Once she had absorbed the shock, her trained mind searched for ways and means. Twelve hundred pounds! It was an impossible sum! She had taken an expensive autumn vacation, and she had only two hundred pounds to her credit at her bank. But the idea of Daz leaving England and going to Ireland was unthinkable.
She slid off the bed and put on her wrap while Daz watched her. He saw there was a change of expression on her face. He saw her mind was working, and he lay still, waiting results. He wondered uneasily if he had put the price too high, but Burnett had told him to clean her out. Just suppose she hadn't the money?
She walked around the room while she thought, then she came and sat on the bed, looking straight at him.
'Daz . . . if I give you twelve hundred pounds, could you remain in London?'
'Of course, but you can't give me that amount . . . so why talk about it?'
'I can try. How long can you wait?'
'Why talk about it?' He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. 'I must get out. I'll go tomorrow.'
'How long can you wait?' Her voice was now as harsh as his.
'Ten days . . . not more.'
'If I give you this money, Daz, will you come and live here?' How easy it was to lie to this poor cow, Daz thought.
'You mean move in? You want me here?'
'Yes.' She tried to control her voice. 'I want you here.'
'It would be nice . . . yes, of course. I could get a job, and we could be together. But why talk about it?'
'I think I can manage,' Natalie threw off her wrap. She dropped down beside him on the bed. 'You love me, don't you, Daz?'
That old jazz, he thought and pulled her to him.
'You know I do. I'm crazy about you.'
'Then love me!'
While Daz slept by her side, Natalie lay staring into the darkness, her mind busy. She knew it would be hopeless to ask Shalik to lend her a thousand pounds. Even as she was telling Daz that she thought she could get the money for him, she had been thinking of Charles Burnett of the National Bank of Natal.
Natalie was well aware of the espionage and counter-espionage that goes on in present day big business. She knew Burnett had been hinting that he would pay for information and she had treated the hint with the contempt it had deserved but now under pressure with the real risk of losing Daz forever, she found she was much less scrupulous.
Before dozing off, she made up her mind to contact Burnett. Leaving Daz sleeping, she had gone to the Royal Towers hotel the following morning.
She quickly arranged Shalik's mail on his desk, left a note to remind him of his various engagements for the day and then returned to her office.
At this hour, she knew Shalik was being shaved and dressed by the hateful Sherborn. She hesitated only briefly, then called the National Bank of Natal.
She was put through immediately to Charles Burnett who had already been alerted by Daz by telephone what to expect.
'Of course, Miss Norman. I will be delighted to meet you again. When would it be convenient?'
'At your office at 13.15 hrs.,' Natalie told him.
'Then I will expect you.'
When she arrived, Burnett greeted her like a benign uncle. Natalie told him abruptly that she needed one thousand pounds.
'It is a large sum,' Burnett said, studying his pink finger nails, 'but not impossible.' He looked up, his eyes no longer benign. 'You are an intelligent woman, Miss Norman. I don't have to spell it out to you. You want money: I want information concerning Mr. Shalik's activities that might have the remotest reference to Mr. Max Kahlenberg of Natal.'
Natalie stiffened.
