Since Sgt. Powers and Detective Anderson stayed in sight, I moved with them. The redhead was saying something the big man didn’t appreciate. The way he kept scratching his eyebrow sent chills down my spine. Then she went for him with the taser. He looked surprised, but maybe it was just how it felt to catch a jolting. Detective Anderson twitched and spasmed as he hit the concrete. I found him in a sad shape, eyes rolled to the back of his head, foaming at the mouth.
“What’s wrong with him?” A woman cradled his head answering her own question. “A seizure. He’s having a seizure.”
“Relax. An ambulance will be here shortly.”
“Who is he? What happened to him?” The first wave of paramedics find his gun. They find badge. They find his strong grip.
“I’m a detective with the 13th precinct. I’m fine. It’s a health condition.” The way he grabbed the paramedic’s shirt by the collar, dragging him in for a close look was more a threat than promise.
“Still. We’re bringing you down to the hospital to have you checked out. Just to rule out…”
“Rule out bringing me anywhere. I’m in the middle of an investigation.” The big man was back on his feet. Leading me down an alley with a familiar fury through the back entrance of a building marked with an obscure sign.
{XX}
THE ENTIRE CITY WAS SINISTER, full of secret worlds. We were already halfway down the curling stairs. Past the non-descript sign. Past the doorman who let us in with a wink. I wasn’t sure exactly where the sleeze was oozing from, but it was oozing.
“Farrow this may not be easy for you to hear: We know where Missy is.” Detective Anderson looked twice as menacing and massive in the red-lighting.
Together we allowed ourselves to be swallowed by the giant velvet labia with mirrored ceilings and walls. In a backless dress, black lace cut diamonds of soft skin on her thighs. She wasn’t facing me yet. She teased us with glimpses of improvisation. Even the women in the audience got excited twirling the thin straws dangling in their drinks. She was something else, dancing the same old feather boa routing as if nothing’s on the line. Whipping her body with a quick turn and a look of suspense, she fell back when she saw my face. Already on her hands and knees, she called me to her, hand outstretched, hooking her finger to the slappy upright bass. The entire lair was sure she was summoning them. I blinked and her stockings were off, balled up and flying through the air. Hypnotically, I gravitated as close as possible to her scent, until my nose was resting on the stage with the others. Hysteria got the better of us as we grabbed for her uncontrollably. She taunted us ripping a cane out of an older gentleman’s hand, sliding it across her skin, pumping it between her legs, mockingly attempting to deep throat it, only to twirl it like a schoolgirl at a pep rally.
“Hey you.” She whispered breathily leaning in towards me, blowing a kiss.
“What baby what?” I mouthed at her, shaking my head instinctively. She tightened her lips, raising an eyebrow.
“You better learn to read a lady’s mind.” The music stopped momentarily so the whole room could hear her.
“I will.” All the men mouthed in unison.
“What gives you the right to look at me like that?” She held her stare for as long as I could take it. Squeezing her breasts together, she stood above me, brave and unashamed, commanding the dive with a whimsical smirk.
“You look like someone I know. Someone I once knew.” I looked and looked away. She grabbed me violently and kissed me gently. It was another last kiss that I waited for without admitting. She tasted of Christmas tree gin and subway tunnel perfume. It was theatrical and anonymous. It was a soft spark. Static electricity.
Calm moments pass fast in this land. The bloated fellows packing the joint lost their brotherhood and resorted to simpler times. A scuffle broke out. Two desperadoes that didn’t forget to bring their brimmed hats when they crossed the border. The space was so cramped that we were all connected at the hips. The band tried to hold it together as the percussion intensified knuckles striking bone. Violent men with looks of insatiable hunger multiplied spawning from each other. Strange how they focused on each other with such hate, forgetting the one woman left the room. She punched and kneed the air playfully. Biting into nothingness like a newborn going for a missing breast. There was a certain freedom to the madness. I saw beauty, but had no hold on her.
{XXI}
STUPOR INTERRUPTED, I FOUND MYSELF in a chokehold being dragged up the backstairs. The world was moving in reverse. Bouncers usually threw people down the stairs, not up. Gradually breath left me. The throat was a vulnerable spot.
Detective Anderson picked me up with one hand, jerking me onto my feet. Rhythmically patting my face until I opened my eyes…
“Say something Farrow. Say something.”
“What’s the point of it all?”
“Didn’t you notice the resemblance?”
“It’s all how you look at it.”
“Out of all the tips that came in. That dancer was Missy’s lost twin sister.”
“It wasn’t her.”
“I know, but the resemblance.”
“She was hardly a shell of what Missy was.”
“Farrow. Dig deeper. Don’t give in to exhaustion yet. Hold it together.” Detective Anderson put his arm around me. He spoke closely, trying to join my family through presence alone.
It was clear by the way Sgt. Bethany Powers closed in on me she meant business.
“With the way pieces are disappearing from the chess board, you’re in some position.” Seagull feathers falling from her mouth. The nozzle of her gun was at my throat.
“Are you listening Farrow?” All I could see were her green green eyes. “Give me Lars and I’ll give you my book.”
“Your book? Wait… Lars? Why Lars?”
“There are two perps, not one. Gloom was dead for 18 hours before Percy turned up. There was a huge difference in the amount of force used to stab the life out of the two victims.”
“How much do you know?”
“We know everything. Just remember you’re lucky to be walking the streets. You better hold onto this.” She was handing me the gun again. I knew better not to take it.
“For once in your life Farrow, take what you deserve.” I turned my back on her.
“Farrow, we did our part. Now you do yours.” The butt of the pistol smashed into my head. The world faded.
{XXII}
I WAS AN ARROW SHOT from the beach towards the sun only to drop into the ocean. The ocean in this case is an ocean of books. The sky I was staring at was a fresco on the ceiling of the New York Public Library’s reading room. I rubbed the bruise on the back of my head. Kind of ’em to place me face first into a hardcover copy of A Greater Truth. I rubbed my eyes with both fingers, standing up, and moving to the main staircase. I kept rubbing my eyes until I was staring at the door leading out onto the roof, which was left open a crack, similar to the way Percy’s apartment invited me in. I kept rubbing my eyes until Lars appeared in front of me. He didn’t turn around, just kept writing in the fat notebook. He knew I was there, but took his time finishing up his last thought.