Amaryllis

Amaryllis threw Lucas an uneasy glance. 'I see.'

'How come you're so curious about Jonny now that he's dead?' Vivien asked.

Amaryllis hesitated. 'Someone suggested that you might be able to tell me something about him.'

'Like what?'

'I was told that you knew the truth about him.' Amaryllis shrugged. 'I wondered if that meant that you knew something about his death.'

'Jonny's death?' Alarm flashed in Vivien's face. 'I don't know a damn thing about it. Look here, if you've got any idea of involving me in that, you can think again. Get out of here right now or I'll call Titus.'

Lucas figured Titus was the mountain who stood guard at the door. 'It's okay,' he said. 'We're not trying to tie you to Landreth's death. We know it was an accident.'

Vivien's gaze flicked back and forth between Lucas and Amaryllis. 'That's what it said in the papers. He fell off a cliff or something, right?'

'Right,' Lucas agreed. He gave Amaryllis a warning look.

She pursed her lips, apparently not certain how to proceed. 'When did you last see Professor Landreth?'

Vivien shrugged. 'Night before he died. His regular appointment.'

'No offense,' Amaryllis said, 'but it's hard to envision Professor Landreth having a standing appointment with you.'

'Well, believe it. I danced privately for Jonny one night a week for two years. He was as regular as clockwork.'

'I see.' Amaryllis said. 'Did Jonny, I mean, did Professor Landreth seem anxious or preoccupied the last time you saw him?'

'What d'you mean?' Vivien still looked suspicious.

'I'm not sure,' Amaryllis admitted. 'I suppose I'm asking if he seemed different that night. Distracted, perhaps?'

A shrewd light gleamed in the stripper's eyes. 'You're with an insurance company, aren't you? That's what this is all about. I'll bet you're trying to get out of paying off on Jonny's policy. Well, you won't get no help from me.'

'I'm not working for an insurance company,' Amaryllis said hastily. 'I just want to settle a few outstanding questions, that's all. Professor Landreth was a friend of mine.'

'Friend, hub?' Vivien reached for a brush.

'He was my mentor at the university.'

Vivien softened somewhat. 'I guess you could say that Jonny was a little more tense than usual that last night. But it was hard to tell with him on account of he was always on the rigid side, if you know what I mean. Actually, he'd been fussing for a couple of months, now that I think of it.'

'What did he fuss about?' Amaryllis asked.

Vivien looked expectantly at Lucas. With one shoulder propped against a purple wall, Lucas stoically dug his wallet out of his pocket once more. Silently he removed some cash and handed it to Vivien. She gave him a radiant smile and turned back to Amaryllis with a confidential air.

'In the past few weeks Jonny talked more than usual about how there was still a lot the experts didn't know about the synergy of psychic talent. He rambled on a bit about how no one had documented all the different types of power yet. About how some talent might be dangerous.'

'Dangerous?' Amaryllis repeated.

Vivien used a tissue to remove several more layers of makeup. 'You have to understand, Jonny was always carrying on about his research. I tuned him out most of the time. My job was to relax him.'

'Did he mention any names?' Amaryllis asked cautiously.

'No.' Vivien tossed the tissue aside. 'Hell, I wouldn't have remembered if he had. None of my business. Excuse me. Gotta use the facilities.'

Vivien rose from her purple cushioned stool. The dressing gown billowed out behind her as she crossed the threadbare carpet to open a narrow door at the rear of the room.

Lucas averted his eyes quickly, but not before he caught a glimpse of a familiar, silver-haired figure seated inside the small bathroom. Yolanda did not look up from the magazine she was reading.

'Be out in a minute, Viv.'

'Sorry, Yo, dear. Didn't hear you in there.' Vivien slammed the door and heaved a deep sigh of resignation. 'Yolanda and me gotta share the crapper. Her dressing room is right next door. The jerk who owns this joint is too damn cheap to give his star dancer her own bathroom. Can you believe it? I swear I'm gonna quit one of these days. There's better clubs on the strip.'

'I can't believe it,' Amaryllis said.

'Can't believe that Vivien and Yolanda have to share a restroom?' Lucas took Amaryllis's hand as they walked out of the alley behind the SynCity Club. 'Hey, being a syn-sex stripper's a tough way to make a living.'

'Don't be ridiculous. I'm not talking about the dressing room facilities. I'm referring to the fact that Professor Landreth had a standing appointment with Vivien.'

'As perversions go. I'd say Landreth's was fairly innocuous.'

'But it was so unlike him. I knew him for years, and I never had an inkling that he, well, you know.'

'Someone sure as hell had a more realistic view of the sainted professor.' Lucas guided her through the crowd toward the side street that led back to where the leer was parked.

'What do you mean?' She glanced at him with a searching frown. 'Oh, I get it. The person who sent me to see Vivien obviously knew about the appointments.'

'Yeah.'

One block off the main strip, the number of people on the sidewalk dwindled swiftly. The music, noise, and laughter that blared from the open doors of the clubs receded into the distance. Lucas tightened his grip on Amaryllis's arm, keenly aware of the sound of her footsteps ringing lightly on the stone pavement. He began watching alley entrances and dark doorways.

'Vivien wasn't very helpful, was she?' Amaryllis said after a while.

'She didn't have anything to tell you because nothing out of the ordinary occurred the night before Landreth's death,' Lucas said deliberately. 'You heard her say that the professor was always tense.'

'Yes, but she did imply that the night before he died, he had been more tense than usual. In fact, she said he'd been that way for several weeks.'

'She's a performer. She probably felt obliged to give you something for your money.'

'You mean for your money,' Amaryllis muttered. 'I still don't approve of bribery.'

'I don't know how in five hells you've managed to get this far in life without learning a few of the fine points of pragmatism. The future belongs to the expedient.'

'Nonsense. You don't really believe that.'

'We'd still be trying to get through the stage door entrance if I hadn't bribed the guard,' Lucas said. 'But given the fact that you and I are never going to see eye to eye when it comes to personal philosophies, let's move on.'

'To what?'

'I'll grant you that this evening has had its interesting moments, but things have gone far enough. Think about it logically, Amaryllis. If there had been anything strange about the circumstances of Landreth's accident, the police would have pursued an investigation.'

'Talking to Vivien has given me an idea, Lucas.' Amaryllis sounded as if she had not heard a word he'd said. 'It might not be a bad idea to talk to a few other people who saw the professor just before he was killed.'

'I was afraid of this. What is it with you? Looking for answers is one thing. Getting obsessive about them is another.' Lucas sensed the movement in the deep shadows of the alley before he saw the two men. 'Damn. Just what I needed to make this evening perfect.'

'What are you doing?'

He didn't respond. Lucas used his grip on Amaryllis's arm to shove her behind him as he pivoted to face the gaping mouth of the alley. There was a clattering noise as she fetched up against a heavy metal garbage can.

'Oh, dear,' Amaryllis said in a very small voice.

A rustling sound announced the indignant departure of some small animal that had been dining on the