Chapter 10
"It figures," Wade muttered, staring down at the still face.
Lisa tugged at his elbow. "Darling ... what figures?"
"This guy ... he's the one who barged in and caught me right after I found Claire dead. He's the one who said he was Lieutenant Brewer of Homicide."
"But that's the man who came to the apartment this morning! The private detective. Barnes, he said his name was."
"Brewer, Barnes, it still figures. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he had other names as well."
"What does it all mean, Wade? I'm more confused than ever!"
"I'm not sure," he said musingly. But it was fitting together piece by piece, like a picture puzzle with random pieces still missing. He could see the vague shape of it, yet the reason behind his being a part of it still baffled him. He came to himself with a glance around. "We'd better get the hell out of here. With those gunshots and these lights blazing, somebody's bound to come charging in here any second. You know where the light switchboard is. Go turn them off and let's go."
She gestured toward the dead man. "Do we just leave him there?"
"What would you suggest?" he asked savagely. "Tote him on my back over the fence?"
"It seems so ... callous, just leaving him here like that," she said in a small voice.
"I need a little time, Lisa," he said in a calmer voice. "I think this will be wrapped up tonight, one way or another. If we call the police in now, which is what I suppose you have in mind, we'll be tied up all night. And I'll probably wind up in jail. I promise you I'll call them before the night is over."
"You're right, of course. I'll go turn off the lights."
She trotted off. Waiting, Wade lit a cigarette and stared somberly down at the dead man. He knew now why he had escaped so easily from
Claire's apartment that night; Brewer, or Barnes, had made it easy for him. Had the man been a real policeman, it would have been much more difficult. But Wade couldn't see why he had been allowed to escape. And he couldn't see where Janis figured in it. But she did. Of that he was sure. Any answers now would have to come from her.
The lights went out and Lisa came hurrying toward him in Stygian darkness. He called her name, guiding her to him with the sound of his voice. They hurried outside and up the street. They had just started around the first corner when headlights came bouncing down the rough street from the other direction. Wade shoved Lisa around the corner out of sight and ran back to peer around. A Jeep screeched to a halt before the saloon and two men in the gray uniform of studio guards leaped out and ran inside.
Evidently, they had not been seen. Wade went back to Lisa. "That takes care of your worries. Our Mr. Barnes/Brewer is no longer alone. And neither will we be if we hang around for long, This whole area will be swarming with police within minutes."
Holding Lisa's hand in a tight grip, he towed her along after him to the fence. He boosted her onto the rope ladder, waited until she reached the ground on the other side, and hustled after her. A hundred yards along the river channel he dropped the ladder and wire cutters into the few inches of water.
The flashlight was back there on the saloon floor somewhere and had his prints all over it. Now the police would have fingerprints to match those found in Claire's apartment, if they compared them and he was sure they would. Not only that but they also had a sketch of the man they were looking for. Of course they might not connect the sketch with Claire at all. But the net was drawing tighter, the police getting closer all the time. Tonight would see the end of it one way or another.
As if to underscore this awareness, sirens screamed on the lot and he could see red lights blinking. If someone had the wit to throw a net around the entire area...! He didn't breathe freely until they were out of the river channel and in a brightly lighted business section a half mile from the studio lot. Wade glanced at his watch. He was astonished to see it wasn't yet ten o'clock. It seemed as though they'd been there half the night!
Lisa said, "You're going back there, aren't you? To that woman's place, I mean?"
He nodded. "I have to. I'm left with no choice."
Her chin jutted at him. "Then I'm going with you!"
"You are like hell! There I'm putting my foot down. Besides ... how would your presence help ? The only way I'll learn anything is to go back as Bart Evans. Your being along would blow that, for sure." He hadn't told her of the conversation he'd overheard last night. He was now convinced it hadn't been a dream. But he hadn't told Lisa and didn't intend to.
He turned Lisa into a service station and told her to wait outside the public phone booth while he called a cab. As they waited, Lisa asked, "You're going back right now?"
"I've been thinking about that," he said slowly. "She was drinking last night, lushed up enough to talk too much. Only I didn't know the right questions. Now I have a few new ones. Maybe if I wait until midnight or after, she might be smashed enough, worried enough about my whereabouts to let some of the truth out."
Again he was not telling Lisa all the truth. The man last night had said something about waiting until after midnight. If he could wait until the man, whoever he was, was with Janis, if he could surprise them together, he might unravel the whole ball of yarn. At least he would know who the hell the other man was!
Their cab pulled into the station. Inside the cab Lisa turned to him to speak. Wade placed a finger over her lips and jerked his head at the driver. Lisa subsided and they rode the rest of the way in silence. Wade had a quarter left after he'd paid the fare and tipped the driver.
He bounced the quarter in his palm and said ruefully, "That's it. Either you loan me some money or I'm going to be walking it from here."
Without a word, she took a small purse from the pocket of her slacks and rummaged in it. She produced two tens. "That enough?"
"Enough. And now I know what it's like to be a kept man."
She caught his arm and hugged it to her as they entered the building. "If you'll come to Arizona, I'll deduct it from your first month's salary."
"I thought we'd already agreed on my coming?"
"We did no such thing! You said to wait...." She turned a glowing face. "Darling, do you mean it?"
"I mean it." He held up his right hand. "Scout's honor."
In the apartment, he crossed to the phone. "I want to try something." He dialed Janis' number. She answered on the second ring. He could visualize her pacing the floor, drink in her hand, and pouncing on the phone at the first ring.
Her voice was slurred. "Hello?"
Wade said nothing.
"Who is this? Garth? Is that you, Garth?" Wade still didn't speak. "Carl? I've been expecting you to call ... Carl, this is you?" When Wade still remained silent, her control snapped. "Damn it, who is this?"
Gently he hung up the receiver. "That should shake her up a little. And it's just as I thought. She's on her way to getting stoned."
He went across the room and dropped down onto the couch with a sigh. He was weary to the bone. His nose throbbed, his ribs ached, and skinned knees and elbows burned like fresh blisters.
Lisa stood before him. "Would you like something to eat?" He shook his head. "Not hungry."
"A drink then?"
"I'd sure as hell would like one, but I don't think I'd better. I'll be needing all my wits, what few I have."
"Well...." She tilted her head to one side, the tiny dimple showing. "I only have one other thing to offer." So saying, she plopped down across his lap, looping her arms around his neck.
"Hey now! Cut that out, damn it!"
She closed his mouth with warm lips. He definitely wasn't in the mood. There was, after all, a time and a place. Her lips were soft and sweet, her breasts firm against his chest. The light touch of her fingers stroking the back of his neck sent a shiver over him. Her mouth never leaving his, she tugged the zipper of the coveralls partway down and ran her hand inside, her nails scratching at his skin. Now her mouth moved, leaving a trail of nipping kisses up his cheek to his ear. She blew heated breath in the ear, then circled the wet tip of her tongue inside, and Wade jumped. And just like that his mood changed. He decided this was the time and place after all. He began to cooperate with her. His desire mounted lazily but steadily as he caressed her squirming body. His blood ran thick and hot, and his heart took on a trip hammer beat.
Somewhere in there Lisa said dreamily, "I think this is much, much better than having something to eat or drink. Don't you, darling?"
"Why don't you just shut the hell up?" he said roughly.
"Whatever you say, darling," she said meekly, then laughed softly, mockingly.
With a snarl of impatience, he stood up with her in his arms and strode toward the hall. She squealed with delight and squirmed closer to him. "You're carrying me over the threshold! Just like this is my wedding day! And I love it, darling, but what'll you do when the real day comes?"
"I'll think of something," he growled.
By the time they reached the bedroom, she had the coveralls' zipper worked farther down. Her fingers ran through the hairs on his chest like the scurrying of many mice.
Wade set her down, helped her pull the sweater over her head. She turned her back and he unhooked the black bra. He traced his finger tenderly along the red welts the straps had left, then dipped his face to kiss each shoulder blade. Her skin felt like heated silk to his lips. She faced him, her breasts up-thrust, the nipples proudly erect. Her eyes never leaving his face, she stepped out of the slacks, then black panties, and once more her slender loveliness was revealed to his gaze.
His desire spiraled dizzily, and he fumbled with the coveralls. Lisa lay on the bed, her head propped against the headboard, watching with slitted eyes while he finished undressing. He hurried to the bed and came down on one knee beside her, the bed groaning with his weight. She sighed gustily as he took a tumescent nipple in his mouth. She dug her fingers into his hair and forced his face deep into the scented valley between her breasts. This was an entirely different Lisa from the one earlier in the day. She caressed him with all the skill of a courtesan, her fingers and lips all over him, coaxing and demanding.
Their caresses grew more heated, more frantic. Lisa began to plead with him in a low, stuttering voice, her words almost unintelligible. He finally responded to her need. Lisa uttered a single, piercing cry as he took her roughly. He knew instinctively that this was no time for tenderness. Their mutual need was too great, too overpowering. Their bodies meshed perfectly, the bed creaking lustily with their thrashings. Lisa's supple body rose and fell in a frenzy of coital rhythm. She crooned in his ear, urging him on to greater and greater effort. Wade responded to her goading with a bull-like vigor. The world blanked out for him. His range of consciousness narrowed down to the sensations coursing through him and the moaning woman in his arms.
Lisa's heels beat a tattoo on the bed and she combed his hair with her fingers. Then she doubled her fists and beat on his shoulders in counterpoint to the lashing of her hips. She yelled in his ear, "Now, damn you! Now! I ... can't ... wait!"
At their mutual peak Lisa's body contracted in convulsing spasms and she bit into the soft flesh of his shoulder to stifle her cries. A final searing wave of ecstasy gripped Wade and he collapsed against her. After a little he started to roll away. Lisa said sharply, "No, darling, not yet. Please, not yet." She tightened her arms and legs around him, holding him to her.
In time she loosened her hold with a soft, contented sigh, and Wade rolled over onto his back. Lisa raised her head and gazed down the length of her body, unconscious female pride in her look. She scratched at her cheek with a finger and said musingly, "My God, like a bitch in heat. I could hardly wait to get you to bed again." She couldn't believe her behavior.
He said solemnly, "It was my pleasure."
She looked over at him, scowling. Then her great eyes bubbled with sudden mirth. "I'll just bet it was, cowhand. I'll just bet it was."
She rolled against him, her head in the hollow of his shoulder. Wade winced and she jerked her head up. She touched his shoulder with the tip of her finger. Her eyes widened at the sight of his blood. She said guilelessly, "Did I do that?"
"You know damned well you did."
She said solemnly, "It was my pleasure."
And they fell into each other's arms, shouting with laughter.