"Yes," I said. "I've been watching him in the driver's mirror." I glanced at the headlights reflected in the rectangle of glass up forward. "I'd say they've been giving us a little leeway, hoping to throw us off guard. Now they should be about ready to close in."

CHAPTER 19

THE car that had been following us went on when we made the turn for the hotel entrance. It was the jeep station wagon we'd met before, or its twin sister.

"They're playing this real cute. Now you see them, now you don't," I said, getting out and turning to help Tina to the sidewalk. "Somebody's being too clever for words."

"It would seem so, chйri," Tina said. She smoothed down her dress. "It is a pity I look so much better in narrow skirts," she said. "They are such a nuisanc when one has to run or fight… Eric."

"Yes?"

"If something should happen. If we should becomt separated now, in one way or another-"

I glanced at her sharply, wondering what she had iii mind. "Don't get corny," I said.

"No. Let me say it. There may come a time whea you will hate me for what I have done to you. Jusi remember, my dear, that I had no choice. None of us has a choice. Not really."

Her violet eyes were dark and grave and very lovely; but it seemed, on the whole, like a hell of a time foi deep thoughts.

"Yes," I said, after a moment. "Sure." I remembered the taxi driver, and turned and paid him. As he drove off, I swung back to Tina. "Well, we can't stand here all night… Damn!"

"What is it?"

"I forgot that lousy bottle." The cab was just turning the corner. I sighed and let it go. "Well, there's a taxi driver who ought to have a happy night," I said, and accompanied Tina across the sidewalk towards the hotel doorway. "Just one thing, sweetheart. One question."

"Yes?"

"Which of us calls the signals if something breaks?"

She hesitated. "You may call them, Eric."

"All right," I said. "You've said it. Now keep it-in mind and don't get independent." I laughed suddenly. "You know something, it occurs to me that we're almost legitimate, for a change. It's the first time I've ever been in a spot like this when I could even consider calling on the local police for help."

Tina smiled and shook her head. "I do not think it 'v~vuld be a very good idea. I do not think Mac would approve. He does not like explaining our activities to unsympathetic policemen more frequently than is absolutely necessary."

I said, "Well, if the party gets rough, he may have to do some explaining whether he likes it or not. I'm not going to stand still for being shot or beat up just to save him a little breath… Watch it now!" I breathed. "Eyes front, honey. Laugh and be merry."

We were inside, entering the lobby. It was the usual great, pillared, carpeted hail sprinkled with groups of chairs and sofas that, although similar in design, did not seem to have been formally introduced to each other. One wall was glass, looking out upon a patio with dense, flood-lighted, tropical vegetation. Here and there were the lobby-sitters you find in any hotel at practically any hour of the day or night. Why they choose to read their books and newspapers in a drafty lobby instead of a comfortable hotel room I couldn't tell you. Maybe they're all waiting for someone, but if so, why doesn't that person ever show up?

None of the characters I could see sitting around was a day under fifty, except one. I laughed and put my arm about Tina's waist as we started down the long room. Her answering laughter was a little slurred, and she leaned against me, as if for support.

"Where?" she asked softly.

I laughed again, as if she had suggested something immoderately funny. "Second sofa on the left, looking out towards the patio. Female, young, close to six feet tall, light brown hair, brown tweed suit."

"How can you tell how tall she is, Liebchen, when you can only see the back of her head?"

"We've met her before, with an Ivy-League-looking punk in a golf cap, driving a little Blue British Morris with a funny sign on the back. Remember, the restaurant where you made your call to Mac? They were just coming out the door as I went in. You were heading for the phone booth, maybe you didn't notice them."

Tina giggled in an inebriated way that contrasted strangely with her calm voice: "I did not, but I will take your word."

"She might just be here to keep an eye on us," I said, "but I've got a hunch she's the finger. Five gets you twenty that as soon as we've turned the corner she'll head for the house phones to let them know we're on the way up."

"Then you think they're waiting for us up in the room?"

"It seems likely."

She hesitated. "So?"

I kissed her on the ear as we walked. "So, we should have made love in the taxi like I said. Looks like we're going to be a little too busy now."

She laughed soffly. "I do not think you have your mind concentrated on important things."

I said, "With you practically crawling into my pants pocket, how can I?" Idrew a long breath, and let the kidding go. I said, "Let's give them a surprise. I'm tired of being the mouse end of this cat-and-mouse routine.'' ~

"Eric, we are not supposed to make unnecessary trouble."

"What's unnecessary? Something's cooking. I don't like to play other people's games."

She leaned her head sleepily on my shoulder as we walked along the soft carpet, close together. "You are sure of this girl?"

I said, "It's the same girl. It could be coincidence, running into her again."

"If she uses the telephone, that will be confirmation."

"She's not going to use the telephone," I said. "She's not going to get anywhere near a telephone. We're taking her now."

We were passing the back of the girl's sofa; I could have reached out with my left hand and patted her smooth brown hair. She was engrossed in a copy of Harper 's. She wasn't watching our reflections in the glass wall in front of her, of course. She had no interest in us at all, but I was willing to bet that, no matter how well they'd trained her, she felt a little crawling sensation at the back of her neck as we went past. Only we didn't go past.

We walked around the end of the sofa and stopped in front of her. "Why, hello, there!" I said cheerfully.

She did it very well. She looked up casually, decided that I must have been addressing somebody else since she didn't know me, and looked back down at her magazine. Then she looked up a second time, with a puzzled frown.

"I beg your pardon."

She was really quite nice-looking, in a tall and tweedy and young sort of way, and, although she was a much bigger girl, she still reminded me obscurely of Beth. She was still wearing low-heeled shoes, I noticed, but her long legs were fine, nevertheless. She had the lean, clean look of a good photographer's model. To read, she had put on glasses with thick, dark rims. She took them off now to look at me.

"I beg your pardon?" she said again, making a question of it this time.

Tina was already sitting on the sofa beside her, and Tina's hand had slipped into the secret pocket of the mink stole. I didn't like that too well. This was no place for firearms.

Tina said, "You didn't tell us you were coming to San Antonio, dear."

I said, "We've got to celebrate this reunion. I'd say the bar, if we weren't in Texas, and if I hadn't left our bottle in the taxi. But there's still part of a fifth in my suitcase upstairs."

"Well, that's all right," Tina said. She spoke to the girl. "You will join us in a drink up in our room, won't you, dear?"

The girl's face was blank. "I'm sorry. There must be some mistake."

I was sitting on her left now. I took my hand out of my pocket. The knife made a small click as I opened it. The girl looked down quickly. I drove the blade into her side, holding it with thumb and forefinger to measure the proper depth: just enough to penetrate clothing and skin and an eighth to a quarter of an inch of flesh. Her eyes went wide, her mouth opened, and her indrawn breath was a soft, hissing gasp. She made no other sound.