"Thought you'd have some ideas."
I shook my head. "That's what I hired you for. My only idea right now is going to sleep."
Bewildered, they left.
And on the fourth night, no one came. So I headed for the Tour. Now, having risked everything on my logic, I was a dead pigeon if wrong. There were only minutes left.
I eased through the back door, heard our automation equipment humming. Despite darkness, I shortcutted, nearly reaching the door to the service hallway in back of the planetary rooms. There was a distinct click, and a flashlight blinded me. I waited, stifling a cry, knowing if it were he, death was next.
Death never spoke in such quiet, sweet tones. Frank asked, "What are you doing here?"
Frank, Frank, not you!
Surprise shocked me: the light, her voice, the sudden suspicion. Still, diversion and counterattack ... "Perhaps you've the explaining to do," I said nastily. "Why are you here?"
Her wide-eyed ingenuousness making me more suspicious, she answered, "Waiting to see if you'd appear." Then she stopped being truthful: "You forget we had a date—"
"We didn't have any damned date," I said flatly, hurting deep within.