Hot Wire by Gary Carson Read Free Book Online Page B

San Pablo – right across the city line from Emeryville. My neighborhood was a mixed zone of stucco houses, apartment blocks, gas stations and liquor stores with neon signs poking through a canopy of oaks and billboards. I parked on the street behind my building, back in the shadows, then we walked down an alley lined with trash cans, went in through the side door and took the elevator up to seven. Steffy had finally shut up; she didn't know what was going on, but she must've picked up on my mood. I listened for strange noises, watching the shadows on the stairwell landing as we walked down the hall to my apartment. The dump smelled like weed and moldy wallpaper. A streetlight glowed behind a tree in the window at the end of the hall.
    I hustled Steffy inside the apartment, then locked the dead bolt and threw the chain. Leaving the lights off, I walked over to the bay windows and checked the street in front, trying to stay out of view. I didn't know what I was looking for, but if somebody was hanging around down there, I couldn't see them. Steffy hung back in the shadows, watching me like a moron.
    "What's going on?" she asked. "You're freaking me out."
    "Don't worry about it." I pulled the blinds, turned on the lamp by the sofa, then walked past her into the kitchen and looked out the window by the refrigerator. The city glowed over the trees and rooftops. Five floors below, a cat darted across a circle of streetlight in the alley. "I'm going to be gone for a couple days. Don't answer the phone and don't even think about having a party."
    "How come you're leaving?"
    "It's just for a couple days."
    I went back to the john, got my toothbrush and stuff, then I walked into the bedroom and tossed some clothes into a garbage bag. Then I went back into the living room and handed Steffy my spare keys.
    "This one's the apartment door," I said, "and the big one's for the outside doors to the building, OK? If you need to do laundry, the washer and dryer are in the basement and there's some detergent in the hall closet."
    "But why are you going?" Steffy looked bewildered. "Is it because of me?"
    "Try not to trash the place out," I said.
    "What if I need to reach you?"
    "I'll be at the Berkeley Marina Radisson," I said without thinking. "It's not that far away. If you really have to, you can call the front desk and ask for my room, but don't do it if you don't have to." I bit my lip and handed her a couple twenties. "There's some TV dinners and leftovers in the refrigerator and soup and spaghetti and stuff in the cabinets. Just wash the dishes when you're done, all right? I might be back by Tuesday. I don't know yet."
    "Thanks." Stef sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "I'll be OK."
    Jesus Christ. I gave her a hug and stepped back reeking of beer and cheap perfume. Then it hit me that I shouldn't have told her where I was going.
    "Listen," I told her. "Forget what I said. Don't call me at the Radisson. If something comes up, leave a message at the Hot Box, but don't tell anybody where I went, all right? If somebody comes around asking for me, tell them I went to Reno and you're watching the place, OK? Then leave a message with Vincent."
    "OK," she mumbled.
    I left ten minutes later and I had this feeling I was being watched while I loaded my junk into the trunk of the Dodge. Leaves gusted through the alley. Sirens howled to the north. I drove around the block a couple times, watching the rearview, then took San Pablo to University and headed back to the highway, passing Arn's place on the way. He lived in a studio apartment on the corner of University and Seventh, and I felt kind of sick when I drove by. His windows were dark. Nobody home.
    Forty bucks. I had given her forty bucks.
    Two blocks later, I stopped for a light, still brooding about the money. A car pulled in behind me, but I couldn't see the driver in the rearview and the glare in the mirror gave me a bad case of deja vu. Clenching the wheel, I waited for sirens, bullhorns, a hail