The desk clerk glanced up, gave Kris the eye, and went back to what he was watching. ''You ought to be able to get a raise out of a dead man.''
Kris struggled to keep a bored smile on her face. Would she have to do something for, or to, or with this wreck of a man? He didn't look like he had more than a half-dozen yellow teeth. Even at this distance, she was almost gagging on his rank smell.
Jack pulled a fifty from his pocket and slipped it across the desk. ''I only need the room for an hour. You know.''
The guy eyed the bill. ''A hundred.''
Jack scowled. ''Fifty and we'll be out in half an hour.''
''What kind of place you think I'm running? We only rent by the hour. And it's a full hundred or you can go do yourself in the corner.''
Kris glanced around. Now that she wasn't just smelling the clerk, she got a good whiff of the room. An artillery round might make this place safe and sanitary. Make that quite a few rounds. Jack pulled out a second fifty. ''I want clean sheets.''
The clerk reached for the money. ''Changed them myself not ten minutes ago. That will be fifty more.''
''Twenty-five,'' Jack growled and slapped a hand down on the clerk's before he made the money disappear.
The old man glanced around the tiny foyer. ''Guess the boss will never know. Okay, twenty-five.''
''With a view,'' Jack insisted, producing the extra cash.
''You'll love the view,'' the clerk promised as he took the money and handed over a key. ''Follow the signs to the elevator.''
The elevators were in the back; only one worked. Nelly reported both security cameras dead. Kris found the back door and let Abby and Penny in. The camera in the elevator did work; the women took one corner as Jack settled into the other. Kris did the best lap dance she knew how to do on a standing man.
''You're enjoying this,'' she whispered in Jack's ear.
''You mean I'm not supposed to?''
Next time Kris's knee made a pass by Jack's rather expanded crotch, she applied pressure. A yelp replaced the sweet nothings he'd been not whispering in her ear. ''You bend me over, and you'll blow our cover.''
''Then you start thinking of the cold shower you're going to take when all this is over.''
''I don't know. Abby seems to be enjoying this. Maybe—''
Kris hadn't really intended to knee her agent. But her knee was working its way up his leg, and she suddenly had this spasm and… Anyway, Jack swallowed his yelp like a man and, through clenched teeth, did stay upright.
The elevator groaned to the fifth floor and clanked to a halt. It wasn't their floor, but it might be Tommy's.
The women quickly left, whispering disgust for people who couldn't save it for the room. Jack and Kris oozed down the hall without breaking contact below or above the belt; Kris did a good imitation of couples she remembered from high school.
Abby bent over a door, seeming to struggle with a reluctant key while she worked wonders with a picklock. Jack paused a few feet past them, seemingly deep in foreplay. His hands on Kris's butt, he lifted her so she had a good view over his shoulder.
''Nothing coming,'' she whispered into his ear. ''You enjoying the feel of my ass?''
''Woman, you've got the equivalent of more than fifteen millimeters of steel armor on that butt of yours. Harvey gets more excited polishing the limos than I'm getting tonight.''
''And that's a dagger in the front of your pants,'' she said.
Jack didn't answer that.
''Come on in,'' Abby whispered.
Kris broke from the clench to hustle into the apartment. ''Is Tommy here?'' she asked.
''Whoever was here,'' Penny announced, ''left in a hurry. Look at this kitchen.''
Kris found it… and gagged. The table was set with Chinese food and covered with cockroaches. Two rats fought over chicken bones in a box of takeout.
''I'd say they've been gone two days, three at the most. And they left fast,'' Abby said.
''Someone was tied to this bed,'' Penny called from the room across the space occupied by two couches and an entertainment center. The others joined her. Ropes dangled from an iron bedstead; Penny shook it. ''Solid build. Just what you'd want for fun and games… or to keep someone really down.''
Abby kicked at something on the floor. ''Four, five syringes over here. Don't know what was in them, but they could easily keep someone out for a long time with any of a half-dozen types of crap you can get on the streets.''
''We can send one of your cops by tomorrow to follow up,'' Kris snapped. ''Right now, we've got two more places to check.'' It felt good to be Lieutenant and Princess for a moment. The others obeyed, heading for the door.
''Have we been under observation?'' Kris asked.
NO, Nelly said. THIS PLACE HARDLY HAS A WORKING LIGHTBULB.
''I checked it with mosquitoes before we went in,'' Abby said.
''When this is over, remind me to send a note to the place my mother hired you from,'' Kris said. ''They truly do send their people fully equipped.''
Jack raised an eyebrow at that.
Abby shrugged. ''I'll be sure to remind you.''
The four blocks to the next rental got exciting.
Halfway there, three very wet, drunk, and stinking men blocked their way. ''Hey, it's so lousy out, all the good tricks are taking too long inside,'' a very greasy one announced.
''Yeah, you got the only decent-looking one I've seen in hours.'' Somehow, Kris doubted that.
''Why don't you share?'' a tall, thin one said, easing forward. ''We could wait outside till you're done, then do our own business, or we could all, you know.''
Kris edged her hand toward the automatic in her bra, but Jack took things off in a different direction. ''Aw, guys, this is me sister. Mom's been down on her knees praying and praying that Mabel here would see the error of her sinful ways. I've been hunting for her for months, all over town, and didn't I just find her, down in the gutter, crying her eyes out.''
Kris let out with a wail. ''My landlady, bitch, threw me out ‘cause I couldn't pay me rent. She doubled it. Doubled it. No way I can get me boss to double me pay.''
''You see,'' Jack went on without missing a beat. ''So I'm taking me poor sister home to Mother.''
The tall one nodded. ''You got to respect a brother what's taking care of his poor sister what's gone bad,'' he told his two friends. They grinned as a knife appeared in his hand.
Kris got ready to fight, but her main effort went into staying upright when Jack suddenly wasn't there to lean on. It was dark, and there wasn't a lot of light to see by, but it looked like Jack went into a spin that ended with his foot in the tall guy's groin. Before he could double up, Jack finished his spin with a chop to his neck. Tall guy went down faster than a Marine's pack hits the deck when his Gunny calls break.
Kris took a step forward, but the two buddies were in full reverse, protesting that they wouldn't want to trouble ''no guy taking care of his poor sister what went bad.''
''Let's move it,'' Kris ordered, and the women did. ''No telling if that was just bad luck.''
''Or the start of a whole lot of bad luck,'' Abby finished. ''Somebody remind me why I'm here.''
''Don't ask me,'' Jack said, grabbing Kris's elbow and hurrying her along like a pimp might a reluctant virgin. ''I figured you for an office worker, myself.''
''Is that any way to talk to a girl like me that loves the great outdoors?''
''That's our next target,'' Penny said, pointing at a building lit up like electricity was as free as the rain falling on it.
''Nelly, talk to us.''
''The Tark'el Apartments were recently remodeled. Each room has its own full hookup to the net,'' Nelly began, sounding like a commercial. ''There is a central security center staffed twenty-four hours a day with an armed response team.''
''That doesn't sound good,'' Penny said.
''On the contrary,'' Nelly announced proudly. ''The work was done by the lowest bidder, resulting in regular and frequent repair calls. I will just turn the security off in stages that simulate a slightly worse case than they are used to.''