"I wasn't protecting Moose. I was helping Penny. She said she didn't want to see you, that it would endanger her life."
"How did she know that?"
"She didn't elaborate. She left in a hurry, as soon as I promised I wouldn't give her away." Liz twisted in my arms. "Maybe Moose has been in contact with her. Is that what you re thinking?"
"It's possible."
"I know where she's staying. I don't know if I want to tell you. The information could get you killed if Moose is with her."
"Tell me," I said.
She sighed "The place is an old summer cottage outside of town. I'll write down the directions for you." She rose and walked to an antique writing table. She moved beautifully. She had a small, hard behind, like a young girls.
I watched as she stood at the table and wrote on a dainty scrap of blue stationery. Her full breasts swayed when she moved. The light played on her sleek shoulders. She was a genuine blonde, golden between the thighs.
Soundlessly I left the bed. I reached around her and caressed her breasts. I cupped them in my palms and toyed with her nipples, feeling them grow hard again.
Tilting her head, she stood motionless, enjoying my caresses. I could smell her hair, the perfume on her body.
"I'm glad I came to San Francisco," I said.
Slowly she leaned against me, then turned and let her head fall on my shoulder. "How long do you have, Ned?"
"Long enough," I said.
Her hand gently touched my face. I picked her up and carried her back to the bed...
The house where Penny was staying sat high on a bluff outside San Francisco. Liz's directions had been easy to follow. I parked fifty yards away from the house at the side of a deserted road, got out of my car, and quietly closed the door. The night air was cool and damp, the ground wet from a summer rain. On each side of me, the woods had grown thick with underbrush that crowded the edges of the road.
I could see a car near the house's front door. Approaching cautiously, I passed the car and crouched under one of the lighted windows of the house. Inside, two people were talking. I heard their voices although I couldn't make out their words. One of the voices belonged to a man.
My Luger in my hand, I turned the corner of the house. I suddenly felt tight inside. My search might be nearing an end.
I walked on the balls of my feet, moving quickly through the shadows. As I arrived at the front door, I heard the voices growing louder. The people were coming out. Turning, I looked for a hiding place. The man's footsteps, loud and hard, were at the door. I darted to the parked car and ducked behind it.
Light flooded out into the night, painting a yellow stripe along the ground. The man's figure breached the doorway. It was not Moose. He was not nearly the size of the gravel-voiced giant. I felt the sharp cut of disappointment.
"Lock the door," the man said to his companion, a girl I only glimpsed. He moved down the steps. His stocky shape looked familiar. So did the choppy steps he took as he approached the car.
He didn't even glance in the direction of my Ford parked down the road. He opened the door of his own car and got in. The house's front door had closed and the girl had disappeared.
The man turned the ignition key. I heard the motor stir and felt the car start a sluggish movement as the man shoved the gear into reverse. I grabbed the handle of the door on my side and jumped inside the car as the man backed away from the house.
He slammed on the brakes. "What the hell?"
"I've got a gun, so take it easy. Turn on the overhead light. I want to see what you look like."
He had dark hair and a hard face. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and I could see the tattoo of an anchor on his forearm.
"Jake Hoyle's the name, isn't it?"
"You should be dead," he said. "Sid put a bullet in you."
"I remember the occasion." I swiped him in the face with the Luger. Just hard enough to make sure I had his complete attention. "Where is Moose?"
"You don't want to see him. You're out of your league. Moose eats guys like you for dessert."
"I thought he preferred to beat up women."
"Listen, the wisest step you could take would be to get out of this car right now and go somewhere a thousand miles from here."
That night in Idaho was burning in my mind, vivid again, filling me with fury. I was remembering how Sid had calmly put a bullet in me while I lay bound and helpless. I was remembering Sheila Brant and David Kirby.
I jammed the Luger against his throat so hard that he gasped. "I asked you a question. If you don't answer it, I'll blow your brains all over the seat of this car."
Hoarsely he said, "I'm going to meet Moose now."
"Good. I'll go along with you."
"It's your funeral." At least he hoped it was.
He cast occasional sidelong glances in my direction as he drove. "Moose knows about you. He knows you're some kind of a federal agent."
"How did he find that out?"
"He has connections. He has them right up to the top of the Organization. You're going to get yours, mister. You're living on borrowed time."
I put a cigarette in my mouth. "You've got a lighter of mine. You took it off me in Bonham."
"You don't forget anything, do you? I gave the lighter to the girl."
I punched in the one in the dash. "Drive faster. I'm eager to see Moose again."
With an oath, Hoyle shoved the accelerator harder. "Rondo was right. You're crazy."
"Rondo told me he didn't know where you were."
"He didn't, but we have a mutual friend. He made a call. I figured you'd be coming to San Francisco to see Penny. You found that address book Moose lost. You're looking up every broad in it."
"Only I don't have to look any longer, do I?"
"No. This is the end of the road for you, mister."
Without changing his tone of voice, Hoyle wrenched the steering wheel. When the car swerved, I was thrown into the dash.
I didn't see him put his hand inside his coat, but I saw the flash of the gunshot and heard its sound as he pulled the trigger. He was fast. He was very fast. But the bullet didn't hit its target. I had already dropped to the floor of the car. I didn't have time to think things out. I shot back. The Luger exploded loudly inside the closed car. Hoyle made a gurgling sound in his throat and slumped over the steering wheel.
The car was traveling along an open stretch of pavement without a curve on it. Hoyle had chosen the spot carefully. If things had worked out the way he'd planned, he would have killed me with one quick shot and would have been able to keep the car from leaving the road. But his plan hadn't worked.
The driverless car careened to the left and streaked across the road. It hit a ditch as I tried to reach the steering wheel and I was thrown against Hoyle's body. Bucking out of the ditch, the car forged through underbrush and finally came to a halt. I was amazed that it hadn't turned over.
I straightened up and pushed Hoyle back against the seat and felt for his pulse. He didn't have one. He was dead. There had been no choice but to shoot him. Still, I was bitter at the development. I hadn't wanted him dead. I wanted Moose.
I put the Luger away and pulled Hoyle's body out of the car. I got the motor started again and ground out of the brush. The car bounced over the ditch and onto the pavement again. I drove back to the house.
I had to get Penny to tell me Moose's whereabouts or I was back where I had started.
Lights were still on inside the house. I circled it and found an open bedroom window. I couldn't see Penny but I heard her. She was taking a shower. I could hear the water going.
I sat down on the back steps and removed my shoes, then picked the lock on the door. I moved quietly through a kitchen and a living room and into the bedroom.
Penny was singing in the shower. I didn't recognize the tune. Penny was no Barbra Streisand. My cigarette lighter was on the chest. I dropped it into my pocket and sat down to wait for her to finish.