When my phone eventually woke me the sun was almost down. Scattered clouds drifted in the sky, their edges a vibrant pink from the final moments of sunset. I answered my cell, prostrate on the couch.
“Haskell Investigations.”
“Hello, Dev.”
“Who’s this,” I asked, afraid I knew.
“I need someone to rub lotion on my back, interested?”
“No, not really, Kiki.”
“Oh come on, you’re not mad are you?”
“No Kiki, I’m not mad.”
“Hey, thanks for the drinks the other night. How’s the head?” she said.
“I guess I’ll live.”
“Only because I let you,” she said, then cackled and hung up.
I checked the front and back doors, they were locked. I pushed a chair up against them just to be on the safe side. Then dug in my wallet, pulled out Amanda Nguyen’s business card and dialed the number.
“Hello.”
“Hi Amanda, this is Dev Haskell. Please, don’t hang up.”
“What makes you think I’d do that?”
“Just the way things have been going lately, I…”
“From what I hear they’ve been pretty much going your way all of a sudden.”
“Yeah, actually they have, that’s kind of why I called.”
“Oh really,” she laughed. “I suppose you’re looking for that sucker I promised.”