She squirted some Bengay into her palm and rubbed her hands together. Then she leaned over him on the bed, rubbed a layer of the ointment on his back. She began massaging along the spine.
?Press down more firmly,? Mike said.
?It?s hard to reach. Can I get on the bed??
?Go ahead.?
She kicked off her shoes and climbed up next to him. ?Can I sit on your butt??
?What do you weigh??
?A hundred and nine.?
?Okay,? Mike said. ?But go slow.?
She eased one leg over, straddled his ass, wiggled a little to get settled in. ?I can reach you better from here.?
Mike put the feel of her stockings out of his mind, her soft feet tucked in close to his legs. She kneaded small circles along his spine. She pressed in hard with her thumbs. ?Let me know if I hurt you.?
?Don?t worry.?
He?d lost interest in the movie, put his face in the pillow instead, and closed his eyes tight. He replayed the day?s events in his mind, the men he?d killed, the phone call to John Jenkins. The pistol had felt right in his hand. In the heat of conflict, the only emotion Mike had felt was a vague dissatisfaction with his marksmanship. Now he didn?t know how he felt. He kept hearing Ortega?s voice, a ghostly echo in his head asking for water.
?Don?t think about it,? Patricia said.
His eyes popped open. ?What??
?Whatever it is you?re thinking about, stop it. Your shoulder muscles are getting all bunched up. You?re all tense and everything.?
?Sorry.?
?Take a big breath and let it out slowly. Try to clear your mind.?
Mike gulped in a breath, held it a moment, then let it leak out between his lips. He did feel better.
?You must have some kind of stressful job,? she said.
?Yeah.?
?Are you a stockbroker or something?? She pressed the heel of her palm into his back, leaned into it.
Mike grunted. ?No.? He decided to change the subject. ?What about you? When you?re not visiting hotel rooms, I mean.?
?I got my degree in communications last year,? she said. ?I specialized in broadcasting.?
?College? You don?t look old enough.?
?I?m twenty-two.?
?If you went to college?I mean, why would you???
?I worked through the escort service for tuition and expenses,? Patricia said. ?Then just after I graduated, I got an intro position at a classic rock radio station. What I got paid in a month, I make in three days turning tricks.?
?But you were just starting out, right? I mean, that?s how it is for kids right out of college. You got to work your way up.?
?I guess. But, you know, I just had this life going already. I had a brand-new Nissan and satellite television and new clothes anytime I wanted. It was like I had been Cricket so long I couldn?t be Patricia again. Did you ever get the feeling that once things are set, it?s just, like, too much trouble to try and do something different? Like
