Free The Menacers by Donald Hamilton

crumpled garment and looked down at herself with distaste.
    “Oh, my God,” she said. “You might have undressed me. You didn’t have to let me sleep it off in my clothes.”
    “You’ve got others in your suitcase,” I said. “Use them. But first take a couple of these.”
    She looked suspiciously at the white pills I held out to her. “What’s that?”
    “Cyanide,” I said. “What else? We always carry cyanide pills in our aspirin bottles. You never know when they may come in handy.”
    She grinned weakly. “I hope you’re not kidding. Right now, cyanide sounds swell.” She took the aspirin, swallowed it, and washed it down with water from the glass I handed her. She gave me a funny, almost shy little glance. “Did I… I mean, did we… I mean, what the hell happened last night, anyway?”
    “You’ve still got your panties on,” I said. “If that’s what you mean.”
    Her grin was stronger this time. “What a waste of good liquor. Do I get to take a shower?”
    “If you don’t close the bathroom door. I don’t think you can make it out through the little window they’ve got in there, but I don’t intend to give you a chance to try. Leave the door open, and answer at once when I speak to you, and I won’t peek around the corners. Okay?”
    Half an hour later, she presented herself for inspection, slim and boyish in a natty ensemble—pants and jacket—that reminded me unpleasantly of the costume of the woman I’d shot the night before, except that this suit was constructed of some thin printed material featuring a lot of tiny pink-and-green flowers.
    Netta read my expression and said, “No like, dad?”
    I shrugged. “I once knew a woman who got shot for wearing an outfit like that. Somebody took her for a man and put three bullets into her. But if that’s the way you like to look, it’s okay with me.”
    Netta laughed. “You’re a funny, old-fashioned kind of character, aren’t you?”
    I looked at her for a moment. “I may be old-fashioned, doll,” I said, “but I’m not funny. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m just a great big warmhearted daddyo, just because I left your lily-white body alone and didn’t peek while you were in the shower. We’re going out there now, to pay the hotel bill, take a taxi to the airport, and board the plane. If it’s late, as they tell me it often is, we’ll wait for it. There may be some opportunities for you to make a break, O’Leary. At least you may think they’re opportunities. But on second thought I think you’ll see that I didn’t get where I am in my line of work by letting little pipsqueak girls run away from me.”
    She licked her lips. “You don’t have to be insulting, Matt.”
    “Oh, yes, I do,” I said. “Because I have to pound something into the space between your ears, whatever it may contain. I’ve got to make you understand that there are two people in the world who can get you killed in the next ten hours or so. One is a guy named Harsek. The other is you. If either of those people get out of line, you’re dead. Well, you can’t do anything about Harsek, but you can certainly do something about you, and I advise you to do it.”
    “All right,” she said. “All right, I get the message. I read you loud and clear. I’ll be good. What about… what about this Harsek? What do you think he’ll do?”
    “I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t even know that the man is around. There’s been no sign of him. But he was mentioned, and I have to assume he’s waiting somewhere along our route, or that somebody is. As for what he’ll do, I’m betting on a rifle with a telescopic sight. If he’s got a man good enough to drop me instantly with a long-range brain or neck shot…”
    Netta shivered. “Don’t!”
    I grinned. “What’s the matter, would you miss me, Carrots? Anyway, whatever he does, it’ll have to be fast and effective, if he wants you alive, and he knows it. So if you find me walking and