The hotel lobby, into which they emerged, was crowded with plumbing supply salesmen, all wearing badges shaped like toilet plungers. The light was better here, and Kate raked Shayne with a quick appraising glance.
“I said goodnight everybody.”
Shayne grinned at her. “After sticking my neck out to keep you from being mauled? That’s not how the movies do it. The girl is grateful. She says let’s go someplace and find out if we swing the same way.”
One of the salesmen came twisting up out of the crowd. “Aren’t you Mike Shayne? Who always gets his man? Or his woman, as the case may be?”
“Move it along,” Shayne said harshly. “I’m trying to talk my new friend into having a drink.”
The salesman looked drunkenly at Kate. “Aren’t you Shirley MacLaine? You should do it. Have a drink with him. Don’t stand on ceremony. Life is too short. Do it.”
“Mike Shayne,” she said as the salesman weaved away. “That was how a sap happened to jump into your hand.”
“I operate around here. They know me.”
“I still don’t get it. I could have handled that guy.”
“Doc Black? You don’t know him. He was going to sit down after the next drink. Once down, those guys have a tendency to stay down. He’s been pushing that tackling sled around all day, and the club would have to send a tow truck for him. You don’t want to waste the evening.”
“Listen, do I hear a faint implication…”
“Nothing unnatural about it,” Shayne told her. “Doc comes in a bar, and the groupies gather. He’s so damn big. So solid. But usually they go to bed disappointed. He gets excited by all the attention and starts knocking over drinks.”
“Let’s make it more specific,” she said evenly. “Goodnight, Mr. Shayne. I have to make a phone call.”
“There’s a booth over there. Do you have change?”
She continued to look up at him. “I can’t stand smug people, even when they’re right. And you don’t happen to be right. I don’t pick up men in bars — not because it’s morally repulsive, but because it’s so damn chancy. I met Doc when he was in L.A. with the Rams. He was okay then.”
“He’s been unconscious a lot of the time since,” Shayne said, shifting ground slightly. “I thought he was about to start throwing bottles, and that’s the wrong kind of publicity for people in your line of business. If I made a mistake, I’ll go back in and apologize.”
“Better not,” she said with a laugh. “Let him recover.”
“You don’t really want to phone anybody. I don’t want to go on hitting people.”
“Well…”
“That’s a step forward. You’re thinking about it.”
She touched him suddenly under the arm. “Are you the kind of detective who carries a gun?”
“Not tonight, why?”
“I just wondered. Where would you like us to go?”
“That’s a problem. There are other bars in this hotel, and the town is full of hotels. But we’ll be bothered by people who want to tell you how many times they’ve seen your movies.”
“Mike, slow down. We’re off to a shaky start; and from now on, let’s do it like ordinary people.”
“Ordinary people have time. We don’t.”
He took her arm and drew her into a cleared space in front of a closed travel agency. “This is a pitch. I’ve just been discussing you with one of your fans, and he says the reason you’re in town is to get a part in a picture. If you get it, you won’t have any time for social drinking. If you don’t get it, you’ll take a plane out. Tonight we’re both free.”
“Damn you, will you give me a minute to think?”
“I’m trying to be realistic. A psychiatrist told me once that the reason actresses don’t like to sleep alone is that they’re used to performing in front of an audience.”
She made a fist. “One more remark like that and I’ll slug you. You’ll notice I’m wearing rings.”
“Say we go to the Deauville to see the comic who’s there this week. I’ve been told he’s good. The place will be full of tourists. ‘There’s Kate Thackera; let’s pester her for her autograph. Who’s the jerk with her, is he anybody? Do you think they’d mind if we join them?’ Or you’d run into somebody you’ve known longer than you have me…”
“Which is less than five minutes.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Which is less than five minutes, and you don’t know anything about me. What if I like to beat on my girls with high-heeled shoes? So you’ll try to slip out when I’m not looking, but I’ll catch up to you on the sidewalk and throw the other guy through a plate-glass window. Cops. Headlines.”
She was laughing. “You’re getting at something.”
“Let’s take a shortcut and go to my apartment. You’ll be fresher in the morning.”
“Or,” she said in a resigned tone, “you could stay here and have a drink in my room.”
“That would be even more practical. Then if I do anything too freaky, you can call the desk and have them come get me.”
She waited a moment and touched his arm. “I’ve been having a rough time lately. I won’t get maudlin or anything. But will you be… easy with me?”
“Yeah,” Shayne said. “We’ll hoist a few and stay off the serious subjects; and then if you’d like some solitude, I’ll empty the ashtrays and go home.”
“You may turn out to be a nice man, after all. I have bourbon upstairs. You’d better get ice.”
Chapter 4
Kate, as a celebrity of sorts, had been welcomed to Miami Beach with flowers, fruit, and a quart of bourbon in a fancy package.
“Old Grand-dad,” she said approvingly. “They bothered to find out my brand — now don’t you think that was sweet of them? But we’ve got another bottle to finish first.”
She kicked off her shoes and went to check her appearance in the bathroom mirror. She improved her lipstick and did something additional to her eyes before coming back. Shayne handed her a glass.
“Some people think I drink too much of this stuff,” she said. “But I’ve always thought it was good for me. Which picture of mine did you see eight times?”
“I forget the name of it now. Cigarette?” He held out a package.
“I thought as much.”
“But if there’s anything of yours on TV tonight, I’m willing to watch.”
“Baby, thanks. Fans like you make all the difference.”
She piled pillows against the head of one of the beds, arranged herself, and took the top off her drink.
“It’s been a rough, rough day; and now I’m going to do some vigorous drinking.”
He lit her cigarette for her. She held onto his wrist and leaned forward to blow out the match.
“I just had a sensational idea, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier. You seem to be a pretty competent guy. Poor Doc — but maybe it’s just as well. Because I not only need somebody tonight, I need somebody tomorrow. A private detective might be just the thing. Are you available?”
She released him, and he went back for his drink. “Available for what?”
“I know nothing’s going to happen, but just to be on the safe side. Well, I need sort of a bodyguard, Mike. But there’s no point in going into it if you’re tied up.”
He waited a moment.
“I’m afraid I’m working for somebody else. It’s never a good idea to take on two clients at the same time.”
“You’re working for somebody else tomorrow, or right now?”
“Right now.”
She put her glass on the bedside stand and took a short-barreled revolver out of the shallow drawer. Leaning forward, she pointed it at Shayne.
“Would that other client be Larry Zion by any chance?”
Shayne laughed. “What will you do if I tell you the truth — shoot me? That gun’s loaded with blanks.”