She managed to say, “No.”
“Good,” I said.
I forked the steak onto my plate and sliced off a bite.
“Do you have a plan for tomorrow?” Susan said.
She had herself back under control but her face was still flushed the way it gets when she cries, or laughs, or both, and there was still some wetness on her completely sensational cheekbones.
“I thought we could sleep late, have a leisurely breakfast, once again defy the condo association for much of the afternoon, have a swim and go for dinner at a place called the Twilight Cafe. I hear they have a steak with black beans that you won’t be able to finish…”
She was laughing again. There was a slivered edge of fear behind the laugh, but it was real laughter.
“As I think about it,” she said, “I don’t think anything can kill you.”
“Nothing has,” I said.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
We were lifting weights at the Harbor Health Club. Hawk in a tank top is a fairly scary sight, and a number of the other patrons glanced at us covertly from time to time. Hawk knew this. He never missed anything going on around him, and while, as usual, he paid no attention to anyone, I think it amused him. Now and then he would do something showy like handstand push-ups, to impress the rubes.
“While you been vacationing,” Hawk said, “I been detecting.”
“Good,” I said. “You can use the practice.”
“Every Friday Amir go up to Bangor. Every Sunday he come back. So I figure I better see what he doing up there, and I drive up to Bangor International Airport…”
“International?” I said.
“Sure,” Hawk said. “You think they hay shakers up there?”
“Well,” I said. “Yes.”
Hawk shook his head. He was doing some dips as he talked, and if there was any effort involved it didn’t show in his voice.
“Anyway, I’m there on a Friday afternoon sitting in my car, and about five o’clock here come Amir out of the terminal with his little overnight case. Black Lincoln stretch limo waiting. Driver gets out, opens the door. Amir hands him the overnight case, driver puts it on the front seat, Amir hops in the back. You want to guess the license number on the limo?”
“Don’t remember but I’ll bet it’s in my notes.”
“Same one,” Hawk said.
“You follow them?” I said.
“Yep.”
“To Beecham.”
“Yep.”
“Last Stand Systems, Inc.”
“Yep.”
“Stayed the weekend and came home Sunday night.”
“Yep.”
“You got any theories on what he’s doing up there?” I said.
“Visiting.”
“You got any thoughts on what he does while he visits?”
Hawk was doing pull-ups. He did five more after I asked the question, then let himself down slowly and dropped to the floor.
“We know Amir is queer.”
“Nice rhyme,” I said.
“And we know he, ah, hyperactive.”
“Nice phrase,” I said. “You think he’s got a boyfriend in Last Stand Systems, Inc.?”
“Somebody send the company plane down for him.”
“You think it’s Milo Quant?”
“There a Mrs. Quant?” Hawk said.
I didn’t say anything for a minute.
“You think there’s hanky-panky between Milo and Amir?”
“Amir was a white woman, what would you think?” Hawk said.
