He glanced at her.
“This car and the way you drive it. The whole bit. That girl wouldn’t have unlocked the door for Jacob, Jack Pot, and Joan of Arc; but she unlocked it for you because you showed her a badge.”
“You new in town?”
“Does it matter?”
“You’re not a cop.” The car swerved right to pass a speeding cab. “I’d know you. If you’re a grifter, you’d have to be new. I know the local gals. High class. Red hair. Forty?”
“Not quite.” It was hard to smile, although she did.
“You’d be a bunco gal if you were a grifter. But I don’t think so.”
“You could check the police files, couldn’t you?”
He seemed not to have heard her.
“Where are you taking me, Scott?”
“Show you in a minute. Got a cigarette?”
“Heck no.” Cassie looked as if she wanted to spit. “How long have they had a cure for cancer? Eighteen months? Something like that. Just eighteen months, and everybody smokes.”
“Never mind. I’ll buy some soon as I drop you off up here.”
“Where’s up here?”
To her surprise, he pointed. “Right there. In the parking lot.”
“You’re going to leave me there and drive away? It’ll take me twenty minutes just to hike someplace where I can catch a cab.”
The car slowed.
“In heels!” She hoped that it sounded as bitter as she felt.
“You see that black car over there? The dead black one. It doesn’t shine.”
She nodded.
“Sweet. You get out of this car and get in that one, and that’s all you do. It’s unlocked on the passenger’s side. Get in. Right side, front. Wait.”
“Suppose I don’t?”
“I kick your ass out of my car and after that you’re on your own. Twenty minutes? That what you said? Get in the black car and you probably won’t have to wait that long. So which is it?” He grinned. “I’m a good kicker, Miss Casey. Try me.”
“I’ve got a gun in my purse.”
He held out his hand. “Right here. Fork it over.”
“You want me to take it out and give it to you?” She was incredulous. “I could shoot you.”
“But you won’t. Fork it over.”
She opened her door and slid off the seat. “I was lying. Fibbing, all right? I haven’t really got one.”
She had thought her purse out of reach. It was not. He snatched it from her and straightened up.
“Hey!”
“Shut up,” he muttered. He was fumbling with the catch.
“I could call the police. I could have you arrested.”
That brought a smile. “Well, for one thing, Miss Casey, I’ve got your cell phone.”
“And for another, you’re a cop yourself. What do they call you, a plainclothesman?”
“Stupid, usually.” He looked at her. “There’s no gun in here.”
“I was lying. I told you.”
“Sure. Cell phone, compact, nail file, lipstick.” He pulled the cap off. “Hard to tell in this light. What do they call it?”
“Ultra-natural ash rose.”
“Got to watch that one. It’ll put you to sleep.” He dropped lipstick and cap back into her purse. “Billfold. Looks like about three hundred bucks. Driver’s license. Union card. Another union card — I guess the second one’s for vid. Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.” He closed her billfold, dropped it into her purse, and shut it. “Plus Kleenex and chewing gum.”
“Is that still in there?”
“Most women carry a lot more.”
“So do I. There should be a pen in there.”
“You left it someplace. Catch.” He tossed the purse to her. “Shut the door, and there’ll be no hard feelings.”
She shut it.
The black car was low and oddly angled, of a make she failed to recognize. The front door on the passenger’s side opened easily; she slid in and found the upholstery delightfully soft and luxurious.
WHEN she woke, the car was speeding along a highway. She coughed, swore, and blinked half a dozen times before she remembered how she had come to be there.
“I let you sleep,” the driver told her. “You’re not going to get a great deal of sleep tonight, and I thought it wise to let you sleep as long as you could. If you’d like coffee, we can ask for some.”
She was staring. “You’re him. You’re Gideon Chase.”
“I am.”
“You were in my apartment tonight.”
“I was.”
“You broke in.”
He nodded. “I did. And did some damage, by the way, in the process. I would think that building management would pay for the repairs, if the matter were put to them in the right way.”
“Besides, you’re going to make me rich.”
He glanced at her, his teeth flashing in the dim light. “I suppose I said that in my note. It was hastily written. I’m going to show you how you can become rich, yes. Not easily. And not safely. But quite quickly, if you have the fortitude for it.”
To her surprise, she found that she was warming to him. “Does this involve murder, Dr. Chase?”
“That,” he said, “depends on how you mean it. I do not plan to kill anyone. Is that what you’re asking?”
“I suppose.”
“Then you have your answer. Nor do I intend that you should kill anyone. If you did, however, it wouldn’t be murder. You’d be acting in defense of your country, and would thus avoid blood-guilt. Morally.”
“You’re telling me that America’s in danger.”
“Every country is always in danger. All the time.”
She sensed that he was smiling.
“Let’s get back to murder. The man we’re after has committed several. Thus he might murder you or me. In that sense, murder is certainly involved.”
“How risky is it?”
“Very risky. Mathematically? Let me think.” Gideon paused. “I’d say there’s about one chance in fifty that you’ll be killed if you do what I ask. I should tell you however that your present risk is at least equally grave. As things are right now, there’s about one chance in fifty that this man will kill you.”
“That is going to take some digesting. And coffee.”
He nodded. “Com Pu Ter, please fill the thermos under the instrument panel with coffee.”
Gurgling and hissing followed a brief silence. When they stopped, Gideon said, “It’s ready now.”
Cassie groped under the instrument panel, found the thermos, and brought it out. “Only one cup. Want to drink from the other side?”
Gideon nodded. “I do. Thank you.”
She poured. “Cream. I usually take it black, but tonight I’ll make an exception.”
“And sugar.”
“Here you go. It’s only half full.”
“Wise, I’m sure.” He accepted the cup and sipped.
“I — Dr. Chase, I just saw how fast we’re going.”
He sipped again, seeming not to have heard her.
“A hundred and forty? Is that right?”
He took the cup from his lips. “About that. We have to reach Canada and travel another hundred miles or more before sunrise. Or so I think. You see, I believe that you’ll agree to what I’m proposing. At this point you have nothing to lose, after all. And much to gain.”
Cassie drew breath, let it out, and filled her lungs again. “I’ve been looking out the window. Everything’s whizzing past. I feel like I’m in a low-flying plane.”
Gideon nodded, smiling. “I wish I had one. But if I did, there’d be no place to land it where we’re going. A hopper would be better, but the Mounties are on the lookout for smugglers. Are you up to some hiking?”
“In these heels? Absolutely not!”
“No. You’ll have to take them off. You know, I ought to have thought of that.”
“Brought shoes for me?”