In This Rain by S. J. Rozan Page B

later.”
    “Are they at his place?”
    “Don’t worry, I find out.”
    The guy smiled again. A weird smile, different from usual. “No, Kong, I don’t think so. Sorry about this; you do good work.”
    “About what?”
    But he didn’t need to ask that. The Boss pulled his hand, that nervous hand, from his pocket. Kong saw the sun gleam off the .45, heard the crash of the bullet busting out, felt the slam in his chest all at the exact same time. The second one, too. And he thought maybe a third. But he never did know.

CHAPTER
21
    Sutton Place
    “Oh, what great good luck, a visit from the Ice Queen.”
    “Quite the pose, leaning casually on a mantel full of trophies, Walter,” said Ann. “But the smoking jacket’s pretentious.”
    The maid who’d glanced nervously at the badge clipped to Ann’s coat retreated hastily down the carpeted hall of the Park Avenue penthouse, leaving them alone.
    Glybenhall smiled. “I’ll take your word for it, Ann; you’re the expert on flamboyance. Though I seem to recall you liking my smoking jackets, long ago.”
    “I never liked anything about you.”
    “I fear that’s not true, but if it’s what you tell yourself, I shan’t argue. So, am I to understand this is an official call? That the minions of the law work tirelessly, even on Sundays? Or perhaps that was just a ploy to get into my sanctum. Are you hoping to get lucky, Ann?”
    “If I were, I wouldn’t have come here.”
    Ann navigated the huge room, edging around an overstuffed sofa and a thick-legged coffee table. A niche beside the fireplace held a grandfather clock.
    Once, long ago, Ann had walked into the apartment Glybenhall maintained in Zurich. Every detail of what she’d seen that morning was burned into her memory. She’d loathed heavy furniture and grandfather clocks ever since.
    “Have a seat, my dear.”
    “I’ll stand. Walter, I’m here because I’m investigating you.”
    “Is that a fact?” He sat in a studded leather armchair and smoothed the maroon silk of his jacket. “Well, Charlie Barr did say that the city would be forced to go through the motions of looking at me with concern, because of that unfortunate situation in the Bronx.” He paused, which Ann assumed was to allow the echoes of “Charlie Barr” to die down. “But he didn’t advise me that when someone did come barging in here, it would be on a Sunday and it would be you. Nor that being ‘looked at’ would include the privilege of being near enough to sniff your perfume. Hanae Mori, isn’t it?”
    “No.”
    “Oh. I could have sworn
    ” Walter shrugged. “That vulgar badge aside, you’re looking quite decorative, I must say.”
    “Drop it, Walter. I’m here on business.”
    “I wouldn’t be quite so quick to turn down a compliment if I were you. Your mother never has been.”
    “My mother’s mistakes in judgment are legendary. What’s going on in Mott Haven?”
    “Investigating Walter Glybenhall.” He eyed her speculatively. “What a plum this must be, in your world. Did you have to sleep with very many people to get it?”
    Ann stood perfectly still, feeling the hot blood surge into her face, knowing Glybenhall could see it. In a voice of ice she said, “Mott Haven?”
    “I beg your pardon, Ann. I don’t doubt you’re doing God’s work, as ever, but on whose authority? I find I can’t keep up with your rapid-fire changes of situation. However hard I try.”
    She unclipped the badge from her coat’s lapel and dropped it on the coffee table.
    He leaned forward to view it. “DOI? Isn’t the mandate of that agency corruption within the municipal ranks?”
    “And the corrupters.”
    He smiled. “And it would so please you if that were I! Well, I’m sorry I can’t provide you with that thrill, especially as you won’t allow me to offer you any other. Nevertheless, I shall try to help.” The smile abruptly disappeared. “At Mott Haven, work on my site is being deliberately disrupted in an attempt to cost me both time and money.”
    “God, you really are the center of your own universe, aren’t