Gin Palace 01 - The Poisoned Rose

run miles in my sleep. I found the envelope on the table, right where I had left it, except it looked empty. I picked it up and knew by its weight that there was nothing in it. I did a quick scan of my apartment. I thought maybe I had dropped the money at some point during the night. But it wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I was into the start of an all-out search when I saw my old army blanket on the floor by my bedroom window and it came to me suddenly.
    I remembered her standing in my bedroom doorway, staring back at something in my living room. I remembered the moment’s pause between when she left the doorway and when I heard my apartment door close. I remembered this well enough to know what had happened. But what I didn’t know—still didn’t know—was just who the hell she was.
    Not long after this there was a knock on my door. I went to answer it, hoping it would be her, that she was bringing back my money. I opened the door and saw Augie standing in my hallway. When he stepped into my door, he easily filled it. He was looking into my apartment, as if for someone.
    “What’s up?” I said.
    There was a shopping bag hanging from his left hand.
    “I came by last night,” he said, “but you looked a little busy, so I didn’t bother you.”
    “I didn’t see you.”
    “I don’t think you were seeing much of anything but her, to be honest.”
    “Did you see her face?” I asked quickly.
    “No, her back was to me. Why?”
    I didn’t answer, decided to drop the matter. Anyway, by the look on Augie’s face, he had something on his mind.
    “What’s going on?”
    “The town is buzzing with cops,” he said. “You can feel the panic. The good news is, the killer dumped the cop car in Jersey, so he’s out of the state, for now anyway. The bad news is, he looted the car—shotgun, ammo, everything. He took the cop’s handcuffs and mace, even got his wallet and badge. Cool head, whoever the hell he is.”
    “Any comment from Frank?”
    “None. No big surprise there. He did offer us another job, though. He did it as if nothing had happened. Business as usual. I’m thinking we should take it, Mac. I think we should stay as close to him as possible. And I think we should stay together. Two pairs of eyes are better than one, if you know what I mean.”
    I did. “What’s the job?”
    “It’s a two-man tail. I told Frank to put you on with me for a few more jobs because you had a lot to learn. He was more than willing to believe that.”
    I thought about that, then nodded and said, “Yeah, okay.”
    “After I left here last night I went back out to the Dead Horse to poke around. I asked a few questions but no one had anything to say.”
    “What about the man who hired Frank to scare off Vogler? Maybe we could find out something from him.”
    “You saw the same file I did. Trust me, if I knew that man’s name, I would have talked to him already.”
    “So what do we do now?”
    “We work for Frank, stay close to him. And we keep our eyes and our ears open. Do you think you can do that?”
    I nodded again. “Yeah.”
    “It might get…ugly. You might see some things you don’t want to see. You going to be okay with that?”
    I told him I would be, and immediately regretted saying that. But I kept it to myself.
    Augie placed the shopping bag onto the floor near my feet. “Here,” he said. “I brought this for you.”
    I picked up the bag and reached inside.
    “It’s November now, so it’s only going to get colder,” he said. “You lost yours, so I knew you’d need a new one.”
    Inside the bag was a brand-new Navy pea coat. I pulled it out and held it up. It was made of heavy wool, was heavier even than my wool blanket.
    “It’s a good winter coat,” Augie explained. “Nothing like wool for keeping out the cold.”
    I looked at the jacket, then at Augie. I wasn’t sure what to say. Finally, I said, “Thanks.”
    “Listen, I tend to think everything happens for a reason. It’s the closest thing to faith that I have. Without it, I would have curled up and died after Tina’s mother was killed. I would have drank myself to death. So because I think everything happens for a reason, I’m pretty sure we were brought together for a reason. Maybe by hanging around with me you’ll start to believe that, too. Maybe you’ll come to understand why you’re here—living in this apartment, living the way you do. There’s a reason for it, I promise you. Till you figure that out, though,