Run into Trouble

feet.”
    “You used to dance?”
    “When I was young. Before I met you.”
    “I never knew that.”
    “Pardon me, but you never struck me as being the dancing type.”
    That was true. He had gone to dances when he was in school because that’s where the girls were, but he had never been any great shakes on the dance floor.
    Melody was musing out loud as they started running again.
    “That’s a new side of Peaches we haven’t seen before. I’m going to try to get to know him better. He might be useful to us in trying to figure out what’s going on here.”
    “Be careful. You don’t know anything about him. He might be a…”
    “A harasser? Grace says that he’s always treated her with respect. You’re thinking of Fred. I let you deal with Fred. By the way, he didn’t admit to anything, did he? We still don’t know what his connection is with whoever is sending the notes.”
    Peaches was a sealed box to Drake. Although he had been alone with him several times going to appointments with a chiropractor, the man hadn’t opened up to him at all.
    “If you’re going to talk to Peaches, I’m going to be with you.”
    “You’ve talked to Peaches. He hasn’t told you anything. Now it’s my turn.”

***
    “We may have hit the jackpot here.”
    Drake was surprised at the animation in Blade’s voice. He shifted the motel room phone to his left ear so that he could take notes with his right hand. He no longer bothered to find a phone booth when he called Blade. “How?”
    “One of the guys whose names you gave me has his prints on file with the FBI. They match the prints on the letter.”
    “I didn’t know you talked to the FBI.”
    “We do when we have to. Your Malibu incident lent a little impetus to that. His name is Dennis Sterling, aka Dennis the Menace Woodbury, aka lots of other names. The name you gave us was Sterling, so we checked the prints on the letter against the prints for that name on the FBI file. They matched.”
    “I’m glad to see that you’re doing some useful work. Tell me about this guy Sterling.”
    “He’s not your usual hood. He’s got a degree from a revered eastern university I hesitate to mention by name because you’ll make derisive comments. He’s served time for extortion and blackmail. He’s got connections in Las Vegas.”
    Drake made a couple of notes. “Before, you said that Las Vegas didn’t care about Running California.”
    “We’re revising our thinking on that and doing some checking.”
    “What about the other two names we gave you?”
    “We came up blank on them. It doesn’t mean they don’t have records. They may be using aliases we don’t know about.”
    “Aliases? Why didn’t I think of that?”
    “Okay, smart ass, here’s one for you. Apparently, you’re the only living person who saw what actually happened in Malibu. Can you think of a scenario that would involve the Vegas mob in that?”
    “You’re trying to tie Malibu to my letters? Sounds like a stretch.”
    “We’re stretching as far as we can, son. Moscow has made an official denial that they had any part in this. We have no evidence to prove otherwise. There aren’t too many other loose cannons in the world. Germany and Japan have been peaceful for years. We don’t think North Korea has the capability. Everyone here’s going berserk.”
    “The marines have invaded Malibu. Destroyers are cruising off the coast.”
    “That’s my point. We’re acting like World War Three has started, and we don’t have an enemy.”
    “That never stopped the military before.”
    “Here’s something to think about. It’s a lot easier for governments to grab power during a crisis. It doesn’t matter whether the crisis is real or invented, as long as people think it’s real.”
    “Would you like to repeat that for the record?”
    “No. If you quote me, I’ll deny it, and you’ll be shark bait.”
    “I’m trembling in my boots. Was Sterling born in the U.S.?”
    “Yes, in Minnesota.”
    “So his English is probably better than what’s in the letters, even though his education isn’t proof of that. Does he have any connections with the commies?”
    “None that we know of.”
    “Give me a description of him, in case he’s still around.”
    “I’ll do better than that. I’ll give you a description and also have Slick deliver a picture of him to you. Call Slick and tell him where you are.”
    ***
    Drake had borrowed the Giganticorp car and was driving himself into