Her breath fanned his cheek, her lips were close to his ear. "There is no Mr. Curtis here. He died four months ago in Florida."
"I suspected as much." He did not press her for further revelations. "Sprouse should be here by this time. It isn't likely that he has met with a mishap. You would have heard the commotion. I must go out there and see if he requires any—"
She clutched his arm frantically. "You shall do nothing of the kind. You shall not—"
"Sh! What do you take me for, Miss Cameron? He may be sorely in need of help. Do you think that I would leave him to God knows what sort of fate? Not much! We undertook this job together and—"
"But he said positively that I was to go in case he did not return in—in fifteen minutes," she begged. "He may have been cut off and was compelled to escape from another—"
"Just the same, I've got to see what has become of—"
"No! No!" She arose with him, dragging at his arm. "Do not be foolhardy. You are not skilled at—"
"There is only one way to stop me, Miss Cameron. If you will come with me now—"
"But I must know whether he secured the—"
"Then let me go. I will find out whether he has succeeded. Stand over there by the window, ready to go if I have to make a run for it."