An Evil Guest Read Online Free PDF Page A

to wait that long. So which is it?” He grinned. “I’m a good kicker, Miss Casey. Try me.”
    “I’ve got a gun in my purse.”
    He held out his hand. “Right here. Fork it over.”
    “You want me to take it out and give it to you?” She was incredulous. “I could shoot you.”
    “But you won’t. Fork it over.”
    She opened her door and slid off the seat. “I was lying. Fibbing, all right? I haven’t really got one.”
    She had thought her purse out of reach. It was not. He snatched it from her and straightened up.
    “Hey!”
    “Shut up,” he muttered. He was fumbling with the catch.
    “I could call the police. I could have you arrested.”
    That brought a smile. “Well, for one thing, Miss Casey, I’ve got your cell phone.”
    “And for another, you’re a cop yourself. What do they call you, a plainclothesman?”
    “Stupid, usually.” He looked at her. “There’s no gun in here.”
    “I was lying. I told you.”
    “Sure. Cell phone, compact, nail file, lipstick.” He pulled the cap off. “Hard to tell in this light. What do they call it?”
    “Ultra-natural ash rose.”
    “Got to watch that one. It’ll put you to sleep.” He dropped lipstick and cap back into her purse. “Billfold. Looks like about three hundred bucks. Driver’s license. Union card. Another union card—I guess the second one’s for vid. Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.” He closed her billfold, dropped it into her purse, and shut it. “Plus Kleenex and chewing gum.”
    “Is that still in there?”
    “Most women carry a lot more.”
    “So do I. There should be a pen in there.”
    “You left it someplace. Catch.” He tossed the purse to her. “Shut the door, and there’ll be no hard feelings.”
    She shut it.
    The black car was low and oddly angled, of a make she failed to recognize.The front door on the passenger’s side opened easily; she slid in and found the upholstery delightfully soft and luxurious.
    W HEN she woke, the car was speeding along a highway. She coughed, swore, and blinked half a dozen times before she remembered how she had come to be there.
    “I let you sleep,” the driver told her. “You’re not going to get a great deal of sleep tonight, and I thought it wise to let you sleep as long as you could. If you’d like coffee, we can ask for some.”
    She was staring. “You’re him. You’re Gideon Chase.”
    “I am.”
    “You were in my apartment tonight.”
    “I was.”
    “You broke in.”
    He nodded. “I did. And did some damage, by the way, in the process. I would think that building management would pay for the repairs, if the matter were put to them in the right way.”
    “Besides, you’re going to make me rich.”
    He glanced at her, his teeth flashing in the dim light. “I suppose I said that in my note. It was hastily written. I’m going to show you how you can become rich, yes. Not easily. And not safely. But quite quickly, if you have the fortitude for it.”
    To her surprise, she found that she was warming to him. “Does this involve murder, Dr. Chase?”
    “That,” he said, “depends on how you mean it. I do not plan to kill anyone. Is that what you’re asking?”
    “I suppose.”
    “Then you have your answer. Nor do I intend that you should kill anyone. If you did, however, it wouldn’t be murder. You’d be acting in defense of your country, and would thus avoid blood-guilt. Morally.”
    “You’re telling me that America’s in danger.”
    “Every country is always in danger. All the time.”
    She sensed that he was smiling.
    “Let’s get back to murder. The man we’re after has committed several. Thus he might murder you or me. In that sense, murder is certainly involved.”
    “How risky is it?”
    “Very risky. Mathematically? Let me think.” Gideon paused. “I’d saythere’s about one chance in fifty that you’ll be killed if you do what I ask. I should tell you however that your present risk is at least equally grave. As things are right now,