Provincetown Follies, Bangkok Blues (Cape Island Mystery) by Peffer Randall

Author:Peffer, Randall [Peffer, Randall]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781440532351
Publisher: Tyrus Books
Published: 2011-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-TWO

She gets Nikki to lie down on the bed, and she cleans her face with warm water and soap. “Who hit you? Your date?”

“No.” Nikki mumbles as Michael gives her a glass of B&B and some ice wrapped in a towel to bring down the swelling around her eye. “Duke didn’t beat me.”

“Duke? What are you talking about, la?”

“Duke. I was with Duke tonight. I have a thing for Duke, padruga! I don’t know. He is so sweet and kind … and maybe I am in love. How in hell would I know? How in hell do girls like us ever know where the sex stops and real love …. But he didn’t hurt me, okay? Not Duke.”

“Duke?” Tuki asks again.

He is trying to remember who Duke is, has heard Tuki talk about him, knows he has seen him. The guy has something to do with the Follies.

“How long has this been going on?”

“Seriously? Since July Fourth weekend, since you and Alby—”

Tuki’s hand is up with the stop sign.

“Richie doesn’t know?”

Michael is starting to make the connections. Richie runs the club. Duke is his main man, a bartender. Mr. Clean.

She nods.

“So Richie hit you and—”

“No, he cannot stand up to Duke. He just called in the KGB to do his dirty work.”

“Like Immigration? For real, la?” She nods again.

Tuki’s breath just plain stops for a while. She stares out the picture window of her bungalow into the dark.

“About six of them. They found us in bed together in Duke’s room at the Follies about an hour ago. Like we were … you know. Duke reached for his gun on the nightstand. Some guy hit him with a chair before he could even stand up. Knocked him cold for a second. I grabbed one of my heels, tried to poke out his eyes. Then another guy started on me with an open hand. But Duke got to his pistol, took aim, told them all to get the fuck out.”

“Jesus!” Michael cannot believe what he is hearing.

“Really? This is not another bad date that Ruby made for you?” Tuki is still in disbelief, too.

“I got to pack. Duke’s waiting for me up in the car. Those bastards will be here next. I know it.”

She says Duke told her tonight that he loves her. He is going to stick by her. No matter what. Forever. He used to work some clubs in San Francisco. As soon as Nikki and Duke salvage what they can from here, the wagon train heads west.

“Maybe we all should go,” says Michael. He is actually half serious. He has this terrible feeling that he has sunken so far into this pool of crime and drag that he may never get out. Filipa and the wedding seem like someone else’s life. What is happening to him?

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