Free Vulture is a Patient Bird by James Hadley Chase Page A

let you have the tickets . . . Shall I bring them round now?"

    "Yes."

    "Okay, then," and then line went dead.

    He didn't arrive until 22.05 hrs., giving her a frantic wait of an hour and a half. She thought he looked thinner and he wore a scowling frown that gave him a dark, sullen look.

    "Here you are," he said, dropping three pawn tickets on the table. "I shouldn't have done it . . . but I was in trouble . . . I had to raise money fast."

    "It's all right. I understand. Are you hungry?"

    "No . . . I can't stay. I've got to go," and he turned to the front door.

    She gazed at him in panic.

    "But you — please stay. I want you to stay."

    He turned on her, his eyes suddenly savage.

    "I've got to raise more money," he said. "I can't fool around here. There's a girl living near my pad who is trying to raise something for me. I've got to see her tonight."

    "A girl?" Natalie turned cold. "Daz . . . won't you explain what this is all about? Won't you sit down? I could help you if you would explain."

    "I've had enough out of you." Daz shook his head. "Anyway, Lola has practically promised . . ."

    "Please sit down and tell me."

    He sat down. It was easy to lie to her. The horse that was a cinch. The bet he couldn't cover, and now the bookie was after him.

    "They are a tough lot," he concluded. "If I don't raise fifty pounds by tomorrow they are going to do me."

    "Do you?" Natalie looked at him in horror. "What does that mean?"

    "Carve me, of course," he said impatiently. "Slash me with a razor . . . what do you think?"

    She imagined that handsome face bleeding. The thought made her feel faint.

    "I can let you have fifty pounds, Daz . . . of course."

    "I can't take it from you . . . no, I'll see Lola."

    "Don't be silly. I'll give you a cheque now."

    An hour later, they were lying side by side on the bed. Natalie was relaxed and happy for the first time since last she had seen Daz. It had been wonderful, she was thinking, better even than the first time. She turned to look at Daz and her heart contracted to see that sullen dark look back on his face again.

    "What is it, Daz?"

    "Just thinking . . . can't a man think, for God's sake?" She flinched at the harsh note in his voice.

    "Wasn't it good for you? Did I disappoint you?"

    "I wasn't thinking about that." He looked impatiently at her in the shaded light of the bedside lamp. "That's over. I'm thinking ahead. Just shut up a minute, will you?"

    She remained still, waiting and watching his hard young face and the way his eyes shifted, reminding her of an animal in a trap.

    "Yes," he said finally as if speaking his thoughts aloud. "That's what I'll do. I'll get out. I'll go to Dublin. That's it! Danny will get me a job."

    Natalie sat up, clutching the sheet to her breasts.

    "Dublin? What do you mean?"

    He frowned at her as if just aware she was with him.

    "What I say. I have to get out. That fifty quid you've given me

    will keep Isaacs off my neck for a couple of days. By then, I'll be out of his reach."

    She felt as if she were going to faint again. Watching her, Daz saw he had played a trump card.

    "But you said if I gave you the money it would be all right," she gasped. "Daz! Tell me! What do you mean?"

    He looked scornfully at her.

    "You don't imagine a bookie would carve anyone for fifty quid, do you? I'm in the hole for twelve hundred."

    Once she had absorbed the shock, her trained mind searched for ways and means. Twelve hundred pounds! It was an impossible sum! She had taken an expensive autumn vacation, and she had only two hundred pounds to her credit at her bank. But the idea of Daz leaving England and going to Ireland was unthinkable.

    She slid off the bed and put on her wrap while Daz watched her. He saw there was a change of expression on her face. He saw her mind was working, and he lay still, waiting results. He wondered uneasily if he had put the price too high, but Burnett had told him to clean her out. Just suppose she hadn't the