The Girl Hunters

Hy was at his desk inside with his glasses up on his forehead, frowning at some sheets in his hand. They were covered with penciled notations apparently culled from another batch beside his elbow.

I pulled up a chair, sat down and let Hy finish what he was doing. Finally he glanced up, pulling his glasses down. 'I got your message across.'

'So?'

'So it was like I dropped a bomb in HQ. Over there they seem to know things we don't read in the paper here.' He leaned forward and tapped the sheets in his hand. 'This bit of The Dragon is the hottest item in the cold war, buddy. Are you sure you know what you're up to?'

'Uh-huh.'

'Okay, I'll go along with you. The Reds are engaged in an operation under code name REN. It's a chase thing. Behind the Iron Curtain there has been a little hell to pay the last few years. Somebody was loose back there who could rock the whole Soviet system and that one had to be eliminated. That's where The Dragon came in. This one has been on that chase and was close to making his hit. Nobody knows what the score really is.' He stopped then, pushed his glasses back up and said seriously, 'or do they, Mike?'

'They?'

I should have been shaking. I should have been feeling some emotion, some wildness like I used to. What had happened? But maybe it was better this way. I could feel the weight of the .45 against my side and tightened my arm down on it lovingly. 'They're after Velda,' I said. 'It's her. They're hunting her.'

Hy squeezed his mouth shut and didn't say anything for a full minute. He laid the papers down and leaned back in his chair. 'Why, Mike?'

'I don't know, Hy. I don't know why at all.'

'If what I heard is true she doesn't have a chance.'

'She has a chance,' I told him softly.

'Maybe it really isn't her at all, Mike.'

I didn't answer him. Behind us the door opened and Marilyn came in. She flipped an envelope on Hy's desk and set down the coffee container. 'Here's a picture that just came off the wires. Del said you requested it.'

Hy looked at me a little too quickly, opened the envelope and took out the photo. He studied it, then passed it across.

It really wasn't a good picture at all. The original had been fuzzy to start with and transmission electrically hadn't improved it any. She stood outside a building, a tall girl with seemingly black hair longer than I remembered it, features not quite clear and whose shape and posture were hidden under bulky Eastern European style clothing. Still, there was that indefinable something, some subtlety in the way she stood, some trait that came through the clothing and poor photography that I couldn't help but see.

I handed the photo back. 'It's Velda.'

'My German friend said the picture was several years old.'

'Who had it?'

'A Red agent who was killed in a skirmish with some West German cops. It came off his body. I'd say he had been assigned to REN too and the picture was for identification purposes.'

'Is this common information?'

Hy shook his head. 'I'd say no. Rather than classify this thing government sources simply refuse to admit it exists. We came on it separately.'

I said, 'The government knows it exists.'

'You know too damn much, Mike.'

'No, not enough. I don't know where she is now.'

'I can tell you one thing,' Hy said.

'Oh?'

'She isn't in Europe any longer. The locale of REN has changed. The Dragon has left Europe. His victim got away somehow and all indications point to them both being in this country.'

Very slowly, I got up, put my coat and hat on and stretched the dampness out of my shoulders. I said, 'Thanks, Hy.'

'Don't you want your coffee?'

'Not now.'

He opened a drawer, took out a thick Manila envelope and handed it to me. 'Here. You might want to read up a little more on Senator Knapp. It's confidential stuff.. Gives you an idea of how big he was. Save it for me.'

'Sure.' I stuck it carelessly in my coat pocket. 'Thanks.'

Marilyn said, 'You all right, Mike?'

I grinned at her a little crookedly. 'I'm okay.'

'You don't look right,' she insisted.

Hy said, 'Mike--'

And I cut him short. 'I'll see you later, Hy.' I grinned at him too. 'And thanks. Don't worry about me.' I patted the gun under my coat. 'I have a friend along now. Legally.'

While I waited, I read about just how great a guy Leo Knapp had been. His career had been cut short at a tragic spot because it was evident that in a few more years he would have been the big man on the political scene. It was very evident that here had been one of the true powers behind the throne, a man initially responsible for military progress and missile production in spite of opposition from the knotheaded liberals and 'better-Red-than- dead' slobs. He had thwarted every attack and forced through the necessary programs and in his hands had been secrets of vital importance that made him a number one man in the Washington setup. His death came at a good time for the enemy. The bullet that killed him came from the gun of The Dragon. A bullet from the same gun killed Richie Cole and almost killed me twice. A bullet from that same gun was waiting to kill Velda.

She came in then, the night air still on her, shaking the rain from her hair, laughing when she saw me. Her hand was cool when she took mine and climbed on the stool next to me. John brought her a Martini and me another Blue Ribbon. We raised the glasses in a toast and drank the top off them.

'Good to see you,' I said.

'You'll never know,' she smiled.

'Where are you meeting Pat?'

She frowned, then, 'Oh, Captain Chambers. Why, right here.' She glanced at her watch. 'In five minutes. Shall we sit at a table?'

'Let's.' I picked up her glass and angled us across the room to the far wall.

'Does Pat know I'll be here?'

'I didn't mention it.'

'Great. Just great.'

Pat was punctual, as usual. He saw me but didn't change expression. When he said hello to Laura he sat beside her and only then looked at me. 'I'm glad you're here too.'

'That's nice.'

He was a mean, cold cop if ever there was one, his face a mask you couldn't penetrate until you looked into his eyes and saw the hate and determination there. 'Where do you find your connections, Mike?'

'Why?'

'It's peculiar how a busted private dick, a damn drunken pig in trouble up to his ears can get a gun-carrying privilege we can't break. How do you do it, punk?'

I shrugged, not feeling like arguing with him. Laura looked at the two of us, wondering what was going on.

'Well, you might need it at that if you keep getting shot at. By the way, I got a description of your back alley friend. He was seen by a rather observant kid in the full light of the street lamp. Big guy, about six-two with dark curly hair and a face with deep lines in the cheeks. His cheekbones were kind of high so he had kind of an Indian look. Ever see anybody like that?'

He was pushing me now, doing anything to set me off so he'd have a reason to get at me but sure, I saw a guy like that. He drove past me on the Thruway and I thought he was a tired driver, then he shot at me later and now I know damn well who he is. You call him The Dragon. He had a face I'd see again someday, a