Only an occasional plane passing overhead reminded him where he was. The glittering silver created a reflected brightness, but if he stayed on the far end of the lot, he would be safe. He opened a curved and unlocked silver door and laid her body to rest.
He hesitated. A ceremony before he departed seemed appropriate. Perhaps-some sort of prayer.
He lowered his head and spoke in susurrous tones.
“ ‘And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side of my darling-my darling-my life and my bride.’ ”
He took a handful of dirt and, just to give this a semblance of burial, sprinkled it over the body. “ ‘In her tomb by the sounding sea.’ ”
“You’ve got a date? A true-to-life, honest-to-God date?”
Lisa batted her eyelashes. “Control your envy.”
“And this isn’t with… what was his name?”
“The Human Plunger? Not him.” Lisa had an endearing habit of identifying all her boyfriends by reference to their kissing technique.
“No, I mean the advertising guy.”
“The Tongueless Titan. Ditched him.”
“Dare I ask why?”
“Kissed hard with his mouth open, but never any tongue.”
“Was that bad?”
“It was weird. Like he was administering CPR. And I asked myself, if he’s so reserved with his tongue now, is he ever going to-”
“Lisa!”
“Well, a girl has to wonder.”
I leaned through the open car window. “Have a good time. I’ll expect a full report.”
Lisa took my hand and squeezed. “Are you sure you’ll be okay, honey?”
“Of course I will.” Lisa was so sweet. She would do anything for me, I knew that. It frustrated her, not knowing what to do, what she could do.
“I don’t feel right, leaving you by yourself.”
I patted her reassuringly on the shoulder. “Don’t be silly. You can’t babysit me forever.”
“But it’s only-”
“We’d drive each other crazy and we both know it. You’re my best friend, Lisa, but even you can only tolerate me in limited doses.” We both laughed. “You’ve gotten me a great place to stay. I need some time to get it in order.”
“I could help.”
“Hey, you did all the packing. It’s only fair that I unpack.”
“There’s no rush.”
“I want the place looking nice before Rachel comes back.”
Lisa fell silent.
“You run along,” I said quickly, papering over the gap. “I’ll call you later.”
She smiled a little. “Okay. But if you need something, call me on my cell.”
“I will.”
“I won’t be far. I could be at your place in a heartbeat.”
“You shouldn’t say that. I might call. Interrupt some CPR.”
Her smile faded a bit. “I wish you would. But I know you won’t.”
Lisa hugged me again, then drove off in a sports car cloud of smoke and I made my way to the new apartment.
She’d done a terrific job, especially considering how little time she’d had to work on it. Wasn’t too expensive, either. The monthly rent was considerably less than my mortgage had been, when I paid it, so I might end up with a little extra spending money-a pleasant thought.
What little furniture I had was in storage, so I was stuck with the rudimentary apartment-provided stuff. The mattress was lumpy and hard, but I had a hunch I’d be sleeping soundly anyway.
I started by doing what little had to be done to make the joint habitable-sheets on the bed, Mr. Coffee in the kitchen. Most everything else could wait. I really needed to relax. What an ordeal this day had been. I was exhausted.
I should’ve just watched television, but I couldn’t resist going through the packing boxes, making sure everything was safe and still in one piece. Lisa had taken great care with my belongings. But she couldn’t know everything. She couldn’t know that the scruffy, torn T-shirt that looked as if it must be a dust rag was actually my favorite pajama top. She couldn’t know that I folded my sweaters along the vertical bias, not the horizontal. And she couldn’t know that I had left a full bottle of bourbon in my gym bag.
But I knew.
6
He had just unfolded the morning paper when Harv Bradford entered the canteen.
“Can you believe those cops are still running around outside, Ernie? Took me twenty minutes just to get into the hotel.”
He shrugged. “They have a job to do. They must keep the crime scene secure.”
“Yeah, right.” Harv poured himself a cup of coffee, took a sip, then winced. “Are we reusing yesterday’s grounds?” He tossed the drink into the sink. “You had any contact with the cops?”
“No.”
“Neither had any of the boys on the night shift. Kind of a snub, if you ask me.”
“They’re LVPD. Why would they consult with us?”
“We’re the hotel security force. We work every damn day right here where they found the body. Seems like we might be able to tell them a thing or two.”
“Such as what?”
“Well… I don’t know exactly. But something. At any rate, they could ask. To treat us like we don’t exist…” Harv shook his head. “Just seems disrespectful.”
“City cops never have any respect for private security,” he replied. “They call us rent-a-cops.”
“I think that sucks.” Harv was a little over six feet, but he carried a spare tire that made the gray uniform bulge in all the wrong places. He looked ridiculous, out of shape, stupid. And he wondered why the police didn’t want to consult with him. “I could tell them a thing or two.”
He lowered his paper. “You know something about the body they found?”
“Well, no. Not exactly. But it’s possible I might’ve seen something without knowing I saw it, you know what I mean?”
I know you’re a fool, he thought.
“Hey! Is there something in the news about it?”
Harv snatched the paper out of his hands without even asking. It was because of his height, of course. Because Harv towered above him, that gave him free rein to disregard common courtesy.
“What do you know?” Harv said, slapping the paper. “The Transylvania made the front page. Did you read it?”
“I was reading it,” he answered sharply.
“This is pretty cool. Look at the size of the headline. I bet this is getting national play.”
“We can but hope.”
“Kinda exciting, ain’t it? Being a part of a big story like this.”
“I don’t believe that either of our names is mentioned.”
“Maybe not. But it happened right where we work. And I know the guy who found the body.”
“You’re a celebrity, Harv.”
“If you ask me, this is what the money boys get for choosing such a creepy theme for this place.”
“The children like it.”
“Yeah, and since when did Vegas care about children? This new crowd-they got more bucks than brains. I liked the town better when the mob ran it.”
“Those were the good old days.”
“You really don’t think those cops would want to talk to me?”
“I really don’t, Harv.”
The paper crumpled in his hands. “Know what? I always wanted to be a cop. A real one, I mean. When I was a kid. But I couldn’t afford the school and I couldn’t pass the test. So I went into private security.”
“And isn’t that satisfying? You wear a uniform. You have the occasional opportunity to hustle prostitutes. Strong-arm card cheats.”
“It ain’t the same. People look up to cops.”
“Do they?”
“Cops are like heroes. They make TV shows about cops. When was there ever a series about a private security guard?”
And that of course proves, a posteriori, that security guards are without merit. “I suppose you have a point.”
“I mean, here I am, right on the premises, with a badge and a gun and everything, but those guys outside would never dream of asking for my help. Wouldn’t even cross their minds.” He released a slow sigh. “Here.” He tossed the paper back. “All that little print makes my head hurt.”