He sat on the couch beside Jill. The waitress
appeared eagerly.
Laphroig, Hawk said, straight, in a lowball glass.
Yes, sir, the waitress said and hurried off on her mission. She placed her order at the service end of the bar and glanced back at Hawk while she waited.
Why didnt you tell me about him, Jill said to me.
I did. I told you he would look out for you while I was away and that he was almost as good as I was, and better than anyone else.
But you didnt mention Jill spread her hands in a voilá gesture at Hawk.
She means you didnt tell her about me being a sexual icon.
Youre right, I said. I didnt tell her that.
Are you almost as good as he is? Jill said. Like most things she said, it was larded with innuendo.
Better, Hawk said.
Really? Jills eyes were wide and excited. The other day he knocked down a great tall man, bing! bing! just like that. Jill made two darling little punching movements.
Just like that? Hawk said.
More or less, I said.
The waitress brought Hawks scotch and another white wine for Jill. They had learned her habits here and seemed to have mastered the technique of keeping her glass filled.
Can you do that? Jill asked. She smiled at him, a TV Guide cover smile, over the rim of her wineglass and drank a bit.
Dont know about bing! bing! Hawk said.
Jill reached over and squeezed Hawks biceps. A moment of genuine surprise popped for only a moment into her eyes before the flirty TV-star cuteness slipped back in place.
Whooooa, she said. Hawk stared at me.
Pays excellent, I said.
Hawk nodded.
Good to remember that, he said.
Jill slugged back most of the rest of her wine.
So heres how its going to work, I said. Hawk will take care of you at work and to and from. Cambridge P.D. will have a car here from six at night to six in the morning. Hotel security will watch your room. Theyll be connected to the prowlies by radio.
Prowlies? Jill said. She was glancing toward the bar. The waitress started toward her with another glass of wine, and I could see the tension ease as Jill spotted her.
Police car, I said.
The waitress put the wine down. Jill picked it up, took a genteel sip.
You want to go out nights, or whatever, you arrange it with Hawk.
And will he go out with me?
Thats for you and him to work out.
Will you? Jill leaned toward Hawk as she spoke. The throat of her simple white blouse was open and as she leaned forward there was a clear line of cleavage.
Sure, he said.
And I, meanwhile, will chase down whoever has been annoying you and urge them to stop, I said.
Can you find him?
Sure, I said.
How?
You start looking, I said. And you ask people things, and then that leads you to somebody else and you ask them and they tell you something that hooks you into somebody, and so on.
But where on earth will you start?
She had a little trouble with the separation between earth and will.
I already have, I said. I started with your friend Rojack.
She frowned. She took a drink. She frowned again. I told you I dont know him.
Know his name though, I said.
Course I know his name.
He says you and he were an item.
Hes a creep, Jill said.
Is there anything youd like to add to that appraisal?
Hawk sat quietly. Now and then he took a small taste of his scotch. He watched Jills behavior happily, as if hed paid a modest admission fee and felt hed gotten a bargain.
I dont want to talk about him, Jill said.
You think he did it? I said.
Jill shook her head angrily.
Ill find it out anyway, I said. Wouldnt it make sense to tell me what you know, and get it over with quicker?
Im hungry, Jill said.
I slid the bowl of smokehouse almonds toward her. She took a handful and ate them silently, then drank some more wine. She had turned away from me as she did so and was eyeing Hawk.
You married? she said. Hawk shook his head. Got anybody? Jill said.
Lots, Hawk said.
I mean anybody special, Jill said.
They all special, Hawk said.
You like white girls?
Hawk looked at me again.
Tell me bout that pay again? he said.
Good. Its good as hell, I said. And you get a free watermelon, too.
Hawk nodded. Jill bored in on him. Do you?
Not stupid, Hawk said. Mostly I prefer not stupid.
Did Spenser tell you what Ive been looking for ever since I got to Boston? She put an h in Boston.
A noble black savage, Hawk said.
Jill shook her head. She was implacable. She probably didnt listen to what I said
or Hawk said or the byplay between us.
I want something about this long, she said and made her two-foot measuring gesture again.
Hawk examined the distance between her hands seriously, then nodded thoughtfully.
Could send over my little brother, he said.
Chapter 15
HAWK was still nursing his first Laphroig, I was two-thirds through my first Sam Adams, and Jill was just beginning her fifth white wine.
Before you doze off, I said, can we talk about Wilfred Pomeroy?
Jill had no reaction for a moment, then she looked very carefully up from under her lowered gaze and said to me, Who?
Wilfred Pomeroy. Rojack says he was harassing you and had to be chased away.