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An ee tinkled down at Bond's feet He heard the click of the next round going into the chaers scrabbled briefly at the cobbles His shoes knocked on the road Then he lay absolutely still

Kerirunted The rifle came down off Bond's shoulder Bond listened to the noises of Keri away the Sniperscope in its leather case

Bond looked away froure of the man who had been, but was no ainst the life that ainst Keriet In a way it had been a long duel, in which the man had fired twice to Kerim's once But Kerim was the cleverer, cooler man, and the luckier, and that had been that But Bond had never killed in cold blood, and he hadn't liked watching, and helping, someone else do it

Kerim silently took his arm They walked sloay from the scene and back the way they had cohts 'Life is full of death, my friend,' he said philosophically 'And soret killing thatany of those Russiansin that office today They are hard people With theet froovern with them Just an occasional little lesson in ht'

'In power politics, one doesn't often have the chance of being as quick and neat as you were tonight, Darko And don't forget it's only one of their satellites you've punished, one of the men they always find to do their dirty work Mark you,' said Bond, 'I quite agree about the Russians They simply don't understand the carrot Only the stick has any effect Basically they're masochists They love the knout That's why they were so happy under Stalin He gave it the to react to the scraps of carrot they're being fed by Khrushchev and Co As for England, the trouble today is that carrots for all are the fashion At houhed harshly, butalley and there was no breath for talk They rested at the top and then walked slowly towards the trees of the Hippodroivefor reassurance in the big ive what? Don't be ridiculous' There was affection in Bond's voice 'You've got a job to do and you're doing it I've been very iot a wonderful set-up here I'reat deal of trouble down on your head And you've dealt with it I've just tagged along behind And I've got absolutely nowhere withpretty ie at the hotel'

But when Kerim took Bond back to the hotel and ith hi for Bond Kerim clapped him on the back 'Don't worry, ood breakfast Eat plenty of it I will send the car in thehas happened I will think of soun and sleep on it You both deserve a rest'

Bond climbed the few stairs and unlocked his door and locked and bolted it behind hih the curtains He walked across and turned on the pink-shaded lights on the dressing-table He stripped off his clothes and went into the bathrooht how much more eventful Saturday the fourteenth had been than Friday the thirteenth He cleaned his teeth and gargled with a sharp et rid of the taste of the day and turned off the bathrooht and went back into the bedroom

Bond drew aside one curtain and opened wide the tall s and stood, holding the curtains open and looking out across the great booht breeze felt wonderfully cool on his naked body He looked at his watch It said two o'clock

Bond gave a shuddering yawn He let the curtains drop back into place He bent to switch off the lights on the dressing-table Suddenly he stiffened and his heart le froirl's voice said, 'Poor Mister Bond You must be tired Come to bed'

Chapter Twenty

Black on Pink

Bond whirled round He looked over to the bed, but his eyes were blind fro at the ht by the bed There was a long body under the single sheet Brown hair was spread out on the pillow The tips of fingers showed, holding the sheet up over the face Lower down the breasts stood up like hills under snow

Bond laughed shortly He leaned forward and gave the hair a soft tug There was a squeak of protest froe of the bed After a moment's silence a corner of the sheet was cautiously lowered and one large blue eye inspected him

'You look very improper' The voice was muffled by the sheet

'What about you! And how did you get here?'

'I walked doo floors I live here too' The voice was deep and provocative There was very little accent

'Well, I'et into bed'

The sheet cairl pulled herself up on the pillows She was blushing 'Oh no You mustn't'

'But it's my bed And anyway you told me to' The face was incredibly beautiful Bond examined it coolly The blush deepened'

'That was only a phrase To introduce lad to meet you My name's James Bond'

'Mine's Tatiana Romanova' She sounded the second A of Tatiana and the first A of Ro 'My friends call me Tania'

There was a pause while they looked at each other, the girl with curiosity, and hat ht have been relief Bond with cool surmise

She was the first to break the silence 'You look just like your photographs,' she blushed again 'But youon It upsets me'

'You upset ot into bed with you it wouldn't ot on?'

She pulled the sheet a fraction lower to show a quarter-inch black velvet ribbon round her neck 'This'