a pile of blankets. "This is why you should never smoke in bed,' she said.
As the flames blazed up, Billie piled on additional bedlinen. Her face was flushed with heat and excitement, and she looked more alluring than ever. Soon there was a roaring bonfire. Smoke poured out of the closet and began to fill the corridor.
'Time to sound the alarm,' she said. 'We don't want anyone to get hurt'
'Right,' Luke said, and again the phrase came into his mind: They're not collaborators. But now he understood it In the Resistance, blowing up factories and warehouses, he must have worried constantly about innocent French people getting injured.
He grasped the little hammer that hung on a chain next-to the fire alarm. He broke the glass with a light tap and pressed the large red button inside. A moment later, a loud ringing shattered the silence of the corridor.
Chapter 13
Luke and Billie retreated along the corridor, moving away from the elevator, until they could only just see the door of Luke's suite through the smoke.
The door nearest them opened and a woman in a nightdress came out. She saw the smoke, screamed, and ran for the stairs. From another door, a man in shirtsleeves emerged with a pencil in his hand, obviously having been working late; then a young couple wrapped in sheets appeared, looking as if they had been interrupted making love; then a bleary-eyed man in rumpled pink pyjamas. A few moments later, the corridor was full of people coughing and fumbling through the smoke toward the stairwell.
The door to Room 530 opened slowly.
Luke saw a tall man step into the corridor. Peering through the murk, Luke thought he had a large wine-coloured birthmark on his cheek: Pete. He drew back to avoid being recognized. The figure hesitated, then seemed to make a decision and joinqd the rush for the stairs. Two more men came out and followed him.
'All clear/Luke said.
Luke and Billie entered the suite, and Luke closed the door to keep the smoke out. He took off his coat 'Oh, my God,' said Billie. 'It's the same room.'
She stared around, wide-eyed. 'I can't believe it,' she said. Her voice was hushed, and he could hardly hear her. 'This is the very suite.'
He stood still, watching. She was in the grip of a strong emotion. 'What happened here?' he asked her at last
She shook her head wonderingly. 'It's hard to imagine that you don't remember.' She walked around. 'There was a grand-piano in that corner,' she said. 'Imagine - a piano in a hotel room!' She looked into the bathroom. 'And a phone in here, I had never seen a phone in a bathroom.'
Luke waited, Her face showed sadness, and something else he could not quite make out 'You stayed here in the war,' she said at last Then, in a rush, she added: 'We made love here.'
He looked into the bedroom. 'On that bed, I guess.'
'Not just on the bed.' She giggled, then became solemn again.'How young we were.'
The thought of making love to this enchanting woman was unbearably exciting. 'My God, I wish I could remember,' he said, and his voice sounded thick with desire. ,
To his surprise, she blushed.
He turned aside and picked up the phone. He dialled the operator. He wanted to make sure the fire did not have a chance to spread. After a long wait, the phone was answered. "This is Mr Davies, I sounded the alarm,' Luke said rapidly. "The fire is in a linen closet near room five-forty.' He hung up without waiting for a reply.
Billie was looking around, her emotional moment over. "Your clothes are here,' she said.
He went into the bedroom. Lying on the bed were a pale grey tweed sport coat and a pair of charcoal flannel pants, looking as if they had come back from the dry cleaner. He guessed he had worn them on the plane and sent them for pressing. On the floor was a pair of dark tan wingtip shoes. A crocodile belt was neatly rolled up inside one of the shoes.
He opened the drawer of the bedside table and found a billfold, a cheque book and a fountain pen. More interesting was a slim appointments diary with a list of phone numbers in the back. He looked quickly through its pages and found the current week.
Sunday 26th
Call Alice (1928)
Monday 27th
Buy swim trunks
8.30 a.m. Apex mtg, Vanguard Mtl
Tuesday 28th
8 a.m. Bkfst wA.C., Hay Adams coffee shop
Billie stood beside him to see