“Room thirty-four,” he said. “Save that fifty for a new pair of boots.”
He left. Clay glanced toward the window and gave the sniper a thumbs-up.
“Would you give it a rest?” Ezra said. “You pulled it off. Don’t fuck it up now. Go find Pulaski and use him to get to Hadley before Fisher starts asking for bodies on a slab. Oh, and try not to let your cock do the thinking for you.”
Clay stood up and pulled his jacket off the back of the chair.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “And make sure Harry’s ready when I need him.”
The sound of Ezra’s snort followed Clay out of the bar. He paused in the parking lot and gave Nesmith’s car a sarcastic salute as it reversed out onto the road.
Room 34 at the Kettlebottom.Clay headed for Harry’s truck. He just hoped to hell that was where Grade had gone, because he had no other ideas.
Chapter Thirteen
“Fifty bucks forthe room,” the woman behind the plastic said without looking up from her Kindle. She absently picked at a hangnail on her thumb. “Cash or card?”
“Card.” Grade wiped his sweaty hands on his chinos and got his wallet out.
It was habit that made him run the math in his head: how many more hours in Sweeny would those dollars cost him? He didn’t begrudge fifty dollars for his sister. If he thought of value gained instead of lost, it was a steal.
He swiped his card in the reader when the woman shoved it through the slot to him. She flipped a page in her book as she waited for the transaction to go through. Once it did, she sighed, put her device down, and reached for a stack of blank cards.
“Room thirty-three or thirty-five,” Grade said.
She looked up at him. “Any reason why?” she asked, her nails poised over the rack of plastic slips.
“Yeah,” Grade said. “Mine. Can I get one or not?”
The woman pursed her lips and sucked her teeth as she checked the computer. After a minute, she turned her mouth down at the corners.
“It’s another fifty,” she said. When Grade reached for his card, she tsked at him and rubbed her fingers together. “Cash. Up front.”
He stuck the card back in its slot and flicked through his thin stack of bills.
“I’ve got… twenty-five,” he said and put it down on the desk.
“That’s nice for you,” she said. “I need fifty.”
The phone in Grade’s pocket felt like it was red hot. He didn’tthinkHadley had eyes and ears on him, but he didn’t know for sure. It made the back of his neck itch.
“Twenty-five now, and a hundred when I leave,” he said. “Deal?”
She scratched at her temple with a long manicured nail. “How does that work?” she asked. “Do you have the bills stuck up your ass?”
“No. I’m going to turn expensive tricks for a john with a numbers thing,” Grade said through gritted teeth. “Just give me the room.”
She sniffed and sat back in her chair. “Could have just said you were hooking,” she said. “We got a special rate for that.”
Grade bounced his heel while she got the card ready.
“Room thirty-three,” she said. “Ice is on the ground floor and—”
“I don’t care,” Grade said. “Stairs?”
She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. Grade stuck the card in his pocket, grabbed the backpack of improvised gear, and headed that way. He got his phone out and checked it as he went up a flight.
There were no new messages—just that last picture of Dory and the flat demand that Hadley had texted an hour ago.
