name's Rhinehardt, John Rhinehardt, but he likes his nickname, don't you, Rhino?'
John Rhinehardt, a.k.a. Rhino, pursed his lips and gave a small nod of assent. With his stocky build, crooked nose, and small eyes, he did bring to mind an albino rhinoceros.
'Pleased to meet you,' said Lee.
Rhino responded with another lip pursing.
'And his buddy is Diesel,' Eddie went on, 'named on account of-come to think of it, no one knows how you got your nickname.'
'I used to drive the eighteen-wheelers,' Diesel responded in an elegant baritone. 'And I like to drink quite a bit.'
'I don't even remember your real name,' Eddie admitted.
'No one uses it anymore,' Diesel answered. 'I prefer Diesel.'
'Right,' Eddie agreed as the waitress approached their table.
'What'll you have?' she said, standing over them, pen in hand.
'We'll have another round of the same, thanks, sweetheart,' Eddie replied. 'And add my buddies' drinks to my check.'
She turned to Diesel. If she thought he was odd looking, her face didn't betray it. Lee figured that working in a bar a block from Times Square, she had pretty much seen it all.
'What'll it be?' Her voice was ragged with fatigue.
'Two pints of Guinness, please,' Diesel said. As she turned to go, he added, 'And a Diet Coke for my friend.'
The waitress did a double take that consisted of one raised eyebrow; then she turned and headed for the bar.
'What's the idea of ordering a Diet Coke?' Eddie demanded.
In response, Rhino patted what appeared to be a rock-hard stomach.
'He's always calorie counting,' Diesel said with a disgusted snort. 'Oh, well, looks like I'll have to do the drinking for both of us.'
'Bet you'll never guess what these guys do for a living?' Eddie chirped.
Break kneecaps? Lee wanted to answer, but he said nothing.
'Tell 'em, boys.' Eddie leaned back in the red leatherette booth, enjoying himself hugely.
'We are currently working as hospital orderlies,' said Diesel. Evidently he was the talkative one.
'Oh,' said Lee, not sure what he was supposed to make of that information.
'But you didn't tell him the best part!' Eddie said. He leaned across the table toward Lee, and Lee could smell his tobacco-stained teeth. 'These boys work at Bellevue!' He pronounced the word as though he were announcing the discovery of the Holy Grail. 'So I figure they can get the lowdown on all sorts of nutcases-maybe your guy, for instance.'
'Wait a minute,' Lee interrupted. 'That would be illegal and unethical, violating doctor-patient privilege.'
'But these guys ain't docs,' Eddie protested.
'This guy is probably flying under the radar,' Lee said. 'Not in treatment, probably not in the system at all. Even if he is, the chances of him coming through Bellevue-'
'Are roughly one in one hundred and forty-six thousand, if he lives in Manhattan,' Diesel said solemnly. When Lee stared at him, he leaned back and folded his powerful hands in front of him. 'I enjoy statistics. It's kind of a hobby.'
'Diesel's a college graduate,' Eddie said proudly. 'Somewhere in Michigan-?'
'Michigan State,' Diesel replied. 'Magna cum laude.'
Lee guessed that Eddie knew both of them through Gamblers Anonymous, but he wasn't about to ask. Eddie was very casual about the whole notion of his anonymity, and would tell anyone that he was attending meetings- whether they asked or not-but Lee didn't want to compromise the privacy of Eddie's friends.
'Look, isn't there something we can do to help?' Eddie asked.
Lee looked around the bar, with its comfortable low lighting, the softly glowing yellow lamps casting shadows on the walls. The bar was filling up with theatergoers, all in a festive mood. It seemed odd, sitting here with Eddie and his two powerful-looking friends, that somewhere out there, a predator was ruthlessly stalking and carving up young women.
'I don't know,' he said. 'Maybe I'll think of something.'
Eddie winked. 'These guys get around-know what I mean?'
Lee looked at the two companions. Rhino's deep-set blue eyes were azure in the dim light, and his pale skin was a sharp contrast to Diesel's richly hued coffee-colored skin. No doubt about it: singly, they were unusual looking. As a pair, they were striking.
'They used to be homeless,' Eddie continued, snapping a chip between his tobacco-stained fingers before popping it into his mouth. 'Addicts, both of 'em. Hard to believe now, huh?'
Lee looked at the pair. With their well-muscled bodies and clear eyes, they looked like anything but addicts.
'Methamphetamines,' said Diesel. 'My drug of choice, when I could get it. And Rhino was addicted to heroin.'
Rhino sipped at his soda and looked away.
'So not only do they have connections in the hospital nursing field,' Eddie said, 'but they also know most of the guys who run the shelters around town-and most of the clients.'
'I don't see how that can help us,' Lee replied.
Diesel leaned forward. 'There is an underclass of people in this city who go places other people don't, who see what other people miss. There are eyes and ears out there that the police have yet to fully appreciate.'
'Sort of like the Baker Street Irregulars in the Sherlock Holmes stories-right, Boss?' Eddie said.
Diesel took a sip of beer and wiped his mouth delicately. 'We have access to those ears and eyes-what goes on in the dark of night when most people are looking the other way.'
'Methamphetamines and heroin, huh?' Lee said. 'Those must have been hard ones to kick. Those are both really addictive.'
'You can accomplish anything,' Diesel said, 'if you have the willpower and determination.'
Looking at the pair sitting across from him, Lee didn't doubt that he was right. Then, against his own will, the words popped into his head: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. But he imagined that if the Slasher's will prevailed, it would not be either as in earth or as in heaven, but as in hell.
Chapter Fifteen
Her breasts were small and round, the skin smooth and white as the inside of a clamshell. The nipples were marbled mother-of-pearl-like faded pink summer roses. He thought he would faint at the sight of them. His head grew light, and a tingling came to his forehead, even as his eyes drank in the sight of them greedily. He felt like a starving man who had been watching a feast through a window all his life, and now that he was here, the table of delicacies spread out before him, his stomach rebelled at the sight of such abundance. Her body was achingly beautiful-and still it was not his to touch, to caress, to possess. Her mouth, marred by lipstick, was a red slash in the middle of the perfect white skin of her face.
He watched her through the crack in the white lace curtains, as her body rose and fell with passion. He felt his own body swell in response. She was his neighbor's daughter, and the space between their bedroom windows was so narrow that he felt as if he could reach out and touch her.
Samuel! Sam-u-el! You will burn in hell if you don't stop that right now!
If only he could make it stop, the sound of his mother's voice, harsh as a crow's, cawing at him, bleating, berating him, until he felt his ears would bleed.
Stop that right now, Samuel! The hand of God Himself will come down and strike you dead, and you'll go straight to hell forever!
He turned his head to avoid the arrows of her eyes, his face hot with shame. Even with his face turned
