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"Daed around the Audi to the driver’s side without thinking about the pain that squeezed my head and body I slipped behind the wheel and started up the engine The address G K had scrawled below the phone number placed her residence on Xerxes Avenue North in the Cleveland neighborhood That was on the far west side of Minneapolis I estimated it would takeI obeyed the prevailing traffic lahich, of course, I didn’t

Twice more I called G K, and twice the phone was answered by voicehalt at her address on Xerxes sixteenthe worst The two Minneapolis police cruisers parked out front of G K’s house confirmed my suspicions

I left the Audi in a hurry and sprinted up the concrete walk toward the front door--or at least I ran as fast as I could, considering e clay planter that was broken into several pieces and the reht were impatiens A man watched ainst the front wall of G K’s two-story brick house He was using a battery-operated screwdriver to secure a sheet of plywood over what should have been a bayHe kept watching while I rapped hard on the door He could easily see all of ht The only feature of his that I couldthe street lamp

"It’s not locked," he said I rapped on the door anyway It was opened by a uniformed Minneapolis police officer

"Genevieve Bonalay," I said

"Here"

G K called toa white T-shirt and blue jeans Her hair was da with her bare feet tucked beneath her Another police officer sat next to her, his notebook out

I ht?"

"God, McKenzie, what happened to you?"

"Are you all right?" I asked again

"Yes, fine, but you"

The cop spoke up "Is he a friend of yours?"

"Yes," G K said

I heard the screwdriver and turned toward theThe sheet of plyas covering a large hole Someone had s to take bets on who

"You’re sure you’re all right?" I asked G K

She left the sofa andabout broken glass She assured ed me toward a stuffed chair

"Sit," she told me, and I did "Tell me what happened"

"I met a man We had a conversation It was a trifle one-sided"