The Jehovah Contract

'No,' I said. 'I haven't.'

'Go to the lab.'

The whole process was growing repulsive. With a sigh, I went to the lab to do what he wanted.

La Vecque told me that the computer analysis would be ready the next day.

'Go home and get some rest.' He shook like a youngster commanding a firing squad for the first time. Or a man standing before one. His bedside manner instilled little hope for my future.

I hardly noticed the walk back to my office except to observe that my wheezing had eased up a bit. I stopped in the garment district to buy some evening clothes with money I'd taken from another bank under another name. I have that sort of build upon which even new clothes look as if I'd slept in them. I felt better, though, strolling to Auberge. If the news was as bad as La Vecque's demeanor indicated, I figured I should have some fun before I cashed it all in.

And maybe I had another reason to go there.

The redhead was there at the cloakroom again. As I headed toward the Casino of the Angels, I was aware of a feeling of... anticipation.

What if I saw

her

again?

The thought stopped me in midstride. What was I looking for-a final adventure? A last fling with a woman half my age?

Someone bumped me from behind. A sensation of enormous rage radiated from about two feet below my eyes. I turned around to see a kid. Not a normal kid, of course. My luck's not that good.

She wore a slinky peach satin dress that clung to what would in a few years be called her body. Her makeup, expertly applied, made her look mature and sensuous. Her long nails mimicked the color of her dress. I guessed that she wore high heels from the audible scuff they made on the carpet. She brushed back her long mane of tousled auburn hair and spoke in a low child's voice.

'Watch your fucking step, asshole.'

I looked at her for a confused moment, then broke into a bellyful of laughter.

Her orange lips pouted. 'Whyn't you watch where you're going?' she demanded. Small fists rested angrily on her hips; innocent green eyes stared up at me, filled with a child's fury.

'Why don't

you?

' I snapped back. 'You were behind me.' I expected her to run off crying. I wasn't in any mood to coddle.

'Ah, shut up.' She whipped ahead of me and walked with womanly grace down the hallway. In a few steps she quickly vanished from sight in the twists and turns of the maze. I shook my head-half in amusement, half in pity.

I turned a corner and the kid stepped in front of me, her arms folded. The cigarette nipped between two of her small fingers looked as big as a cigar.

'Aren't you on the wrong level?' I asked. 'Hooking is two floors down.'

'Rules are made to be broken for a price. I've got a couple of the guards up here on the take. I walk around till someone picks me up, then we go down to Three.'

'In that case,' I said, 'I'm restricting your business by hanging around. So long.' Stepping past her, I noticed a look of amazement that her youth left undisguised.

'Hey, mister!' She trotted up behind me to pull at my coattails. 'Don't you want to go to bed with me?' She struck a sultry pose.

'I'm not a politician, kid. I don't kiss babies.'

'But every man I talk to wants to make it with me. And give me things.'

I shrugged. 'Consider me your first strikeout.'