'Aren't you afraid that one of us will talk, or maybe hire someone to come after you?'
'No.' His smile was calm, the most serene she had seen him wear since the first time she had met him. 'You see, Holly, you don't even know who I am.'
She nodded. 'Wanna come up?… one last time?'
'Holly.'
'Yeah?'
'Get the fuck out!'
He had the cabbie stop on a corner, a block from the apartment house. Inside the bar, he got a beer and headed to the back and a quiet phone booth.
'Mark?'
'Yeah. Wiley?'
'Yeah. How's Sis?'
'Better. Much better. You?'
'Tired. Disgusted. Drained.'
'I set that twenty grand up in a silent trust for Ginny. It's going to give her the best of care. The kind of care that a couple of struggling young attorneys could never give her.'
'Good. I've got twenty more to add to it, in cash. I'll drop by your place in the morning on the way to the airport.'
'Jesus. You really nailed 'em.'
'Yeah, I really did. All four of 'em.'
'There were four?'
'Four,' Wiley said, suddenly wanting to get off the phone.
'Want to tell me who?… besides the Carpenter dame?'
'You don't want to know, Mark.'
'Okay. How'd you handle it?'
'Believe me, you don't want to know that either.'
'See you in the morning.'
'Yeah.'
Wiley flipped the cradle a few times, then dialed again. When the operator came on, he gave her the New York number and his credit card number.
'Hello?'
'Jennie… it's me.'
'Who's me?'
'The love of your life, Wiley Morrison. I'm coming home. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon.'
'You won't see me, baby. I'm on the Red Baron tonight for Frankfurt. There I meet a sheik and on to Gstaad for some skiing and screwing.'
'Is that how it is?'
'That's how it is. I met me a man with some fire, some guts. Everything you're not. Bye.'
The line went dead.
He left the booth and went back out on the street. In front of the mail box he reread the letter to Judge Jonathan Carpenter. Satisfied that it told her father everything, he sealed it, touched it to his lips and, with a wide grin, dropped it in the box.
In his room, he removed his shirt and opened the windows wide. It was hot. He wondered why the room didn't come with a fan. Then he remembered the one in the Fine apartment. It was ineffectual. It went around and around, but didn't do any good.
Wiley started to think that he was something like that fan. He was going around and around and wasn't doing any good.
The door opened behind him and he turned. It was Laura Fine.
She had on the usual braless halter and shorts. It was like a uniform, for mother and daughter alike.
'Hi. Can I come in?'
'You're in.'
She joined him at the window. Her arm went around his waist and the rounded side of one heavy breast pressed against his bicep. 'It's hot.'
'Too hot. I'm surprised you don't put in air-conditioning.'
She looked at him. 'Who's gonna pay for it? I'd have to raise the rent almost double. The renters wouldn't stand for it.'
They saw Trina crossing the street. She was in shorts and a T-shirt. No bra. Two men going by admired her shape openly.
Laura sighed. 'I hope she gets married some day and gets settled down. She's too wild for her own good.'
'She'll be all right.'
Laura put her hand on his bare chest. Her fingers traced crazy patterns on his skin. 'I like you. I thought about you after you left this afternoon and I thought about what we were going to do. I got so excited I had to…' She blushed. 'You know.'
'No,' he said. 'I don't know.'
'I took care of myself.' She saw him grinning and slapped his face playfully. 'It's awful when there isn't a man handy.'
'I can imagine.'
'You see what you do to me?' She ran her forefinger across his nipple. She put her face close to his chest and closed her mouth over the nipple. Her teeth worried the red tip, bruising the skin. She heard him groan and knew he liked what she was doing. She reached down and put her hand on his cock and rubbed vigorously. She felt no response.
'No good, huh?'
'It's good,' he replied, with a sigh. 'But there's no future in it.'
She nodded. 'You'll be leaving in the morning?'
'Yeah.'
She moved to the door. 'I'll miss you. I mean I really will.'
'I'll miss you, too, Laura. I mean it.'
She opened the door and turned back toward him. 'I'll send Trina up.'
Wiley nodded and she was gone.
He stripped down to his shorts and threw his bag on the dresser. It didn't take long to pack it. By the time he finished, Trina walked into the room.
She spotted the bag. 'You're leaving.'
'In the morning.'
She moved to him, tugging at the T-shirt. By the time she reached him she was naked to the waist. 'Want a going away present?'
Wiley raised his hands. They came into contact with her breasts and her breathing became heavy. His fingers molded the big globes, the thumbs caressing the large pink nipples. Then, in a burst of passion, she threw her arms around his waist and hugged her body to his. Her breasts were hot pokers against his chest. They kissed wildly, passionately.
They finally broke apart and she went to the bed. He pulled down the window shade and took off his underwear. Naked, he climbed into bed after her. They lay side by side, both of them naked except for her shorts. They kissed lightly and then she pushed him flat on his back and kissed his chest, her teeth hurting the nipples.
She drew her head down to his belly, kissed his naval and the skin around it. She went farther down, her mouth wet and hot, teasing him with her tongue. When he was groaning, she laughed and pulled down her shorts. She sat on his chest, her thighs wide apart, her hands holding his ears. Her body inched forward and she told him what she wanted.
Wiley lifted his head just a bit and his mouth came into hot contact with her cunt. He did what she
