Page 30 (1/2)
"Well, not right away But trustto wear you out Then you’ll sleep"
Only when he fell asleep and lay deeply, peacefully breathing beside her did she think about the fact that he’d been wearing his jeans
And he’d left his shoes, with bits of da to the soles, in the kitchen
Had he been out?
The city was always alive somewhere
But if he’d been out, why hadn’t he mentioned it?
Nikki couldn’t remember a time when she’d been out on the streets quite this late--or early Though there was activity-- faintly from the strip joints--the relative quiet was actually kind of nice Building facades were ever so slightly ghostly; lights created color as well as shadow A few people were about-- about the darkened city
She brought Brent to a place called Maxie’s It was near the casino, which provided a twenty-four-hour clientele
It offered little other than sandwiches, but those were excellent Nikki was ravenous, and still feeling a sense of exhilaration She wondered if she looked flushed, her eyes as brilliant as diamonds There was probably a lot of truth in the belief that sex made the entire world better
Brent seery as she was
"You’ve never been here?" she asked him when they had both been served iced tea and po’boys
He shook his head "And see--I thought I knew the city backward and forward"
"Actually, you do You ca about Like the slave, Huey That was certainly extraordinary, that a descendant of his olddown at his food "Maybe not so extraordinary McManus left three children all those years ago By now there could be lots of descendants And people have a tendency to want to explore their roots"
"Still, that she was in the crowd yesterday--that was pretty a, certainly"
He wasn’t looking at her, he realized He was staring past her He was seated with his back against the wall, facing the door, while she had her back to it
"What?" she said, turning to look "Mitch," she said in surprise
Mitch was at the entrance, waiting to be shown to a table He heard her and turned quickly Seeing her and Brent, he appeared startled at first; then he smiled, and walked over to join the out at this hour?" she asked him
He brushed back a strand of tawny hair that had fallen over his forehead and pulled out the chair next to Nikki’s "I’ here?"
"Sarinned at Nikki "But you--awake? That’s alanced at Brent "I’ht person"
"And I’ shuts down at ten, and I love it that any ti on here," he said to Brent
"Are you always such a night owl?" Brent asked him His tone was casual, his smile open, but Nikki was certain that his interest wasn’t casual at all
"Actually, no But that’s my point Youall the ti to do"
He twisted around, searching the restaurant as if he was looking for soht
Whether that had been the case or not, he found someone
"Hey," he said softly "Over there… in that back booth… isn’t that the cop working Andy’s case?"
Both Nikki and Brent twisted to look in the direction Mitch was indicating
Indeed, it en Massey Head down, he looked haggard and worn as he leafed through a stack of pages
"That’s Massey all right," Nikki said
"Well," Mitch said, glancing at his watch, "it’s really late Or early I should get going"
"Get going?" Brent said to hiht you were hungry"
"Oh, hell, yeah I forgot to order and eat," Mitch said He raised a hand, and their waitress came over "I’ll just have tea and that sa Nikki’s plate
The woman nodded and left them
"So… how did you like your first day?" Mitch asked Brent
"It was fun"
"It is fun, working with people," Mitch agreed "Hey, should we go say hello to the detective, see if he’s got anything new?"
"Actually, we should," Nikki agreed, looking at Brent for confirmation
Brent lifted his hands "Sure"
As they approached his table, Massey looked up He quickly closed the manila file that contained whatever papers he’d been reading
"Hi, Detective," Nikki said, sht we should say hello"
Massey nodded gravely, looking at the three of them "I saw you all come in," he said "Didn’t know if you wanted to be bothered or not Especially bybut great toI appreciate your effort"
"Nothing new, is there?" Mitch asked