The Deader the Better Read Online Free PDF Page A

the
fuckin’room.”
    It was sad but true. As if to
emphasize the point, Narva unbuttoned her raincoat, slipped it from
her shoulders and handed it to me.
    Imagine my irritation when she
reached down to the hem of the matching blue silk dress and pulled it
completely over the top of her head. She handed the dress to G. Must
have been blue night. Everything matched…little see-through
panties, garter belt, half bra, stockings. Everything baby blue with
little bows all over it.
    “Leo,” she said. It took me a
second. She held her hand my way.
    “What?”
    “Could I have my coat back?”
    “Oh yeah, sure.” I fumbled as I
helped her on with the coat. We got back into the car, G driving this
time. I sat in back with Narva.
    “So, who is it we’re supposed to
be?” Narva asked as G pulled to a stop. Two huge white barns at
right angles. Out across the pasture, some other structure. Couldn’t
make it out through the gloom. Twenty-five, thirty cars. Mostly
expensive and German.
    “A couple of LA scene types. I
imitated that maybe you all could reciprocate with some similar
action old Spooner ever got down to LaLa Land. Said you all wanted a
party and maybe do a little threesome with something female and
springtime-fresh. Said you knew Angel from when he was down there.
Figured what with him subcontracting and all, his name be good.”
    “What if he’s in there?” I
asked.
    G hadn’t thought of that. He mulled
it over. “I guess, if that happen, you shoot the little bastard,”
he said, finally.
    “Ain’t nobody likes that little
razor-totin’ motherfucker anyway.” He grinned. “Aw hell, Leo.
You a professional. You just got to remember that old saying.”
    “Which saying is that?”
    He tapped his temple with his index
finger.
    “Discrepancy is the better part of
valor.”
    I was still trying to figure out
whether he was kidding when Narva took charge.
    “Let’s go.” She shouldered the
door open. I followed her out.
    Halfway across the street, I took her
elbow. We stood in the middle of the empty street. Mercury-vapor
light filtering through the canopy of trees. Lavender. Above the
sound of moving water, I could hear distant music. She put her hands
on her hips. With the coat unbuttoned, the effect was stunning.
    “Listen,” I said. “One last
time…you sure you want to do this?”
    She cocked a hip. “You’re
beginning to bore me, Leo.”
    “Okay then, here’s how this thing
is going to come down. Last thing people like this want is a lot of
noise. That’s our hole card. Faced with a big messy scene, they’re
most likely to let us walk. If we play our hand right, we ought to be
able to pull this off. No reason for them to have any more security
than what G says they got. Maybe a drunk gets out of hand once in a
while, but that ought to be the most trouble they’re expecting.
But…”—I hesitated—“when and if the action starts, we switch
roles, right? You stay close and do like I do. We’ll both do what
we’re good at.”
    She agreed, talking as we crossed the
street and started up the driveway. “While we’re looking for the
girl and figuring out what to do, you do like G said. Just smile a
lot and do the strong silent type.” No problem.
    She reached up and banged the brass
knocker. Three times. The sound of muted music was louder here.
Classical. Violins. Bald guy about six-five at the door. Black-tie
formal. Neck about the size of Narva’s waist. Harelip scar. A
Gunter all the way.
    “We’re up from LA,” Narva said.
    He took her in from head to toe. “And
you know who?”
    He had a soft, almost childlike
voice, a couple of octaves higher than I expected.
    I thought about telling him it was whom but decided against it.
    “Mr. Monzon,” she said.
    He pulled the door open and stepped
aside. We were in a narrow hall. Double doors left and right. Huge
central staircase in front of us. I had to admit, it did kind of look
like Gone With the Wind .
    He gave Narva a leer.