The Narrows

fine, I was still leaving. I told him I would leave the key on the dinette table after I gathered up my belongings. I was about to leave the office when I hesitated and then asked him about my neighbor Jane.
    "Yes, she is gone, too. Same thing."
    "What do you mean, same thing?"
    "We charge her for a week but she not stay a week."
    "Hey, do you mind me asking, what was her full name? I never got it."
    "She is Jane Davis. You like?"
    "Yeah, she was nice. We talked on the balconies. I didn't get to say good-bye. She didn't leave a forwarding address or anything like that, did she?" Gupta smiled at the prospect of this. He had very pink gums for someone with such dark skin.
    "No address," he said. "Not that one."
    I nodded my thanks for the information he had given me. I left the office and went up the stairs and then down the walkway to my room.
    It took me less than five minutes to gather my things. I had some shirts and pants on hangers. I then took out of the closet the same box in which I had brought everything and filled it with the rest of my belongings and a couple of toys I kept in the place for Maddie. Buddy Lockridge had been close, calling me Suitcase Harry. But Beer Box Harry would have been better.
    Before leaving I checked the refrigerator and saw I had one bottle of beer left. I took it out and cranked it open. I figured one beer for the road wouldn't hurt me. I had done worse in the past before a drive. I thought about making another cheese sandwich but skipped it when the thought reminded me of Backus's routine of eating grilled cheese sandwiches each day at Quantico. I went out onto the balcony with the beer for one last look at the rich men's jets. It was a cool and crisp evening. The blue lights on the far runway twinkled like sapphires.
    The two black jets were gone, their owners either quick winners or losers. The big Gulfstream remained in place, red dust caps over the intakes on its jet engines. It was settled in. I wondered what the jets might have had to do with Jane Davis and her stay at the Double X.
    I looked over at Jane's empty balcony, just four feet from my own. The ashtray was sitting on the railing and I could see it was still filled with half-smoked butts. Her unit had not been cleaned yet. And that gave me an idea. I looked around and down at the parking lot. I saw no human movement except for out on Koval, where the traffic was stalled at a traffic light. I saw no sign of the night security man or anyone else in the parking lot. I quickly hoisted myself up onto the railing and was about to climb across to the next balcony when I heard a knock on my door. I quickly dropped back down and went in and answered the door.
    It was Rachel Walling.
    "Rachel? Hello. Is something wrong?"
    "No, nothing that catching Backus couldn't cure. Can I come in?"
    "Sure."
    I stepped back to let her enter. She saw the box with my belongings piled into it. I spoke first.
    "How did it go today when you got back into town?"
    "Well, I got the usual tongue-lashing from the SAC."
    "Did you lay it all on me?"
    "As planned. He fumed and fussed but what's he going to do? I don't want to talk about him right now."
    "Then what?"
    "Well, for starters, do you have another one of those?"
    She meant the beer.
    "Actually, no. I was just finishing this one and was going to take off."
    "Then I'm glad I caught you."
    "You want to split it? I'll get you a glass."
    "You said you wouldn't trust the glasses here."
    "Well, I could wash-"
    She reached over for the bottle and took a sip from it. She handed it back, her eyes staying on mine. She then turned and pointed to the box. "So you're leaving."
    "Yeah, back to L. A. for a while."
    "You'll miss your daughter, I guess."
    "A lot."
    "You'll come back to see her?"
    "As often as I can."
    "That's nice. Anything else?"
    "What do you mean?" I asked, though I thought I knew what she meant.
    "Will you be coming back for anything else?"
    "No, just my daughter."
    We stood there looking at each other for a long moment. I held the beer out to her but when she came forward it was for me. She kissed me on the lips and then quickly we put our arms around each other.
    I know it had something to do with the trailer, our nearly dying together out there in the desert, that made us press so hard against each other and move toward the bed, that made me reach over and put the beer bottle on the table so I could use both my hands as we pulled at each other's clothes.
    We fell onto the bed and made