High Five Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    One of the men was berserk, waving his arms to avoid getting cuffed. "You can't do this, you fuckers," he was yelling. "This is my apartment. This is private property. Somebody call the fucking police." He pulled a knife from his pants pocket and flicked it open.
    Tank grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt, lifted him off his feet, and threw him out the window.
    Everyone went still, staring dumbstruck at the shattered glass. My mouth was open and my heart had gone dead in my chest.
    Ranger didn't look all that disturbed. "Have to replace that window," he said.
    I heard a groan and some scraping sounds. I crossed the room to the window and looked out. The guy with the knife was spreadeagle on the fire escape, making feeble attempts to right himself.
    I clapped a hand to my heart, relieved to find it had started beating again. "He's on the fire escape! God, for a minute there I thought you dumped him three stories."
    Tank looked out the window with me. "You're right. He's on the fire escape. Sonovagun."
    It was a small apartment. One small bedroom, one small bath, small kitchen, small living room. Kitchen counters were littered with fast-food wrappers and bags, empty soda cans, food-encrusted plates, and cheap, dented pots. The Formica was scarred with burn marks from cigarettes and crack cookers. Used syringes, half-eaten bagels, filthy dish towels, and unidentifiable garbage clogged the sink. Two stained and torn mattresses had been pushed against the wall in the living room. No lamps, no tables, no chairs, no sign that civilized man occupied the apartment. Just filth and clutter. The same refuse that banked against gutters outside filled the rooms of 3C. The air was stale with the odors of urine and pot and unwashed bodies and something nastier.
    Santos and Brown herded the bedraggled occupants into the hall and down the stairs.
    "What happens to them now?" I asked Ranger.
    "Bobby'll drive them over to the meth clinic and drop them off. They're on their own from there."
    "No arrests?"
    "We don't do arrests. Not unless someone's FTA."
    Tank returned from the car with a cardboard box filled with interior decorating supplies, which in this case consisted of disposable gloves, trash bags, and a coffee can for syringes.
    "This is the deal," Ranger said to me. "We strip the apartment of everything not nailed down. Tomorrow the landlord will bring someone in to clean and do repairs."
    "What's to stop the tenant from returning?"
    Ranger just stared at me.
    "Right," I said. "Stupid question."
     
     
    IT WAS MIDMORNING when we went through with the broom. Santos and Brown had positioned themselves on folding chairs in the small vestibule downstairs. They were to take the first security shift. Tank was on his way to the landfill with the mattresses and bags of garbage. Ranger and I were left to lock up the apartment.
    Ranger angled the brim of a Navy SEALS ball cap to shade his eyes. "So," he said, "what do you think of security work? You want to be on the team? I can let you take the graveyard shift with Tank."
    "He isn't going to throw any more people out windows, is he?"
    "Hard to say, Babe."
    "I don't know if I'm cut out for this."
    Ranger took his SEALS hat off and put it on me, tucking my hair behind my ears, letting his hands linger a moment too long. "You have to believe in what you're doing."
    That could be a problem. And Ranger could be a problem. I was feeling much too attracted to him. Ranger wasn't listed under potential boyfriends in my Rolodex. Ranger was listed under crazed mercenaries. An attraction to Ranger would be like chasing after the doomsday orgasm.
    I took a steadying breath. "I guess I could try a shift," I said. "See how it goes."
     
     
    I WAS STILL wearing the hat when Ranger dropped me off at my apartment. I removed the cap and held it out to him. "Don't forget your SEALS hat."
    Ranger looked at me from behind dark glasses. His eyes hidden. His thoughts unreadable. His voice soft. "Keep it.