HE HAD NO OBJECTION, REALLY. She was very warm and soft and blonde and cuddly, and the warmth was catching. She had nice soft lips, and she held him tightly, dragging him back to the couch. They fell, and the springs creaked loudly.
He finally managed to pull back. “But we hardly know each other,” he said.
“Kiss me, kiss me,” she sighed.
She pulled him down on her, and they kissed again.
“Allow me to introduce—”
“Later, baby, later,” she said.
They kissed more, and while they were kissing, she wriggled against him and messed his hair and did various other little things which, in the back of his mind, he appreciated.
It was then that the police knocked on the door and entered immediately afterward. They looked up from the couch at the man in the uniform, who blushed deeply and excused himself in quick Spanish. The door slammed shut again.
The girl sat up and pushed Ross away. She put on a quilted housejacket, lit a cigarette, and said, “That will be fifty dollars, please.”
“What?”
“Fifty dollars, lover.”
“What for?”
“Services rendered,” she said.
“I don’t under—”
“If it seems excessive,” she said, “I can always scream. The police will be back in seconds. And I will explain how you burst into my apartment, running from them, and—”
“Fifty dollars,” he said, reaching for his wallet. He counted out ten five-dollar bills and set them on the coffee table.
As the girl scooped them up, she said, “Isn’t money wonderful?”
“Nice if you can get it.”
“That’s what I always say. Do you want it?”
“Want what?”
“Cost you another fifty, you know.” She smiled slightly. “Inflation. The rising spiral of wages and prices. Supply and demand. You know?”
“Not really,” he said. He was puzzled by her. She had a blonde, American wholesomeness and an American accent. “What’s your name?”
“Suzy,” she said. “Gordon. I am employed by the American consul in Barcelona.”
“Oh?”
“In a private capacity.”
“Oh?”
“In a very private capacity. You must know about the public sector and the private sector. All that stuff. Well, there’s the public parts and the private parts, too.”
“Oh?”
“And besides, he is a very dear man.”
“Oh?”
“He is a perfect example of what I call the gross national product.”
“Oh.”
“But he’s rich, you see. That helps.”
“Oh?”
“However, I also do other kinds of work. Listen, the economics of this business are fascinating. I pay income tax, you know. Damn right I do. I’m a law-abiding public servant.”
“I see.”
“Now then,” she said, “you’re the doctor, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay.” She went to a corner of the room and came back with a paper bag. “I’m authorized to negotiate with you.”
“You are?”
“Sure. There’s no point in acting surprised, lover. I know you’re smarter than you act. At least, I hope you are. Now then: what are you asking?”
“For what?”
“For everything you know. I’m authorized to negotiate.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Information, baby,” she said, stubbing out her cigarette. “That’s what we want.”
“We?”
“Of course. Now what are you asking?”
“I’m not asking anything.”
“Play it as cagey as you want. I’ll give you five thousand dollars.”
He watched as she reached into the paper bag and brought out five stacks of bills. Each was bound with a paper strip on which was marked “$1000.”
She stepped back from the table. “Well?”
“What can I say?”
“Say where the shipment is.”
“The shipment?”
She winced, reached into the bag, and brought out five more bundles of bills.
“The body, baby,” she said. “Say where it is.”
“What body?”
“Listen, sweetmeat, this is serious business. You’re dealing with an obsession, you know? The guy really cares. You want more? Fifteen thousand?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t be bought,” Ross said.
“Bullshit,” she said.
“Because I don’t know anything,” Ross said.
“Bullshit,” she said.
Ross stood. “I’m sorry we have to part this way.”
She scooped up the money and dropped it into the paper bag. “You’re making a mistake.”
“But I’ll always remember you fondly.”
“You could get killed.”
“Even on my deathbed, I will remember little Suzy—”
“I’m not so little.”
“—and her stacks of money.”
She smiled. She came up and patted his cheek. “You’re a love,” she said. “Just be careful, huh? I’d hate to see you get killed.”
“So would I.”
“And the chances are you will get killed.”
“I’m beginning to suspect you’re right.”
“I usually am,” Suzy said. “It’s because you won’t play the game.”
“I’d play,” Ross said, “if I only knew the rules.”
“But you see,” Suzy said, “that’s the way the game is. Nobody knows the rules.”
“Not much of a game.”
“Well, it depends.”
As he was leaving, she said. “By the way, better wipe that lipstick off your face before you go. You look like you’ve been through a pretty wild time.”
“I have,” Ross said, and closed the door behind him.