‘What happened to you? There was some talk you were shot.’
Baird stared across the desk at Rico.
‘I was. I was laid low for a couple of weeks. I had a pretty close call.’
‘How did you get away from them?’ Rico asked, his eyes popping.
‘I holed up with a girl,’ Baird said, and rubbed his hand across his eyes. ‘She looked after me.’ He frowned down at the desk. ‘The damnedest thing that’s ever happened to me.’
‘Who was she?’ Rico asked. ‘Talk about luck! Was she pret y?’
The look Baird gave him was hard and menacing.
‘Shut your dirty trap,’ he said. ‘Never mind who she was. She had more guts in her little finger than you’ve got in the whole of your rot en body. So shut up about her!’
Rico smiled ingratiatingly.
‘Sure, sure,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to talk out of turn.’