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He took a table near mine I stood up, walked past his table, dropped the napkin in front of hi on the napkin said, There’s so to skip – cover ain, crumpled the paper napkin, and turned a wary eye on the doorway He would stay there like a faithful guard dog until I dropped his leash

Now, I thought, it would be simple I had invented a fairly plausible reason forout on him but on someone else I locked myself in the john Theopened out on an alleyway that cut across to Minetta Lane All I had to do was cli with thatI don’t think it had ever been opened since they built the building They certainly hadn’t done so when they painted the last ti had been painted shut When soave up and went back to my table My shadohere I had left him He said in a whisper, "The Chief-"

"No time," I said "C’mon, cover me"

I left, and he walked beside me We headed south toward Bleecker He looked around, then spoke to me out of the corner of his mouth He said, "Who’s on our tail?"

There were two boys in field jackets a few paces behind us Near the executive type with attaché case

"The one with the briefcase," I said

"I didn’t notice hi He was onstickball"

"Never even spotted hio ahead, Tanner I’ll take hi My erstwhile tail slipped into the shadows of a doorway, let the two beat types and the guitarist pass hiet a foot in front of the young executive, who promptly dropped the attaché case and sprawled on top of it

"Cluized, and my man roared, "Watch what you say about my mother, fella!" and hit him in the side of the jaw, and I ducked around the corner on Bleecker and caught another taxi

I spent the rest oftime with Ramon and Felicidad Abrillo Ramon is an old-line syndicalist who left Spain after the Civil War and who occasionally boarded Spanish anarchists and Trotskyists ere in the States illegally He let me spend the next two days in his aparts from my place I ate paella with eels, read books in Spanish and English, listened to recorded flamenco music, and reht was scheduled to leave Kennedy Airport at 11:35 Thursday night I took a taxi to the airport and checked ers’ lounge a fat man with a wide striped tie collided with me I said, "Sorry," and he said, "Go to the ht would be boarding in twenty et to my plane before they bothered me any more Or would the Chief have the plane stopped? It was possible Anything was possible

But I really didn’t want to talk to hie and as I approached the desk I reached into my breast pocket for my ticket, and it wasn’t there

Beautiful

So I went to the y hands at the sink As usual he earing an expensively tailored suit that did not fit well on his plu his hands with one of those machines that blows hot, moist air at one

"We’re quite alone," he said "We may talk"

"Anyone could walk in-"

"Not at all One of the lads will hang an out-of-order sign on the door There’s your ticket, by the way"

He nodded at it, and I went over and collected it from the shelf over the sink

He said, "You led us a chase, Tanner Bangkok, eh? What’s in Bangkok?"

"It’s just a personal trip"

He chuckled "Oh, come, now, Tanner," he said "I know you better than that Why didn’t youfollowed I didn’t want to risk it"

"You could have given us a call, you know" He was still drying his hands Those machines never work particularly well and occasionally don’t work at all, but the places that provide them often don’t have towels, so one has no choice He kept rubbing his hands together in the air spray Finally he gave up and wiped them on his pants

"All I wanted to know," he said peevishly, "is why you’re going to Bangkok It’s not as though I had sos are rather quiet at the moment, as a matter of fact But when one of my boys heads for Southeast Asia, I do like to know about it"

"Well-"