Part 41 (1/2)
I started for the door, then thought better of it. ”You're comin' with me,” I told him. ”Where?”
”Mitch.e.l.l's got my girlfriend. You want proof? Come on.” I hauled him out the door, pulling it closed behind, and going left. ”Into that Nash.”
Kroun was limping, his left trouser leg was crusted brown from dried blood. He wheezed badly. I gunned the motor, s.h.i.+fted, and shot us away.
”What's with you?” I asked.
”Got some smoke. Coughed most of it out by now, but jeez.”
”What else?”
”Some burns, the concussion from the boom was the worst. Like someone hit me all over with a building.”
”How the h.e.l.l did you survive?”
”Gordy's car.”
”What about it?”
”The d.a.m.ned thing's built like a safe. There's so much metal in it I'm guessing most of the blast went down and sideways, not up and out. The bomb was bad, but not enough to get around all that armor. It bought me a few seconds. I didn't know what I was doing, only that I was doing it. The whole thing was smoke inside, and I couldn't see, but I found the door handle and rolled clear and kept rolling. My eyes were watering, but there was another boom, and I just kept going. There were some trash cans on the street, and I hid behind them. They were full and didn't go flying like everything else, so I stayed there.”
”And you didn't show yourself thinking I'd done that?”
”I was too d.a.m.ned hurt to think much of anything. The whole street was fulla stinkin' smoke, so I just got out of there before something else dropped on me.”
”Where did you go?”
”Found an empty building. Picked the lock, went in, and coughed my guts out for a few hours.”
”You couldn't call anyone? Even New York?”
”I was thinking again by then, and it didn't seem like such a good idea. With my looks I'd be too easy to spot walking around, and I don't know who's who in this town, so I sat tight and rested up. I thought I'd give it a day, then go after you for answers, but your G.o.dd.a.m.ned club was closed.”
”Yet you came in.”
”I saw you and the guys with the ambulance. What the h.e.l.l was that?”
”Me being stupid. Forget about it.”
”How do you know Mitch is with your girl?”
”I think he made her phone me to get me to her place.”
”She that singer, the blond?”
”Yeah. She tipped me off something was wrong, but I gotta get there fast in case she didn't get away with it.”
”G.o.d, I hate this business,” said Kroun, between clenched teeth.
I parked on the side of the hotel opposite Bobbi's flat. Mitch.e.l.l could be watching from her windows and even from that high up might recognize me walking in. If he saw Kroun, it would be a disaster.
We went in through a smaller entry that led to the lobby and the elevators. There was still an operator on duty; I gave him the floor just above Bobbi's. He stared at Kroun, got a red-eyed stare in return then focused on his job. When he opened the doors again I waited until he descended before heading for the stairs at the end of the hall.
”What's this?” Kroun asked. He was gray of face as we hurried along.
”I don't want Mitch.e.l.l hearing the elevator stop on her floor.” At the service door, I listened, then cautiously opened it. The hall, identical to the one we'd left, was empty. ”Okay, here's the deal: There's a servants entrance to her flat, and I've got the key. I can sneak in that way, but I need you to knock on the front door to get his attention.” ”Then what?”
”Just knock. He might think it's me, so do it from the side in case he shoots through the door.”
”Yeah, okay. Hand me back my piece.”
”You won't need it.”
”I sure as h.e.l.l will. Don't worry, I'll only shoot him, not your girl.”
I didn't want to trust him on that.
”I get my gun or you get no help. Come on.”
Dammit. I gave it over. ”But no shooting. You won't need to, anyway. I just need you to distract his attention.
Stay here, count to a hundred, then knock loud.”
He went into ”one, two, three, four,” and I counted along with him to match his pace. Kept counting softly as I slipped out, vanished, and sped forward, going solid just long enough to find Bobbi's door. Gone again, I sieved under it and listened as best I could in the grayness.
No one talking. d.a.m.n.
Nineteen, twenty...
Made a sweep of the front room and didn't encounter anyone. Tried the small kitchen. No one here, either. Decided to risk going solid.
Lights out, except for some spill from the living room. More than enough to see by. Listened. Would have held my breath if I'd had any.
Twenty-nine, thirty...
It took a few seconds to get it, like tuning in to a hard-to-find radio station. Vague movements, a heartbeat. More than one...
Invisible again, I floated toward her bedroom. Very much on purpose I wasn't thinking about certain things. If he'd touched her I would rip him apart. Literally.
No sound in this room. My m.u.f.fled hearing worked against me. Swept through, located one person sitting on the bed, the second in a chair next to the telephone table. Another extravagant convenience of her very modern apartment was having two phones, one in the living room, the other just steps away, next to the bed. She usually kept that one in the bath so she could talk while soaking in the tub. Were they waiting for my call? And who was who? I could tell general shapes in this form, but nothing more specific. If one of them would just make a noise, I'd know who to tackle.
I drifted close to the one on the bed, brus.h.i.+ng as light as I dared.
Unbelievable relief when Bobbi s.h.i.+vered and went brrrrr.
”What's the matter?” Mitch.e.l.l asked from his seat by the phone.
”I'm cold. Can't I turn up the heat?”