“Yeah, yeah, come on. Jesus, Chablis! We liked her fine. Marty?”
“Yeah, we liked her fine. And yeah, I’ll come with you. We look out for each other when we can,” Red Straps told Eve.
They walked down to 205.
Inside, the efficiency apartment was cluttered but clean enough. Pink Cloud tossed the shoes in the general direction of a lumpy sofa and went straight through a door to the bathroom. Shut it.
“Might as well sit down.”
“Could we have your name?”
“I don’t see why not. Martine—and that’s real—Saxton. This is Traci’s place. Traci Barker. Chablis… shit, we always called her that.”
“We have her legal name.” Eve sat, and ignored the three faceless white heads that held wigs. “Did you see Chablis last night?”
“I guess I did. Sure. Yeah, early, and she said something about how she was thinking about heading south when the weather turned, doing at least some of the winter down there. She’s got like five years in, no violations. She can get a winter license maybe out of the city.”
“How early?”
“I don’t know. Not long after I went out. Hell, this blows. It just blows.” She looked over as Traci came out.
“You okay?”
“Just not.” She swiped at her eyes. “She was nice to me right off when I moved in a couple years ago. Gave me pointers, looked out for me some. You, too, Marty, you looked out for me.”
“We look out for each other when we can.”
“Ms. Barker, can I get you some water?”
Swiping at more tears, Traci shook her head. “I’m okay. I’ll be okay. It’s really hitting me, is all.”
“What the hell happened to her?”
Eve looked at Marty. “She went with someone.”
And Marty snorted. “That’s what we do, Slim.”
“She went off with the wrong someone.”
“She was smart,” Traci insisted. “A good judge. And she had a screamer. You know, the button like this.” She pulled one out of her pocket. “If you press it twice it lets out a scream you could hear in Hoboken. She told me to get one, and I did. Never had to use it.”
“He would have looked right,” Eve explained. “Clean, well-dressed. And he’d have offered her cash to leave the stroll and go with him.”
Marty shook her head. “Have to be a lot of cash to get her off the stroll. She’s good. She can pull in four, maybe five hundred on a good night.”
“It would’ve been enough. He’d have had a vehicle. Did either of you see her walk off the stroll with someone?”
“I only saw her, now that I’m thinking, right after I came on, like I said. We talked for a minute, then I got a customer. He’s a regular. Shy Guy,” she said to Traci.
“Oh yeah. He always goes for Marty.”
“You didn’t see her after that?” Eve pressed.
“I guess I didn’t. I didn’t notice. You kind of keep track for the new ones, but she’s got a solid five years.”
“She was thinking of applying for the next level,” Traci added.
“That’s right, I forgot.”
