Rescue

give you a pillow.“
    “Dawna, I don’t need—“
    “John, for God’s sake, take the pillow, okay?“
    “Okay.“
    At the bed, she seemed to remember my Dockers. “And here, don’t forget your pants.“ Tossing them to me, backhand.

    Adair was right about it being cool in the living room. After I went out to the car and brought my gun inside, I stripped down to just briefs, the sectional furniture not quite a box spring but not bad. Dawna had left a nightlight burning for me so I could find the stairs to the bathroom if I needed to. I was planning on not needing to.
    The window near my head was screened and opened, the night sounds of a billion insects and a few larger creatures coming through it like nature’s unfinished symphony. More dozing than quite asleep yet under the sheet, I came bolt upright with the sound of a quiet footfall on the staircase, my hand closing on the butt of the Detective’s Special.
    Adair’s voice said, “I was kind of hoping to sneak up on you.“
    “Not a smart idea, given the reason you wanted me here.“
    “Depends on which of the reasons we’re talking about.“
    As she approached the sectional, the light near the stairs made her figure show through the shorty nightgown. Dawna had let down her hair, a wave of musky perfume reaching before she did.
    The purry voice said, “I thought I’d give you a chance to change your mind.“
    “With a few more arguments in your favor?“
    Adair kneeled down. “And even more where they came from.“
    I said, “It’s your house, so we play by your rules. But if my ground rule isn’t one of them, then I have to leave.“
    “In the morning.“
    “Now.“
    A sigh. “God, somebody in Boston’s an awful lucky girl.“
    “I keep reminding her of that.“
    Adair stood and walked toward the staircase. Turning back to me on the first step, she said, “You wouldn’t happen to have a younger brother, would you?“
    “The ‘younger’ part hurts a little, Dawna.“
    “Oh, don’t be so sensitive.“
    When I heard the brass bed creak upstairs, I rolled over and tried to fall back to sleep.

17

    A dair said, “Up and dressed already, huh?“
    “Yes.“
    “Your eyes are all bloodshot.“
    “I didn’t get much sleep.“
    “The sectional wasn’t comfortable?“
    “You know that’s not the reason.“
    “Good. That makes me feel a lot better.“
    “Dawna, you’re a small person.“
    “How about I treat to breakfast?
    “What do you have?“
    “Nothing, but there’s this great place over on ocean side you should see. I’ll have to do some errands after that, so we’ll take both cars.“
    “Fine.“
    “Wait till you see the road.“

    The gun safely back in the trunk, my Sunbird lurched over ruts in the dirt road as I followed Adair’s Jeep from a convenience store where she’d picked up a newspaper. The road petered out at the parking lot of another waterfront Place in a grove of scraggly trees. It was a one-story, windowless, rough-planked structure, with the same wood used for a solid fence eight feet high. There was no sign indicating the name or even that it was a restaurant, but the smell of burning grease was heavy in the air as I came to a stop. We were two of maybe a dozen vehicles, mostly pickup trucks in the lot. I didn’t notice any navy blue GMCs, though.
    Dawna got out of her Jeep carrying the paper, a long-form like the New York Times, under her arm.
    I said, “This’ll be worth the trip?“
    A wink. “Best breakfast in the Keys.“
    I nodded toward the newspaper. “But not the best conversation?“
    “Habit. Every time I eat breakfast out, I have to read the Miami Herald. Drove Jay nuts. Come on.“
    She walked me around back to a patio with a bar, already serving drinks, under a thatched half roof shored up like a mine shaft with posts that weren’t quite perpendicular. There were tables for two and four in the enclosure formed by the high fence, the furniture apparently acquired one piece at a time from different junkyards. Most of the clientele looked like people out of work.
    Adair gave me a gleamy smile. “Welcome to Pedro’s.“
    We took a table in the corner under the branches of a tree whose trunk was on the other side of the fence. A waitress in shorts and a Key Largo sweatshirt came over immediately with menus, a steaming pot of coffee, and two ceramic mugs the size of beer steins.
    Dawna said, “Thank you a lot,“ and the waitress filled hers. I said, “Tea, if you have it,“