`` we only have a half hour before those bombs go off , '' jack reminded his friends , changing the subject . she wiped her painful eye , reached for that ever-faithful bottle of gin and took one last mouthful . `` tell me if you feel this . '' we were first to arrive in the great dining room . `` pay me , '' he repeated , but it was n't a question this time . `` wait - there was something else i wanted to ask you about . '' my dad had cancer and was close to dying . 