The Taxman Killeth (13 page)

She could think of a lot of
out-of-work friends she’d rather be with. The bum next to her burped. Amy could
see that the bum was holding his beer mug tightly. She was almost afraid it
would suddenly explode in his hands.

“Hey, drink up.” Morgan patted
her on the back.

“I have to go to the ladies’
room.”

“What? You haven’t even taken a
sip yet. You got bladder problems or something? I had a girlfriend who
periodically—”

“Excuse me.”

Amy slipped off the stool and
headed for the back of the bar while Morgan told her to hurry back. Once inside
the ladies room, Amy was glad she really didn’t have to use the facilities. As
soon has she had walked in, she splattered water with her footsteps. There was
only one stall and a clogged sink. The mirror was streaked with scratches, and
the bum smelled heavenly in comparison to the room she was presently in. The
door slammed into her back.

“Oh, sorry,” a tall meaty woman
on wobbly heels said, while skittering through the water to the stall.

Amy opened the ladies’ room door
and peeked out. Morgan seemed to be engrossed in conversation with the
bartender, and the bum had disappeared. Good idea, she thought, as she made her
getaway past Morgan and out onto the street. Amy took a deep breath. A familiar
odor crossed her senses, then a hand covered her mouth and pulled her sideways
into the vacant lobby of a deserted building.

Her muffled curses never made it
to her kidnaper’s ears; however, the heel of her boot must have hit its target
because she felt the man behind her briefly bend forward, although he never
released his hold on her. It was his turn to curse. The voice was raspish but
familiar. Amy stopped fighting and sank back into his chest.

“Don’t scream,” he whispered. “It’s
me, Todd.” He slowly lowered his hand from her mouth and she spun around, and
flung her arms around his shoulders. Instantly she pulled back.

“You could use a shower.”

“Actually, it’s more the coat
and hat than me. Hate to think where they’ve been.”

“Why are you wearing them?”

“Fewer people would recognize
Todd Coleman in this outfit than in a leather bombardier jacket and cowboy hat.”
He smiled, remembering how handsome she had found him in that hat.

“I have to talk to you in
private.”

Todd looked around the stained
and dilapidated lobby.

“I don’t see anyone else.”

Amy wanted to be alone with him
for a little while. Hell, for the night, if she could talk him into it.

“No, not here, we might be
interrupted.”

There was a slight scratching
sound. Amy looked into Todd’s blue eye. Her eyes were opened wide, questioning
where the sound came from.

“Probably a rat,” He saw Amy
stiffen. “Or a cat. I don’t think whatever it is will intrude on our
conversation. I think it will make a point of avoiding us.”

“No. Are you staying on the
streets?”

Todd noted the pout on her lower
lip. This wasn’t going to be easy. He knew they hadn’t casually run into each
other. She had to have been looking for him.

“I’ve got a room, but don’t even
think about going back to it with me. The folks in this bar were dreams in comparison
to my neighbors.”

“Okay. Then it will have to be
my place.”

Todd shook his head.

“No one’s going to know who you
are dressed like this.”

“You always take home bums, do
you?”

“At times I have, but not the
kind you’re talking about. I see your point.”

“Tell me what was so important
that you’d risk walking around in this area.”

“Come on, I’ve got an idea.” Amy
attempted to drag him out of the lobby.

“I’m not going anywhere, Amy.
You’re going to tell me what brought you here, then we’ll find you a cab.”

“I won’t go home. And certainly
the way you look you couldn’t call me a cab nor force me into one. The only
thing you’d succeed in doing is getting arrested.”

“What’s your idea?”

“We’ll go to a hotel and get a
room. There you can take a badly needed shower, we can have food brought to the
room, and talk.”

Todd laughed.

“You don’t believe that I’ll be
able to smuggle you into a hotel the way you look, do you?”

Still laughing, Todd shook his
head.

Chapter 14

Let’s Talk

Amy and Todd were standing
outside the Greyhound bus terminal.

“I’m going to the Hilton to
register for a room, Todd. You stay here and wait for me. Don’t move from here.”
Amy had tucked him into a dark crevice of the terminal building.

“Amy, they’ll never let me into
the Hilton.”

“Don’t worry about it. I happen
to know there’s a convention in progress. It will be easy for me to shuffle you
in among the crowd.”

“Who’s participating in this
convention?”

“Psychiatrists.”

“What are you going to do, try
to pull me in as some raving lunatic that you’re trying to help?”

“No. I’m hoping to be able to
hide you in a crowd.” Amy took another look at Todd and sniffed the air. “Otherwise,
I have a story. Don’t worry and don’t move,” she warned as she walked away in
the direction of the hotel.

Todd wondered how he had let her
drag him into this part of the city. Basically by her threats of a tantrum and
of making a scene, he thought. But instinctively he knew better. He’d also like
to be alone with her for a while without worrying about threatening her safety.

Several people walked by. Most
clung to the curb of the sidewalk when he came into view. They tried to look
anywhere but at him; obviously fearful that he would beg for a handout. A
couple of young men chewing pizza and gulping down beer stared at him. Todd
looked down at the ground. He knew the lower portion of his face was now
covered by hair, and he had pulled the knit cap low on his forehead, almost
meeting the black patch he had found in his hotel room. The men stopped for a
minute to discuss something, then moved on.

Where the hell was she? Todd
wondered. He wasn’t sure how safe it was to stand near a bus terminal when one
was wanted by the police. Maybe they kept a constant watch there in case he
tried to get out of town. Todd’s blue eye scanned the street Amy had gone down.
No sign of her black figure. Dammit, he thought, if he got picked up because of
that meddling woman...

Todd’s shoulder was suddenly
jostled. He looked around and saw the two young pizza eaters.

“Here, take it.” The young man handed
Todd a slice of pizza. The guy’s friend stuffed a cup of Coke into his other
hand. “We thought this would be better than giving you cash.” The two walked
off.

Stunned, Todd stared down at his
bounty. He hadn’t had much of a dinner, just a burger and fries, because he had
been in a hurry to get down to the bar. Luckily, cash hadn’t been a problem for
him, since he had a separate account under an assumed name and was able to draw
from it at the automated-teller machines.

The pizza was warm and smelled good.
The two guys had gotten the pizza topped with everything. Pepperoni, sausage...
hell, there was even a couple of artichoke hearts. Todd bit into the slice,
savoring the cheesy, gooey texture.

“I don’t believe it,” Amy
yelled.

Todd tried to shush her but the
cheese hitting the back of his teeth made it sound more like a naughty sound.

Realizing they were on the
street, Amy lowered her voice.

“I told you to wait here.
Instead, you go off to a brightly lit pizzeria to stuff your face.”

He tried to clarify the
situation, but Amy hushed him with the flat of her hand against his mouth.

“Don’t tell me it wasn’t
brightly lit. I’ve never been in a pizzeria that had anything less than harsh
bright lighting. Yuck,” she said, pulling her hand away along with some strings
of cheese that had gotten stuck in his beard.

Todd figured she would never
listen to his story and once again bit into the pizza. He offered her a bite,
but she didn’t seem appreciative. He finished the slice himself and downed the
coke at the end.

“Satisfied?” she asked.

“A little more oregano and it
would have been perfect,” he said, wiping his beard with a napkin.

“Come on. The place was packed.
I managed to get a last-minute cancellation. The lobby is practically
wall-to-wall people.”

“This late?”

“Yeah. The clerk told me they
had some lecture after dinner followed by a movie. There wasn’t a doorman
anywhere to be seen when I came out. If our luck holds out...”

It hadn’t; a hotel employee was
holding the door for a stream of people heading out of the building.

“Don’t say a word,” she
whispered as she dragged him across the street to the hotel entrance.

Amy kept an eye on the employee.
When she reached for the side door, the employee began calling to the grungy
bum that she had by the arm.

“This is my brother. Thank God,
I’ve found him. Mother’s been worried sick. He’s been missing for over a year
now. He took off after...” By this time she had managed to open the door and
push Todd into the lobby. Amy followed without finishing her sentence.

“Fast talker,” Todd said.

She pulled the card-key out of
her pocket and held it in front of her so that it was visible.

“You think that will ward off
the house dicks?” Todd asked.

“It had better.”

Todd was surprised at her
resolute tone. He wondered whether she were ready to go to battle for him in
the midst of the thinning crowd.

Amy and Todd had the elevator to
themselves. The waiting guests drew back and decided to pass. Amy pounded the
close button several times before the doors sprang into action.

Once inside their room Todd
dropped into a chair. Amy ran into the bathroom. Todd could hear the shower
water running.

“The water’s a perfect
temperature,” she said re-entering the room. “They told me we still have time
to order some food. That slice of pizza couldn’t have filled you up. What would
you like?”

“Amy, I’m not really a bum. I
eat three times a day.”

“Well, you certainly can’t sit
down in a fine restaurant and eat. You must be surviving on fast food.”

“Even in my real life, I’ve
survived quite well on fast food.”

“I don’t believe that. What
about that French restaurant you took me to?”

“My main vice is steakhouses.
But I don’t eat in them every night.”

Todd took off his jacket and
pulled the tee shirt over his head while kicking off his sneakers.

“You’re not going to strip here?”

“It’s only fair, Amy. I’ve
gotten to see most of what you have to offer, which I rather liked, by the way.
Now we’ll see how I stack up.”

Amy ran into the bathroom

“Great idea! We can compare
while we shower together,” Todd said.

He moved into the bathroom, and
Amy slipped past him, closing the door behind her. She heard him laugh, but he
didn’t try to follow her.

She decided to order a bottle of
champagne along with the steak for Todd and the salad for herself. Why not, she
thought, it was a celebration of sorts for her. She had been afraid that her
chances of finding him were minuscule; instead, she had managed to locate him
on her first night on the street.

Todd took an exceptionally long
shower, and, incredibly, the food arrived before he had finished in the
bathroom. Amy tipped the waiter and locked the door behind him.

Amy’s breath was knocked from
her when Todd exited the bathroom. His hair was dark and shiny. Water drops
twinkled on the dark hair covering his chest. He had wrapped a bath towel
around his waist but it barely covered his thick thighs.

“I hope you don’t mind. I don’t
relish getting back into those filthy clothes.”

“No. I understand.” Her voice
was shaky and soft.

“What’s that I smell?” Todd
looked to his right and saw the table covered with food. The bottle of
champagne rested in an ice bucket.

“I wasn’t sure. I went for
medium-rare hoping it wouldn’t be too overcooked or undercooked for you.”

“Perfect,” he said, turning his
head back to her. “But you look overdressed.”

Amy took off her blazer and sat
on the bed to pull-off her boots. Todd knelt down to help, pulling both boots
and socks off her feet.

“Feel less conspicuous now?” she
asked.

Todd moved up to the bed and
placed one arm behind her as he pulled her face up toward his. His kiss was
gentle at first. Then, as his tongue gained entrance to the inside of her
mouth, the pressure grew. The velvety softness of her drove his passion.

How could he have tried to
forget this woman, he wondered, as his hands traveled the luscious fullness of
her breasts. Eventually his hands worked to the bottom of her turtleneck, and
he stopped the kiss long enough to pull the garment over her head.

“This is more like it,” he
groaned, reaching behind her to undo the black lacy bra that scarcely covered
the tips of her breasts, but she stopped him.

“No. We should eat and talk.”

“Eat first, talk later,” he
said, ducking his head down to lap at her erect nipples through the lacy
curlicues of the material. He heard her moan.

“Todd, the steak will be cold.”

“I’m too hot to worry about the
steak, Amy.”

Amy fell back across the bed as
Todd undid the bra. She let him slip the satin straps down her arms. Then he
began working the button and zipper on her slacks while nipping at the
sensitive flesh below her breasts. Once he had removed the slacks, Todd knelt
before her and spread her legs. He fingered the satin of her bikini just above
her mound. Amy’s own fingers moved underneath the fabric of her panties and
pushed them down over her hips, allowing Todd to remove them completely.