whispering changed to murmuring. The masked man caught an assortment of comments about himself coming down out of the circling darkness.
Then Mara, wearing a dark floor length gown, was beside him. She held up one slim hand and silence returned. "Sisters," she announced, "this is Walker. You've already heard him discussed. Now you have had a chance to study and appraise the man. All that remains is to vote."
She took hold of the Phantom's hand, leading him to the edge of the circle of light Pressing his hand, she whispered, "Good luck."
Nita met him in the shadows. "We go back downstairs."
Out in the hallway, the Phantom asked, "Don't you get to vote?"
"I already filed an absentee ballot."
"Pro or con?"
"What do you think?" She nudged him ahead with her gun.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Mara lit a lavender tinted cigarette. From the window beside her she could look out on the Sound. Their big old Victorian house stood on the edge of a cliff, three hundred feet above the beach. The water was a glistening black and across it the Connecticut coastline was only a few faint pinpricks of light. Exhaling smoke, she returned her gaze to the five other women in the room. "It's not that at all," she insisted.
Beth, a gaunt colorless woman of fifty-six, shook her head. She was sitting unright in a hardback wooden chair she always chose when the ruling six of the golden arrow circle had their meetings in this library. "Certainly, it is," she said in a low voice. "You've developed . . . developed what I can only characterize as a schoolgirl crush on this man. Because of that you want us to jeopardize the entire organization. We've had, as I shouldn't have to remind you, two very successful years. We did what we did with a minimum of masculine assistance."
Seated at a small drop-front desk was Mimi. Twenty-five unfolded slips of paper were scattered on the blotter in front of her. "Beth, the girls don't seem to agree with you. The vote was unanimous. They all want Walker to join the golden arrow."
"Walker," snorted the gaunt Beth. "I'm beginning
to wonder if we were wise to include you on the governing body of this organization, Mimi. Sometimes you act as moonstruck and immature as the rawest recruit." She plucked a tiny cigar out of her coat pocket, lit it with a bullet-shaped lighter. "All the sisters know about Walker is what you and Mara told them. Most of that, I must remind you, is based entirely on what the man himself chose to tell. Any attorney worth his salt would call that nothing more than hearsay evidence."
Mara said, "You've just admitted we've been highly successful, Beth. That success isn't based on your judgment alone, you know. It's been due to all of us, the six of us in this room in particular."
The three other women, who had been silent up until now, murmured their agreement.
"I'd say I'm a pretty good judge of people," continued the blonde Mara. "I feel Walker will be valuable to us."
"Feel," snapped the gaunt woman. "There's the real rub, dear Mara. You feel but you do not think. You accept this man simply on his word, without doing one single bit of checking. For all you know he's a police stooge, someone planted on us."
"The cops tried to shoot him at the masked ball," Mimi pointed out. "They don't do that with their usual undercover men."
Beth sucked on her little cigar. "Our old friend, Lt Colma, is not above staging an incident Bullets are relatively cheap."
"Come on now, Beth," said Mara. "If Colma, or anyone else in the robbery division, so much as suspected any of us, he would have been much more obvious that this. He's a blunt man, fast-acting."
"So you believe," said Beth.
Mimi placed both her hands flat on the ballots. "Why don't we aim for a compromise, Beth? Since
everyone except you would like to have Walker join, why not let him and ..
"I fail to see a compromise in that, Mimi."
"I'm coming to that," said the dark girl, tossing her head impatiently. "We can let Walker join on a trial basis. Say for a week or two.
Then Mara, wearing a dark floor length gown, was beside him. She held up one slim hand and silence returned. "Sisters," she announced, "this is Walker. You've already heard him discussed. Now you have had a chance to study and appraise the man. All that remains is to vote."
She took hold of the Phantom's hand, leading him to the edge of the circle of light Pressing his hand, she whispered, "Good luck."
Nita met him in the shadows. "We go back downstairs."
Out in the hallway, the Phantom asked, "Don't you get to vote?"
"I already filed an absentee ballot."
"Pro or con?"
"What do you think?" She nudged him ahead with her gun.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Mara lit a lavender tinted cigarette. From the window beside her she could look out on the Sound. Their big old Victorian house stood on the edge of a cliff, three hundred feet above the beach. The water was a glistening black and across it the Connecticut coastline was only a few faint pinpricks of light. Exhaling smoke, she returned her gaze to the five other women in the room. "It's not that at all," she insisted.
Beth, a gaunt colorless woman of fifty-six, shook her head. She was sitting unright in a hardback wooden chair she always chose when the ruling six of the golden arrow circle had their meetings in this library. "Certainly, it is," she said in a low voice. "You've developed . . . developed what I can only characterize as a schoolgirl crush on this man. Because of that you want us to jeopardize the entire organization. We've had, as I shouldn't have to remind you, two very successful years. We did what we did with a minimum of masculine assistance."
Seated at a small drop-front desk was Mimi. Twenty-five unfolded slips of paper were scattered on the blotter in front of her. "Beth, the girls don't seem to agree with you. The vote was unanimous. They all want Walker to join the golden arrow."
"Walker," snorted the gaunt Beth. "I'm beginning
to wonder if we were wise to include you on the governing body of this organization, Mimi. Sometimes you act as moonstruck and immature as the rawest recruit." She plucked a tiny cigar out of her coat pocket, lit it with a bullet-shaped lighter. "All the sisters know about Walker is what you and Mara told them. Most of that, I must remind you, is based entirely on what the man himself chose to tell. Any attorney worth his salt would call that nothing more than hearsay evidence."
Mara said, "You've just admitted we've been highly successful, Beth. That success isn't based on your judgment alone, you know. It's been due to all of us, the six of us in this room in particular."
The three other women, who had been silent up until now, murmured their agreement.
"I'd say I'm a pretty good judge of people," continued the blonde Mara. "I feel Walker will be valuable to us."
"Feel," snapped the gaunt woman. "There's the real rub, dear Mara. You feel but you do not think. You accept this man simply on his word, without doing one single bit of checking. For all you know he's a police stooge, someone planted on us."
"The cops tried to shoot him at the masked ball," Mimi pointed out. "They don't do that with their usual undercover men."
Beth sucked on her little cigar. "Our old friend, Lt Colma, is not above staging an incident Bullets are relatively cheap."
"Come on now, Beth," said Mara. "If Colma, or anyone else in the robbery division, so much as suspected any of us, he would have been much more obvious that this. He's a blunt man, fast-acting."
"So you believe," said Beth.
Mimi placed both her hands flat on the ballots. "Why don't we aim for a compromise, Beth? Since
everyone except you would like to have Walker join, why not let him and ..
"I fail to see a compromise in that, Mimi."
"I'm coming to that," said the dark girl, tossing her head impatiently. "We can let Walker join on a trial basis. Say for a week or two.
Similar Books
