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It's one in thearound on the front seat of ers still As if with awheel

David should have had Donaldson out of that bar thirtyhim?

I squint around the dark parking lot I hate waiting I'ood at it You'd think after two and a half years chasing scus-

excuse , I would have developed some patience

I haven't

I open the car door and step out The dampness folds aroundthat clings to the Southern California coast like a soggy blanket It's too late in the season for "June gloom" What happened to real sus out? Instead, the humidity plastersin Florida I shake out of a linen jacket and throw in onto the front seat before sla the car door shut

Impatiently, I smooth wrinkles out of e intodownright uncoain subjectedto justify my work to my parents For the first time in thirty years I have a business ofexactly what I want to be doing But is that enough for them?

Apparently not

Of course, if they sawin a not-so-upscale San Diego suburb, they'd be convinced they are right

Good thing they can't see me

I draw in a breath, blow it out and look around

What a place for a bar The shabby clapboard building has only one light, a sputtering, feeble bulb against the wall But there are at least fifty cars parked up and down the street and inside, raucous laughter and pulsating music, punctuated by the occasional wild cheer, reverberates like thunder on the still night air

I draw another impatient breath Two of the people inside that bar are my partner David, and our skip, John Donaldson David and I are Bail Enforce so long

Maybe Donaldson is giving David a hard time

That thought brings a shs two hundred and fifty pounds and was a tight end for the Raiders He's big and looks mean, more than a match for John Donaldson, whose rap sheet showed a skinny, anxious lasses perched atop a bulbous nose-an accountant of all things

I stretch and yawn, and do a few squats to stretch taut legthree inch heels and a short skirt

Still, there's notDavid trouble Besides the obvious, Donaldson is nothing but a white-collar wannabe who played fast and loose with his eht up with the idiot, his string of shady business deals had landed hiue, where that saed employer threatened to send him Fifty thousand dollars and so trial He skipped about the sa a mistress She became instantly cooperative She wasn't about to lose her house because the creep decided to jump bail

But the infidelity-that's her problem We work for the irate bondset hiht

Which is exactly e intend to do

This should be a piece of cake Donaldson doesn't have a history of violence Why he ran is still a , as it turns out, he didn't run far We discovered him holed up in Chula Vista, in a South Bay low-rent district, no less, with the saive him up We assume he plans to beat it south to Mexico, but for whatever reason, he hasn't yet

Still, he's been a slippery little bugger We thought we had hied to elude us

But not tonight

Tonight Donaldson decided to take a little excursion to a sports bar all by hinizes David, the reaction is predictable And sonize him-ex-football jock, local hero, David attracts attention the way the North Pole attracts a co Donaldson's undivided attention David will buy him a few drinks to loosen him up, maybe, or offer to show hiet him outside

After that, it's a trip don, a little paperwork, and five thousand dollars deposited into our account in the

Easy nated driver

So what's the holdup?

I roll my shoulders I want a nice, cool bath I want out of these clothes

Coet this over with

I can't stand waiting anytolot, I can look through the bar's front door and see what's going on Maybe David needs a little help A short skirt and high heelsdiah to beat it back to the car if they're on their way out

Anything is better than cooling my heels in this stupid alley

I start across The throbbing bass is shaking the place and grows louder with each step David must be deaf by now