The landlord looked nervous, as if he was expecting trouble. Ramon approached the counter, his senses sharpened. He could definitely see fear in the dark eyes that he was looking into. The man had a hand under the counter, where there was possibly a gun at the ready. Ramon expected the landlord to pull out a gun at any second. “I’ve got a message for you, Sir!” said the man, and passed the envelope across the counter. Ramon took the envelope and opened it. He took out the piece of paper and unfolded it without taking his eyes off the landlord – the man was clearly even more nervous now than he was before. That must be because of the message, that was unlikely to contain good news. Even before he read the note, he knew that he was no longer going to find Crissy upstairs in the rented room. He also knew who had kidnapped her. One look at the letter confirmed his suspicion. He knew this bold handwriting only too well.
