You're nobody 'til somebody kills you

Fifty-two

We found a diner a few blocks away, pulled over and parked both cars. Inside the greasy smell of the place awakened the hunger in me. I kept thinking Jerry would want me to eat.

“You’re probably used to better places to eat in Vegas,” Otash said. “To tell you the truth I’m used to better, too, but every once in a while I just want some greasy diner food.”

We sat in a cracked red-leather booth. A tired waitress came over and gave us menus.

“Bring me a beer,” I told her.

“I’ll have one, too,” Otash said.

“Comin’ up.”

When she came back with two glasses of beer I ordered chicken in a basket and Otash ordered a burger platter.

“I’m sure Jerry’ll be all right, Eddie,” he said.

“He’s got a hard head,” I said. “He’ll be okay. You know, I’ve seen him maybe four times in the past two years, and the big lug is probably one of the best friends I’ve got. Him and Danny. Whoever’s behind this, they’ve done damage to my two best friends, and it’s because they were both tryin’ to help me.”

“No point in feeling guilty about it,” Otash said. “The best thing to do is find out who’s behind it and make them pay.”

“We’ve got to find Danny,” I said. “Have you checked all the hospitals in town?”

“Hospitals, morgues, I’ve checked all the drunk tanks and jails in a hundred-mile radius. No sign of him.”

“Then he’s alive, unless he’s out in the Pacific somewhere, weighed down.”

“Look,” Otash said, “I was coming over to discuss something with you. Are you prepared to listen? Or do you want to feel sorry for yourself all night?”

For a split second I felt a flash of anger and wanted to go over the table at him, but then it faded.

“I’m ready,” I said.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. For a minute there I thought you were going to jump me.”

“For a minute there,” I said, “so did I.”

Our meals came and we both ate as if we hadn’t eaten for days. I could still see my friend, Jerry, on the floor covered in blood, and yet I was ravenous. What did that say about me?

“Okay, Fred,” I said, “what did you want to talk to us about?”

“I went back to that motel, talked to everybody-the owner, the front-desk clerks, and the maids.”

“And none of them remembered Danny, right?”

“Wrong,” he said. “One maid not only remembered Danny, she remembered letting you into his room.”

“That’s right,” I said, “she dickered with me and let me in for a sawbuck, I think.”

“Well, for a double sawbuck she told me that Danny had been there for one day and one night before he disappeared. She said they got his stuff out of there before the owner even knew he’d checked in. And she said she knew from the start that there was something fishy about that clerk, Johnson. When I told her he was dead, she didn’t bat an eyelash.”

“So what’s it all mean?” I asked. “Did she give you anything helpful?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“A matchbook.”

“A what?”

“She cleaned Danny’s room after he disappeared. She kept everything.”

“Why?”

“She said she figured the way he vanished somebody would come looking for him.”

“So why didn’t she offer me the matchbook?”

“She said she would have, if you’d come back,” Otash said. “She was afraid you’d try to get it for the same sawbuck. She wanted you to come back and offer her more money.”

“So where’s the matchbook?”

Otash took it out of his pocket and set it down on the table. The cover had garish purple and yellow letters spelling out: THE LAVENDER ROOM.

“Strip club? Dance club?” I asked. “What?”

“I checked,” Otash said. “It’s a strip club-or gentlemen’s club. Whatever you call it, it has naked women.”

“So you think Danny left it behind?”

“I asked her what else was in the wastebasket and she said candy wrappers, chip bags, things from a vending machine and some soda cans he probably got from a convenience store down the road.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “The candy was Hershey’s bars, the chips barbecue, and the soda cans Dr Pepper.”

Otash took out his notebook, turned to the right page and read his notes. “You’re right.”

“That’s Danny.”

I knew how Danny liked to raid vending machines when he was in hotels or motels. He ate the stuff not only in the room, but when he was on a stakeout. And Hershey’s were his favorite.

“So his clothes weren’t left behind and stored by the motel?”

“No,” Otash said, “personal things were gone.”

“Did she see who took Danny? Or who took his things?” I asked.

“She saw two men come and clean the motel room out.”

“Did she describe them?”

“Well enough. She’s very observant. A burly, curly-haired guy and a man with a scar on his forehead.”

“So she just saw them clean the room out, right? Didn’t see them take Danny?”

“No, he wasn’t taken from the motel.”

“Maybe he went to this club and was taken from there.”

“That’s what I think,” Otash said. “I’m going to check it out tonight.”

“We’re gonna check it out tonight,” I said. “I’m goin’ with you.”

“I thought you might say that.”

“Don’t argue with me.”

“I won’t,” he said. “I’m going to change my clothes. I’ll stand out like a sore thumb in this suit. I’ll stop by here and pick you up.”

“Come to the hospital,” I said. “I’ll be there, waiting to hear something about Jerry.”

“Okay,” Otash said. “Do you have a gun?”

“Jerry’s is in the guesthouse,” I said.

“Have you ever used one?”

“Yeah, in the army. A forty-five, like Jerry’s.”

“Considering what’s been going on, you better bring it.”

“It’s gonna be bad news if the cops catch me with it,” I pointed out.

“It might be even worse news,” Otash said, “if we run into trouble and you get caught without it.”

“Okay, but I won’t carry it into the hospital. I’ll put it in the trunk, where Jerry stashes it.”

“Good,” Otash said. “We can pick it up before we go to the Lavender Room.”

“This may be a silly question, but you’ll have a gun, too, right?”

He nodded. “My thirty-eight.”

“Good,” I said. “We’d be in trouble if I was the only one armed.”