Come Out Tonight

  HERE LIES SHERRY GATES. SHE NEVER LEARNED.

  “Looks like we’re in the clear,” Jim said. He started the car and pulled away from the curb. “I’m a little surprised. I figured Toby would probably hang back, keep an eye on things, and follow us.”

  “Guess he didn’t.”

  “Guess not. Makes me wonder what he is doing.”

  “Maybe waiting at my place,” Sherry said. “He knows where I live and he has a key.”

  “But he knows you know that,” Jim pointed out. “He might figure you’ll be expecting to find him there, so he’ll avoid it. At least for tonight.”

  “Maybe,” Sherry said. “Or he might think, since I expect him to be there, he’d be an idiot to stick around, and I’d realize that, so I won’t really think he’ll be there, so that’s where he goes.”

  Jim turned right, and they were again moving in the proper direction. Looking at her, he smiled. “If Toby thinks you think that, he’ll stay away.”

  “But if he thinks I think he’ll stay away…” She groaned.

  “I tell you what. We’ll expect Toby everywhere. And we’ll deal with him when we have to.”

  “Okay.”

  “It’ll be less confusing that way.”

  “Planning to stick with me for a while?”

  “Let’s just see what happens.”

  “What do you do, hang out at the Nacho Casa waiting for damsels in distress?”

  “Not exactly,” he said.

  “I’m the first, huh?”

  “Not exactly,” he said.

  She was surprised to feel a small pull of disappointment. “Oh, you do this sort of thing all the time?”

  “I do stuff. But not often. Mostly, I just watch.”

  “When do you do more than just watch?”

  “Seldom.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” she said.

  “I know.”

  “I know you know.”

  Jim laughed.

  “Why me?” she asked.

  “You looked like you could use a hand. I saw what happened to you out in the street. You almost didn’t make it.”

  “You just sat there and watched?”

  He nodded. “It only lasted a few seconds. Then you were on your way over here, so I just stayed put. And kept an eye on things.”

  “Would you have stopped Toby if he’d come in?”

  “He didn’t come in.”

  “What if he had?”

  “Hard to say.”

  “You like to be evasive, don’t you?”

  “Do I?”

  “What do you do, anyway?”

  “In terms of what?”

  “For a living, for starters. Or do you just hang around places day and night staring at everyone and looking for babes to rescue?” “I do this and that.”

  “You’re a bank robber.”

  “Nope.”

  “A private eye.”

  “I’m just Jim, okay?”

  “Jim…? Oh, my God, you’re James Bond!”

  “Afraid not.”

  “What is your name? Your last name. Or is that a state secret?”

  “It’s Starr. With two r’s.”

  “Jim Starr?”

  “Yep. And yes, I was born with it. And no, I’m not a stripper. And yes, I am the star of my own life.”

  “Does everyone give you the star treatment?”

  “I get the treatment, all right.”

  “And you made fun of a guy named Bones?”

  “What’s your last name?” he asked.

  “Gates.”

  “Sherry Gates.”

  “Want to make something of it?”

  “Any relation to the Chief?”

  Surprised, she said, “No.”

  “Hell of a guy.”

  “Ah-ha! You just gave yourself away, buster. I now know that you’re not a criminal or shithead. Anyone who still calls Darryl Gates the Chief after all these years…Oh, my God! You’re a cop!”

  Suddenly remembering what she’d said about staying away from the police, she felt herself go hot with embarrassment.

  “Oh, man,” she muttered. “I should’ve known. It should’ve been so obvious.”

  “I’m not a cop,” Jim said.

  “A former cop.”

  He stopped for a red light. Sherry realized that the road in front of them was Robertson Boulevard.

  “I was never a cop,” he said.

  “Liar. I bet you quit the force like all those others back when Gates retired…”

  “And they replaced him with a park ranger? No. But I probably would’ve quit if I’d been in the department.” The light changed to green. He eased forward into the intersection, then turned left.

  “You were LAPD,” Sherry said. “Come on, admit it.”

  “Nope.”

  “Come on, Jim. We’re going to be there in a couple of minutes. Tell me.”

  “I’ve never been in law enforcement.”

  “Then what are you?”

  “Just a regular citizen.”

  “How do you earn your living?”

  “Haven’t we already gone over that?”

  “Come on, tell me. What are you?”

  “I am what I am.”

  “You’re Popeye the Sailor Man!”

  “Toot toot,” he said.

  She laughed. “Come on, Jim!”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said.

  “Then why won’t you tell me?”

  “Then you’d know.”

  “You’re a therapist!”

  “Good guess.”

  “Are you?”

  “Do you think I am?”

  She flung out her arm and whacked him on the thigh.

  “Here it comes,” Jim said.

  Turning her face toward the windshield, Sherry saw the Speed-D-Mart just beyond the next intersection. From here, she had a full view of Duane’s parking space by the side of the store.

  His van was gone.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Do you want me to pull in?” Jim asked as they neared the Speed-D-Mart.

  “No, don’t,” Sherry said. “It’s not there anymore. Duane’s van. It was parked right there.”

  “The van of the guy you were looking for?”

  “Yeah. Duane. My boyfriend.”

  Maybe my former boyfriend, she thought, depending on what he’s been up to.

  “What now?” Jim asked.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe you can drive me over to his apartment. I need to find out for sure if he’s back. And what was going on. Can you make a left?”

  “Here?”

  “Yeah.”

  No cars were coming, so Jim hit the brakes and swung to the left. As the tires sighed quietly on the pavement, Sherry felt her body sway toward the passenger door. Jim straightened out the car.

  “It’s just up the block a little. The third building on the left. Maybe you could pull in.”

  Slowing down, he steered into the driveway. Then he braked to a halt. Just down the ramp, the path was blocked by an iron gate. “I’d better back us out of here,” he said, and reached for the gear selection lever.

  “Wait. Let me take a look.”

  She climbed out. Holding her blouse shut as the wind whipped against her, she hurried down the driveway. She stopped just in front of the gate and peered through it. The interior of the parking area was well lighted. Most of its spaces were full. She spotted Duane’s white van in its usual space.

  Ducking against the wind, she returned to Jim’s car.

  She pulled open the passenger door and leaned inside. “It’s there all right. He’s back. I guess I might as well go on up. Thanks an awful lot for—”

  “Why don’t you climb in? We’ll find a parking place on the street.”

  “It’s not really necessary.”

  “I can’t leave my car here,” Jim said. “I’m blocking the driveway.”

  “Well, I can just go on up.”

  “I’d lik
e to stick with you till we’re sure everything’s okay.” He patted the passenger seat. “Come on. We’ll park on the street and I’ll see you safely to Duane’s door.”

  “Okay,” she said. “If you’re sure you want to. It probably isn’t necessary, though.”

  “Can’t be too careful.”

  She climbed into the car and pulled the door shut.

  “Thanks,” Jim said. He backed out of the driveway and pulled forward onto the street.

  “Are you planning to be my permanent bodyguard?” Sherry asked.

  “You won’t need one if you don’t get through tonight.”

  He drove slowly up the street, turning his head from side to side.

  “It’s tough to find parking places along here,” Sherry said. “Too many driveways. And most of the apartment buildings don’t even have enough spaces for their tenants.”

  “We’ll find a place,” Jim said. He stopped at the corner, then drove across the intersection. Halfway down the next block, he added, “Sooner or later.”

  “If we don’t find one pretty soon,” Sherry said, “we’ll end up at my place.”

  “Would you rather go there?”

  “It’s actually a few miles.”

  “No problem, if that’s where you’d like to go.”

  “That’s where Toby is.”

  “Maybe. But I’ll go in with you and…”

  “I’d rather not have to deal with him again tonight. Or ever, for that matter.”

  “I’ll deal with him.”

  “Or maybe he’ll deal with you. No thanks. I’ve had enough excitement. I can just stay at Duane’s tonight. Even if he did…” She imagined him in the back of his van with Grace underneath him, both of them naked, Grace gasping as he thrust into her. “Whatever he did,” Sherry said, “he won’t throw me out. Tomorrow, I’ll go back to my place and have someone change the locks.”

  “Here we go.” Jim slid his car into a stretch of open curb between two driveways. “It’s a little bit of a hike.”

  “That’s okay.” She swung open her door. As she climbed out, the wind blew under her skirt and hurled it up. She let go of her blouse to battle it, so the wind jerked her blouse wide open. The only button came undone. The blouse started to fly off her shoulders, but she quickly caught it and pulled it shut.

  Looking over her shoulder, Sherry saw that Jim was making his way, hunched over, toward the front of the car. He’d probably seen nothing of the wind’s attempt to strip her.

  Quickly, she tucked her blouse down the waistband of her skirt.

  “A blustery night!” she called to Jim.

  He smiled and shook his head. His hair was a wild, blowing tangle. His clothes flapped.

  Sherry waited for him on the grass strip beside the curb. The grass felt soft and warm under her bare right foot. As Jim approached, she stepped over to the sidewalk. The concrete didn’t feel good, but at least she could watch its flat gray surface and avoid kicking a sprinkler head or putting her foot down in broken glass or a dog pile.

  Jim came to her on the sidewalk. “I forgot about your bare foot,” he said, speaking loudly to be heard over the moans and howls of the wind.

  “It’s okay,” Sherry told him.

  “Are you sure? Maybe we should get back into the car. I can go ahead and park in Duane’s driveway. If I’d remembered about your foot…”

  “No. It doesn’t matter. It’s not that far, anyway.”

  “Want to wear one of my shoes?” he asked.

  She looked down at Jim’s feet. He wore high-top leather hiking boots. Large ones. “What are they, size fifty?”

  “Twelves.”

  “I think I’ll pass. But thanks for the offer.”

  “I’d be more than glad to carry you.”

  Sherry huffed out a laugh. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

  “I’d risk it.”

  “Well, I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks.”

  As they hurried down the sidewalk, Sherry felt the gusts flinging her short hair every which way. It blew its hot breath against the nape of her neck. It snapped the sleeves and sides of her blouse while it pasted the center against her back. It pressed her skirt against her rump and legs. Sometimes, it gave her a rough shove as if it hoped to throw her sprawling on the concrete.

  “Your boyfriend picked a great night for his disappearing act,” Jim said.

  “I shouldn’t have let him go out. It was my fault.”

  “Did you get an urge for a snack?”

  “Huh?”

  “Did you send him to the store for a snack?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “How long was he gone?”

  “About an hour. Then I went looking for him. Another big mistake. I should’ve waited.”

  “Maybe so.”

  “What do you mean ‘maybe?’

  ” Bumping gently against her, Jim said loudly into her face, “You met me, didn’t you?”

  “Is that supposed to be the silver lining?”

  He laughed. Holding her blouse shut with one hand, Sherry used the other to point across the street. “That’s his entrance,” she said.

  Jim nodded. “Let’s go.”

  They walked down a driveway to the street. No traffic was coming, so they rushed to the other side. There, Sherry took the lead. She waded through the wind to the foot of the stairs, then trotted up them to the building’s front stoop.

  She tried to open the glass doors, but they were locked.

  Beyond them, the lobby and ground-level corridor were dimly lighted. And deserted.

  She stepped over to the call box. Leaning in, she thumbed the button for Duane’s apartment. Then she put her ear close to the speaker.

  “Yeah?” she heard.

  “It’s me.”

  “Sherry?”

  “Yeah. Let me in.”

  Through the noises of the wind, she heard a faint buzzing sound.

  Jim, standing by her side and ready, pulled open the door.

  While he held it wide, she rushed into the lobby. Turning around, glad to be out of the wind, she watched Jim struggle to pull the door shut.

  “Wow,” she said.

  Jim smiled slightly. “Nice and quiet in here, isn’t it?”

  “Almost peaceful.”

  He stared into her eyes. “I guess you’re probably safe now.”

  “Looks that way.”

  “Do you mind if I go up with you, anyway?”

  “It really isn’t necessary.”

  “I’d hate to bring you this far and lose you at the last moment.”

  “Lose me?”

  “Have you get hurt.”

  “You’re the one who said it’s safe.”

  “Probably safe. We can’t be positive.”

  “I suppose not.”

  “If you don’t have any major objections, I’d like to go up to the room with you.”

  “Okay. Why not? You’ve come this far, might as well go the rest of the way.”

  “I concur,” Jim said. Smiling, he crinkled his eyes at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I’ve delivered you safely into the arms of your beau.”

  “Let’s go.” She headed for the stairway, Jim walking close by her side. “You probably just want to check him out,” she said, starting up the stairs.

  “Now that you mention it.”

  “You’ll be nice to him, won’t you?”

  “I’ll be charming.”

  “You’ll probably scare the hell out of him.”

  “I do tend to sometimes have that effect on people. Through no fault of my own.”

  “Maybe I should keep you around till I find out what he was up to. Maybe I’ll want you to hurt him.”

  “Oh, you wouldn’t want that.”

  “Don’t count on it. He might’ve been with another woman.”

  “When? Tonight?”

  “Yeah. Right there in his van in the parking lot of the Speed-D-Mart.”

  “
With you waiting for him?”

  She nodded.

  Jim shook his head. “No way.”

  They reached the top of the stairs. “This way,” Sherry said.

  Side by side, they walked down the silent corridor.

  “No man in his right mind,” Jim said, “would mess around with some other woman when he’s got you waiting for him.”

  The heat of a blush rushed through Sherry. “I don’t know about that,” she said.

  “He’d have to be nuts.”

  “Well…thanks.”

  “What makes you think he was with this other woman?”

  “Toby saw him with her. They kissed, then Duane took her into his van.”

  “Maybe Toby lied.”

  “I don’t know,” Sherry said. “I don’t think I’ve ever completely trusted Duane. Something like that wouldn’t really surprise me.”

  “If you felt that way, what were you doing…?”

  “Shhhh!” She suddenly hushed him.

  Duane’s door, only a few more paces down the corridor, stood partway open.

  Holding her blouse shut with one hand, she reached out with the other and took hold of Jim’s forearm. “Be nice to him,” she whispered. “But maybe stick around for a while. I might want you to drive me home if things don’t go well. Okay?”

  “I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “Thanks.” She gave his arm a gentle squeeze. Still holding it, she stepped up to Duane’s door.

  Chapter Sixteen

  She leaned toward the opening. The room inside was lighted. Though she couldn’t see Duane, music was playing. Some sort of sad, haunting…she realized it was the soundtrack from Titanic.

  “Duane?” she called.

  An answer came, but she could barely hear it through the music. One of the words sounded like “bedroom.”

  “What’d he say?” Jim asked.

  “I think he said he’s in the bedroom.”

  “Oh.”

  “Come on in.” Sherry swung the door wide open and entered the living room of Duane’s apartment. Jim came in behind her and shut the door. “You’d better wait here,” she whispered. “He might not be decent.”

  Jim’s face twitched slightly. “Go on,” he said. “Yell if you need me.”

  Sherry walked down the passageway, glancing into the dark bathroom on her way to Duane’s bedroom.

  His door stood open. She took a step inside, then halted. The room was lit by a single candle on the nightstand—probably the same candle that she’d put there earlier. It cast a shimmering, mellow glow across the bed.