Boldly she reached for the knob of the screen door and entered the cafe.
CHAPTER
13
TWO MEN AND A BOAT
Penny ignored several empty tables at the front of the dreary restaurant and selected one not far from where the two men sat. As they glanced at her with insolent, appraising eyes, her pulse quickened. She was almost certain that the heavy-set man was the same fellow she had noticed near the Kippenberg estate.
A waiter in a soiled white apron shuffled up to take their order.
“Hot roast beef sandwich and coffee,” said Jerry. “With plenty of cream.”
“Make mine the same,” added Penny without looking at the menu.
All her attention centered upon the two men who were now talking together in low tones. After the first glance they had taken no interest in her and were unaware of her scrutiny. The heavy-set man bent nearer his companion and with the point of his knife drew a pattern on the tablecloth.
“What do you think of this route, Joe?” he asked.
“Too risky,” the other muttered. “Once we start we got to make a quick shoot to the sea.”
“Any way we take we might run into trouble. Y’know, I wish we had never agreed to do the job.”