Free Never Leave Me by Harold Robbins Page B

out of the washroom.”
    I didn’t say a word.
    “Damn!” she said, her eyes still on mine. That surprised me. “Why?” I asked.
    Instead of explaining, she turned and started from the elevator. I followed her into Matt Brady’s private office. She walked around his desk and took a key from her purse. She hesitated a moment, then opened the desk and took out the report. “I’m a fool,” she said, the paper still in her hand. “You can turn copper on me.”
    I didn’t answer, just stood there watching her. A moment passed; then without looking at it, she handed the paper to me. For the second time in a few seconds she had surprised me. “Aren’t you even going to look at it?” I asked.
    She walked around me to her door and opened it. She stood there in the open doorway, looking back at me. “No,” she said. “I know you’re married, and it isn’t that I mean. But if another girl’s got you, I don’t want to know her name.”
    The door closed behind her and I walked over to the window to get the light. I tipped my hat figuratively to Matt Brady. He may not have had much time in which to work, but there was very little that he had missed. My whole life was down there in those few sheets of paper. I scanned the sheets searching for her name.
    I had nothing to worry about. The report merely stated that I had been accompanied by a woman who spent the night in my suite and that pursuant to instructions they would discontinue further observation. I dropped the papers on his desk and lit a cigarette.
    I just had time enough for one drag when the door opened. “Well?” she asked. “I read it,” I answered, pointing to the sheets.
    “Everything all right?” She came into the room, closing the door behind her.
    “Yeah,” I answered, beginning to feel a little foolish. I moved towards her. “I don’t know how to thank you,” I added awkwardly.
    She didn’t answer.
    I moved towards the elevator. “I guess I’d better be going.”
    “You can’t go right now,” she said. “You’ll be noticed. They’ll see the elevator signal on the control panel in the lobby and they’ll come to check.”
    I stopped. “How do I get out of here then?”
    A curious smile crossed her lips. “You have to wait for me. I leave about five-fifteen, when the rush is over.”
    I checked my watch. It was almost four o’clock. The smile was still on her lips as she watched me. “Sit down and wait,” she said. “I’ll get you a drink.”
    I crossed the room to the large sectional and sank onto it. “I can use one,” I said.
    I watched her move about the office as she put the drink together. The ice cubes made a comforting clinking sound as she brought the glass over to me. I sipped it gratefully.
    She slipped into a chair opposite me. “What are you going to do now, Brad?” she asked.
    I took another pull at my drink. “Go back to New York and forget all about this,” I answered. “It won’t be as easy as that,” she said. “Matt Brady wants you.”
    I smiled at her.
    “Don’t smile,” she said seriously. “When you get back to the hotel, you’ll find a message there, asking you to dinner at his house this evening.”
    “I won’t go,” I said.
    “You’ll go,” she answered. “By the time you get back to your hotel, you’ll have thought it over.
    You’ll remember all the money he was talking about, you’ll think about everything you can do with it and everything it can do for you.” She sipped her drink. “You’ll go.”
    “You know all the answers,” I said, watching her.
    Her eyes fell from mine. “I don’t,” she replied. “But I’ve seen this happen before. He’ll get you.
    Money means nothing to him. He’ll pile it in front of you until your head spins. He’ll talk soft and tell you how great you are and how important you’ll be. And all the time you’ll be watching the pile of chips on the table grow until your eyes pop. Then tag—you’ve had it.”
    I put my drink on the