Drop Shot

full tennis gear – shirt, shorts, socks, tennis shoes, warm-up jacket, sweatbands, and tennis racket. Tennis racket. Like they might get called on to play. Like Sampras or Steffi or someone might suddenly point into the stands and say, 'Hey, you with the racket I need a doubles partner.'

Win's turn. 'Roddy McDowall,' he began.

'The Bookworm.'

'Vincent Price.'

'Egghead.'

'Joan Collins.'

Myron hesitated. 'Joan Collins? As in Dynasty?'

'I refuse to offer hints.'

Myron ran episodes through his mind. On the court the umpire announced, 'Time.' The ninety-second commercial break was over. The players rose. Myron couldn't swear to it, but he thought he saw Henry blink.

'Give up?' Win asked.

'Shhh. They're about to play.'

'And you call yourself a Batman fan.'

The players took the court. They too were billboards, only smaller. Duane wore Nike sneakers and clothes. He used a Head tennis racket. Logos for McDonald's and Sony adorned his sleeves. His opponent wore Reebok. His logos featured Sharp electronics and Bic. Bic. The pen and razor company. Like someone was going to watch a tennis match, see the logo, and buy a pen.

Myron leaned toward Win. 'Okay, I give,' he whispered. 'What criminal did Joan Collins play?'

Win shrugged. 'I don't remember.'

'What?'

'I know she was in an episode. But I don't remember her character's name.'

'You can't do that.'

Win smiled with perfect white teeth. 'Where in the rule book does it say that?'

'You have to know the answer.'

'Why?' Win countered. 'Does Pat Sajak have to know every puzzle on Wheel of Fortune! Does Alex Trebeck have to know every question on Jeopardy!'

Pause. 'Nice analogy, Win. Really.'

'Thank you.'

Then another voice said, 'The Siren.'

Myron and Win looked around. It seemed to have come from Henry.

'Did you say something?'

Henry's mouth did not appear to be moving. 'The Siren,' he repeated, his eyes still pasted to the court. 'Joan Collins played the Siren. On Batman.'

Myron and Win exchanged a glance.

'Nobody likes a know-it-all, Henry.'

Henry's mouth might have moved. Might have been a smile.

On the court Duane opened the game with an ace that nearly bore a hole through a ball boy. The IBM speedometer clocked it at 128 mph. Myron shook his head in disbelief. So did Ivan What's-his-name. Duane was lining up for the second point when Myron's cellular phone rang.

Myron quickly picked it up. He was not the only person in the stands who was talking on a cellular phone. He was, however, the only one in a front row. Myron was about to disconnect the power when he realized it might be Jessica. Jessica. Just the thought quickened his pulse a little.

'Hello.'

'It's not Jessica.' It was Esperanza, his associate.

'I didn't think it was.'

'Right,' she said. 'You always sound like a whimpering puppy when you answer the phone.'

Myron gripped the receiver. The match continued without interruption, but sour faces spun to seek out the origin of the offending ring. 'What do you want?' he whispered. 'I'm in the stadium.'

'I know. Bet you look like a pretentious asshole. Talking on a cellular phone at the match.'

Now that she mentioned it…

The sour faces were glaring daggers now. In their eyes Myron had committed an unpardonable sin. Like molesting a child. Or using the salad fork on the entree. 'What do you want?'

'They're showing you on TV right now. Jesus, it's true.'

'What?'

'The TV does make you look heavier.'

'What do you want?'

'Nothing much. I thought you might want to know I got you a meeting with Eddie Crane.'

'You're kidding.' Eddie Crane, one of the hottest tennis juniors in the country. He was seeing only the big-four agencies. ICM, TruPro, Advantage International, ProServ.

'No joke. Meet him and his parents by court sixteen after Duane's match.'

'I love you, you know.'

'Then pay me more,' she said.

Duane hit a cross-court forehand winner. Thirty-love.

'Anything else?' Myron asked.

'Nothing important. Valerie Simpson. She's called three times.'

'What did she want?'

'She wouldn't say. But the Ice Queen sounded ruffled.'

'Don't call her that'

'Yeah, whatever '

Myron hung up. Win looked at him. 'Problem?'

Valerie Simpson. A weird, albeit sad case. The former tennis wunderkind had visited Myron's office two days ago looking for someone – anyone – to represent her. 'Don't think so.'

Duane was up forty-love. Triple match point. Bud Collins, tennis columnist extraordinaire, was already waiting in the gangway for the postmatch interview. Bud's pants, always a Technicolor fashion risk, were particularly hideous today.

Duane took two balls from the ball boy and approached the line. Duane was a rare commodity in tennis. A black man. Not from India or Africa or even France. Duane was from New York City. Unlike just about every other player on the tour, Duane had not spent his life preparing for this moment. He hadn't been pushed by ambitious, carpooling parents. He hadn't worked with the world's top coaches in Florida or California since he was old enough to hold a racket. Duane was on the opposite end of the spectrum: a street kid who had run away at age fifteen and somehow survived on his own. He had learned tennis from the public courts, hanging around all day and challenging anyone who could hold a racket.

He was on the verge of winning his first Grand Slam match when the gunshot sounded.

The sound had been muffled, coming from outside the stadium. Most people did not panic, assuming the sound had come from a firecracker or car backfire. But Myron and Win had heard the sound too often. They were up and moving before the screams. Inside the stadium the crowd began to mumble. More screams ensued. Loud, hysterical screams. The court umpire in his infinite wisdom impatiently shouted 'Quiet, please!' into his microphone.

Myron and Win sprinted up the metallic stairway. They leaped over the white chain, put out by the ushers so that no one could enter or leave the court until the players switched sides, and ran outside. A small crowd was beginning to gather in what was generously dubbed the ' Food Court.' With a lot of work and patience the Food Court hoped to one day reach the gastronomic levels of, say, its mall brethren.

They pushed through the crowd. Some people were indeed hysterical but others hadn't moved at all. This was, after all, New York. The lines for refreshments were long. No one wanted to lose their place.

The girl was lying facedown in front of a stand serving Moet champagne at $7.50 a glass. Myron recognized her immediately, even before he bent down and turned her over. But when he saw her face, when he saw the icy blue eyes stare back at him in a final, unbreakable death gaze, his heart plummeted. He looked back at Win. Win, as usual, had no expression on his face.

'So much,' Win said, 'for her comeback.'

Chapter 2

'Maybe you should just let it go,' Win said.

He whipped his Jaguar XJR onto the FDR Drive and headed south. The radio was tuned to WMXV, 105.1 FM. They played something called 'Soft Rock.' Michael Bolton was on. He was doing a remake of an old Four Tops classic. Painful. Like Bea Arthur doing a remake of a Marilyn Monroe film.

Maybe Soft Rock meant Really Bad Rock.