'He trusts you.'
'And if I get caught doing a thing like that I'll not only lose this job and never be able to get another one, but I'll get a gray suit too. I don't like the color.' She reached out and plucked a Lucky from my pack and toyed with it before accepting the light I held out.
'I only want a look at it, kid. I don't want to steal the stuff and I won't pass the information along to anybody.'
'Please, Mike.'
I bent the match in my fingers and threw it on my plate. 'Okay, okay. Maybe I'm asking too damn much. You know what the score is as well as I do. Everything is so almighty secret with the D.A. that he doesn't know what he has himself. If he'd open up on what he knows he'd get a little more action out of the public. Right now he's trying to squelch the big-time gambling in the city and what happens? Everybody thinks it's funny. By God, if they had a look behind the scenes at what's been going on because of the same gambling they condone they'd think twice about it. They ought to take a look at a corpse with some holes punched in it. They ought to take a look at some widows crying at a funeral or a kid who was made an orphan crying for his father who's one of the corpses.'
The cigarette had burned down in her fingers without being touched, the long ash drooping wearily, ready to fall. Ellen's eyes were bright and smoky at the same time; languid eyes that hid the thoughts behind them.
'I'll get it for you, Mike.'
I waited and saw the richness of her lips grow richer with a smile.
'But it'll cost you,' she said.
I didn't get it for a second. 'Cost me what?'
'You.'
And that thing on my spine started crawling around again.
She reached out for my hand and covered it with hers. 'Mike... you're only incidental in the picture this time. It's the only way I'll ever be able to get you and it's worth it even if I have to buy you. But it's because of what you said that I'm doing it.'
There was something new about her, something I hadn't noticed before. I said, 'You'll never have to buy me, Ellen.'
It was a long minute before I could take my eyes off her face and get rid of the thing chasing up my back. The waitress dropped the check on the table and I put down a bill to cover them both and told her to keep the change. When we came out of the booth together the guy across the room looked at me enviously and Ellen longingly. His lunch date looked relieved.
We went back to the street and got as far as the bar on the corner. Ellen stopped me and nodded toward the door. 'Wait here for me. I can't go back upstairs or somebody's likely to think it peculiar.'
'Then how are you going to get the file out?'
'Patty--my short and stout roommate, if you remember--is on this afternoon. I'll call her and have her take them when she leaves this evening. The way my luck runs, if I took them any earlier he'd pick just this day to want to see them.'
'That's smart,' I agreed. 'You know her well enough so there won't be a hitch, don't you?'
She made an impatient gesture with her hand. 'Patty owes me more favors than I can count. I've never asked her for anything before and I had might as well start now. I'll be back in about ten minutes. Stay at the bar and wait for me, will you?'
'Sure. Then what?'
'Then you're going to take me to the races. Little Ellen cleans up today.'
I gave her my fattest smile and jingled a pocketful of coins. 'Pat told me about that. You're not going to be selfish about the thing, are you?'
'I think we're both going to have a profitable day, Mike,' she said impishly. She wasn't talking about money, either. I watched her cross the street and admired her legs until she was out of sight, then went into the bar and ordered a beer.
The television was tuned to the game in Brooklyn and the bets were flowing heavy and fast. I stayed out of the general argument and put my beer away. A tall skinny guy came in and stood next to me and did the same thing himself. A kid came in peddling papers and I bought one before the bartender told him to scram and quit annoying the customers.
But it didn't do any good. The guys on my left were arguing batting averages and one poked me to get my opinion. I said he was right and the other guy started jawing again and appealed to the tall skinny guy. He shrugged and tapped his ear, then took a hearing aid out of his shirt pocket and made indications that it wasn't working. He was lucky. They turned back to me again, spotted my paper and I handed it over to settle the argument., The one guy still wouldn't give in and I was about to become the backstop of a beautiful brawl.
But Ellen walked in just then and baseball switched to sex in whispers. I got her out so they could see her going away and really have something to talk about.
She cuddled up under my arm all the way back to the car and climbed in next to me looking cool and lovely and very pleased with herself. When I had about as much silence as I could take I asked, 'Did it work out?'
'Patty was glad to help out. She was a little nervous about it, but she said she'd wait until everyone had cleared out and put it in her briefcase. She's taking some work home with her tonight and it shouldn't be hard to do at all.'
'Good girl.'
'Don't I deserve a kiss for effort?' She timed it as the light turned red.
Her mouth wasn't as cool as it looked. It was warm, a nice soft, live warmth with a delicate spicy sweetness that was excited into a heady wine by the tip of her tongue.
