‘That’s okay,’ Rico said quickly. ‘Mr Kile and me have worked together before. You don’t have to worry about your end, Baird.’
‘Al the same I’m going to worry about it until I get it,’ Baird said. He nodded to Kile, glanced over at Eve and gave her an insolent little smile. She turned away and went back to the window. ‘Be seeing you in a week’s time,’ he went on to Kile, walked across the room, opened the door and went out.
There was a long pause while Kile freshened his drink, and Rico stood staring uneasily at his feet.
‘Your friend’s quite a character,’ Kile said at last as he came back to his chair. ‘I can’t say I like his manner.’
Rico laughed uneasily.
‘Baird’s a hard man,’ he said apologetical y, ‘but he’s a man who gets things done. If the job can be done, he’l do it.’ He fidgeted uneasily while he studied Kile. ‘Where exactly do I fit in in this, Mr Kile.
If you remember, you said…’
‘Once Baird agrees to do the job I’m dropping out of the picture,’ Kile said. ‘I intend to leave the whole thing in your hands. I don’t wish to know how you are going to get this man out of prison or any of the details. I don’t even wish to be consulted. You and Baird must handle the whole thing independently of me. If you think you’l need more help, that’s up to you to arrange and pay for. Do the job and hand the man over to me, and you will receive fifteen and Baird ten thousand. Now do you see where you fit in?’
Rico nodded. He also saw how he could run into a fifteen to twenty years’ sentence. He didn’t like the proposition, but the money drew him like a magnet.
‘This man’s important to you, Mr Kile?’