something on his chest that needed drawing attention to.
Seconds of laughter later the man got what he wanted when the object of his “affections” handed off her daiquiri and hauled her thin white tank top above her breasts. She added a little shimmy to set twin peaks wiggling and was rewarded with at least two dollars’ worth of bright, flaking plastic beads.
“Some things never change,” Marley said, unmoved.
Gray laughed. “This is the stuff a lot of them come here for.”
A guy dropped his pants and shrieks went up when part of his prize landed on him like a perfectly thrown fairground hoop ringing its target.
Gray didn’t think he liked Marley snickering at something crude like that. “He could get arrested for that,” he said.
“Double standard,” Marley responded and laughed—a sound he was glad to hear coming from her.
They reached Fat Catz and didn’t even get to slow down. Nat whipped out of the shadows, placed himself between them and linked arms. He thrust all three of them forward.
“Next right,” he said and aimed them into a tiny entry road at the back of some shops. “Now talk to me, Marley.”
She gave a big puff. “A gravel alley. An empty building with a bike rack inside. A bike in the rack. Stuff scattered on the floor. A woman’s stuff, like lipstick.”
When she fell silent, both Gray and Nat shifted from foot to foot, waiting.
“There’s a neon sign you can see through the doors—when they’re open.”
“Huh.” Nat continued to wait.
“It could be an animal or a bird. I wasn’t sure. Not a girl or a martini glass with a swizzle stick or anything like that.”
“I see.”
“The neon was mostly turquoise and yellow and the sign lighted up at the top first then moved down until it was all on. Then it went off for a second. Then it started again.”
“Yes,” Nat said. “Okay. And this was where?”
“If I knew that we wouldn’t need you,” Marley said, her voice growing higher. “You get paid to solve these things. All those people you’ve got will have some ideas about where that sign is and they’ll solve it. They’ll find the place.”
“From a gravel alley, an empty building with a bike rack inside, and a flashing neon sign that could be an animal or a bird? You want to make a guess about how many neon signs there are in the Quarter?”
“Forget it,” she said and spun away from them. “I’ll do it myself.”
Gray had her elbow in his grasp before she went five feet. “We’ll do it together and Nat will help. Be reasonable. It’s going to take just the right little memory jog to give us a real lead.”
“I’m not playing silly games with people who sneer at me.” She shot a look at Nat. “If you’re doing so well on your own, why do you need me anyway? You don’t believe anything I tell you.”
Gray thought Nat looked like a man in the company of a woman who puzzled him. But then, he was.
“Okay, everybody, calm down,” Nat said. “I need to put out some information and instructions.”
While they waited, Marley surprised Gray by putting her arms around his waist and resting her face on his chest. “I’ve got to wake up,” she said in a shaky voice. “I usually have time to get strong again.”
He didn’t answer, just let her talk while he tried not to let her know how his body reacted to the feel of her layered against him. He surrounded her shoulders and bent down to put his chin on top of her head.
“I think it’s too late, but I can’t give up until I’m sure,” Marley said.
“Did you see someone, Marley? Someone else?”
She rubbed his back. “Yes.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“No. It was too dark. I don’t even know if it was a live or a dead person.”
They stood under a light and Marley leaned away a little. She turned her hand palm-up and his heart thundered.
“We’re going to an emergency room,” he said. “My God, Marley. The wound needs stitching.”
“It looks worse than it is,” she said, and pulled together a tear in her sleeve.
“Show me that.” Nat took hold of her wrist before she could hide her hand. “When did you get this?”
She shook her head.
“Tell me!”
“I don’t know exactly, but it was this evening at that building.”
“Who did it to you?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did they use?”
She hesitated. “A spine on their skin—or hide,” she said. “As far as I could tell.”
“Uh-huh.” Nat didn’t sound convinced. “My guys are spreading out. They’ll keep checking in. If what you describe exists in this city, we’ll find it.”
“I want to be there when they go in,” Marley said.
“Any particular reason?”
“Because I care. If I’m right, someone suffered there. I don’t want anyone walking all over it like it’s a park.”
Nat put his hands in his pockets. “My people are very careful.”
“I want to be there before they go in.”
“Okay. If they find it, you will be. Now I want you to come with me.”
Marley frowned at Gray.
“I’ll stay with you,” he said. “Nat’s a good guy.”
“I want to go home and sleep,” she said, never taking her gaze from his.
“No, it can’t. Unless you insist on my getting an order from a judge, Marley, I’d like our people to run DNA from that wound.”
Chapter 27
A steady, warm drizzle fell. Rain and a murky damp had taken turns for hours to make the night as difficult as possible.
“We’re going in circles,” Gray said.
“Uh-huh.” Marley hardly had the energy to keep walking. “We are. That’s kind of the point. Eventually I’ll see something I didn’t notice before. I need coffee.”
Without breaking his stride, Gray landed a hand on the back of her neck and pushed her through the door of a corner café with empty booths along both of its windows.
Marley slid onto a split, green plastic seat and shook her head. She was glad she couldn’t see what the humidity had done to her hair.
“Look at those curls,” Gray said. “You could audition for Orphan Annie.”
She scowled at him. “Thanks, I needed that.”
His smile made her laugh.
“You’re bad, you know that?” she told him. “Do you think they have toasted cheese sandwiches here?”
“You don’t want chocolate syrup on chocolate cake?”
“That’s dessert.”
A waitress brought coffee and nixed the toasted cheese. They could have pizza by the slice.
“Do you have anything else?” Marley asked. “Oatmeal? Grits? Corn pudding?”
“Nope. We’ll nuke the pizza for you, though.”
“Six pieces, then,” Marley said.
