Ник Картер - The Code

“Penny won’t be here, I’m afraid.”

“Mrs. Burdick, do the visiting fireman a favor. Tell me how I can get in touch with Penny. If she doesn’t live here, give me her address. I could call her up and maybe arrange something.”

“We have rules here, you know. We don’t give out information like that about our girls. They have a right to a life of their own when they aren’t working.”

She was growing cooler as I grew insistent.

Stabbed by a sudden suspicion, I said, “Are you trying to prevent my seeing her?”

She smiled and didn’t answer, but her manner was response enough.

The maid came into the room after knocking discreetly. She brought a tray with a pair of drinks on it. I sat with a glass in my hand and wondered why the madam was giving me the VIP treatment when she apparently had no intention of allowing me to see Penny.

“When I called, I asked to speak to Penny, but I got you. Why was that, Mrs. Burdick?”

“Because she wasn’t here, obviously. At the time, I believed she’d be back later in the day. I was mistaken.”

I rattled the ice in my glass, but I didn’t take a drink. “Where is she?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” She didn’t raise her voice, but her eyes were steely now.

Scowling, I put my glass down. I didn’t trust her.

“Our girls take vacations, you know. They visit relatives. They get sick. They’re like anyone else, despite what you may hear.”

I hated to pull a gun in the genteel surroundings of the classiest cathouse in San Francisco, but the measure seemed to be necessary.

Liz Burdick raised her eyebrows as the Luger slid into my hand. However, she looked something less than surprised.

“Now we’re getting down to the real business at hand, aren’t we, Mr. Harper?”

“The gun is to let you know that I’m serious. Very serious.”

“Penny has left us for a while. I can’t be any more definite than that.”

Dealing with her was like dealing with a woman shielded by a wall of ice.

She set her glass down. Every move she made was like poetry. “Are you interested in telling me why you carry a gun, Mr. Harper?”

“People keep trying to put bullets in me.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. But we live in violent times. Now that you’re pointing the weapon at me, what am I supposed to do?”

“I hoped it might shake you up a little. I underestimated you.” I stood up and holstered the Luger. “I’m looking for a man who carried Penny’s name in his address book. A big man called Moose, and sometimes Edward Jones. He’s a tough character.”

“No such person has ever been in this house.”

“I want to ask Penny about him.”

“I’m sorry. It can’t be arranged. You’d better leave, Mr. Harper.”

I didn’t move. I stood looking at her and said, “Name your price.”

“I don’t sell information.”

I grinned at her. “I’m not talking about information.”

This time she was surprised. “You mean, for one of my girls?”

“No, Mrs. Burdick. Not one of your girls.”

She understood. And damn her, she smiled and met my eyes. “That would be very expensive. The best is always expensive.”

“I want the best,” I said.

I stretched out on the bed and watched Liz disrobe. Her limbs glinted golden-tan in the light from an antique lamp. Her waist was slender and her shoulders small, but her breasts were large and full. They swayed as she moved toward me. Like her face, her body was well kept, in superb condition.

“What do you think this will get you? Other than the obvious, I mean.”

“You interest me. I want to find out what makes you tick,” I said.

She laughed huskily. “You don’t find out about a whore by taking her to bed. A whore is an actress and the bed’s a stage.” She leaned over me and put her mouth on mine. Her tongue crawled between my lips and her hand slid down my thigh. “But I am not a whore. Do you understand that?”

“Not really,” I said.

“I do not service my clients. My girls do that. I am not for sale.”

“Then why did you accept my offer?”

“It wasn’t an offer,” she said. “It was a challenge.”

I pulled her down on the bed. My hands slid over her body. I felt her fingers working on the buttons of my shirt. I helped her by sliding it off. When she saw my bandaged wound, she asked no questions. Her composed features grew flushed as I made love to her. Her tongue darted out for mine, the hands stroking my back suddenly tensed, and then she surged under me with a wild cry...

“Well, how was it?” she asked.

“Like you said, you’re the best.”

“So are you, Ned Harper. Aside from that, what are you? A gunman, a cop, what?”

“Closer to a cop.”

She touched the bandage. “This is a bullet wound, isn’t it?”

“Compliments of a friend of the man you claim you never saw.”

“Do you think I’m going to help you just because you went to bed with me?”

“I’ll find him with or without your help. He has killed at least five people. One happened to be a close friend of mine. One was a beautiful woman. He broke her neck.”

“Stop it,” she said in a harsh voice. “Moose came here twice. He wasn’t my typical customer. He was crude and violent and I could tell he was a criminal. But he had known Penny before she started here. She said he was a friend. I told her he was no good. I was glad when he didn’t show up again after the second visit.”

I kissed the back of her neck. “Where is she, Liz?”

“I wasn’t protecting Moose. I was helping Penny. She said she didn’t want to see you, that it would endanger her life.”

“How did she know that?”

“She didn’t elaborate. She left in a hurry, as soon as I promised I wouldn’t give her away.” Liz twisted in my arms. “Maybe Moose has been in contact with her. Is that what you re thinking?”

“It’s possible.”

“I know where she’s staying. I don’t know if I want to tell you. The information could get you killed if Moose is with her.”

“Tell me,” I said.

She sighed “The place is an old summer cottage outside of town. I’ll write down the directions for you.” She rose and walked to an antique writing table. She moved beautifully. She had a small, hard behind, like a young girls.

I watched as she stood at the table and wrote on a dainty scrap of blue stationery. Her full breasts swayed when she moved. The light played on her sleek shoulders. She was a genuine blonde, golden between the thighs.

Soundlessly I left the bed. I reached around her and caressed her breasts. I cupped them in my palms and toyed with her nipples, feeling them grow hard again.

Tilting her head, she stood motionless, enjoying my caresses. I could smell her hair, the perfume on her body.

“I’m glad I came to San Francisco,” I said.

Slowly she leaned against me, then turned and let her head fall on my shoulder. “How long do you have, Ned?”

“Long enough,” I said.

Her hand gently touched my face. I picked her up and carried her back to the bed...

The house where Penny was staying sat high on a bluff outside San Francisco. Liz’s directions had been easy to follow. I parked fifty yards away from the house at the side of a deserted road, got out of my car, and quietly closed the door. The night air was cool and damp, the ground wet from a summer rain. On each side of me, the woods had grown thick with underbrush that crowded the edges of the road.

I could see a car near the house’s front door. Approaching cautiously, I passed the car and crouched under one of the lighted windows of the house. Inside, two people were talking. I heard their voices although I couldn’t make out their words. One of the voices belonged to a man.