quick.'
'No!' She talked through her hands.
He sat down next to her. 'There's a raid planned for a little later on. The colleagues may need my help.'
She shook her head.
'I don't want to mess you up.' He caressed her shoulder. 'I know just where to hit you, not too hard. It won't hurt much. Please let me.'
She edged away from him. He put an arm around her and pulled her back. 'Stay away from the phone.'
She leaned into his arm and dropped her hands. 'Please don't. I won't yell.' Celine looked up. 'There can't be a raid, you're suspended.'
'Who told you?'
'De la Faille. I heard that yesterday. There was a special party here to celebrate the commissaris's downfall.'
'The baron doesn't know me.'
'He knows of you. Fernandus threw the party. So how can there be a raid? Were Fernandus and the baron just showing off?'
'No,' de Gier said. 'I just met the baron. The baron is my man.'
'Your man?'
'Bad guy,' de Gier said. 'I need a bad guy. Do you think the baron looks like me?'
'Bart has piggy eyes.' She touched his cheek. 'You have beautiful eyes, so warm.'
'Same size,' de Gier said. 'Same mustache. Same type of hair. Does he do judo?'
'Fencing,' Celine said. 'Bart is good at fencing. All-around sportsman, that's what he says he is. Golf, polo, flies a glider.'
'Good. Good.' De Gier grinned.
'What do you want to do with him, Rinus? You aren't gay.'
De Gier sighed. 'Please, Celine, let me put you out.'
She turned away. 'Undo my zipper.'
'No, not that.'
'You don't want to?'
'No time.'
She looked at her watch. 'Isn't it early for a raid? The real stuff happens later, that's when all the big gamblers come in. Tonight there may be a special event. Here, I'll do it myself.' She got up and stepped out of her dress. 'Want a bath? Shall we push bubbles at each other? We've got nice soap here.' She pulled him over to a sunken marble tub in the far corner of the room.
'Later?' de Gier said. 'What event?'
'They're going to get Ronnie Ryder for all he's still worth,' Celine said. 'Ronnie likes me. I've been bringing him luck. If I don't show, he'll probably want to leave. They may come looking for me, but we've still got a few hours. They won't really push him until he's good and drunk. It usually takes a while.'
'Aha,' de Gier said. 'So we wait?'
She nodded. 'Yes. Let's have a bath. Would you care for a drink first? You drank bourbon that night. The night I stripped? When you wouldn't look at me?'
De Gier thought.
'Don't you remember? I did it just for you.'
'Sure,' de Gier said. 'That was very nice. Great party.'
'Can I phone for a drink?'
He reached for the phone. 'Let me do it. What's the number of this room?'
'Seven.'
'Room seven,' de Gier said. 'A bottle of bourbon, two glasses, and ice.'
'Take off your jacket and shirt,' Celine said. 'I love your chest. I saw it once at that judo match at Headquarters. Let me see it again. It'll look more natural when she brings in the drinks.'
De Gier obliged.
'The name is Susan,' the girl who brought in the drinks said to de Gier. She wore a miniskirt and a clinging T-shirt. 'My, don't you have a body! Can I stay? I'm the special tonight. Half-price for the trio.'
'No, thanks,' de Gier said. 'The lady and I are friends. Haven't seen each other for a while. Some other time would be nice.'
'Susan might have stayed for free,' Celine said. 'How foolish of you. She's a hobby whore, likes to wear wet shirts. Didn't you like those long legs? Susan works as a secretary, just conies in one night a week.'
'No,' de Gier said. 'I came for you.'
'To knock me out?'
De Gier poured the whiskey. 'It'd be better for you if I did.'
'But I could be on your side,' Celine said. 'This place isn't really what I want. The customers are always drunk, they slosh and slobber so.'
'Your health,' de Gier said. 'That's what you get. You're planning to leave?'
'Your health.' Celine raised her glass. 'Could be.'
'Know what you'll do instead?'
'Not yet.'
'How's your husband?'
'Unhappy too,' Celine said. 'He phones. The estate near Marbella is a mess. Some slob owns it. Ten Haaf, dopes up all the time. Guldemeester is the janitor up there, he doesn't like that.'
'Does he want to come back?'
'Maybe.'
'And you'll be together again?'
'No,' Celine said. 'It wouldn't work. Come into the bath.'
De Gier groaned as he lowered himself into the foam.
'Oh,' Celine said. 'That's right, Fernandus said you broke your ribs. Do they hurt a lot?'
'Some.' de Gier said. 'Please. Celine. I can't stay here too long. I'll have to go down in a while. If they knew that you met me here, you might be in worse trouble. If I knock you out. you'll be all right.'
She pushed her legs against his. 'I'll drown if you knock me out in the bath.' She rose from the water, twisting her torso, lifted her long blond hair, allowed it to fall down again. She swayed her hips a little, dipped foam, and covered her breasts. 'You like me doing this?'
'Sure,' de Gier said. 'Your figure is perfect.'
She stepped out of the bath and brought his drink. 'You trust me now? I could have tried to run away. I won't do that, Til go down with you and do my tricks on Ronnie, make things more spectacular for you. What's this raid? Are you going to make arrests?'
De Gier left the bath too. 'We can't,' he said.
'So you are suspended. Fernandus and the baron weren't showing off.'
'It's not an official raid. We're after the Society's money.'
She looked at his clothes lying on the bed, and the pistol, conspicuous on the pale blue shirt. 'They let you keep your gun? I've got a gun too.' She clipped her pocketbook open and took out a Derringer, pointing it at his chest. 'Enough of this now, put up your hands.'
De Gier sipped his drink.
She came closer. 'This is a. 22 Magnum, no safety. All I have to do is pull the trigger. I've learned to handle this thing, it's very effective.'
'Did you remember to load it?'
'Of course.'
'You probably forgot,' de Gier said. 'Give it to me. It's empty, I can see from here.' He put out his hand. She dropped the gun and he caught it, broke it open, and watched its two cartridges bounce on the bed. He pushed them back into the chambers, snapped the little pistol back together, and gave it back. 'You're right.'
Celine laughed. 'Fool. There's no way to see if this thing is loaded until you open it.'
'Tricked you,' de Gier said.
