Hell Is Too Crowded - Jack Higgins [31]
"I bet you do," Brady said. "Is the girl all right?''
She nodded. "For the time being."
Her words carried an implied threat, but there was little he could do about it at the moment. He tightened the towel at his waist and stood up. "What now?"
She opened the door and the German stepped into the room. "Karl will take you to get dressed. When you're ready, he'll bring you to my private office for a chat." She paused in the doorway. "Don't try to make a run for it, lover. I wouldn't want to have you roughed up again. It isn't often I get the chance of having a chat with someone from the old country."
When she had gone, Brady turned to the German and raised his right fist. "Any time you feel like trying again, just say the word."
Karl tossed Brady's bathrobe into his face. "Put that on, and hurry."
He was wearing a tee shirt, white jacket and pants. Brady grinned. "You look real pretty, Karl. I bet the old boys go for you in a big way."
The German's face became suffused with passion. He pulled Brady close, produced a .38 revolver with a specially shortened barrel from his pocket, and tapped him in the face. "Now or later, Brady. It makes no difference to me. If you want a few more hours, keep your mouth shut."
He pushed Brady out into the corridor and through the main steam room past the cubicles. Brady took his time over getting dressed, his mind racing. Unless the German had been trying to frighten him, there was only going to be one end to this business.
He was more worried about Anne than he was about himself. As they mounted the back stairs, he thought of her alone in this place, helpless, perhaps in Karl's tender care.
The thought filled him with sudden quick rage and he hesitated, but the German prodded him in the back with the .38. "Keep moving!" he grated.
Soames was waiting in her office at the end of the corridor. It was beautifully furnished in contemporary style, the walls decorated in pastel shades of blue and hand-made silk wallpaper.
The desk was a sheet of black glass and she sat on the other side, a cigarette in a long, silver holder jutting out of the side of her mouth, and signing letters.
She looked up at him calmly. "You look fine, lover. Just fine. Karl, wait outside in the corridor."
The German went without a murmur and she grinned again. "A good boy, Karl. A trifle psychopathic at times, but the clients love him."
"You've got quite a place here," Brady said.
She shrugged. "I give the public what it wants. My girls are all trained masseurs with diplomas to prove it. Nobody can lay a finger on me."
There was coffee on a side table and she filled two cups. "Cream and sugar?"
"Both," Brady said.
She pushed a cup across to him. "Which part of the States do you hail from?"
He told her and drank some of his coffee. It was good--very good. He swallowed the rest and put the delicate cup down carefully. "Let's cut the polite conversation and get down to business. Why do you want to see me dead?"
She put down her cup and lit another cigarette. "But I don't. Not even a little bit."
"Then what about Haras?" Brady said. "You put him in touch with Das, didn't you?"
She shook her head and said tranquilly, "I never heard of Haras until Das spoke to me on the phone. It was someone else who asked me if I had a reliable contact in Manningham. An old friend."
"Then Haras must be tied in with this other person?"
"That's right, lover."
"And you've no intention of giving me the name?"
"For the moment, not a chance. I've been in touch and she's asked me to hold you for the time being. You'll have to take it easy and await developments."
"So it's another woman?"
"That's right, lover. Surprised?"
"Nothing could surprise me any more." His head was aching and her eyes seemed suddenly enormous like black holes in her white face. He said slowly, "What about Anne?"
"Your girl friend?" She shrugged. "Don't worry about her. I've got a friend