passage they had entered from, and said "Follow me, gentlemen!"
163 Bullet and Smiling Fox's room was on the passage leading from the
garage. The rooms had originally been designed to quarter several men,
so they were large. A shower, toilet and sink had been installed in one
corner. The room was well furnished and comfortable.
164 Bullet found a suit that fit him well, and everything else he would
need, including his weapons. The pistol was still loaded. He laid it on
the bureau but as he didn't feel comfortable without a weapon of some
kind, he slipped his knife into the hidden scabbard in his boot.
165 He wasn't sure whether someone was supposed to come for him, or
rather he was supposed to go back on his own. So he tried the door and
found it open. In the hall, opposite, one of the Guards was leaning
against the wall, his cap down over his eyes. Bullet came out and shut
the door. "I want a word with you!" the Guard announced.
166 "Go ahead," agreed Bullet.
167 "You'd BETTER be what you say you are!" the man continued, "because
if you're not, and anything happens to that man in there, there'll be
no place in this world you can hide. We've got quite a network
ourselves. You understand me?"
168 "I see the picture you're painting," agreed Bullet, "you don't have
to worry. My days of working for the gentlemen who cover their faces
are long over. I work for a Greater Power, now."
169 "Just being sure," smiled the Guard. He stood up and looked at
Bullet. "I knew your father once, long time ago. We did a little
business. He wasn't half bad, for a Hood!" The man headed down the
hall, satisfied he'd made his point.
170 "Whatever this man was in the past," thought Bullet, "he now
inspired a great deal of loyalty in the people that worked for him."