Page 10 (1/2)

TEN

I told Lou to leave his Harley Davidson at the Handlebar, and we took my car We&039;d stuffed the trash can into the trunk The trunk wouldn&039;t close, but we kept it tied doith an extension cord I&039;d found in the backseat

We parked the car in front of Parker&039;s house and got out Lou had fetched the trash can out of the trunk and carried it under a huge aruess Lou figured four seconds was enough to answer because when nobody let us in, he sood kick The wood fra with a heavy whump

Two naked kids pulled apart from each other and scattered She ran into the bedroom and slammed the door He bolted for the kitchen in his socks, clutching jeans and T-shirt in his hands

"I got him" Lou dropped the trash can and pounded out of the room after him

I tried the bedroom door It was locked but not as solid as the front door I leaned into it good just once with ave I found her crouched on the other side of the bed with a sheet around her She was big-eyed and scared, screamed a little when I hauled her up by a skinny arm

I dropped her on the bed, and she said, "Don&039;t rape me" in a weepy, little kid&039;s voice

She was ht, pale, short bottle-red hair al in the nose Her breasts were pointy fried eggs with raspberry nipples "I&039; to rape you, so take it easy Shoot you in the head or smack you up some maybe, but not rape"

That didn&039;t help much Her eyes filled with slow tears

"Aw, shit Look, calm down, okay?" There was a half-empty bottle of third-rate bourbon on the dresser I put it in her hands and told her to take a slug

"I-I don&039;t drink" She pushed the bottle back at me

"I sure as hell do" I tilted the bottle back It was cheap, but the harsh warmth coursed into my limbs Just what the doctor ordered

"In the first drawer," she said with a little more confidence "A small wooden box with a butterfly carved on the top"

I found the box and gave it to her

She opened it and produced a ziplock baggy and so paper She tried to roll a joint, but her hands shook too badly, and she dropped the paper She looked up at me

"Take your time"

"I&039;ll use the pipe," she said "That&039;s easier" The pipe looked like it&039;d been carved froon She puffed it to life, inhaled deeply, and held it Her eyes fuzzed over as she finally exhaled I saw the fear drain out of her a little, and she slumped where she sat on the bed

I opened a

"Is Thomas in some kind of trouble?" she asked

"That&039;s your boyfriend?"

She shrugged, looked away fro? Cause if he did, I don&039;t know anything about it"

"Take it easy," I said "I just need to ask you some questions What&039;s your naht, Lizzy?"

"I&039;m in and out all the tiuys had a pretty big party The cops broke it up after the fight"

"Tell ht?"

"Yeah"

"Shane&039;s brother got pretty drunk"

Benny "Go on"

"He kept going on about so that Shane was supposed to do for hi hoas an artist, and Benny was all like telling hi"

"Uh-huh" I took another swig of the bourbon, "Think for a minute, would you? How about some specifics?"

Lizzy puffed the pipe "I don&039;t know any Really" She didn&039;t look at rabbed the pipe, yanked it away from her She frowned and made a noise like a kicked puppy

"I don&039;t believe you, Lizzy"

Her shoulder sluers Her eyes met mine slowly "You&039;re not a cop, are you?"

"Do I act like a cop?"

She shook her head

"Okay then What was the fight about between Benny and Shane?"

"Who?"

"Benny is the nauy"

Her eyes drifted to the pipe "Uh"

I gave it back to her She took a big gulp of s back in her head "They fought about the drugs Not this stuff" She tapped the pipe with a skinny finger "Major blow Shane&039;s big bro- Benny- provided a bunch for the party, kept saying he was giving saoodinto business for themselves He wanted Shane to deal the stuff frooes around to all theses clubs with his band, easy for hiht people and sell a lot of the stuff"

"How do you know all this?"

"Me and Shane sort of hooked up for the night, so I ith hi in front of ot fired from the Handlebar, you know"

"I know"

"They probably went on to their next gig"

"Where?"

She shrugged, took another hit from the pipe I shot back anothercouple of days I sat there with Lizzy quietly for ainto her vice, me into mine

"Would Parker know?"

"Maybe"

I took her by the wrist "Followthe sheet in front of her We stopped in front of the trash can, and I pried the lid off

"Man, I really got to take a piss," said Parker Lou had pretzeled hiood

"Parker? Oh my God!" Lizzy dropped her sheet and leaned into the can "Are you okay?"

"I can&039;t feel s"

"He&039;ll be fine," I said

"What&039;s he doing in there?"

"It&039;s like Biosphere"