'Yes?' She smiled at him. 'All my life I've been dreaming about looking at the world. Don't let's count on it, You hungry?'
'I know I am,' Mish said from the door.
She looked swiftly at him, then at Chandler.
'This is my pal, Mish Collins,' Chandler said. 'Come in and have some coffee . . . it's good. This is Lolita.'
Mish offered a damp hand.
'I always said Jess could pick 'em,' he said, shaking hands. 'You said something about being hungry?'
'Just the two of you?' Lolita asked, smiling at Mish.
'Just the two of us.'
'Ham and eggs?'
'Oh, boy!'
'Give me some room. Suppose you leave me to fix it? I won't be long.'
'Sure,' Chandler said and moved with Mish, a cup of coffee in his hand, out of the kitchen and into the sitting-room.
'She knows?' Mish asked as soon as they had closed the door. Chandler nodded.
'There'll be a reward offered,' Mish said. 'A big one.'
'I know.'
The two men looked at each other.
'Think you can trust her?' Mish asked.
'We haven't much choice, have we?' Chandler wandered to the window and looked out. 'We have to have food if we are going to stay here. She's our only outside link. Maybe they won't be in a hurry to offer a reward.'
Mish sat in an easy chair. He began sipping the hot coffee. 'I didn't tell you . . . Wash got shot . . . he's dead.'
Chandler didn't look around. He hunched his shoulders.
'It looked pretty good the way that bastard rat laid it out for us like a pretty dream. Well, maybe we will still find him,' he said.
'Think so?' Mish lit a cigarette from Chandler's pack. 'I wouldn't bet on it. He's a brass boy and cute. I think we have kissed him and the money goodbye.'
Chandler shrugged. He continued to stare out of the window for some minutes, then turning, he abruptly left the room and walked into the kitchen.
Lolita was standing over the fry pan, watching six eggs setting in the pan.
'I've been thinking,' Chandler said, coming to stand by her side. 'I shouldn't have brought you into this. If they catch up with us and find you here, you could go away as an accessory.'
'I know I'm stupid,' Lolita said, 'but not that stupid. I've thought of that. You don't have to worry about me, Jess. I told you . . . I'm a little crazy about you. You can't stay here without me, can you?'
'That's right.'
She smiled at him.
'Well, then . . .'
He leaned forward and kissed the side of her neck.
'I'll make it up to you, baby.'
She began serving up the eggs and the ham.
'I'd better move in, hadn't I?' she said, handing him the plates. 'If anyone came here, you couldn't go to the door, could you? While you are eating, I'll drive back to my place and pack a bag. There are a few other things we need. Have you any money?'
He put down the plates, took out the roll of $5 bills and gave her ten of them.
'You're sticking your neck out, baby,' he said, wondering a little uneasily if he would see her again.
'It's my neck.' She patted his arm. 'I won't be long,' and moving past him, she went down the passage and out through the front door.
Chandler carried the two plates into the sitting-room. Mish was at the window, watching Lolita as she drove away.
'Come and eat,' Chandler said.
'She leaving?'
'She's coming back. She's getting her things . . . she's moving in.
'Want to bet on it?' Mish drew up a chair and sat down. 'She's coming back.'
The two men ate hungrily, then Mish said suddenly, 'I'm not kidding myself, Jess. We're not going to get away with this caper.'
