He reaches for his pills again. His skin has gone from larval white to dead-frog green.
I look at Sandoval.
“Keep Kermit alive until tomorrow. I want to be able to kill both of you if things go wrong.”
“Naturally.”
“And get started on the bank account thing and the money. I want it set up when I get back.”
“It will be ready for you.”
I head downstairs with my list while Sandoval pours pills down Sinclair’s gullet.
I knock on the bowling alley door before going in.
I open it a few inches and say, “It’s me. Don’t stab me or anything.”
“Are you alone?” says Marcella.
“No. I’m with Eleanor Roosevelt. She wants to talk about war bonds.”
“Come in.”
I go in and close the door. Marcella sits at one of the scoring tables. Her face looks better than yesterday. Still bruised, but some of the swelling has gone down. With her shirt gone, she’s just wearing a bra and pants.
On the way down I stopped by my room and took a shirt from the closet. I hold it out to her.
“Trade you. A shirt for a knife.”
She sets the knife on the table and I bring her the shirt. She snatches it out of my hand. Turns around and buttons it. I grab the knife before she changes her mind.
“You could have brought me this yesterday,” she says. “Or were you hoping for a look at my tits?”
“I was a little distracted hoping I wasn’t going to get shot to kitty litter by a bunch of your people.”
She turns to me, still tucking the shirt in.
“You look like you came through it all right. You want to know about my night?”
“Not really. I mean, you did torture me.”
She blows a little air between her lips.
“That wasn’t torture. That was a motivated discussion. What they did to me with cigarettes? That was torture.”
I’m not going to argue about the relative merits of cigarettes versus cattle prods. I look at her.
“Did anyone bother you again?”
“No. But I didn’t get much sleep, if you know what I mean.”
I hold the list out to her.
“With luck, neither of us will be here much longer. Just answer some questions.”
She looks at the paper but doesn’t move to take it.
“What happens to me when I tell you everything you want to know? Who’s going to kill me? You or them?”