Part 53 (1/2)

”I hadn't seen her in over five months, not even to pay the rent, and I couldn't believe it was her when she rang my bell and asked if she could borrow my copy of her key. At first I almost didn't recognize her. She looked ... different somehow. The odd part was, I got the impression that she didn't recognize me either, at least for a minute or two. When I asked her if she wanted the rent, she just looked at me funny. A few minutes later, she brought the key back and she had a half-open backpack stuffed with clothes and papers. She seemed nervous and disoriented. I was going to try and help her get a cab. But then you showed up.”

”Hey, look, I had no idea I was going to freak her out like that,”

Stone said.

”What's your name?” Ally asked and then she introduced herself.

”My named is Cindy Dobbs. And you know something? Kristen didn't seem like the same person, in a lot of ways. She looked really different. I don't know how to explain it. But something was really, really wrong with her. And she kept saying her name wasn't Kristen, that it's something else--I can't remember what now. All I know is, she was totally spooked.”

”Talk about bad timing,” Stone said.

”She was so paranoid she kept babbling about how 'they' knew she was here in her apartment and were coming to get her and she had to get away real quick. I don't know who she was talking about. Some guy used to come by and his white stretch limo would be double-parked for a couple of hours while he went in. But other than him, n.o.body ever came here.”

”Cindy, the truth is, I was talking to her this very morning on the phone,” Ally said. ”I'm the one who called her. I also met her mother today, who just got a crazy letter from her and was walking around with a pistol because of it. I'm getting to be deeply invested in Kristen Starr. Something bizarre seems to have happened to her and I need to find out what it is.”

Ally didn't want to confess that she felt indirectly responsible for what had just occurred If she hadn't phoned ... She stood thinking a minute, then, ”Did you say you had a key to her place?”

Cindy shrugged. ”I've had it since I moved in. We had copies of each other's keys. Just in case, you know.” She reached into her ragged jeans and pulled it out and stared at it. It was attached to a blue plastic tab, GREENWICH LOCKSMITHS.

”Then could we borrow it long enough to go in and take a look around?

Maybe we could find some clue to what's going on.”

”Hey, if you want the key, and you think it can help you find her, you can just have it.” She was holding it out. ”I don't want to go in there, ever. With my luck, those people would show up again and take me away. But let me know if you find out anything, okay? I really thought of her as a friend, even though we actually didn't know each other that well. She didn't ever introduce me to that older guy who came around.

Probably because he was married, at least that's my guess.”

”I think she knows those people who grabbed her just now,” Ally said, taking the key. ”Cindy, can we exchange phone numbers?”

”Sure. I meant it about letting me know if you find out what's going on with her. Everybody at work is going to be really b.u.mmed when they hear about this.”

Moments later, Ally and Stone were alone on the street, with Stone still appearing dazed. Now, taking measure of him in the daylight, she noticed a bit more of the mileage in his face and body. Still, it was good mileage and it had left him seasoned and lean. Also, she sensed that he really cared about things. This was more like the man she remembered, a mensch in wolf's clothing.

”Are you sure you're okay?” she asked.

”I'm going to be fine,” he said. ”Jesus, I never dreamed I'd spook her the way I did. By the way, did you get the license number of that Lincoln? I sure as h.e.l.l didn't.”

”I didn't need it. That guy is Winston Bartlett's personal bodyguard.

He called him Ken. I was at Bartlett's place on Gramercy Park a couple of days ago and I saw him there.”

”You're not kidding, are you?”

”I wish.” She paused. ”You know, Kristen and Bartlett were being talked about as an item back when. 'Page Six.' ”

”The Sentinel would never touch it, but that was more than a rumor.

Over the years I've had occasion to take more than a pa.s.sing interest in his affairs.” He grinned. ”And for the past several days, he's been taking a lot more interest in my affairs, ever since he found out about the book.”

”Incidentally,” she declared, ”I didn't have a chance to tell you on the phone, but Kristen seems to have no memory of who she is. Somebody told her that her name is Kirby, and that's what she insists on being called. All in all, she sounded deeply screwed up.” She dangled the key. ”So why don't we go up and see if we can learn anything?”

”Did it seem odd to you that, what's her name, Cindy didn't want to go in with us,” he mused as they headed up the steps.

”Well, maybe she's already seen it. G.o.d only knows what we're going to find. Though the place she had in Chelsea was pretty well maintained.