I USED TO KNOW HIM

CHAPTER TEN

     The men from Andrew's gas station!

"Nick?"

     It was Margret. She had followed him down and he could see her framed in

the doorway at the foot of the stairs. She had slipped into a nightgown

that, in the moonlight, was more alluring than if she had been nude. She

started to speak, but he hissed at her for silence.

     "Come here, Margret," he instructed, "and don't put on a light."

Her bare feet whispered on the rug as she came to his side in obvious

bewilderment. He pointed out the car and the two men, telling her about

how they had inquired after him at the gas station. She listened

quietly.

     "What do they want?" She asked, when he'd finished.

She was sitting on the arm of the chair, leaning against him to study

the car. The soft pressure of her breasts was disturbing and conjured up

memories of early in the evening.

"What do they want?" She asked again.

     "I don't know. That's something I have to find out. Listen, give me a

minute to get to the upstairs window. Then snap on the light and move

around. They're probably looking for me and I want to give them the

impression I'm not here."

"All right, Nick."

     He got up and threaded his way to the stairs and up to kneel before the

bedroom window that fronted on the street. Through the gap in the

curtains, he could see the car plainly. The light snapped on downstairs.

For a moment, nothing happened; the men merely sat in the car and

watched the house. Finally the car began moving down the street with its

lights out. Then, out of range, the driver flicked on the lights and the

car disappeared. The downstairs light snapped off and a moment later

Margret came into the room.

"Nick?"

"Here."

    "Perhaps they saw the crash..." she began, but he cut her off short.

"No one saw me crash."

"I mean, later," she explained. "After all, a wrecked car on a highway

would..."

"Car? Margret, I didn't crack up in a car. I crashed on a wooded mountain

in a private plane."

"Oh, darling, don't be silly! You've never been in a plane in your

life."

     In the darkness of the room, Nick could only stare in stunned amazement

at the moonlit outline of his wife.