indignantly.
For a moment the leader thought they'd gone into the wrong room—a mistake so elementary he wanted to kill himself—for the figure in front of him was that of a beautiful and very naked woman. He hesitated just a split second too long, and was already starting to turn when Craig's voice spoke behind him.
'Be sensible,' said Craig. 'You can't win them all. Guns on the bed, please.'
The lock expert waited until the leader's hand moved, then he too threw his gun down. The gorgeous broad moved as if she was wearing clothes up to her chin, and tucked the guns under her pillow. The lock expert began to sweat, then sweated harder as she got out of bed and put on a negligee. She moved like a stripper and her body was perfect. The last thing the lock expert saw before Craig hit him behind the ear was the splendid curve of one deep, full breast. Craig caught him before he fell, lowered him to the floor. The leader turned then, fast, but the gun was already on him. When he looked up, the dark girl held a gun too, his own, and the leader had no illusions about its accuracy. In the bed, Miriam Loman slept. She, too, was naked. The dark girl pulled the covers over her.
'You got one outside?' asked Craig. The leader nodded, 'Tell him to come in. You'll need some help with your friend.'
The leader hesitated, and Joanna said, 'I'd do what he says. Honestly I would.'
'Come on in, Harry,' the leader called, and Harry came in to see the team leader covered by Craig, and a broad in the kind of negligee they used to wear at Minsky's pointing a gun at him.
'Tell Harry what to do with his gun,' said Craig.
'On the bed,' said the leader, and Harry obeyed, and his gun went on the pillow.
'Sit down over there,' said Craig, and nodded toward two chairs in the corner of the room. The leader moved first. 'Stay away from the bed,' said Craig. 'This isn't a party.'
Carefully, the two men sat.
'What is this? A dyke affair?' Harry asked.
'No, darling. The girls' dorm,' Joanna said.
'Miss Loman seems a good sleeper,' the leader said.
'I put a little something in her coffee,' said Joanna. 'Poor darling, she needs her rest. She's had too much excitement lately.'
The leader nodded. Even with two guns pointed at him, he managed to look elegant enough for a whisky ad.
'You're looking better, Craig,' he said.
'I'm feeling it,' said Craig.
'No hard feelings, I hope?'
'None,' said Craig, and spoke to Joanna. 'This gentleman took me on a drug party in New York. I wound up telling him the story of my life.' He turned back to the leader. 'Do you have a name?'
'Lederer will do. Where's our mutual friend?'
'Dickens,' said Joanna. 'I adore intellectual conversation.'
'In the bathroom,' said Craig. 'Go and take a look— but mind how you walk.'
Lederer looked round the bathroom door. Kaplan sat strapped to the toilet, fast asleep.
'That's some coffee you serve,' said Lederer. 'I'll give you half a million dollars for him.'
'I've got half a million dollars.'
'A million—tax free.'
'You shouldn't talk in such vast sums. It's what makes you Americans so unpopular,' Joanna said.
'And guaranteed protection,' said Lederer.
'I've already got a deal—with Loomis,' said Craig.
'So has the CIA. He wants information. I'd sooner spend money.'
'I'm sorry,' said Craig. 'I really am.'
It was at that moment that Harry found it necessary to prove his manhood. A broad halfway through a burlesque routine seemed to him an insult to his maleness, even if she did hold a Colt .45. And anyway, he reasoned, a Colt is too big a gun for a broad. And with Lederer watching he'd be doing himself a whole lot of good. He'd been watching her, and sure enough the gun barrel had sagged, her concentration was all on Lederer and Craig.
Harry swiveled slightly on his chair. She took no notice. Careful to show no evidence of tension on his face or body, Harry prepared himself the way they'd taught him and made his grab. What happened was like a nightmare in slow motion. She seemed to have all the time in the world to bring the gun up, to choose the spot where the bullet would go. There was no tension in her eyes, only a glittering excitement as she pulled the trigger, the gun popped, and Harry felt as if the room had fallen on his shoulder before he lost consciousness. And all the time, Craig's gun stayed on Lederer.
'He's a little overexcitable,' Lederer said.
Joanna went to him, opened his coat.
'He's lucky he's not a little dead,' she said. 'He didn't give me much time to choose a spot.'
She went into the bathroom and came back with a towel.
'First they make one shoot them, then they expect one to patch them up. It's no fun being a woman,' she said.
'The information Loomis is asking for is a little expensive,' Lederer said to Craig. 'Why don't you and I just settle this privately? I could go up to a million five.'
'No deal,' said Craig. 'I'm sorry.'
'It's too bad we need that bastard,' said Lederer. 'He costs too much.'
Joanna looked up from Harry.
'What makes him so very expensive?' she asked.
'He can make the deserts blossom,' said Lederer. 'Put him down on sand and sea water and he'll turn it into an orange grove. It takes money and it takes technology, but he can do it. So we'll work out the technique, and sell it round the world.'
'Sell it?'
'Not for money. As you say—we Americans have enough. For cooperation. For commitment.' 'You should start with Israel,' Craig said. 'We intend to.'
'He's not exactly a willing worker,' said Craig.
'He will be. Who else has he got but us?' He looked into Craig's eyes. 'You don't like him much, do you?'
'I don't like him at all. But he's needed. A lot of better men died because of him, but the world hasn't any use for them. They couldn't do his trick.'
'Give him a few years and he'll be just as friendly and lovable and integrated as any other millionaire,' said Lederer. The lock expert groaned and twitched feebly.
'I guess we better be going,' Lederer said. It sounded like a question.
'I think you had,' said Craig.
'Just one thing I want to ask. How on earth did you know we were coming?' 'We had her followed.'
'Sure. I know that. Your local guy. We blocked him off before he could get near.'
'We rather thought you would,' said Craig. 'You're very efficient. So we put another man on to her as well. Flew him in from England this morning.'
Lederer accepted it without regret. 'I guess we had it coming,' he said. 'One way or another, we gave you quite a runaround.' He looked at the sleeping figure on the bed. 'And Miss Loman.'
'If your own operators hadn't been blown, you'd have got him yourselves,' said Craig. 'You did all you could do 1—under the circumstances.'
'The circumstances were lousy,' Lederer said. 'But at least we've got Kaplan.'
'You will have, tomorrow,' said Craig.
'You're flying him back?'
'BOAC. It was funny how every American airline just happened to have four seats available.'
Lederer grinned. 'Can't blame us for trying, son,' he said. 'Next time, we'll block you off before the operation even gets started.'
'There won't be a next time,' said Craig.
The man on the floor groaned again. He should have been happy.
