Metro Girl (Alex Barnaby 1)

We walked through the bedroom and bathroom. Nothing appeared to be missing. The Puke Face mess was sort of caked into the rug and not smelling too good.

“Give me ten minutes to shower and change my clothes. And then I’m out of here,” I said.

I took a fast shower, blasted my hair with the hair dryer, and got dressed in shorts, T-shirt, and the white sneakers.

Hooker wasn’t in the apartment when I came out of the bathroom, so I slid the duffel bag strap over my shoulder and went downstairs to look for him. I found him talking to one of Bill’s neighbors. Smart. NASCAR Guy had a brain. Not to give him too much, I thought motivation helped. He really wanted his boat back.

It was late morning, and the sky was a glorious blue, no clouds in sight. The wind had cut back to a gentle stirring of air. The pale stucco buildings with the peach and aqua trim sparkled in the sunlight. Flowers were blooming everywhere, on trees, on vines, on bushes. Lizards rustled in the undergrowth. I was keeping guard for the cockroach.

Hooker left Bill’s neighbor when he saw me emerge from the building. He walked over to me and took the duffel bag off my shoulder. Fine by me. No reason to get carried away with women’s rights.

“I didn’t want to interrupt,” I said. “I assume you were asking about Bill?”

“Yeah. I’ve been going door to door. Most were no answers. I found the super’s unit and told him about the broken lock. I said Bill was cruising, and you were here on vacation. He’s going to take care of it. I also suggested he get someone in to shampoo the rug. The guy I was just talking to is retired and stays home all the time. His name’s Melvin. His wife doesn’t let him smoke in the house, so he’s out on the front porch a lot. Said he has trouble sleeping and lots of times he just sits out and smokes.”

I smiled at Hooker. “And he saw the guys who broke into Bill’s apartment?”

“Both times.”

THREE

Hooker dropped the duffel bag into the back of the Porsche. “According to Melvin, the first break-in occurred around eleven, Tuesday night. He said there were two guys. He didn’t see them go in. He just saw them leave. He said he thought they were Bill’s friends. It turns out Bill has lots of parties. Big surprise, hunh? He said they got into a black Town Car when they left. He didn’t know any more than that.”

“He give you a description of them?”

“It was dark. He couldn’t see much. Medium build. Average height. He thought they were Cuban.”

“And the second time?”

“He said they were Caucasian. Two guys again. This time, one went in and one stayed out. Dark slacks. Dark short-sleeve shirts. He was pretty sure they weren’t wearing uniforms, but the Flex crew wears navy, so I’m not ruling that out. He said the one guy had slicked-back hair like a gangster.”

“That sounds like the guy in the diner and the club. Remember I told you he was watching me?”

“It also sounds like half the guys in Miami. Melvin said the one guy walked right in, like he was expected.”

“The lock was broken.”

“Melvin didn’t know about that. Melvin said he saw us leave. And then about five minutes later, the guys in black showed up. Melvin figured Bill was home. I think he felt bad that he didn’t report it.”

“Did Melvin see Puke Face just now?”

“No. Melvin was inside watching TV.”

“Melvin isn’t too smart.”

“Melvin is at least three hundred years old.”

“There seem to be a lot of people involved in this.”

“We have the guys who tossed the apartment the first time. We have Puke Face. And we have the guys who tossed the apartment the second time.”

“Unsettling.”

“Yeah, but don’t worry. I could clean their clocks if I had to.”

“Because you’re the clock cleaner?”

“Because I’m NASCAR Guy!”