IV – Thoughts in Transit
The rain pattered around my feet with an almost rhythmic, insistent tapping. Somehow, it got me thinking about Ada. Something about her didn't ring true. She was covering something, that much was obvious, but what? Or who? I sucked cigarette butt, and tossed it into the street. I replayed the events of the evening over and over in my head, hoping to come up with some shred of a clue, some idea what organization I was up against. I thought long and hard about the fight in the car, and my escape. My capture and disarmament (something for which Smiley would pay for), my being put in the car, my escape (and a gunsel's broken nose), and my flight away from the car.
I stopped suddenly, and jarred the pedestrian traffic around me. Someone cursed at me. I smiled. I'm a private dick. I'm trained to notice things. I'm damn good at noticing things; that's part of why I'm still alive. The one thing I should have seen, I had not. Not 'til now.
I hadn't seen a certain young Japanese woman in a red dress. I hadn't heard the tapping of high heels following me. Either I was slipping or she was lying, and I sincerely doubted the former. I cursed, and turned around. Something big was up, but I couldn't see it. It must have involved "Malcolm", otherwise why bring him up?
I stopped again. Her presence must have tied in somehow to the attack I suffered when I left. I reflected on that for a moment. I hadn't seen who it was, but the speed as to which it was pulled off told me that it had to be someone nearby. Not only that, but it must have been someone who knew where I was. Who had known I was there? Smiley could probably figure it out, and…
…back to Ada again. I didn't like it. Only one thing for it though, after all this posturing I had to head back to the office. That one-hundred-and-fifty clams waiting for me there would almost put me right again. A new pistol, and more smokes were the first items on the menu; even now, I could hear the telltale tocking of the last cigarette in the pack. It was almost like it was marking time until it got smoked.
I caught the 16th Street bus heading west, and thought more. Could Smiley and Ada be in cahoots? Why? How did the Hatherlys figure into the picture? Who was "Malcolm?" Why me?
The bell tingled, and my stop was announced. I stepped off, and into the rain. I hiked up the stairs, and opened the door. The lights were off, which meant Merle, my secretary, had gone home early. Good, (some Joes get involved with the help. That's just stupid. You make the wrong guy mad, he knows where your girl works, and you end up heartbroken or dead. Happens a lot in Jersey. Merle had made passes at me, sure, but I ain't stupid.)
I entered my office, bone weary. I maneuvered through the shadows and opened my door. Once inside, I switched on a light, found the false cabinet that housed my bed, and went to sleep.