"In other words, you feel that the only chance I have of preventing Tournay from killing me—is to kill him first?"
"Yes," Lima said. "Are you strong and hard enough to do it?"
Bennett thought for only a brief moment before he nodded. "I'm desperate enough, at any rate."
This time he did not leave immediately. He had to find out something first. He put his arms around Lima's shoulders and drew her toward him. She put her face up and he kissed her waiting lips. They were sweet and, if she did not return the ardor of his kiss, he did not notice it.
r. Tournay is not in," the girl at the desk told Bennett. "You might try his home."
At a pay-booth in the lobby, Bennett called Tournay's home. The voice that answered was that of a tired woman, one who has given up hope. "Mr. Tournay called me a short time ago and said that he would be in the office of a Mr. Leroy Bennett, in the Lowry building, if anyone called," the tired voice said.
Bennett hung up and caught a cab. His quarry had walked into an ideal place for their meeting. For better or for worse, he would soon bring this conflict to an end.
In his office, Bennett found that Tournay had been there and gone. He had left a message: "Tell Mr. Bennett that Lima sent me!"