For a moment, Bond lay still. Then the thin man came and pulled him up against the wall. He had a gun in his hand. He used it to hit Bond hard across the legs. Bond cried with pain and fell on to his knees. A door banged shut. Vesper and the third gunman had disappeared. Bond turned his head to the right and saw Le Chiffre. ’Come here, my dear friend’, said Le Chiffre. He spoke calmly in English. ’Let’s not waste any more time.’Bond walked towards Le Chiffre. There was nothing more that he could do.
