Ghosts of Chinatown Read Online Free PDF Page B

learned from watching you. And reading your stinkin’ books.” Harlan grabs a beer and quaffs it in one gulp. He cocks hid head to Todd. “Ever read any of his stuff?”
    “Didn’t even know he existed before two hours ago.”
    “You’re lucky. I have to read his crap because sometimes he pays me in books. Restaurant biz is not too good.”
    Cam snickers. “It’s all an illusion. All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”
    Harlan guffaws. “Smartest thing you ever said.”
    Todd interjects. “He didn’t say that. It was Edgar Allan Poe.”
    Cam makes a gun with his thumb and forefinger and fires it at Todd. “Can’t get anything past you, can we, Piano Man?”
    “I’ve had a lot of time these past five years. A lot of reading, a lot of research. I can tell you fifteen different kinds of foods to avoid if you don’t want to get the runs or I can tell you how many books Hemingway sold in his lifetime or I can tell you the fastest and cheapest ways to get buzzed.”  
    Todd takes out a small plastic medicine bottle that has no label. He pours a couple of little white pills into his hand.”
    “Hey, you. Are those some of the ‘buzz mobiles’ you’re talkin’ ’bout? ” Cam beckons Todd to fork over some of the pills. “You been hiding mama’s little helpers, Piano Man. C’mon, share the wealth.
    Todd shakes his head. “Strictly medicinal. Nitroglycerine. Too much stress makes my ticker go into orbit.”  
    “No way.” Harlan glances knowingly to Cam, who winks in response.  
    “Way.” Todd places the pills under his tongue. “And combining them with alcohol results in dizziness.” Todd chases them with a swallow of beer. “Two of these little white pills and I’m good to go.”
    Cam’s one happy camper. “So if two’s good, three’s a party, and four takes you to the moon?”
    Todd waves two fingers in the air. “Two max or you get confusion, vomiting, fainting, palpitations, clammy skin, paralysis, convulsions, coma and ultimately the breakdown of the space-time continuum.” Todd grins like the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland . “Duh, you die.”  
    Harlan drills Todd. “And less than two?”
    “Straight to the eternal flatline.” The pianist chugs a beer.  
    Cam grabs Todd’s hand to stop him from drinking. “Aren’t you kinda young to have heart problems? That’s for like, old people.”
    “I’ve had heart problems for a long time.” Todd snatches beer back.
    “It is what it is.” Cam scribbles on his yellow writing pad.  
    Todd’s gaze wanders the room—blood pressure’s dropping and he’s getting relaxed, even comfortable. “This place can get to be a habit.”
    Cam keeps writing. “Habits can be deadly.”
    “Depends on the habit.”
    Cam stops writing and looks up. “No way. Depends on the nun.”
    All roar drunkenly at the stupid joke. Harlan gets up and makes his way to the bar. “Gotta make some more money. Another round?”
    Cam’s shocked. “You really need to ask?”  
    “No, but I need to make sure you can pay. As in cash. As in, ‘I don’t want any more of your stinkin’ books.’”
    “I got it. Money’s good. No worries.” Todd lifts his glass toward his mouth. It suddenly shatters in his hand. “Stop it! No more!” He stares at the fragments on the floor.  
    CRACK! All look to see a gaping hole in the window. A five-pound grey rock flies through the air in slow motion, then hits Harlan on the head. The bartender falls to the floor, bleeding from a gash on his forehead. “Ow!   What the!”
    Todd and Cam rush to Harlan, stepping through the zillion glass window shards.
    “Damn”
    “Chillax, man.” Cam whips to the counter and grabs some napkins. He blots the blood on Harlan’s head, applying pressure to the wound. “You’re a tough mother.”
    “Takes more than that to take me out.”
    Suddenly, terror seizes the room as an invisible hand etches slowly on the wall in blood red: