Down in the Zero

they sponge you off the concrete. And blackmail wouldn't pay the kind of money Cherry was showing.

If she was on to the new identities of people who disappeared, that would buy her a whole lot more of those gems that I'd found. But how would she know?

And how did Charm know about Cherry's stash if she wasn't working with her?

Why would Cherry tell Fancy about me? Why did she tell Randy? There's a tropical spider, I don't remember its name. What this spider does, it climbs into another spider's web. But it doesn't get trapped, it waits. The spider who spun the web feels the vibrations, runs over to wrap up its prey. Then he's lunch.

Fancy rolled her head back and forth in my lap like she was wiping her nose. She sat up, tugging her skirt down the rest of the way, smoothing it over her thighs. She reached down, plucked the pink panties from her ankle, put them into her purse.

'You were going to stay here all night?' she asked.

'I didn't want to wake you.'

'That was sweet…but I wasn't asleep.'

'You were…peaceful.'

'Can we go outside?'

'Sure, if you want.'

She took off her heels, slid over against me. I opened my door, climbed out. Held out my hand. She took it. We walked down to the creek in the darkness. Fancy found a fallen tree, the tips of its dead branches dangling into the creek. She tugged on my hand until I sat down next to her. Then she let go of my hand, spun so her back was against me, stuck her legs straight out on the tree, balancing easily.

'That was my first one,' she said, facing away. 'My first real one.

'Your first real what?'

'Climax. At least that's what I think it was. I could feel it inside. Hot bolts, like lightning crackling. Then… whooosh!'

'Good.'

'Good? That's all you can say?'

'I don't know what to say,' I said to her back.

'Did you really want me to help you?' she asked.

'Yes.'

'Why?'

'Because you said you wanted to.'

'Get you into Rector's? I didn't say anything about that.'

'That isn't all of it,' I told her, improvising, steering it away.

'What, then?' she asked, spinning to face me.

'I have to talk to some people. People from around here. The parents…of the kids who died. I figured, some of them would get suspicious. I'm going to tell them Cherry hired me. Because she was concerned about Randy and all. I thought you could back that up, maybe come along with me while I worked.'

'You really do…want me to help?'

'That's what I said.'

'When do we start?'

'Tomorrow,' I said. 'And, Fancy…don't tell anybody about this, okay?'

'Who would I tell?'

I drove back to the apartment, Fancy sitting close to me the way girls did years ago, before seat belts.

'Can I come upstairs?' she asked. 'Not tonight, child. I've got to go out again.'

'Don't call me 'child.' I hate that. I'm not a child.'

'It doesn't mean anything, Fancy. It's just an affectionate term.'

'I like 'bitch' better.'

'Okay.'

'In front of people, you understand? It's a property word.'

She got out of the Plymouth, opened the door to her black NSX. 'Tomorrow, okay?' she murmured, coming into my arms.

I gave her a squeeze, patted her bottom. 'I'll call you, bitch,' I told her, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead before she could protest.

The black car pulled off. I glanced over at the garage— the Miata was still missing.

I dropped the coins, dialed home base.

'You speak to the Prof?' I asked Mama when she answered.