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He hite at the lips Despite htened hiun He started to bolt for the door, but I was on hiainst the wall, rubbing his face in it

"Be careful, Jack," Bobbi warned She wasn&039;t worried about either of us getting hurt, but that Chick ood for hi table reflected all this side of the room

I locked my eyes onto his He had defenses up that he was unaware of, but those quickly cruer and fear His pupils shrank to pinpoints and his an to tear into his mind

"Jack?" Bobbi&039;s voice was troubled with the first hint of alar to him and that I should stop, but it was easier for that part to siet out of the way and let the terrors within rush free

"What are you doing? Jack?" She touchedto reach o

"Jack?"

It was the dust-dry scent of her fear that finally broke through and saved hi back before it was too late, pulling back and turning away from her until I had myself under control

"What is it? What&039;s wrong?"

Three nights now of uncertainties, frustrations, deaths, and near death, and no end in sight; Bobbi&039;s presence had only eased the darkness, not reht now?" She ran her cool fingers lightly over ainst ht" For the s with a cleansing breath and felt the stuff ebb away, leaving behind only a faint shadow on my soul It could return or not The choice was mine

"Then what ?"

It was safe to look up Chick was still conscious, but confused I told hio to sleep He did and I let hi the inside of her lip "This is part of that kind of hypnosis you do?"

I nodded "When I&039;et away from me" I tried to say more, to explain it somehow, and couldn&039;t

"It scares you," she said

"Yeah"

She left the borrowed gun on a table and came over to hold , because we had to see to Escott, but it helped She gave me a final squeeze, then found a towel somewhere and wet it down at a tiny sink in the corner I fished out s on Escott&039;s wrists

"What is this stuff, anyway?" I coh the fabric with so Escott&039;s gag "It used to be one of et runs so easily?"

"Don&039;t know, but at least they did hilottal noise that sounded like an affir One of his eyes was starting to puff up and his knuckles were scraped He winced as Bobbi finally tugged the knot loose

"Looks like you&039;ve been to the war, buddy" I broke through the last strands of silk

"Several, I think," hehis sore jaw

"You want a doctor?"

He shook his head Cautiously "I&039;ll be fine" Bobbi dabbed his face with the towel and he was content to lie back and let her fuss over him

"What happened?" I asked when he looked up to answering

"I&039;d coe for a quick look round and discovered Tinny waiting here, ready to accost Miss Smythe at the first opportune s in my favor when the other fellow turned up After that " He shrugged and touched the back of his skull, wincing again

I looked at the discarded blackjack and figured that Escott had gotten off very lightly "We&039;re going to have to get out of here Are you up to it?"

"You&039;ve got to be kidding," objected Bobbi

"Don&039;t I wish, but those other two ot rid of could be back at any ti to be pretty sore There&039;s no law that says Kyler&039;s going to be busy all nightexcuses to Lieutenant Blair If he and his crowd turn up, I don&039;t want you or Charles caught in the cross fire"

"Fine with hhouse, but Charles is still-"

"Capable ofif necessity calls for it," he told her "The sooner the better, if you please"

She gave hi and began stuffing her street clothes into it

"It won&039;t bother your boss that you&039;re leaving early?" I asked

"We just did the last show of the evening when you cao hoht We&039;ll find a hotel somewhere"

She considered the two of us with a raised eyebrow " That should be cozy"

Escott sat up, rubbing his wrists "Might I suggest a safer haven for all of us?"

"Suggest away," she said, sweeping sohtcrawler Club"

She stopped packing That place had a lot of memories for her and the bad ones were still fresh

Escott ell aware of theuess so," she ad?"

Neither of us had an answer to that

"And et I asked"

"Sorry," I said

She shrugged "Don&039;t be It&039;s better than being with Tinny and Chick Staying there is a very good idea, I&039; maybe Gordy can help us out If anyone in this town knows about Vaughn Kyler but what do we do with these two clowns? We can&039;t leave them here for the janitor to find"

"We could try questioning them," said Escott

My recent loss of control had spooked et involved in a hypnotic version of twenty questions Besides, I&039;dthat particular mental trap Noas not the time to inform Escott of my decision or the reason behind it

I shook et out of here before their friends co for them We&039;ll pass theet Bobbi&039;s autograph Where&039;s the club bouncer?"

Bobbi had co and pulled on a coat "I&039;ll take care of it" She whisked out, her boot heels ainst the floor

"As I&039;ve said before, what a very reirl," Escott murmured

"One in a ht" I hastily started after her, but she hadn&039;t gone far At the other end of the hall she was explaining things to the stagea thurim but satisfied smile and quickly"He&039;ll be back in a ens?"

"Busboys"

The stageh alike to be twins The seams of their white work coats were strained to the limit and I could have sworn that soaps "What do they clear away, real buses?"

" Shh, they&039;re really very sweet"

The trio lu roo bonelessly froht up the rear, carrying their fallen hats

"Drunken bums," he muttered "We&039;ll du you anyhed and I was suddenly very glad not to be one of their parcels

In the dressing roo a dent from his hat "This establishment certainly employs an effective cleanup crew Those two fellows reiants that built Valhalla"

"In Das Rheingold?" asked Bobbi

"Why, yes Do you enjoy opera, Miss Sht Back in school I was in some Gilbert and Sullivan"

"Are we ready to leave?" I interrupted

"Wait a second" Bobbi got her bag of clothes and paused long enough to stuff Tinny&039;s gun and Chick&039;s blackjack into her purse "You never knohen one of these ht come in handy," she informed us, then led the way to a side exit

Once out of the building,of vulnerability became more pronounced with the abrupt slap of cold air We hustled to Escort&039;s car, crowding together on the front seat Despite his protest that he was fit, I insisted on driving and told him to keep his eyes peeled for tails Our route north was an indirect one and in the end I was satisfied that we hadn&039;t been followed

I stopped in the service alley that ran behind the Nightcrawler Club, cut the motor, and waited The back door soon opened and a couple of ed to check on us Escott rolled down hisand Bobbi leaned over to hail one of the ?"

The shorter nized her "Hey, it&039;s Bobbi What&039;re you doin&039; here, babe?"

"Come to visit Gordy"

"He&039;s busy now, but he&039;ll see you" Ernieme and Escott

"These are some friends," Bobbi explained "They&039;re okay"

He squinted, doubtful " &039;F you say"

"Can we park the car here?"

"Yeah, but not for all night"

"Good enough" At that, we piled out and Ernie escorted us into the building

The kitchen was more or less familiar to me, as were the stairs and upper hall

About six edand the

The circumstances were happily different this time, but I had a shiver of discomfort to suppress all the same

Gordy, Morelli&039;s lieutenant, had taken over the operation of the club and whatever else his New York bosses had an interest in; the Nightcraas only part of the iceberg Most of the businesses were entirely illegal, but like any other, in need of good ement in these hard times He ran the operation efficiently, profitably, and with a minimum of trouble, exactly as required

We were ushered right up to the office with its pastoral landscapes and comfortable leather furniture Gordy looh with stacks of loose cash and canvas matic man, his eyes crinkled when he saw Bobbi, his version of a delighted grin He nodded a greeting toin Bobbi&039;s flashy costu clothes, and Escott&039;s by now obvious battering

"What&039;s the problehn Kyler," said Bobbi

Behind us, Ernie ible Gordy fastened his s, Ernie shut the door, his steps retreating down the stairs Gordy gestured for us to take seats Bobbi and I huddled together on the couch, Escott sank into itschair Gordy ca the bundles of cash as though they were so much confetti

"Give," he said, never one to wait on ceremony

By silent consent, I was elected storyteller Maybeto do with it I went through all of it, starting with the original job Escott had taken on to recover the stolen bracelet, and ending with the disposal of Tinny and Chick

"Right noe need is to drop out of sight for a while until we can figure out how to settle things with Kyler," I concluded

"Don&039;t see how you can do it Kyler&039;s gotten pretty big in this town I can help some, but not that much I don&039;t want to risk a war and neither will my bosses"

"Can you at least offer Miss Smythe a place of safety?" asked Escott

"No probleet is Fleive up"

Bobbi didn&039;t like his answer "But what about Jack? You can&039;t just toss hiet run over"

"Gordy&039;s saying that he doesn&039;t have much of a choice," I told her "If Kyler catches on to where I a to tell hiure it out for hiht "You mean he&039;s already ?"

"He called o"

Escott leaned forward "Has he now? What was his purpose?"

"He wanted to know everything I could tell hi I said I didn&039;t know ht that Froot other places to go for news"

"And what has been happening?"

"You remember the Elvira?"

Slick Morelli&039;s yacht The scene of my murder I remembered Too well

"When it went up for sale, Kyler bought it"

We all exchanged uneasy looks "Why?" I whispered

Gordy gave a"He&039;s after you, kid That&039;s all you need to know"

Bobbi wrapped her hands around one of mine "Are we so positive that Kyler wants to kill Jack?"

When I&039;d sus for Gordy, I&039;d e, but had been circumspect about the details "Sorry, baby, but I&039;ht and didn&039;t, and the proof is the easy fifteen grand he gave up in the trying"

"Then ill you do?"

Good question

"Perhaps a little inforested thoughtfully "Does Kyler still ot the top floor all to hi on a visit, think again He&039;s turned the place into a regular bank vault"

"What may one expect to find?"

"Steel shutters on the s, bulletproof glass, and an ar for trouble to coeuest?"

"What can they think? He owns it"

"Convenient for hiot an idea, Charles?" I asked

"No But doubtless one will turn up So hat kind of questions Kyler had concerning you"

Gordy&039;s eyes turned inward to hisof the conversation The more I heard, the less I liked it

"He&039;s too damned interested in what happened aboard that yacht," I said

"Not to mention what you&039;ve done since then," Escott added soberly, letting all the implications sink in "You haven&039;t exactly led a quiet life lately You&039;ve been fairly invisible to the papers and the police, but there are nuo for inforleaned each of them clean by now I don&039;t suppose you would consider allowing Kyler to go ahead and kill you?"

"I hope you mean that the way I think you do"

"Certainly Arrange things in your favor so that he thinks you&039;ve been eliminated You&039;ve done it before"