eyes a little mocking.
”But that means that even if we can find some way to get out of here, we've still got to go right back in the lion's mouth.”
”Umh-humh,” she said. ”It isn't easy, is it? But that's the reason I engaged such high-priced talent. It's no job for the inept. Let me know when you think of something.”
The sun climbed higher. It was hot in the cabin. I tried to make myself sit still and think, but then I'd be up and pacing the floor again. I watched the window constantly.
There was a way out of it. There had to be. All I had to do was find it. We had to have a car. We couldn't use her Caddy, but there was another car down there somewhere. He had one. But he also had a rifle, and he knew how to use it.
”Do you suppose he's gone?” she asked. She was still sitting at the table, finis.h.i.+ng another drink.
”Of course not,” I said. ”He's just waiting. We have to move sometime, and when we move he lets us have it.”
”How does he know we haven't sneaked out the back door and left on foot?”
”Because,” I explained curtly, ”he knows how you're dressed. He knows you're not going anywhere without a car. And we can't use the Cadillac, even if he wasn't watching it with a gun.”
She poured another drink. The bottle was nearly empty. She held up the gla.s.s and looked at it. ”Well, you're the high-priced expert.”
She was chromium-plated and solid ice both ways from the middle. From her att.i.tude you'd think she was merely a spectator at all this. It was something she was watching from the first row balcony and finding a little tiresome.
The air was clammy with heat. My s.h.i.+rt stuck to me. I looked at her and the bottle with irritation. ”Look. You can lay off that sauce.”
She glanced briefly up at me. ”And you can mind your own business.”
I sat down across from her. I caught the front of her pajamas and pulled her up straight in the chair. ”Let s get this straight. Right now. If we get out of here, for about the next two months I'm going to have the job of trying to hide you from the police. It's going to be rough, believe me. And if you get caught I'm in the bucket too. So I don't intend to make the job any harder by having to watch out for a blabber-mouthed lush wandering around in a fog. You'll stay sober.”
There was only faint interest in her face, as if she were just waiting for me to crawl back under a rock. ”If you're certain you've finished,” she said, ”you might take your hands off my clothing.”
”Yes, Empress,” I said. I shoved her back in the chair. ”But keep it in mind.”
”Do you intend doing anything about getting us out of here?”
”I'm working on it, Your Highness. But we can't go anywhere until after dark, anyway. So keep your pants on.”
”Barbarian.”
”Who is that guy out there?”
”How would I know? He hasn't sent in his card.”
”Cut it out. Who is he?”
”I fail to see where it concerns you. You're being paid to neutralize him, not identify him.”
”Boyfriend?”
”As you wish,” she said boredly ”Who killed Butler? Both of you?”
She made no answer. She merely stared at the empty s.p.a.ce where I would have been sitting if I hadn't already crawled back under the rock.
Even if we got out of here, I thought. . .
Living with her for two months was going to be fun. Which one of us would start to come unglued first?
Eight
I stood with my back against the rear window and stared out the front. As nearly as I could, I lined up the broken panes front and rear, and sighted. He'd be right in there somewhere. There was no reason for him to move, if he could see everything from where he was. He could watch the house there, and he could cover the road.
There was nothing to mark his spot, however. One area in the timber was just like any other. I looked farther up the hill. On the skyline and a little to the right I saw a tall tree that had apparently been struck by lightning. That would serve as a reference point.
”What are you doing?” she asked.
”Getting ready to call a cab,” I said.
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