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wasn't simply the jeans and battered jacket he wore, or the hair he'd
deliberately mussed. It was a look in the eyes, a set of the body, a twist
of the mouth. No one would look twice at him, she thought. Or if they
bothered, they wouldn't see a cop, they'd see another street tough
obviously on the edge of his luck.
Taking her cue from him, she pulled out her bag of cosmetics, darkening
her mouth, adding just a little too much eyeliner and shadow. She tried a
couple of bored looks in the mirror of her compact and decided to tease
up her hair.
Alex glanced back at her and scowled. "What the hell are you doing to
your face?"
"Getting into character," she said blithely. "Just like you. Are we going
to bust somebody?"
He only turned away and muttered.
Just his luck, he thought. He wanted to slip into Boomer's joint
unobtrusively, and he was stuck with a redhead who thought they were
playing cops and robbers.
Unoffended, Bess put away her mirror and scanned the area. Parking
wasn't a problem here. Bess decided that if anyone left his car
unattended in this neighborhood for above ten minutes, he'd come back
and be lucky to find a hubcap.
Alex swung over the curb and swore. He couldn't leave her in the car
here, damn it. Any of the hustlers or junkies on the streets would take
one look, then eat her alive.
"You listen to me." He turned, leaning over the seat to make his point.
"Stay close to me, and keep your mouth shut. No questions, no
comments."
"All right, but where "
"No questions." He slammed out of his door, then waited for her. With
his hand firm on her arm, he hauled her to the sidewalk. "If you step out
of line, I swear, I'll slap the cuffs on you."
"Romantic, isn't he?" she said to Judd. "Just sends shivers down my
spine."
"Keep a lid on it, McNee," Alex told her, refusing to be amused. He
pulled her through a grimy door into an airless shop.
It took her a minute to get her bearings in the dim light. There were
shelves and shelves crowded with dusty merchandise. Radios, picture
frames, kitchenware. A tuba. A huge glass display counter with a
diagonal crack across it dominated one wall. Security glass ran to the
ceiling. Cutting through it was a window, like a bank teller's, studded
with bars.
"A pawnshop," Bess said, with such obvious delight that Alex snarled at
her.
"One word about atmosphere, I'll clobber you."
But she was already dragging out her notebook. "Go ahead, do what you
have to do. You won't even know I'm here."
Sure, he thought. How would anyone know she was there, simply
because that sunshine scent of her cut right through the grime and must?
He stepped up to the counter just as a scrawny man in a loose white shirt
came through the rear door.
"Stanislaski."
"Boomer. What have you got for me?"
Grinning, Boomer passed a hand over his heavily greased black hair.
"Come on, I got some good stuff, and you know I make a point of
cooperating with the law. But a man's got to make a living."
"You make one ripping off every poor slob who walks through the
door."
"Aw, now you hurt my feelings." Boomer's pale blue eyes glittered.
"Rookie?" he asked, nodding at Judd.
"He used to be."
After an appraising look, Boomer glanced over at Bess. She was busy
poking through his merchandise. "Looks like I got me a customer. Hang
on."
"She's with me." Alex shot him a knife-edged look that forestalled any
questions. "Just forget she's here."
Boomer had already appraised the trio of rings on Bess's right hand, and
the blue topaz drops at her cars. He sighed his disappointment. "You're
the boss, Stanislaski. But listen, I like to be discreet."
Alex leaned on the counter, like a man ready to shoot the bull for hours.
His voice was soft, and deadly. "Jerk my chain, Boomer, and I'm going
to have to come down here and take a hard look at what you keep in that
back room."
"Stock. Just stock." But he grinned. He didn't have any illusions about
Alex. Boomer knew when he was detested, but he also knew they had an
agreement of sorts. And, thus far, it had been advantageous to both of
them. "I got something on those hookers that got sliced up."
Though his expression didn't change, though he didn't move a muscle,
Alex went on alert. "What kind of something?"
Boomer merely smiled and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together.
When Alex drew out a twenty, it disappeared quickly through the bars.
"Twenty more, if you like what I have to say."
"If it's worth it, you'll get it."
"You know I trust you." Smelling of hair grease and sweat, Boomer
leaned closer. "Word on the street is you're looking for some high roller.
Guy's name's Jack."
"So far I'm not impressed."
"Just building up to it, pal. The first one that was wasted? She was one
of Big Ed's wives. I recognized her from the newspaper picture. Now,
she was fine-looking. Not that I ever used her services."
"Turn the page, Boomer."
"Okay, okay." He shot a grin at Judd. "He don't like conversation. I
heard both those unfortunate ladies were in possession of a certain piece
of jewelry."
"You've got good ears."
"Man in my position hears things. It so happens I had a young lady come
in just yesterday. She had a certain piece of jewelry she wanted to
exchange." Opening a drawer, Boomer pulled out a thin gold chain.
Dangling from it was a heart, cracked down the center. When Alex held
out a hand, Boomer shook his head. "I gave her twenty for it."
Saying nothing, Alex pulled another bill out of his wallet.
"Seems to me I'm entitled to a certain amount of profit."
Eyes steady, Alex pulled the twenty back an inch. "You're entitled to go
in and answer a bunch of nasty questions down at the cop shop."
With a shrug, Boomer exchanged the bill for the heart. He'd only given
ten for it, in any case. "She wasn't much more than a kid," Boomer
added. "Eighteen, maybe twenty at a stretch. Still pretty. Bottle blonde,
blue eyes. Little mole right here." He tapped beside his left eyebrow.
"Got an address?"
"Well, now& "
"Twenty for the address, Boomer." Alex's tone told the man to take it.
"That's it."
Satisfied, Boomer named a hotel a few blocks away. "Signed her name
Crystal," he added, wanting to keep the partnership intact. "Crystal
LaRue. Figure she made it up."
"Let's check it out," he said to Judd, then tapped Bess on the shoulder.
She was apparently absorbed in an ugly brass lamp in the shape of a
rearing horse. "Let's go."
"In a minute." She turned a smile on Boomer. "How much?"
"Oh, for you "
"Forget it." Alex was dragging her to the door.
"I want to buy "
"It's ugly."
Annoyed at the loss, but pleased to have recorded the entire
conversation, she sighed. "That's the point." But she climbed meekly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]