Life's Work Read Online Free PDF Page A

the bartender, who nodded serenely and walked away.
    "I'll be damned," I said.
    The girl grinned. She was very pretty and very young -no more than twenty-one or twenty-two- with short, shaggy ash-blond hair cut in a punk style, and a gamine's angular hollow-cheeked face. She'd made up heavily, mouth as red as cut strawberries and eyes blackened with mascara. Two spots of rouge glowed on either cheek, giving her a pert and vaguely doll-like look. It was hard to tell over the roar, but her voice had sounded Kentuckian.
    "Thanks for the help," I said to her.
    She gestured casually. "No big deal."
    "What are you drinking?"
    She picked up a glass of what looked like a gin and tonic and swirled it around.
    "You want another?" I said.
    She smiled like a belle. "Thank you, sir," she said, and almost curtsied.
    I yelled at the bartender, and we went through the same ridiculous charade, until the girl stepped in and translated for us again.
    "They should hire you to do this for a living," I shouted at her when the bartender had gone.
    "They do," she said with a wink.
    "So it's like that, is it?" I said.
    "Sometimes. Not always." She gave me a coy look. "What's your name?"
    "Harry," I said. "Yours?"
    "Laurel."
    I raised my glass. "Here's to free enterprise, Laurel."
    The girl studied me over the rim of her glass. I wanted to believe that it was my looks that were dazzling her, but I had the gut feeling that she was wondering whether I was Vice.
    "I haven't seen you here before, Harry," she said, almost on cue. "You new in town?"
    "It just looks that way," I said.
    "Are you married?" she said in a cute little voice that was designed to tickle.
    I shook my head, but she acted like she didn't believe me.
    "It's okay. I think married men are neat." Laurel frowned suddenly and said, "Damn," under her breath.
    "What's the matter?"
    "Oh, it's nothing." She gave me an embarrassed look. "I just made a bet with myself, that's all. I swore off using those dumb kids' words like neat and cool. It was kind of a New Year's resolution -you know, like when you give up drinking or smoking."
    I smiled at her. "How old are you, Laurel?"
    "Twenty-four?" she said, as if she were guessing my weight.
    I didn't believe that. I wasn't sure I believed anything about the girl, including the little scene about giving up "kids' words" and the racket she had going with the bartender. Her whole act was too practiced, too cute like that sweet, ticklish voice of hers. But practiced or not, it was an amusing play, and a far cry from the hard sell of the B-girls of my era. She wasn't the first whore I'd met who was bent on improving herself, but she was the first one who'd incorporated it into her patter.
    "At twenty-four you're allowed to use words like neat and cool. "
    "Yeah?" she said, looking pleased.
    I turned toward the dance floor and stared into the tangle of bodies, hoping to catch sight of Otto. But it was hopeless.
    "Christ, it's loaded in here tonight," I said.
    "Oh, this is nothing," Laurel said. "Wait till the season starts. Once training camp is over this place really swings."
    "You like football players, do you?"
    "Oh, yes," she said. "I think they're totally bosco."
    I heard her say, "Damn," again, and I laughed. "You got a favorite?"
    "I like Chris."
    I suddenly remembered I was a detective and asked: "How about Billy Parks?"
    Laurel grimaced. "He's taken. Besides, he's weird."
    "How's that?"
    "Just weird," she said with a shudder. "Believe me."
    "Who took him?"
    She frowned as if she didn't like the question. It was a little blunt, so I put an edge on it by grinning like a tourist. "Just curious," I said.
    "It's no big deal," Laurel said. "She's a friend. She used to work here. I guess she got what she wanted, all right. I guess."
    I wanted to ask her the girl's name, but I couldn't think of an innocent way to do it. Before I could say anything at all, the bartender reappeared, leaned over the bar, and whispered something into Laurel's ear. She gave me