L Is for Lawless

Didn't help much. My insides were churning with a low-level dread. I finally dragged myself into the dressing area, where I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I sniffed at my turtleneck, which was beginning to smell like something I'd been wearing for two days. I might have to break down and buy something new. If I sent all my clothes out to be cleaned and pressed, I'd be stuck in my red uniform until six that night. Meanwhile, if Laura Huckaby took off, I'd have to trail her across Texas looking like a parlor maid. I rubbed some hotel lotion on the relevant body parts, hoping the perfume would mask the ripe scent of unwashed garments.
    I tucked the two room keys in my pocket – mine and the one I'd stolen from Laura Huckaby's desk – and peered through the spy hole. At least Rawson wasn't lurking in the corridor. I went down the fire stairs, avoiding the elevator, and found myself emerging on the far side of the lobby.
    When I reached the hotel coffee shop, I paused in the doorway. Rawson wasn't hard to spot. He was the only guy in there with a swollen green-and-purple face. He had a bandage across his nose, one black eye, a split lip, assorted cuts, and three fingers on his right hand bound together with tape. He drank his coffee with a spoon, possibly to spare himself the pain from broken, cracked, or missing teeth. His white T-shirt was so new, I could still see the package creases. Either he was buying his shirts a size too small or he was built better than I remembered. At least the short sleeves allowed me to admire his dragon tattoo.
    I crossed the room and slid into the booth across from him. "When'd you get here?"
    There were two menus on the table, and he passed me one. "Three-thirty in the morning. The plane was delayed because of fog. I picked up a rental car at the airport. I tried calling your room as soon as I got in, but the operator wouldn't put me through, so I waited until eight." His eyes were bloodshot from the battering, which gave his otherwise mild features a demonic cast. I could see that his left earlobe had been stitched back into place.
    "You're too considerate," I said. "You have a room?"
    "Yeah, 1006." His smile flickered and faded. "Look, I know you got no particular reason to trust me, but it's time to deal straight."
    "You might have done that two days ago before we got into this… whatever it is."
    The waitress appeared with a coffeepot in hand. She was the motherly sort, who looked as if she'd take in stray dogs and cats. Her frizzy gray hair was held in place by a hairnet, like a spiderweb across her head, and her gravelly voice suggested a lifelong affection for unfiltered cigarettes. She flicked a speculative look at Ray. "What happened to you?"
    "I was in a wreck," he said briefly. "You got any aspirin, I'll leave you money in my will."
    "Let me check in the back. I can probably come up with something." She turned to me. "How about some coffee? You look like you could use some."
    Mutely I held up my coffee cup, and she filled it to the brim. She set the coffeepot aside and reached for her order pad. "You ready to order or you want more time?"
    "This is fine," I said, indicating that the cup of coffee would suffice.
    Ray spoke up. "Have some breakfast. My treat. It's the least I can do."
    I looked back at the waitress. "In that case, make it coffee, orange juice, bacon, link sausage, three scrambled eggs, and some rye toast."
    He held up two fingers. "Same here."
    Once she'd departed, he leaned forward on his elbows. He looked like a light-heavyweight boxer the day after the championship went back to the other guy. "I don't blame you for feeling sour, but honest… after the break-in at Johnny's, I didn't think he'd come back. I figured that was the end of it, so who was the wiser?"
    "'He,' who?"
    "I'm getting to that," he said. "Oh, before I forget. You know the key Bucky took from Johnny's safe?"
    "Yes," I said cautiously.
    "You still have it?"
    I hesitated for a flicker of a second, and then I lied on instinct. Why confide in him? So far he hadn't told me anything. "I don't have it with me, but I know where it is. Why?"
    "I've been thinking about it. I mean, it has to be important. Why else would Johnny keep it in his safe?"
    "I thought you knew. Didn't you tell Charlie I was in danger because of it?"
    "Danger? Not me. I never said that. I wonder where he got that idea?"
    "I talked to Henry last night. He says that's how you persuaded Charlie to tell you where I was. You