‘Maybe they have a phone here,’ he said, slowing down. ‘Get Kile and tel him we should have Hater out in three days. Tell him to bring the dough to that place of his.’
He pulled up a few yards from the café, parking the car in the shadows.
As Rico got out of the car, they both looked back along the main street. There was no sign of the following car.
‘Maybe he’s turned off his headlights and is coming the rest of the way on foot,’ Baird said, and his hand slid inside his coat and closed around the butt of the Colt. ‘You fix Kile. Tell him to make sure he isn’t being tailed. Tel him about Dal as. He’s got to be certain no one’s tailing him when he comes to collect Hater. I’l fix this guy. You get going.’
Baird watched Rico enter the café, then he moved silently away from the Packard and took up a position in a dark doorway, where he had a clear view of the street. He waited some minutes before his sharp ears told him someone was coming. He looked towards the sound, but couldn’t see any movement.
Out of the darkness came a soft scrape of shoe leather on rough ground, then he caught sight of a dark shape by the Packard.
This shamus knew his job, he thought grudgingly. He had sneaked up to within thirty yards of Baird without Baird spotting him.
Baird didn’t move. The dark, shadowy figure crept up to the Packard, satisfied himself there was no one in it, and moved silently into the light coming from the café. Baird saw the big, fleshy man who had been following him in the Lincoln.
MacAdam was jumpy. He remembered what had happened to Burns, but he had to find out what these two were up to. He knew the risk he was taking. This might be a trap, but with any luck he might have fooled them into thinking they had lost him. He moved forward to peer through the café window.
Apart from an elderly man lounging behind the counter, the café appeared to be empty, then MacAdam spotted Rico in a pay booth. There was no sign of Baird, and realising Baird could very easily be out there somewhere in the darkness, he looked quickly over his shoulder.