At the City's Edge by Marcus Sakey

Author:Marcus Sakey [Sakey, Marcus]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Inner cities, Iraq War; 2003, Iraq War (2003-), Mystery & Detective, Revenge, Hard-Boiled, Fiction, Chicago (Ill.), Suspense, Military, General, History
ISBN: 9780312943738
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2009-03-03T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 26

Black-Eyed Dreams

Cheap paneling ran between a carpet dotted with stains she chose not to look too hard at and a ceiling smoked beige. Cigarette ghosts soured the air. The smell tugged at Cruz; right now, she'd have dug butts out of a bar ashtray. "Classy place."

"It'll do." Jason closed the door, flipped the deadbolt, and slid the chain across. Pulled the blinds, concealing the rusting Dumpster and mismatched junkers in the motel parking lot. He moved with an economy of purpose, and she found herself watching him with appreciation. The emotion of someone far away. Adrift from the real.

She wandered to the bed, looking at the grungy pillowcases with distaste. Above the fake headboard hung a print of a lily painted by someone who'd once heard flowers described. She brushed at the mattress, sat on the very corner. "You ever listen to Tom Waits?"

"Huh?" He looked away from the break in the curtains.

"This place reminds me of a song of his, I forget the name. 'The rooms smell like diesel, and you take on the dreams of the ones that have slept there.' "

He smiled. " '9th and Hennepin.' From Rain Dogs."

"You're a fan? Me too. I used to date a guy who got me into it. He'd fall asleep to it."

"Jesus." Jason laughed. "Must've made for some black-eyed dreams."

She nodded. "The guy was a waste of time, but at least he introduced me to Waits." There was dirt under her nails from laying on the ground. A memory hit, and she chuckled. "One time he played it while we were, you know, in the middle of things." A flash of rumpled sheets and the smell of bourbon. His tattoo, dice showing sixes and a ribbon that read Its all good, just like that, no apostrophe. "So we're going, and Waits sings 'I knew him when he was nothing, and he hasn't changed a bit,' and I burst out giggling. I mean one of those can't-stop, hurts-too-much fits. Right in the middle of things."

Palmer laughed through his nose, eyes alight. "Was he pissed?"

"What do you think? One minute he's king stud, the next I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe." She smiled to think of it, then shook her head. "Yeah, he was pissed."

A loud rumbling from outside caught both their attention, and they sat frozen and listening as it grew louder and passed, an anonymous semi headed for the freeway.

"You know the one I love? 'Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis.' It's got this line, 'I wish I had all the money that we used to spend on dope — '"

" 'I'd buy me a used car lot and I wouldn't sell any of them,' " Cruz said.

Jason smiled, stepped away from the curtain. Pulled a ladder-back chair with a broken slat and sat down. Facing forward, which she liked. She said, "How'd you get into him?"

"My brother."

The real world flooded in like they'd broken a levee. She winced, crossed her arms. Realized she still had her shoulder holster on, though her gun was back by the river.

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