I thought and then shrugged. “Dunno about Kratz. If I couldpredict the bastard, I could catch him. But yeah, it looks like he might havefinished his mission.”
We didn’t talk during the drive to her apartment, justlistened to the thump of windshield wipers and the rattle of rain on the metal.I had my thoughts, she had hers, and neither of us felt like inflicting them onthe other. I wished I could explain the virtues of silence to Sandy. She alwaysliked to chatter, one reason why we slept in separate beds. Cash was more likeMaggie. Neither of them talked unlessshe had something that needed saying.
Anyway, I pulled around her apartment to the back lot, notingthe security lights and the shadows they caused, the building manager shouldhave paid for three or four more fixtures out there, but Cash had parked hercruiser in a clear patch where she could check it out before getting anywherenear. Good girl. But then I wrinkled my nose. Someone else had parked rightnext to her, even though I saw plenty of spaces closer to the building entry.Bad juju there. Places to hide. Places for ambush. I’d told her. . . .
Those thoughts must have shown on my face.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. ‘Paranoia is a survival trait.’ Never sitwith my back to the door and never park in a crowd. That’s my neighbor down thehall, single mom with a toddler. She says she feels safer parking next to me.Silly girl thinks there’s some kind of wizard’s warding circle around amagic-cop’s ride.”
Like I’ve said before, the civilians have some strange ideasabout us. Anyway, I pulled over to the building door to let Cash out and sheshook her head.
“Park it. Come on inside, get your raincoat back, and I’llpour you a drink. We need to talk in private.”
Talk as in Kratz, I guessed. Not that I had much to say, butshe deserved to know the little I had. And we might come up with somethingbetter, striking sparks off each other. Not like Bycheck, where I’d drive allthe way back out to Podunk Hollow and ask those sleazeball cops to lock me up,to avoid the man.
So I picked an isolated and well-lit space and waited a fewminutes for a lull in the rain and gusts, since she still had my Burberry. I’dbeen to Cash’s apartment before on business, dropping off a report, so I knewfloor and number already and where to find the stairs. And I hiked up thestairs, and down the hall, and she opened the door before I buzzed. Opened thedoor wearing a short and slinky red silk dressing gown and a lot of walnutskin.
Yeah, she’d been soaked, needed to get out of wet clothes.Still, I blinked. For one thing, she showed enough cleavage that I could tellshe wasn’t wearing a bra. As if the clinging silk hadn’t already made that obvious. You probably saw this coming, about fivechapters back. I didn’t. When it comes to women, I can be as dense as theaverage block of lead.
She handed me a glass, amber liquid. The aroma said JackDaniels. No — second sniff, Gentleman Jack, the high-rent stuff. Trust Cash togo first class. If I’d been a Scotch man, she’d have known and handed me myfavorite single-malt. Which my ignorant nose said occupied her glass, but I couldn’ttell you what brand. Something strong and dark and peaty, anyway.
So I walked into the spider’s lair on automatic pilot, stillthinking Kratz instead of Cash. I took a sip of the whiskey, put the glassdown, and shrugged out of my damp tweed jacket and hung it on the back of achair. She put her own drink down and put her arms around my neck and snuggledup close to the point where “woman” wiped “whiskey” from my nose.
“Uh, Sergeant Cash. . . .”
“Nef. Remember? We’re not on company time now.”
“Uh, Nef, I thought we were going to talk about Kratz. Aboutthat crime scene, and what we can do about catching that bastard.”
She shook her head. “No. We’re going to talk about littlecoffee-colored Nef-babies, with cream stirred in. You and me are going to bed.After that scene this afternoon, I feel a strong need to fuck my brains out.You’re elected. Like the lady sang, you’re going to help me make it through thenight.”
“But. . . .”
Another head-shake. “John, I know you’re still in love withMaggie. That’s one reason why I love you. You can’t help being a good man.”
“Why me?”
She slid back a half step, still keeping her arms around myneck to block any retreat, and stared me in the eyes. “John, I’ve met a grandtotal of three men who meet the exacting standards for fathering Nef-babies.Believe me, I’ve been looking. Father Joseph is married to his God, and RabbiMeyers dearly loves his wife and five wonderful children. And I’m not Jewish. Damn good thing you started out at the top ofthe list.”
I pulled away from her, which was rude, but she had me groggyalready. A couple of straight rights to the chin. I grabbed my glass and took ahealthy swig, rude to that as well,good whiskey should be savored. And maybe alcohol was a bad bet in thatsituation. Like I said, I was operating on autopilot. But I had to do something.
“Jury rendered a verdict on that baby question?”
She grinned. “Nope. Still deliberating. Tonight’s just sex.Lots and lots of sex.”
I tossed out a last despairing plea. “Nef, Sergeant Cash, I’ma bad choice for a father. Odds are strong I’ll be dead in ten years or less.Damn sure you can find someone better, someone who will stay around to helpsupport and raise your kids. A woman like you, you’ve got hundreds of
