"I did.”
"I thought you talked to Sam Seward, how could I be a cop?”
"Maybe he's in their pocket, too, the Houston cops. And maybe they got you sewed up here, the cops here. All I know is first you come around looking to buy a gun, and next thing I know you've got five hundred K, and you wanna buy dope. To me, that sounds like a setup.”
"Well, it isn't.”
"For all I know you're wired. For all I know, you got a mike hung between your knockers. I set up a drug buy for you, I end up in a holding cell.”
"I'm not wired.”
"Prove it.”
"How?”
"Strip," he said.
She looked at him.
She sighed heavily.
"So we're back to that again, huh?" she "No, we're not back to that again," mimicking her, "get your fuckin' mind out gutter. I call up this lady friend of mine, we place, you strip for her, not me. She tells me clean, we talk.”
"Did you find a deal for me?”
“No strippee, no talkee," he said.
"I cashed that check today," she said.
Shad looked at her and said nothing.
"I've got five hundred thousand in hundre bills.”
Still he said nothing.
"Come on, don't be a jackass," she said.
"Lady," he said, and stood up, "it was meeting you.”
"Sit down," she said.
"My friend lives on Darrow," he said. "Nei old Franklin Trust building.
Yes or no?-”
Marilyn was shaking her head in amazement; "Yes or no?" Shad said.
Russell's lady friend was a hooker, for sure, but apartment was tidy and well-furnished, and guessed she worked solo. Her name or it least name by which she introduced herself Joanne. This was a common hooker name.
Like Tracy or Julie or Deborah. She looked to be in her d-thirties, but Marilyn guessed she was at least a decade younger. She told Marilyn she could undress in the bathroom.
The bathroom was spotlessly clean. Through force of habit, Marilyn checked out the medicine cabinet and found several bottles of mouthwash, three boxes of condoms, and a bottle of Johnson's Baby Oil. She took off her clothes and folded them neatly on the small wooden table opposite the sink.
There were two robes hanging on the back of the door. Marilyn put on one of them. Silk. The aroma of perfume clinging to it. Something she recognized but could not for the life of her name. Not a cheap scent.
She fastened the sash at her waist and came out into the bedroom wearing only the robe and her own high-heeled pumps.
Joanne looked at the robe and said, "Make yourself at home, why don't you?”
"Sorry, I thought...”
"You mind taking it off, please?”
Shad was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Marilyn looked at him.
"This is a search," Joanne said, "take off the fuckin' robe.”
Shad got up, and went into the other room.
Marilyn took off the robe. Joanne looked her up and .down.
"Nice," she said.
"Thanks.”
"Your own?”
"Yes.”
“Nice," she said again. "Turn around." turned.
"Nice," Joanne said again. "You gay?”
"No.”
"Bi?”
"No.”
"That's a shame. Take off the shoes, Marilyn slipped out of the pumps.
Joanne them up, felt inside each of them, tested each see if she could slide it away from the body shoe, and then handed the shoes back.
I'll check your clothes," she said, and went the bathroom.
Marilyn put the robe on again, and sat on the of the bed, her legs crossed. She desperately a cigarette. In the bathroom, Joanne picked up article of clothing the skirt, the blouse, the bra,. slip, the pantyhose and patted them down. opened Marilyn's handbag, then, and whistled she found the .38.
"Shad sold that to me," Marilyn said.
"I don't want to know," Joanne said, continued rummaging through the bag. At last, snapped the bag shut, said, I'll tell him clean, you can dress now," and went oui into living room. Marilyn went into the bathroom, for her package of cigarettes, immediately one, and then closed and locked the door. In room, she could hear their muffled voices.
puffing on the cigarette and resting it on edge of the sink, she dressed silently, and then flushed the cigarette down the toilet. When she walked out into the living room, Joanne was gone.
"She said we can talk here," Shad said.
"Fine.”
"Sit down.”
"Thanks.”
He was sitting on a sofa covered with a pale blue fabric. Behind him was a Van Gogh poster, all yellows and oranges and bolder blues. She took a chair opposite his, crossed her legs. At the far end of the room, rain lashed the window.
"What'd you think of her?" he asked.
"Nice lady," she said.
"She told me she'd like to go down on you.”
"Sorry, I'm not interested.”
“You're a difficult person," he said, and sighed.
"Shad, can we talk business? Please?”
"That is her business," he said, and smiled the crocodile smile. "I'm glad you were clean. It really bothered me to think that maybe you were fuzz.”
"Good, now let's get on with it. Have you found...?”
"Did you really cash that check?”
"Yes.”
"Half a mill in hundreds, huh?”
"Yes.”
"What'd they say?”
"What do you mean?”
"What'd you tell them? Why you wanted C-notes.”
"They didn't ask.”
"But didn't you feel funny? Getting all that in hundred-dollar bills?”
"I told them I was buying an antique vase, man wouldn't accept anything but cash”
"An antique vase, huh?”
"Yes. Ming Dynasty.”
"Ming Dynasty, huh?”
"Museum quality.”
"And they bought that, huh?”
"I'm a regular customer at the bank, they asked me why I wanted...”
"But you told them, anyway, huh?”
"Yes.”
"Because you felt funny, right?”
"No, because it was an unusual transaction.”
"And because you used to be a hooker, n Marilyn looked at him.
The rain beat a steady tattoo on the window.
"I can understand why you walked easy," he "I wasn't walking easy," she said. "The knows me. But I felt my request was a bit...”
"But they don't know you used to be a hooker, Big smile on his face.
Little man with a big and a big secret. She wished he'd get off this he kept coming back to it, the blonde used to be hooker, what do you know?
"So did you find a deal for me?" she asked.
"Yes," he said, "I found a deal for you.”
"Good. Who?”
"A man up from Colombia, I done deals with him “
"When will it be?”
"He'll have the eleven keys by tomorrow night.”
"Good. Did you tell him I wanted to pick the place?”
“I told him. He didn't like it but...”
Shad shrugged and smiled again.
"Did you tell him one-on-one?”
“I told him. He agreed to it.”
"Where'd you leave it?”
"He'll call me tomorrow night, when he's got the stuff together. I call you, you tell me where you want him to come, he'll be there in ten minutes, provided it ain't in Siam.”
"What's his name?”
"Why do you need to know that?”
"I guess I don't.”
"You guess right, you don't. All you need is the money.”
"After I've got the stuff...”
"Yeah, well, first you gotta get it.”
"Yes. But after I have it, how long do you think it'll take to turn it around?”
"Depends on who I can find. Two days Somebody to step on it it'll cost, you know "Yes.”
"And then somebody else'll take it off hands. All in time. Two, three days.”
"Because the thing is, I haven't got much you see.”
"I figured.”
"I'm getting a lot of pressure, you see.”