Never Bet Your Life by George Harmon Coxe

Author:George Harmon Coxe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road

CHAPTER TWELVE

DAVE BARNUM was too occupied with his encounter with Willie Shear to realize he was hungry until he had driven nearly twenty miles. Then, seeing the lights of a roadside restaurant ahead of him, he pulled in, and in the space of thirty minutes, including time of preparation, demolished a steak sandwich and three cups of coffee.

It was after ten when he drove through Vantine, and without any intention of stopping at the Club 80 he found himself heading for the parking lot. By the time he was inside he knew he wanted a drink so he stopped at the bar and ordered his Bourbon and water. Beyond, in the main room, the orchestra was playing and he saw Liza Drake sitting with some people at a table. Apparently she saw him too because she appeared at his side when he was about halfway through his drink. He said hello, and what would she have?

“Nothing, thanks.”

Liza looked very striking in the white, strapless gown that contrasted so sharply with her tanned shoulders. It fitted her handsome, full-blown body like a sheath, and it was obvious that there was very little but Liza underneath. Her red mouth held a faint and none too reassuring smile, and her dark eyes, black in the shadows, were enigmatic as they inspected him.

Dave waited, aware that she had something on her mind that concerned him and not particularly wanting to hear it. Neither did he intend to gulp his drink and run. Presently she had her say.

“Your friend was around to see me,” she said.

“Friend?”

“Captain Vaughn.”

Oh, thought Dave, so that’s it.

He considered again his earlier estimate of the woman and decided she would be a swell person to have on your side. She would be a staunch and loyal supporter so long as she liked you. Having earned her displeasure, as he most certainly had, you would find things less pleasant.

“Why don’t you ask me what he wanted?” she asked coldly. “Sleeping capsules,” she added when Dave kept his attention on his drink.

“Did he find any?”

“No.”

“He didn’t think he would.”

“He asked me what I’d done with them. I told him I never used them.” She hesitated, her smile fixed. “He quoted you. I said no. It was sort of a standoff.”

In trying to avoid her gaze, Dave’s glance slid beyond her to find Sam Resnik picking his way through the tables, and now it came to him that, at the moment, he had no more desire to talk to Sam than to Liza. Very quickly then he put a bill on the bar. He said good night and walked out.

Dave saw Betty’s car when he rolled down the driveway. He parked his own car, locked the doors, and came round to the front of the bungalow. As he entered and snapped on the lights he heard Betty call to him.

A sudden glow of pleasure struck through him in that first instant when he stepped to the door and saw her on the steps. “Hi,” he said.

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