CLOSE OUT by TODD STRASSER

Author:TODD STRASSER
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SIMON PULSE
Published: 2004-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

Later Kai walked into the office of the Driftwood Motel. Two guys were standing at the counter, ringing the bell. Kai recognized them immediately. One was thin, with tousled blond hair. He had tattoos on both arms and looked like he was in his twenties. The other was stocky, with dark hair shaved close to his head and black tattoos on both shoulders. Kai had spoken to them the first time he set foot in the backyard at the Driftwood.

“You know where Curtis is?” the stocky one asked. “We’ve been ringing the bell for fifteen minutes.”

The thin blond guy narrowed his eyes. “Hey, haven’t I seen you before?”

“Yeah, about three months ago,” Kai said. “In the back.”

The blond guy nodded. “Right. You’re the one who said we could probably get tubed down at Screamers.” He nudged his buddy with his elbow. “You remember, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” The stocky guy grinned. “So you been tubed at Screamers yet?”

“A couple of times,” Kai said. “The swell out of the southeast has to be just right, you know?”

Both guys frowned. “No, we wouldn’t know,” said the stocky one.

“And I think you’re full of shit,” said the skinny one. He turned and rang the bell again. “Where the hell is Curtis?”

“I’ll see if he’s here.” Kai went around the counter and knocked on the door behind it. “Hey, Curtis,” he called. “You got some visitors.”

No answer.

“Guess he’s not there,” said the stocky one.

Kai pressed a finger to his lips and moved his ear close to the door. Inside he heard glass clink. He knocked on the door again. “Come on, old man, you’ve got some paying customers.”

“Fuck ’em,” Curtis muttered from inside.

Kai turned away from the door and pulled open a drawer behind the counter. Inside lay a jumble of mixed-up keys. Kai looked up at the guys. “What room do you usually stay in?”

“Twenty-three,” said the blond one.

Kai sorted through the keys and found #23. “That’ll be forty-five bucks.”

“We pay when we check out,” said the dark-haired one.

“Not this time,” said Kai.

The two guys shared a look. The blond one shrugged. “Go ahead, pay him.”

The dark-haired guy peeled off two twenties and a five. Kai handed over the key. “You guys don’t mind jellyfish, do you?”

“Clear ones or bluish with tendrils?” asked the blond guy.

“Mostly clear,” said Kai.

“Pain in the ass, but that’s life,” the blond guy said.

“Good, see you at Screamers tomorrow,” Kai said.

The dark-haired guy made a face. “That break’s owned by the locals.”

“Not anymore,” said Kai. “And definitely not when the jellyfish are around.”

The thin blond guy with the tousled hair gave Kai a curious look, as if maybe he wasn’t so full of shit after all. “Okay, thanks.”

Both guys went back out. Kai tried the door to Curtis’s apartment. It opened, but the room inside was dark. No surf videos on the TV. Kai stood in the doorway and waited for his eyes to adjust. The room smelled faintly of body odor and rotting garbage. Kai had the feeling Curtis had been in here for days.

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