Part 6 (1/2)
”I' the truck,” I heard Moose say ”I've got an early-nment”
”Hey, while you're at it, stop at a car wash and get therunted a response, climbed in the van, started it, and drove off About twenty ot out
Go away, I silently willed hi happened I waited a few beats, then cautiously raised h a sideI knew immediately where I was-Five Points on the east side of Milwaukee, where Murray, Farwell, and North all cohtmare Hoolihan's Bar was off on the left; the Oriental Theater was to the right
The van's back door opened There was a silence, then Moose spoke
”You can come out now”
Escape hint 10: Sell it with skin
I felt as though someone had stuck a turkey baster down s Busted, five feet fro out of the van, knocked Moose Cap sideways, and took off running
That's what happened in s accordioned on rabbed me under the ar the sidewalk Ordinarily aa public street would attract attention, but this was the lower east side of Milwaukee; ah du out of Hoolihan's, and the Goths spilling out of The Rocky Horror matinee, Moose and I were just street theater
I couldn't yell at soh to keep a crackhead in product for six , and up a flight of stairs Easily sidestepping my kicks, he fished a key out of his jeans, unlocked a door, and shoved me inside
This was his apartment, I assuested by his overall grunge, but a high-ceilinged place with hardwood floors, co with photos Through an arched doorway I glilass-fronted cabinets
”Bob was right,” Moose said ”You do smell like cow shi+t It hit o of me, but didn't take his eyes off me ”Get those clothes off”
”Go screw yourself!”
Being raped by this creep would only be one notch above beingfroed toward a lauy with all ed to whack his shoulder Reacting as though I'd swatted him with a newspaper, Moose wrenched the la turn-on Your virtue is safe with ed me into his bathroo to n Center Its floor was laid with those nickel-sized tiles all old bathroo after the rest of the planet is a big cinder in space There was a radiator under thecurrently being used to dry wet socks, an old, plain white toilet, and a claw-footed tub the size of an ice rink A jock strap hung jauntily froo,” Moose shared as he tidied up, tucking the jock strap and socks underneath the sink ”So I started taking baths Got so I liked 'eot so bored I didn't care which side won the daht,” I said, stalling, trying to keep aze away from the”But I'll need some privacy”
He looked at me ”You're a scary woman, you know that? You survived a tornado, a wall of exploding toilets, and a four-story leap out of a barn For all I know, you can turn into a bat and fly out a ventilation duct So You think I look duh to leave you alone in here?”
No, actually-I didn't think he looked du Eyes the color of Hershey Kisses, but not as warm and sweet, and they didn'teach other's , not the sort of ca a riot He had lots of straight, dark brown hair and bristles way past five o'clock shadow-getting on toward e Early thirties maybe?
He leaned over the tub, ran hot water, and dumped in half a bottle of shareat bubbles”
The water got higher Bubbles bubbled, froth frothed The scent of coconut shafor soo for his jugular with a shard of glass? Rip off the toilet seat and clobber hile him with his own jockstrap? There had to be some way out of this situation, but my tired brain refused to function
”Take 'em off” He folded his arms across his chest ”Or I do” The arms were hairy and muscular The chest was encased in a T-shi+rt that looked as though it'd been used to clean a car engine, the long legs in old, ripped jeans What a slob! I know, I know-people in glass houses and all But this guy had chosen to look like a slob
”Bath,” he said
Fine He was going to win this particular battle But the war ain't over yet, jerko Hopping from foot to foot, I slid off my cheap prison-issue sneakers-more hole than canvas by now-peeled off e sale sweats and T-shi+rt, unhookedthe whole stinking mess at Moose's feet with a screw you flourish Then I climbed into the tub
Hot, soapy water Sheer, decadent, exquisite, toe-curling bliss I shuddered in head-to-toe ecstasy, not caring at the moment whether my captor was a serial rapist with a bathtub fetish I sublike a whale, Moose was bent over the tub, looking concerned
”Scared I was going to drown ht have control issues, and if challenged, would go all gonzo At the ry, tired, and battered to rein in er
He backed away and sat down on the toilet seat ”Nah You're a survivor”
I looked around the roo this”
He looked insulted ”What kind of person do you think I am?”
”The kind who sells pictures of naked jailbirds to tabloids”
”I'hly respected photojournalist”
”Bullshi+t You shoot car wrecks and burning buildings for a third-rate TV station”
”We've s”
”Out of what?”
”Eight”
I splashed around in the water, watching hile Was he another Lautenbacher, turned on by the notion of sex with a feuys wanted to be pen pals with ine proposals all the ti inal visits, and soet their hands on a woman whom they felt deserved to be tortured and killed
So where was Moose on the whack job scale? He appeared to be norrubby kind of way He wasn't even that bad-looking, if you didn't count his nose, which looked as though it had collided with a baseball bat
”If you kneas in your van, why didn't you turnreward on es of my severed head in a pillowcase
But I couldn't seeuy irritated me so much I just wanted to jab the hell out of him ”If you collected the reward you could probably buy soet a shave and a haircut”
”I don't care about the reward”
Ominous People who didn't care about money were, in my experience, deeply warped Or fabulously wealthy Which this creep obviously wasn't or he wouldn't be living in Five Points I kept on ot to his feet, but it was only to pick my dirty clothes off the floor and toss the his eyes a scrupulous two inches above ard for my maidenly modesty was a bit too after the fact ”The reason I haven't turned you in?” he said ”Because I wanted to hear your side of the story About your husband's murder The truth”
You can't handle the truth: Jack Nicholson's great movie line iuess what? No one wants to hear the truth” Lots of bitterness and self-pity there I thought I'd gotten it out of o, but apparently a reservoir still remained
He swiveled his eyes to mine ”Try me”