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hair, frizzy beard, leather jacket, motorcycle helmet under one arm,
studded black boots and even, so help me, a tattoo on the back of
his right hand. A cigarette dangled from his lips, and he looked around the
place, his eyes finally settling on me.
"
Oh, boy, Dory breathed disgustedly. For this we get up in the middle of the
"
"
night, right?
"
He finally sauntered on over to us, as I knew he would, and looked down,
almost dripping invisible slime. "Hi, mind if I join you ladies?
"
Frost was too mild for my tone. "Buzz off, buddy. Were waiting for
'
somebody.
"
"
Youre waiting for me, he mumbled, then straight-ened a little, his
tone
'
"
becoming clearer, more normal. "I'm Dan Pauley.
"
"That'll take some doing, Dory snapped nastily.
"
"
Yeah, I know what you must be thinking, but its not. Look mind if I sit
'
down? Theres a cop coming in and he may give me a pain.
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'
"
Seeing that Dory wasn't going to give ground, I shifted over a bit and he sat.
"
Its good to see you both again. I owe you a lot of explanation."
'
"
Yeah, at least, Dory responded. How do we know youre who you say you
"
"
'
are, anyway? Or, if you are
Dan, if you havent been turned around by Parch and
'
his buddies?
"
He sighed. You cant. You'll have to trust me. What motive could I
have, "
'
anyway? You got off pretty free by facing up to them and
adjusting. Youve
'
done pretty well, I know, both of you. Youve got no real kick com-ing."
He
'
turned to me. Look at you. The Queen of Las Vegas. He turned back to Dory.
"
"
"
And you, the Indian paramour and real estate genius. But, youre right. I
'
do owe you an explanation.
"
"At least, I agreed, adjusting to the fact that his tone and manner did sort
of
"
remind me of Pauley, what Id seen of him, anyway.
'
"
Why weren't you at the Farmers Market? Dory asked.
'
"
He nodded. O.K. From the top. After you left the restaurant, the Doctor and
"
I wandered down to the Strip. I decided he should go to the bus station first,
while I could cover they didnt know me at all, remem-ber, in that body and
'
that disguise. He bought his ticket O.K., but in the line to get on the bus
two of
Parchs men just slid up on either side of him and walked him off. I couldnt do
a
'
'
damned thing without jeopardizing myself, and maybe you. I made a
good fifteen agents in that station, including some working the
counter. All Id get
'
would be another dart or maybe a shot in the head. It was damned frustrating,
but there wasnt anything I could do. The only thing I could think of was to
wait
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'
for you and see what happened then. About half an hour later Dory came
in, bought her ticket, and made it onto the bus. I was pretty sure theyd made
you, '
but they let you go. I had to ask myself why.
"
She nodded grimly. They made me, all right. All the way."
"
"Well, I waited as long as I could for Misty, but you never showed, and I
couldnt live in that station without somebody getting suspicious, so I
got my
'
ticket and rode out. Nobody made me, since they werent sure who they were
'
looking for. I had to figure Mistyd been picked up, too, and that Dory and
I
'
were going to be on our own. I headed straight for the Farmers Market when I
'
got in, then staked out the area. Imagine my surprise when Misty walked up to
a counter in the inner courtyard.
"
I nodded. "I remember.
"
"
Well, I waited, and finally Dory came, too, but I spotted her tails. I
suddenly realized why theyd let you slip through, Dory. You were bait. Bait
for me. You
'
were the only way they could get to me, since I could be anybody, even if
Stuart blabbed. Of course they couldnt afford to let
'
him run loose, but you, well, you weren't really important to them. I tailed
you all day, kept watch on Parchs tails, '
and when I saw just how well covered you were I knew that I would have no
chance if I contacted you. He even had somebody on the hotel switchboard ten
minutes after you checked in.
"
I nodded, and even Dory seemed to be warming a bit to him. The waitress
brought our coffee and we sipped at it while Dan continued his story.
"
Well, Im sorry for how it sounds, but I was just forced to write off getting
to
'
you. I hocked those dia-monds you gave me, Misty, and that gave me a
little money to work with. I was still in trouble I had no idea how to
contact my people and almost no money, so I did what I had to do.
I cased a small suburban bank, picked a victim, studied her for a
couple of days, then intercepted her on her way to work, switched with her,
tied her up, and, using her master keys, managed to steal several thousand
dollars. I left, switched her back, and left her there. Poor woman. Either
shes in a mental ward, or maybe in
'
jail, but it was the only way.
"
"
You couldve gotten
'
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a job, "
Dory snapped. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]