Rescue

out of there.“
    “Out of where?“
    “The Center. It’s kind of tucked behind the infirmary. Or at least it was supposed to be. I never saw the inside of it, and I don’t know of anybody who did.“
    “The Center exists for the study of sin, but nobody goes inside it for classes or anything?“
    “Uh-unh. Well, except for the Reverend and Sister Lu-trice—she’s his wife?“
    “We’ve met.“
    “Well, I’m sure they must go in there. But aside from them, all I ever saw were guards.“ Olsen paused for effect. “Armed guards.“
    I thought of the guys in white outfits who’d stopped me. “You mean the people at the gates?“
    “Nossir. I mean the thugs—that’s the only word for them— the thugs that guard the Center. One guy, real big, but with this little itty-bitty head.“
    “Cody.“
    “Right, Cody was his name. And this other guy, had Howdy-Doody ears and red hair, what was his... ?“
    I said, “Lonnie Severn.“
    “Severn, yeah that sounds right, but I’m not positive. I kind of stayed away from them.“
    “Why?“
    “Well, first, they didn’t really mix with us, the members of the Church, I mean. They kind of stayed separate, but even if they didn’t, they would have—I don’t know, seemed seperate, somehow. Also, by the time I was getting this sense of them, I was starting to pull away from the Church, especially after…“
    Olsen stopped. I said, “After what?“
    He looked around, but nobody needed a drink. Even though there wasn’t a patron within ten feet of us, Mack began to whisper. “The red-haired guy, this Severn , he came up to me once. Said, ‘You’re a bartender, right?’ I said to him, ‘No, but I used to be, before I found Jesus.’ And he kind of—I don’t know, smirked at that, which I thought was real odd, I mean since he made his salary off the Church. And he said, ‘You tended up in Miami , though, right?’ and I said I did, and he said, ‘You meet any high-class whores up there? I don’t mean streetwalkers, now, I mean good, clean call girls, got their own places.’ “
    “Where was this, Mack?“
    “Right when we’re in the Compound, just outside the dining hall. And I asked Severn why, and he said, ‘Never you mind. Just give me a name and a number.’ And—well, I did know a couple, you know, for the richer conventioneers, wanting to party but being a little afraid of the ‘consequences’ of what they might bring back home to momma? So I gave Severn the name and number of this beautiful—and I mean stunning —woman, gets five hundred the hour, and he says no problem. And, well, that’s what convinced me.“
    “Convinced you?“
    “To leave the Church. So I just kind of dropped out, but they don’t like you doing that, so they kept after me, and I moved down here.“
    “They don’t come to Key West ?“
    “Are you kidding? With the bars and the gays and the—I don’t know, just the feel of this place, the Rev and Lutrice would bomb us if the Air Force’d lend them a plane.“
    I thought about it. “Can you give me the name of this Woman in Miami ?“
    Olsen watched me. “You want to talk with her, too?“
    “Yes.“
    “Why?“
    “I won’t know that till I talk with her.“
    He twisted the end of the right mustache. “I’d have to set it up, make it look like you were a customer for her.“
    “And I’d expect to pay you a... broker’s commission.“
    Olsen nodded. “You want me to use your real name with her?“
    “John Francis.“
    He watched me some more, then nodded. “As good as any, I guess. One thing, though.“
    “Yes?“
    “You see her, even just to talk, it’s still five hundred net to her.“
    “Understood.“
    Olsen went up and down the bar quickly, filling a couple of orders, then disappeared through a doorway. A few minutes later, he was back out and coming over to me with a slip of paper in his hand.
    “She’s expecting you tomorrow at three o’clock. This is her name and address.“
    I looked down at the paper. Just the first name, ‘Zoe/ with a street and apartment number.
    I said, “I don’t know Miami all that well.“
    “ Til write you out some directions.“
    “While you’re at it?“
    “Yeah?“
    “Draw me a diagram of the Compound, too.“
    “The Compound?“
    “Especially the infirmary and the Sinstitute area.“
    Olsen looked at me. “Hope Dawna owes you a big favor.“
    “There’ll be a cartographer’s commission in it.“
    “A what?“
    “Never