Maybe she’s interested in you. She has a yen for a big guy like you; she told me so.’
Baird jerked his thumb at the photograph on the desk.
‘Put that in your safe and lock it up,’ he said. ‘I think she’s mixed up in this. It’ll be easy enough to prove. Now, listen, here’s what you have to do…’
* * *
When Baird closed the door, Zoe drew in a deep breath of relief. She sat for a long minute, staring at herself in the mirror. She saw she had gone pale under her rouge, and she laughed a little unsteadily.
‘That guy sure scared the lace pants right off you,’ she said, addressing her reflection in the mirror.
‘Phew! He’s enough to scare anyone. Zoe, my child, you’ve got to be a lot more careful in the future.
Take my advice and call Ed. He’l know how to handle this.’
She got up and went to the door, opened it a crack and looked down the deserted passage. Satisfied there was no one to hear her, she shut the door again and rang Dallas’s apartment. There was no answer.
She replaced the receiver, feeling a little lost and sat for a moment thinking. It was only a few minutes after ten. Maybe Ed would blow in. He came in most nights now. Maybe he was on his way down at this very minute.