"Would you like a drink, sir?"
Max paused. He was at the house of his lady friend, Gloria Dupree, who was missing. He was waiting on news of her disappearance, and he was alone with Gloria's housemaid, Leah. He shouldn't drink ... but he was wired. "Yes. I'll have a vodka martini. Do you know how to mix a martini, Leah?"
"Of course, sir!"
As Leah prepared the drink at the leather-clad wet bar, Max half watched the 11 p.m. news on the television and half-watched the sturdy curved figure of the housemaid. Leah carried his drink over and placed it on the low table in front of the sofa. As Leah bent down to put the frosted glass with its clear but dangerous contents near his knee, he caught the musk of her ... a sweet, fresh waft of girl flesh ... and for a moment he stared down at the ripe, plump swell of two very large breasts, unfettered by a bra, barely hidden because the top buttons of her uniform were undone. Had they been undone when he'd arrived some minutes earlier? His heart hammered.
"Thank you. I wish I could invite you to have a drink with me."
"Perhaps not, Mister Max. I do not drink alcohol, you know."
"I'm sure you don't. Very wise. How old are you, Leah?"
"Twenty."
"Oh, well."
They both stared at the TV screen for a while before Max rose to look out of the picture window at the driveway. He rounded on the maid.
"Where the hell is Mrs. Dupree, Leah?"
"Perhaps something important happened. She seemed very ... very jumpy this evening, sir."
Max stared at her, then swallowed the martini. He was normally a controlled drinker and often went for weeks without imbibing, but he felt strangely unsettled by Gloria's disappearance. Despite the silly disco music at the Tempest bar, he now wished he and his lady were there, bumping into other couples on the dance floor and making fools of themselves. He felt the effects of the martini hit him between the eyes. He strode over to the elegant white telephone near the TV and called Hotel Paraiso, asking to be put through to the cocktail lounge. The limpid tones of the bartender greeted him.
Max responded gruffly. "This is Captain Krueger. Remember me?"
"Oh, yes ... Captain. Of course I remember you. But your lady friend has not arrived yet."
"Well, if she does arrive, tell her to call her house. Got that?"
"Yes, sir."
Max slammed the phone down.
"Relax, Mister Max," smiled Leah. "Here, I'll give you another drink. Perhaps it will calm you."
Max studied the dimples in the girl's cheeks, then the big innocent eyes, then the tumultuous breasts straining the front of her uniform.
"Yes, another drink might do the trick."