zipper.
I put the picture away. "Would you like us to take you anywhere?" I said to the girl.
Same thing, slow headshakes right and left and right and left.
Hawk gestured at 3B with his head. I nodded. The man got his other boot zipped. I looked again at the girl sitting stock still. Her head still moved back and forth. I turned and went back in the hall. Hawk stepped out behind me.
"There's no logic to the numbering system," I said.
"Why'd you think there would be?" Hawk said.
I knocked on 3B. All was quiet. I knocked again. Hawk said, "My turn," and I moved out of the way, and he kicked the door in. There was a bed in this room. A narrow metal bed painted white with a mattress on it and threadbare tufted chenille spread over the mattress. The bed was empty. So was the room.
Besides the bed, the only thing in the room was a picture on the wall. It was a Polaroid color snapshot of a house. It looked familiar. It was April Kyle's house. In the hall behind us the man from 3C scooted down the stairs. The girl was standing in the open doorway watching us, left shoulder leaning against the doorjamb, hand on right hip. I looked around this room. There was a light switch beside the door. I turned it on. The overhead bulb was as unkind as the one in the hall. We stripped the spread back off the bare mattress, looked under the mattress, under the bed, felt around the door molding. At the far end of the narrow room a dirty window faced onto an airshaft. I opened it and felt around within arm's reach in all directions.
"There's nothing here, babe," Hawk said.
"I know."
"You wanna try A?" he said.
"Good to be thorough," I said. No one was in A. No girl. No man. No passion. No commerce. No ecstasy. No clues, either. It took five minutes to be certain of that. When we were through, all we had was the naked girl standing in the doorway of the empty room with the bare light dramatizing everything.
I looked at her. "What are we going to do with her?" I said.
Hawk said, "Nothing to do with her."
I still looked at her.
"You looking to have a little fun?" she said.
"No," I said. "I'm not looking to have any fun at all."
Hawk started down the stairs. "C'mon, man, you keeping her from her work."
I went after him. Down the narrow, filthy stairs. We checked the rest of the building. It was empty. On Chandler Street I said, "I don't like that. There ought to be something."
We walked toward the car.
"Ought?" Hawk said. "We both know what ought is worth."
I nodded. "How old you figure she is?" I said.
"Middle-aged, babe. She be dead when she's thirty." His face under the streetlight as we got in the car was entirely without expression.
Hawk and I went back to The Slipper, but Red wasn't there, and he wasn't anyplace else, either, that we could discover. Trumps was gone too. I was beginning to feel like Winnie-the-Pooh.
The more I looked for April Kyle, the more she wasn't there. It was eleven o'clock-my second night out in the Combat Zone. I had almost as much thrill as I could handle.
Outside a movie advertising an adult double feature with an all-male cast, Hawk said to me, "This got a funny smell to you?"
"You mean how much trouble we're having finding one kid when we started out knowing where she was?"
"Yeah."
"You think people don't want her found?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe," I said. "Or maybe we just haven't run across her."
"We usually pretty good at running across things," Hawk said.
"Yeah. Probably been distracted by the excitement of our surroundings," I said.
Several men going into the theater eyed Hawk as they passed. No one spoke to him or to me.
"Make the blood just boil through your veins, don't it?" He said. "All that glamour?"
"Yippee," I said. "I think I'll go home and brush my teeth. You want me to drop you someplace?"
Hawk shook his head. "Just soon walk," he said.
I nodded and started up Tremont.
"You keep an eye out for Trumps," Hawk said. "He hate to lose."
"It's hard to get used to," I said.
Chapter
I put the picture away. "Would you like us to take you anywhere?" I said to the girl.
Same thing, slow headshakes right and left and right and left.
Hawk gestured at 3B with his head. I nodded. The man got his other boot zipped. I looked again at the girl sitting stock still. Her head still moved back and forth. I turned and went back in the hall. Hawk stepped out behind me.
"There's no logic to the numbering system," I said.
"Why'd you think there would be?" Hawk said.
I knocked on 3B. All was quiet. I knocked again. Hawk said, "My turn," and I moved out of the way, and he kicked the door in. There was a bed in this room. A narrow metal bed painted white with a mattress on it and threadbare tufted chenille spread over the mattress. The bed was empty. So was the room.
Besides the bed, the only thing in the room was a picture on the wall. It was a Polaroid color snapshot of a house. It looked familiar. It was April Kyle's house. In the hall behind us the man from 3C scooted down the stairs. The girl was standing in the open doorway watching us, left shoulder leaning against the doorjamb, hand on right hip. I looked around this room. There was a light switch beside the door. I turned it on. The overhead bulb was as unkind as the one in the hall. We stripped the spread back off the bare mattress, looked under the mattress, under the bed, felt around the door molding. At the far end of the narrow room a dirty window faced onto an airshaft. I opened it and felt around within arm's reach in all directions.
"There's nothing here, babe," Hawk said.
"I know."
"You wanna try A?" he said.
"Good to be thorough," I said. No one was in A. No girl. No man. No passion. No commerce. No ecstasy. No clues, either. It took five minutes to be certain of that. When we were through, all we had was the naked girl standing in the doorway of the empty room with the bare light dramatizing everything.
I looked at her. "What are we going to do with her?" I said.
Hawk said, "Nothing to do with her."
I still looked at her.
"You looking to have a little fun?" she said.
"No," I said. "I'm not looking to have any fun at all."
Hawk started down the stairs. "C'mon, man, you keeping her from her work."
I went after him. Down the narrow, filthy stairs. We checked the rest of the building. It was empty. On Chandler Street I said, "I don't like that. There ought to be something."
We walked toward the car.
"Ought?" Hawk said. "We both know what ought is worth."
I nodded. "How old you figure she is?" I said.
"Middle-aged, babe. She be dead when she's thirty." His face under the streetlight as we got in the car was entirely without expression.
Hawk and I went back to The Slipper, but Red wasn't there, and he wasn't anyplace else, either, that we could discover. Trumps was gone too. I was beginning to feel like Winnie-the-Pooh.
The more I looked for April Kyle, the more she wasn't there. It was eleven o'clock-my second night out in the Combat Zone. I had almost as much thrill as I could handle.
Outside a movie advertising an adult double feature with an all-male cast, Hawk said to me, "This got a funny smell to you?"
"You mean how much trouble we're having finding one kid when we started out knowing where she was?"
"Yeah."
"You think people don't want her found?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe," I said. "Or maybe we just haven't run across her."
"We usually pretty good at running across things," Hawk said.
"Yeah. Probably been distracted by the excitement of our surroundings," I said.
Several men going into the theater eyed Hawk as they passed. No one spoke to him or to me.
"Make the blood just boil through your veins, don't it?" He said. "All that glamour?"
"Yippee," I said. "I think I'll go home and brush my teeth. You want me to drop you someplace?"
Hawk shook his head. "Just soon walk," he said.
I nodded and started up Tremont.
"You keep an eye out for Trumps," Hawk said. "He hate to lose."
"It's hard to get used to," I said.
Chapter
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