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KROUN

THAT sick bastard should have kicked off years ago

Gabriel walked quickly despite the snowdrifts on the sidewalks, despite the ice hiding underneath He wanted distance between hiwith his damned questions

I should have had him wait in the car

Too late, he knew the worst of it now

"Not the worst," Gabeon one heel before gaining his balance Where had that colanced around, but the street was e to himself, even when he was alone; he couldn&039;t take that chance Only crazy people did that, and he wasn&039;t going to end up like Sonny

Before that happened well, he didn&039;t know

Maybe I should back off on this

Teet clear of Chicago He could disappear himself in Minnesota or Canada, find a place to live and do what?

He didn&039;t know that, either But it would probably take care of itself

Fishing would be good, but after what Sonny had said there was now a taint on that pleasure

Gabe couldn&039;t kid his settled The last tione up with a driver and so over his death? His driver back in Nove naht If he&039;d been the one to put a bullet in Gabe&039;s skull, thento do

What had happened there? Even if Gabe found the cabin, he had no guarantee it would convey anything useful Backing off noould leave him with unanswered questions, but he could live with those

No, he would not Good or bad, bad or worse, he had to find out

The goings-on Sonny had implied made Gabe&039;s stomach turn Those pictures so carefully torn fro, sick How could they allow that?

The old bastard&039;s crazy, that&039;s why he&039;s locked up

One of the reasons why, anyway Gabe didn&039;t want to think about the others and kept walking

The street, a nice one with big trees on either side, opened to a wider road with businesses and more traffic A hotel took up a sizable portion of a block on his side There were a couple cabs out front He opened the door of the nearest and got in, giving the driver an address The phone work he&039;d done in the Nightcrawler&039;s office had paid off, giving him two leads to check out This second one promised to be considerably different

The driver was apparently familiar with the number He smirked when Gabe paid hi brick house si the street Each had a small yard, some protected by iron-barred fences or painted wood pickets Driveways had cars in them, walks were shoveled The Depression seemed to have passed this area by, which couldshots didn&039;t always hang out at the bars and pool parlors Even Capone had parked his family in that sweet place over on South Prairie

No need to ring the bell A bouncer on duty opened the door His eyes flashed wide in recognition, then he shifted from surprise to stone-faced neutrality His body tensed

Gabe was almost used to it He took his hat off and waited with the bouncer in the s a soft print dress and a long rope of pearls came She also underwent a not-so-subtle transforuard

"Hello, Mr Kroun," she said

"You have anything foraffability He couldn&039;t remember her name, but so far as ht she&039;d been pretty once, but life had a way of eroding one&039;s assets

She hesitated "We&039;re very busy tonight It will be hours before anyone&039;s available"

He looked past her into the parlor beyond where a radio played dance music "Seems to be plenty available"

"I e waters now Gabe knew in this area his appetite-there was a word as loaded as a set of crooked dice-had undergone a e He&039;d not availed his safe Out here in Chicago he felt better about indulging himself-except for the madam&039;s manner with hie of that"

He started in, but she halted hiot a business to run You hurt otta pay extra"

Gabe didn&039;t kno to react to that so he went stone-faced, too It clearly frightened the wo lightly "I&039;o in" He kept hold, taking her along

Several young women sat around the parlor, so dress, one in a pale blue slip and nothing under it They looked good; the place was high-class enough to have very presentable merchandise for the clients None seeirls clearly recognized him They whispered to the uninformed, who avoided his eye

The irl by the radio "That one," she said "She doesn&039;t ed to not inquire just what those gae that had nothing to do with her lean frame He&039;d slice himself up on those bones and suspected she used morphine She wasn&039;t his type He wasn&039;t sure what his type was, but she wasn&039;t it He checked out the rest A shorter, ht his eye She wore her dark hair alure were different She&039;d been one of the girls who recognized him

He smiled and nodded "She&039;ll do"

The madam opened her ht behind it Early on he&039;d come to understand that people were afraid of hi whatever objection she had

The girl flinched when called over and avoided his eye He could get around that What he could see of her arms showed clean of needle pocks Good, he didn&039;t want a doper He couldn&039;t understand why people did that to themselves It had to hurt

However fancy the place, it was payment in advance He settled with the irl

Her roo bed, satin pillows, a few bottles of booze on the dresser, a curtain partway open to a closet full of clothes, heavy curtains over theso she could sleep during the day A small sink was in one corner, a la a rosy glow to things She had a radio and a record player Not too bad The mirror on the dresser was thankfully tilted away from him

Soon as he shut the door she dropped to her knees and started unbuttoning his pants Her hands shook

"Hey, sloeetheart," he said, catching her wrists She flinched again, going pale He drew her upright "What&039;s the rush?"

"No rush, but the others said you was a busy s besides "Not that busy How about we have a drink first?"

"I&039;m not allowed Mrs Teuests" She stuht she&039;d nearly said "customers"

"How about you have one and I&039;ll say it was for ht"

A good choice, it wouldn&039;t leave much of a smell on her breath He went to the dresser, poured a double The da, nearly made his eyes water He took it over to her, but didn&039;t release the glass as she reached for it

"Look at me, honey," he said

They were close, she had to raise her head up quite a bit

"Well, don&039;t you have beautiful eyes? How do you like ave no opinion, but he had her full attention now

"What&039;s your name, honey?"

"Lettie"

"Okay, Lettie, I don&039;t knohat you&039;ve heard aboutto hurt you I want you to relax and"-he recalled one of Fle&039;s quirks-"just pretend we&039;re old friends You like ot that?"

She nodded

He shut it off and gave her the drink Her ed just that quick She was suddenly at ease and even dug out a sain, he&039;d paid well for it

He looked at the bed, but wasn&039;t quite ready to start It re to think of now

A soft creak fro up to their door, being stealthy, but like a herd of elephants to Gabe&039;s hearing Either the s What the hell had happened on his last visit?

He opened the door The bouncer looetic

"We&039;re okay here," said Gabe

Thewith hi Gabe focused on him "I said we&039;re okay Go downstairs and don&039;t bother us again Everything&039;s fine"

That worked The man left Gabe shut the door

"Lettie?"

She&039;d quickly finished the vodka and even washed the glass in the little sink She came up to hiers slipping inside his pants Very friendly Her robe was open Under it she wore red satin step-ins with lace around the legs Nothing else Her breasts were nicely rounded, h for

He cleared his throat, backed off a step, and put his hat on the dresser His overcoat went on a chair next to it The gun he&039;d taken frohed heavy in one of its pockets He took care to not let it bu hair?"

Her sive me a haircut?" He rubbed a hand over his head so she&039;d know just where he wanted the trionna look like one of those English sheepdogs If not you, then one of the other girls?"

She laughed, a small one "I used to cut h"

"Hey, brothers are put on this earth to not like things" He took off his suit coat, watchful for her reaction to the gun he wore in a shoulder rig She made no comment, didn&039;t even see his shoulders "I bet you did a good job"

"You sure?"

He undid his tie, then the buttons of his shirt collar "Yeah Where do you want e She moved his overcoat to the bed, put soain, a reminder of Sonny&039;s room That had to stop, or he wouldn&039;t enjoy any of this He took his shirt and undershirt off next, but was strangely shy about his trousers Dae, but he couldn&039;t help it

"Coet hair on them; they&039;ll itch"

He let her talk hi vulnerable in just his skin and skivvies The roooose bumps whispered down his arms as she pushed his head forward and started work on the back of his neck with scissors

"You really needed a cut," she said Snip-snip-snip "I&039;ll try to get it even, but you should have a barber with one of those electric-shaver things for this"

"Lettie, when I have a choice between you and soet the job every time"

She snickered "Short back and sides?"

"Yes, please, and some off the top"

"Yeah, I kno to do that I never had anyone want a haircut, lemme tell you The others&039;ll think you&039;re crazy"

"You girls talk about us?"

"Sure, not much else to do"

"Re ceased, and he was acutely aware of a stranger standing behind hiestion about being old friends was still strong "It&039;s okay, Lettie I want you to tellWho did I see then?"

"Nelly Cabot"

He held off on further questions, letting the na "She have dark hair like you?"

"I guess She went blond though They get picked more often She went blond You know All over The ht, but interesting nonetheless "And I liked it, too?"

"You liked the things she didn&039;t o into that just yet

Lettie resuated the critical areas around his ears, then started working the top She used a comb in some way that yanked at his scalp No wonder her brother had complained "What&039;s this white patch?" she asked "You didn&039;t have it last ti much Did I take Nelly out?"

"Don&039;t you know?"

"I tied one on that night It&039;s fuzzy I thought ent out"