1956 - There's Always a Price Tag by James Hadley Chase Page B

lovely and got into the car without even glancing at me.
    The Cadillac was a two-seater with a bucket seat at the back and she sat next to the driver's seat. I closed the door, went around and got in beside her.
    'Palm Grove, madam?'
    'No; I've changed my mind. The Foothills Club, please.'
    The Foothills Club was out Mount Wilson way and that was quite a drive. Her change of mind should have warned me what was in the wind, but somehow the nickel didn't drop. It dropped all right later, but it didn't then. Maybe having her so close to me, the sleeve of her dress against the sleeve of my jacket, the smell of her perfume, seeing the shape of her thighs under the folds of her skirt threw me off balance: the silent powerful weapons a woman has that can make a monkey out of any man.
    The Foothills Club was used mostly by jive enthusiasts. I had been out there several times with Solly who was a keen jive fan. The advantage of the club was that it was cheap, the food good and the band superlative. Not the kind of joint one would have expected Mrs. Erle Dester to go to.
    'Do you dance, Nash?' she asked suddenly as I swung the car through the gateway on to the avenue.
    'Yes, madam.'
    'For goodness' sake stop calling me madam.'
    'Yes, Mrs. Dester.'
    'That's better.' She half turned in her seat to look at me. 'I couldn't face the Palm Grove tonight,' she went on. 'I felt I wanted something with some snap in it. Do you ever feel like that?'
    'Every so often.'
    'I thought we might dance. None of my stuffy men friends would be seen dead at the Foothills Club.'
    I didn't say anything.
    We drove for a little while in silence, then she said abruptly, 'Tell me something about yourself. Why did you take this job? A man like you - surely you could find something better?'
    'Why should I want anything better? You're the loveliest woman in Hollywood. I'm going dancing. This is a new Cadillac and I've just been paid. What more could I want?'
    She laughed, reached forward and turned on the radio. She picked up Pee-Wee Hunt doing his stuff in a jam session.
    'What were you before you became my husband's chauffeur?' she asked as she adjusted the volume control.
    'It wouldn't interest you,' I said, looking straight ahead. 'Let's keep this free of personalities, shall we? You want to dance: I want to dance. That's about it, isn't it?'
    'Yes,' she said and turned her head to watch the traffic that was hedging us in on all sides.
    She was a good dancer, and to have her in my arms, feeling her breasts against my chest, her hair against my face, her long legs touching mine, gave me a bang I thought I had got beyond feeling.
    The restaurant was pretty crowded with bobby-soxers and their kid friends. Most of the boys forgot who they were dancing with when they saw Helen.
    We danced maybe for half an hour, then she said it was time for a drink.
    'Are you feeling very rich, Nash, or shall I pay?' she asked as we moved to the bar.
    'I'm rich enough to buy you a drink. What'll it be?'
    'A brandy. While you're ordering it, I'm going to put my face straight.' She gave me that long, bold stare again. 'I didn't think I was going to enjoy this as much as I am.'
    'This is only the beginning of it,' I said. 'The night lies ahead of us.'
    'Yes.' Her fingers tightened on my arm. 'The night lies ahead of us.'
    I watched her walk down the aisle that led to the Ladies' Rest Room and I felt a little heady.
    I had an idea that this was going to be one of those nights when things go right. In the past there have been nights when things didn't go right. I have second sight about that kind of thing. I know when it isn't going the way I have planned it to go, and this night, I felt it was going right.
    I went over to a table on the terrace where I could see the door of the Ladies' Room and snapped my fingers at a waiter. I ordered a brandy and a double whisky.
    It wasn't until twenty minutes had crawled by that I began to wonder. Another ten minutes had me on my feet. Surely she