‘All right, Maxie; relax,’ Perelli said. ‘We’re only clearing out a little garbage. There’s no need to get excited.’
Maxie stopped in mid-stride. He stooped to peer at the girl, and as soon as he recognized her he lost his belligerent look.
‘Oh, her! Where are you taking her?’
‘What do you care so long as we take her?’ Perelli inquired.
Maxie chewed this over in his mind.
‘I guess that’s right. Hasn’t Barratt got anything to say about her going?’
‘He’s asleep at the moment,’ I said. ‘We thought it would be a shame to wake him up.’
Maxie eyed the scratches on my face and whistled softly.
‘Yeah. I guess I haven’t seen you two guys.’ He looked across at the girl behind the desk. ‘Did you hear, Grade? We ain’t seen nobody.’
The girl nodded and went back to her funnies. Maxie waved us to the door.