هلن گارفیلد میره

Chapter thirteen

Helen Garfield Leaves

I sat by the dance floor in Las Cabanas, waiting for Helen Garfield to come back from the toilet. I was waiting for her to answer my question. I wanted to know why she had asked me to meet her here. I looked around at the people who were dancing.

On the other side of the dance floor, I could see people sitting eating at the tables. Waiters were carrying food in and out of the two doors leading to the kitchen.

I looked at my watch again. It was five past twelve. Helen Garfield was taking a long time. I finished my drink and ordered another one.

At ten past twelve, I got up and walked over towards the entrance. There was a man standing by the front door of the nightclub. I asked him if he had seen Helen.

‘The beautiful blonde with blue eyes’ the man asked.

‘Yes,’ I said.

‘She left nearly a quarter of an hour ago,’ said the man.

‘Are you sure’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ the man replied. ‘She asked me to get her a taxi.’

‘Did you hear her give the taxi driver an address’ I asked quickly.

The man shook his head.

‘No,’ he said, ‘I’m sorry.’

I thanked the man and walked back to my seat.

Why did Helen Garfield leave without telling me, I asked myself. Perhaps some of the questions that I asked made her angry.

Just then, I looked up and saw a man walking across the dance floor towards me. I recognised the man. He was short, with red hair. He was looking at me and smiling in a rather unfriendly way. It was Jo - one of the men who had found me in Elaine Garfield’s apartment.

I decided to leave. I stood up and started to walk towards the door. I didn’t want to meet Jo again. As I walked towards the door, I thought that I heard someone shouting.

‘Excuse me, sir,’ said a voice.

I didn’t stop or look around. Then I heard the voice again.

‘Excuse me, sir. You haven’t paid your bill.’

I had forgotten to pay for the drinks. The waiter came running up to me and I quickly took out ten dollars and gave them to the waiter.

‘You can keep the change,’ I said as I gave him the money.ну

Without waiting for a reply, I turned and hurried towards the door.

Then I heard the waiter’s voice again.

‘Excuse me, sir, excuse me, sir,’ he said.

I stopped and turned around. The waiter came up to me.

‘Excuse me, sir, ten dollars is not enough,’ he said, ‘The price of your drinks is twelve dollars.’

‘Las Cabanas is very expensive,’ I said, as I gave the waiter another five dollars. ‘Now, you can keep the change.’

Then I stopped thinking about money. Jo was walking quickly towards me. I turned around and ran towards the door as fast as I could. I got to the door and was just about to leave Las Cabanas. I was happy because I had escaped.

Then I got a surprise. There, standing by the door of the nightclub, was Jo’s tall friend. It was the same man who had hit me on the head in Miss Garfield’s apartment. The tall man had seen me coming and had moved in front of the door. Now, I couldn’t get out.