number to call and a picture of a Visa card and a MasterCard, presumably so you could call the blonde right up on the phone and charge it. I looked through the magazine. It consisted of a series of pictures of seminude women, many with the perennially popular little hearts pasted in crucial spots. Each picture had a brief sales pitch, like "shy but sweet" or "nude and naughty." With each there was a telephone number.
"I like the ad for hot sexy feet," I said.
"I figured you for that," Lester said.
"All these years," Susan said, "I've been wasting time on nudity."
"What happens if you call these folks," I said to Lester.
"Besides the chilling effect on our relationship," Susan said.
"Prostitution is legal in Nevada," Lester said.
"But it's on a county by county basis. It's not legal in Clark County, where Vegas is, so you pay a hundred bucks for a girl to come to your room, get naked, and give you a massage. You want more you make a private deal with the girl. If she wants to. Or I can take you about an hour down the road, next county, and you get it legal in a whorehouse.
That's why I have the magazines. People ask about the girls and I can steer them to the brothels."
"Maybe later," I said.
Susan made a sound that in someone less elegant would have been a grunt.
"Well, keep it in mind," Lester said.
"I get a nice commission on that."
He pulled the car up in front of the airport.
"I'll be here," he said.
I walked with Susan through the brief wedge of dry heat into the air-conditioned terminal. We went along the concourse past the people on their way home desperately trying to recoup with one last dollar in one last slot until we got to the security gate.
"Did anyone follow us out here?" she said.
"No. Once they located Anthony they jilted me," I said.
"That would suggest that it was Anthony they were looking for."
"Yes."
"Do you think he's in danger?"
"Hawk's with him," I said.
"I wish you knew if there were danger, where the danger was coming from," Susan said.
"Where's the fun in that?" I said.
We stood silently for a moment. Then Susan put her arms around me.
"I love you," she said.
"There's a certainty," I said.
"Maybe the only one."
"Maybe the only one necessary," I said.
She nodded as if I'd said a smart thing and smiled up at me.
"Take care of yourself," she said.
"I'll call you."
"Often," she said.
We put our arms around each other and kissed each other gently. This kiss was loving but not big and smoochy. Susan never did big smoochy kisses while wearing lipstick.
"You got your ticket," I said.
She held up the ticket which she had in her left hand. Then she put her right hand on my face for a moment and turned and went through the gate. Watching her I felt the little knot in my stomach that I always felt when I left her. She walked a ways down the concourse, and looked back and waved and then turned a corner and was out of sight. I still stood for a moment, looking at the last place I had seen her, being careful not to be routine, while I became the other guy again, the one I was without her. It took a couple of minutes. And then I was him. He wasn't a bad guy; in fact sometimes I thought he had strengths that the other guy didn't have. Certainly he wasn't worse. But he was no one I wanted to be all the time. I turned back and headed for Lester and the Lincoln.
CHAPTER 20
When I got back to The Mirage there were a couple of Las Vegas detectives waiting for me with a hotel security guy in the corridor outside my room. When I put the key in my door, one of them showed me his badge.
"Your name Spenser?"
I confessed to it, and unlocked the door.
"May we come in?"
"Sure," I said.
They looked for a moment at the security guy.
"Let me know if there's anything you need," he said.
Both of the cops looked at him without speaking. The one who'd showed me his badge nodded slightly. The security guy went off down the corridor and we went into my room.
"Nice," one of the cops said.
The
"I like the ad for hot sexy feet," I said.
"I figured you for that," Lester said.
"All these years," Susan said, "I've been wasting time on nudity."
"What happens if you call these folks," I said to Lester.
"Besides the chilling effect on our relationship," Susan said.
"Prostitution is legal in Nevada," Lester said.
"But it's on a county by county basis. It's not legal in Clark County, where Vegas is, so you pay a hundred bucks for a girl to come to your room, get naked, and give you a massage. You want more you make a private deal with the girl. If she wants to. Or I can take you about an hour down the road, next county, and you get it legal in a whorehouse.
That's why I have the magazines. People ask about the girls and I can steer them to the brothels."
"Maybe later," I said.
Susan made a sound that in someone less elegant would have been a grunt.
"Well, keep it in mind," Lester said.
"I get a nice commission on that."
He pulled the car up in front of the airport.
"I'll be here," he said.
I walked with Susan through the brief wedge of dry heat into the air-conditioned terminal. We went along the concourse past the people on their way home desperately trying to recoup with one last dollar in one last slot until we got to the security gate.
"Did anyone follow us out here?" she said.
"No. Once they located Anthony they jilted me," I said.
"That would suggest that it was Anthony they were looking for."
"Yes."
"Do you think he's in danger?"
"Hawk's with him," I said.
"I wish you knew if there were danger, where the danger was coming from," Susan said.
"Where's the fun in that?" I said.
We stood silently for a moment. Then Susan put her arms around me.
"I love you," she said.
"There's a certainty," I said.
"Maybe the only one."
"Maybe the only one necessary," I said.
She nodded as if I'd said a smart thing and smiled up at me.
"Take care of yourself," she said.
"I'll call you."
"Often," she said.
We put our arms around each other and kissed each other gently. This kiss was loving but not big and smoochy. Susan never did big smoochy kisses while wearing lipstick.
"You got your ticket," I said.
She held up the ticket which she had in her left hand. Then she put her right hand on my face for a moment and turned and went through the gate. Watching her I felt the little knot in my stomach that I always felt when I left her. She walked a ways down the concourse, and looked back and waved and then turned a corner and was out of sight. I still stood for a moment, looking at the last place I had seen her, being careful not to be routine, while I became the other guy again, the one I was without her. It took a couple of minutes. And then I was him. He wasn't a bad guy; in fact sometimes I thought he had strengths that the other guy didn't have. Certainly he wasn't worse. But he was no one I wanted to be all the time. I turned back and headed for Lester and the Lincoln.
CHAPTER 20
When I got back to The Mirage there were a couple of Las Vegas detectives waiting for me with a hotel security guy in the corridor outside my room. When I put the key in my door, one of them showed me his badge.
"Your name Spenser?"
I confessed to it, and unlocked the door.
"May we come in?"
"Sure," I said.
They looked for a moment at the security guy.
"Let me know if there's anything you need," he said.
Both of the cops looked at him without speaking. The one who'd showed me his badge nodded slightly. The security guy went off down the corridor and we went into my room.
"Nice," one of the cops said.
The
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