‘Yeah. If you pull the job off it rates ten, if you fail he’l pay five. There’s nothing smal about Kile.
You wait until you meet him.’
Baird started to say something, but broke off as the door opened and a red-headed girl wandered in.
She was wearing a low-cut evening gown of lemon yellow, and her green eyes looked Baird over sharply.
Rico said, ‘What do you want, Zoe? I’m busy.’
‘That guy Dal as asked me if he could cash a cheque,’ Zoe said, coming over to the desk. She tossed a slip of paper on Rico’s blot er. ‘It’s only for thirty bucks. He wants to buy me champagne.’
Frowning, Rico picked up the cheque, scrutinised it, opened a drawer and dropped it in. He took out a cash-box and began to count five-dollar bills on to the blotter.
‘He’s get ing quite a regular customer,’ he said. ‘What’s he do with himself?’
Zoe rested an elegant hip on the desk and swung her leg, her eyes roaming over Baird.
‘I guess he’s got ideas about me,’ she said, smiled and winked at Baird, who stared at her stonily.