Kennedy nodded. “Do you think you could do it?” he asked.
I thought about it, then I said: “Yeah, I guess it would work out all right. The boys want to see you. At the moment they don’t think there’s a dame in here. Right, what you gotta do is to see them, and while you’re holding them with talk I’ll get the dame out through the back door.”
Kennedy sat there thinking. I could see he didn’t quite like the idea. I could guess why. “You ain’t got to worry about me, Colonel,” I went on. “I don’t make capital out of friends of mine.”
He looked up hastily. “No—I wasn’t thinking of that. I… well, I guess, even you can’t know who she is… she wouldn’t stand for it.”
I said: “Between you an’ me I guess this dame’s a little difficult, eh?”
Kennedy nodded. “She’s crazy,” he said. “Damn it, she pulled a gun on me last night.”
I stared at him. “Then there was some shootin’ goin’ on?” I said.
He hesitated. “Yes,” he said at last. “There was a misunderstanding. She’s got a quick temper and the gun went off.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. It struck me as mighty funny. “Wouldn’t she fall for your stuff, Colonel?” I said.
For a moment I thought he was going to get mad, then he grinned ruefully. “For Pete’s sake keep this quiet,” he implored me. “But I guess that’s about it.”