Page 39 (1/2)

I didn't say anything

"I'm all hot and wet," she said "I have no underpants on It's wonderful to wear tight leather pants and no underwear and get all wet inside the leather Do you want to come upstairs with me? I could fuck you stupid You remember what I did to that boy?"

"You killed him"

"You think he had it so bad?" She moved closer, took the lobe of my ear between her teeth "For three days we fucked his brains out, Bergen and I We fucked his he wanted He had a lifeti much"

"So he had pain So what?" Her hand stroked me in rhythm with her words "So he didn't live a hundred years, he didn't get to be an old uess he died happy"

"That was his name, Happy"

"I know"

"You knew that? You know a lot, Scudder You think you give a shit about the boy? If you care so ood question "I never said I cared about hi h to spend it"

"And what else?"

"That's enough for now"

"You want me, don't you?"

"People in hell want ice water"

"But they can't have it You could have ht now"

"I don't think so"

She sat back "Jesus, you're tough," she said "You're a hard case, aren't you?"

"Not particularly"

"Richard would be under the table by now He'd be trying to eat ot him"

"He didn't have it so bad"

"I know," I said "Who wants to be an old ive me a hard-on doesn't mean you can lead me around by it Of course I want you I wanted you when I first saw the tape" I picked up her hand, put it back in her own lap "After we've done our business," I said, "then I'll have you"

"You think so?"

"I think so"

"You knoho you reood in black rubber"

"Don't be so sure"

"And I'et a transplant No, you're like him on the inside, you both have the saht"

"Did you ever kill anybody?"

"Why?"

"You did You don't have to answer, I can feel it in you Did you like it?"

"Not particularly"

"Are you so sure that's the truth?"

" 'What is truth?' "

"Ah, an age-old question But I think I will sit across the table fro to talk business it's better if we can look at each other"

I told her I wasn't greedy I wanted a single payment of fifty thousand dollars They had paid that h they hadn't allowed him to keep it They could pay the same to me "You could be like hih he swore he didn't"

"He was stupid"

"To keep a copy?"

"To lie about it Of course I've made a copy I've made two of them One's with a lawyer The other's in the safe of a private detective Just in case I get ed in an alley, or fall out a "

"If you have copies you could extort more money from us"

I shook ence is your insurance By selling you the tape once I' you a favor If I tried it a second tih to know that"

"And if we don't pay the first tio to the police?"

"No"

"Why not?"

"Because the tape's not enough to put you away No, I'd go to the press The tabloids could run with the story They'd know you've got tooa libel suit They'd ht never face a criet more attention than you'd ever be comfortable with Your husband's friends in California wouldn't be very happy to see you in the liht look at you funny in the elevator You'd pay fifty grand to avoid that kind of publicity, wouldn't you? Hell, anybody would"

"It's a lot of et that et half that If they can't sell papers with a story like that they're in the wrong business I could walk into an office this afternoon and walk out with a check for twenty-five thousand and nobody'd say I was a blackator, and they'd probably giveup en You say it's not so ether"

"The hell it will," I said "When a man runs a money laundry it's not terribly hard for him to put his hands on so around the apartment"

"You have some funny ideas about how business works"

"I'ht," I said "That's when I want it"

"God," she said, "you're so en"

"Our tastes are different"

"You think so? Don't be so sure what your tastes are until you've sa on your plate And you haven't yet, have you?"

"I haven't en ant to ht, e carry out the transaction I'll bring the tape so you can see what you're buying Do you have a VCR in Maspeth?"

"You want to e there? At the arena?"

"I think it's the safest spot for both sides"

"God knows it's private," she said "Except for Thursday nights the whole area is a wasteland And even Thursdays it's not so busy Tomorrohat, Wednesday? I think perhaps that's possible Of course I'll have to talk with Bergen"

"Of course"