Death of a Blue Movie Star

large—a man’s shoe size. And were smooth, like conservative business shoes, not sneakers or running shoes. But aside from that, nothing. No cigarette ash, no discarded bottles. No cryptic messages.
    As she stood there a sprinkling of rain began and she hurried back to the stairs. She started down slowly, reaching out with her foot to find the flooring in the dimness.
    A noise.
    She paused on the second-floor landing. Stepped through an open doorway into the dark, abandoned office. Her hand gripped the tear gas canister firmly. Her pupils, contracted from the brightness, couldn’t take in enough light to see anything.
    But she could hear. Rune froze.
    He’s here!
    Someone was in the room.
    Nothing specific told her—no popping boards, no whispers, no shuffles of feet. The message was transmitted maybe by a smell or maybe by some sixth-sense radar.
    The wave came back with a message: Whoa, honey, he’s big and he’s pretty damn close.
    Rune didn’t move. The other figure didn’t either though twice she heard the air of his breath across his teeth. Her eyes became accustomed to the dark and she looked for a target and slowly lifted the tear gas.
    Her hands began to quiver.
    No, not one but two of them.
    And they were ghosts.
    Two pale forms. Humanlike, vague, undefined. They both stared at her. One held a thick, white billy club.
    She aimed the canister at them. “I’ve got a gun.”
    “Shit,” a man’s voice said.
    The other voice, also male, said, “Take the wallet. Take
both
wallets.”
    Her vision was improving. The apparitions turned into two naked, crew-cut men in their mid-thirties. She began to laugh when she saw what the club was; it was now considerably smaller.
    “Sorry,” she said.
    “This isn’t a mugging?”
    “Sorry.”
    Heavy-duty indignation. “Well, I just want you to know you scared the living hell out of us. For your information, this room happens to be reserved.”
    Rune asked, “How long have you been here?”
    “Too long, apparently.”
    “For the last hour or so?”
    The anger became giddy relief. One of the men nodded toward his friend and said, “He’s good but he’s not
that
good.”
    The other, more sober: “Forty-five minutes?”
    “Closer.”
    Rune asked, “Did you hear anybody come down from the roof?”
    “Yeah, I did. Fifteen minutes ago. Then you go up, then you come down. Grand Central Station today.”
    “Did you see him?”
    “We
were
a little busy….”
    Rune said, “Please? It’s important.”
    “We thought he was cruising but we weren’t sure. You have to be kind of careful.”
    Sure. No telling what kind of degenerate you’ll meet while having sex in deserted piers.
    “So we kept mum.”
    “What did he look like?”
    “Medium build. But otherwise I have no idea.” Turning to his companion: “Do you? … No, we don’t have any idea.”
    Rune said, “Did you see what he was wearing? A jacket?”
    “A red windbreaker. Hat, an old-fashioned one. Dark slacks, I think,” one voice said.
    “Tight.” From the other.
    “You
would
notice that.”
    Rune said, “Well, thanks.”
    As she left she heard them whispering. Something about not exactly being in the mood anymore. “Well, you can
try
.”
    She started the descent to the first floor.
    Feeling her thudding heartbeats slow.
    Rune laughed.
This room is reserved
. Why didn’t they pick a more romantic—
    He got her from behind.
    At the foot of the stairs, as she was stepping carefully around the hole, the hand grabbed her ponytail and jerked her backward. She saw a gloved hand, holding a razor box cutter, start for her neck. She grabbed his wrist and dug in hard with her short nails. It deflected the knife and for a moment they grappled for it. She knew if she let go of the banister she’d fall but there was no other way to get the tear gas with her other hand; it was deep in her pocket.
    Rune released her grip and as she tumbled into her attacker she grabbed the canister and, without aiming, pushed the button. A cloud sprayed out between them, blinding them both. She cried out in pain as the attacker spun away, hands over his face.
    But he didn’t let go and Rune felt herself being pulled backward. Eyes shut, she reached out but grabbed only air and fell in panic and confusion. Her breath exploded from her lungs as she hit the floor hard on her back. She twisted onto her stomach, then was up on one knee, scrabbling away from him. The man bent down quickly and gripped her around