In Death 02 - Glory in Death

to be dragged out on a wet night. Sure of herself, as Hammett had said. She wouldn't have been afraid.
    She marched up the stairs to the street in her power suit, her expensive shoes. She --
    Stopping, Eve narrowed her eyes. No umbrella? Where was her damn umbrella? A meticulous woman, a practical, organized woman didn't go out in the rain without protection. Briskly, Eve pulled out her recorder and muttered a note to herself to check on it.
    Was the killer waiting for her on the street? In a room? She studied the disintegrating brick of the unrehabbed buildings. A bar? One of the flesh clubs?
    "Hey, white girl."
    Brows knit, Eve turned at the interruption. The man was tall as a house and from the deepness of his complexion, a full black. He sported, as many did in this part of town, feathers in his hair. His cheek tattoo was vivid green and in the shape of a grinning human skull. He wore an open red vest and matching pants snug enough to show the bulge of his cock.
    "Hey, black boy," she said in the same casually insulting tone.
    He flashed a wide, dazzling grin at her from an unbelievably ugly face. "You looking for action?" He jerked his head toward the garish sign of the all-nude club across the street. "You a little skinny, but they be hiring. Don't get many white as you. Mostly mixed." He chucked her under the chin with fingers the width of soy wieners. "I be the bouncer, put in a word for you."
    "Now why would you do that?"
    "Out of the goodness of my heart, and five percent of your tips, honeypot. A long white girl like you make plenty jiggling her stuff."
    "I appreciate the thought, but I've got a job." Almost with regret, she pulled out her badge.
    He whistled through his teeth. "Now how come I don't be seeing that? White girl, you just don't smell like cop."
    "Must be the new soap I'm using. Got a name?"
    "They just call me Crack. That's the sound it makes when I bust heads." He grinned again, and illustrated by bringing his two huge hands together. "Crack! Get it?"
    "I'm catching on. Were you on the door night before last, Crack?"
    "Now, I'm sorry to say I was otherwise engaged, and missed all the excitement. That be my night off, and I spent it catching up on cultural events."
    "And those events were?"
    "Vampire flick festival down to Grammercy, with my current young nibble. I sure do enjoy watching them bloodsuckers. But I hear we had ourselves a show right here. Got ourselves a dead lawyer. Big, important, fancy one, too. White girl, wasn't she? Just like you, honeypot."
    "That's right. What else do you hear?"
    "Me?" He trailed a finger down the front of his vest. The nail on his index finger was sharpened to a lethal point and painted black. "I'm too dignified to listen to street talk."
    "I bet you are." Understanding the rules, Eve slipped a hundred-credit token from her pocket. "How about I buy a little of that dignity?"
    "Well, the price, she looks right." His big hand enveloped the tokens and made them disappear. "I hear she was hanging around in the Five Moons 'long about midnight, give or take. Like she was hanging for somebody, somebody who don't show. Then she ditched."
    He glanced down at the sidewalk. "Didn't go far though, did she?"
    "No, she didn't. Did she ask for anyone?"
    "Not so's I heard."
    "Anyone see her with anyone?"
    "Bad night. People stay off the street mostly. Some chemi-heads maybe wander, but business going to be slow."
    "You know anyone around here who likes to cut?"
    "Plenty carry blades and stickers, white girl." His eyes rolled in amusement. "Why you going to carry if you ain't going to use?"
    "Anybody just likes to cut," she repeated. "Somebody who doesn't care about making a score."
    His grin spread again. The skull on his cheek seemed to nod with the movement. "Everybody cares about making a score. Ain't you trying to?"
    She accepted that. "Who do you know around here who's out of a cage recently?"
    His laugh was like mortar fire. "Better if you ask don't I know anybody who ain't. And your money's done."
    "All right." To his disappointment, she took a card rather than more tokens out of her pocket. "There may be more if you hear anything I can use."
    "Keep it in mind. You decide you want to earn a little extra shaking those little white tits, you let Crack know." With this, he loped across the street with the surprising grace of an enormous black gazelle.
    Eve turned and went in to try her luck at the Five Moons.
    The dive might have seen better days, but she doubted