Right as Rain

'I see it. He did get a settlement.'

'Yeah. That could be it.'

Qui

'She's cool. Hell of an office manager, too. You got yourself a fine young lady there as well.'

'I know it,' said Qui

'All right, here comes our boy.'

Kane was coming out of the house with a gym bag in his hand. He opened the trunk of the Prelude and dropped the gym bag in, closing the lid and locking it.

'Goin' to work out,' said Qui

'Maybe.'

'I'll go first,' said Qui

'Yeah,' said Strange. 'Wouldn't want him to burn me or nothin' like that.'

Strange and Qui

'Should I follow him into the garage?' asked Qui

'Park on the street,' said Strange into the phone. 'Park illegal if you have to; I'll pay the ticket.'

Qui

'What now?' said Qui

'Elevators in that garage go up into that building to the left of it. Unless he's got business in that building – and I don't think he does – he'll be coming out those double glass doors right there in about three or four minutes.'

'Why don't you think he's going up into the building?'

"Cause he's goin' to that restaurant, the Purple Cactus, across the street.'

'Want me to follow him?'

'He knows what you look like, but not since you grew that lion's head of hair you got. So go ahead. You got shades?'

'Sure.'

'Wear 'em. Only kind of disguise you'll ever need without overdoin' it. And when you're following a man, use the city, Terry.'

'Explain.'

'Keep the subject's image in your mind all the time, but indirectly. Watch where he's goin' in the reflection of the plate glass windows, in the car windows, in the metal of the cars themselves. Lose yourself in the crowd.'

'There he is.'

'Go on.'

Qui

Strange phoned Qui

'Don't let Kane recognize me, right?'

'Fu

Qui

'He was talking to a couple of the waiters and a bartender downstairs. Old home week, I guess. He's coming out now.'

When Kane pulled the Prelude out of the garage and onto 14th Street, Strange said, 'Let's roll.'

Kane parked four blocks north in another garage. Strange followed him on foot this time, making a bet to himself that he knew where Kane was headed.

Kane walked into Sea D.C., the fancy seafood dining room and bar at the corner of 14th and K. The restaurant was fronted in glass, so Strange didn't need to risk going inside. Kane was talking to a man behind the bar, which was elevated on a kind of platform above the rest of the dining room.

Back in the car, Strange said into the phone, 'He's making the rounds.'

'What is he, a food broker?'

'He sellin' something, that's a bet. Usually, you see a guy hangin' around with restaurant employees like that, it means he's making book.'

'Or taking orders for something else.'

'I heard that. Here he comes, man. Get ready to move.' Strange pushed the 'end' button on the cell phone. He didn't tell Qui

Kane drove to a velvet-rope, exclusive club over at 18th and Jefferson, where people were often refused entry for having the wrong haircut or the wrong label on their trousers. He next hit a Eurodisco on 9th, across from the old 9:30, a notorious nightspot for beret wearers and Middle Eastern trust-fund kids with coke habits. He drove to U Street and parked in front of a buppie nightclub. The pattern was the same: five minutes, in and out.

Kane drove east on Florida Avenue. Qui

Cherokee Coleman took a gold pen off his desk and tapped it on the blotter before him. 'You lookin' large, Adonis.'

Adonis Delgado, seated in front of the desk, glanced down at his crossed arms, defined beneath the blue of his uniform. He flexed a little, and the folds and wrinkles in his sleeves disappeared. 'I been workin' on it.'

'Looks like you have been. Think he looks bigger, Angle?'

Big-Ass Angelo stood behind Coleman, who was in his leather chair. Angelo shrugged, his face impassive behind his designer shades.

'You ain't been using them steroids, have you?' asked Coleman with mock concern.

'You know I don't use that shit,' said Adonis. He had shot himself up that very morning, after a two-hour session at the gym.

"Cause you know those drugs fuck up your privates. Make you tiny as a Chinaman and shit.'

'My privates are fine,' said Adonis with a scary smile, his mouth a riot of widely spaced, crooked teeth.

Adonis Delgado was an ugly, light-ski

'So what do we owe this honor to today, Adonis?' said Coleman. 'Ain't many times you like to face-to-face it with us. Mostly you just drive around the perimeter, makin' the streets safe for our citizens. Me and Angie, we were gettin' the idea you didn't like associatin' with us types anymore.'

'I came in to make sure we're clear on that Boone thing. Time comes, I want to make the last run out there myself.'

'You and Bucky, you mean.'

'Sure.'

'He go

'He does what I tell him to do.'

'Okay.' Coleman cocked an eyebrow. 'You seem kind of tense. You're not mad at me, are you, Adonis? Wouldn't be because I let Earl Boone take away your girlfriend, is it?'

'Shit. You talkin' about that skeeze over in the Yard?'

'So you're not mad.'

Coleman and Delgado stared each other down for a moment.

Delgado sniffed and rubbed his nose. 'Like I said, she's just a fiend attached to a set of lips. I let her suck my dick once or twice is all it was. I'm through with Ray and Earl, I'll just go ahead and add her to the pile.'

'You want my advice, you're go

'I always double up,' said Delgado. 'Four-X Magnums, too.'

'No doubt,' said Coleman.

The cell phone rang on Coleman's desk. Coleman answered it, said, 'Okay,' and killed the co

'What is it, Cherokee?' said Angelo.

'Our little Caucasian brother is on his way in.'

'I'll wait right here,' said Adonis, 'you don't mind.'

'You got personal business with him?'