Tourist Season

"Sorry." Bloodworth handed him a stack of columns. "Thought you might want to take a gander at these."

"Fine. Go away now."

"Sure, Mr. Mulcahy. Are you feeling okay?"

"A little tired, that's all. Please shut the door behind you."

"Any one of those could run tomorrow," Bloodworth said. "They're sort of timeless."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Mulcahy sagged behind his desk and sca

"Abortion: What's the Big Deal?"

"Capital Punishment: Is the Chair Tough Enough?"

"Vietnam: Time to Try Again?"

Mulcahy was aghast. He buzzed his secretary.

"Seventy-seven calls about today's column," she reported. "Only three persons seemed to like it, and one of them thought it was satire."

"Has anyone phoned," Mulcahy asked, "who remotely soundedlike Mr. Wiley?"

"I'm afraid not."

Mulcahy's stomach was on fire; the coffee was going down like brake fluid. He opened the curtains and balefully scouted the newsroom. Ricky Bloodworth was back at his desk, earnestly interviewing two husky men in red fez hats. Mulcahy felt on the verge of panic.

"Get me Brian Keyes," he told his secretary. Enough was enough—he'd given Keyes his lousy twenty-four hours. Now it was time to find Skip Wiley, dead or alive.

How's the fish?" Je

"Very good," said Brian Keyes.

"It's a grouper. The man at the market promised it was fresh. How's the lemon sauce?"

"Very good," Keyes said.

"It's a little ru

"It's fine, Je

She lowered her eyes and gave a shy smile that brought back a million memories. A smile designed to pulverize your heart. For diversion, Keyes took a fork and studiously cut the fish into identical bite-size squares.

"I liked your hair better when it was shaggy," Je

"I'm in court so much these days. Gotta look straight and reliable up on the witness stand."

Keyes wondered how much small talk would be necessary to finesse the awkward questions: Where've you been? What've you been up to? Did you get our Christmas card? He was no good at small talk, and neither was Je

"Are you seeing anybody?"

"Not right now," Keyes said.

"I heard you were dating a lady lawyer. Sheila something-or-other."

"She moved," Keyes said, "to Jacksonville. Got on with a good firm. We're still friendly." Surely, he thought, Je

"So you're living alone," she said, not unkindly.

"Most nights, yeah."

"You could call, just to say hi."

"Skip doesn't like it," Keyes said.

"He wouldn't mind," Je

But in fact, when Je

"You look like you've lost about eight pounds," Je

"Nine," Keyes said, impressed. "You look very good." The understatement of the century.

She had come straight from her jazz exercise class, which she taught four times a week. She was wearing a lavender Danskin, pink knit leg warmers, and white sneakers. Her blond hair was bobbed up, and she wore tiny gold earrings that caught the light each time she turned her head. Keyes noticed a fresh hint of lipstick, and the taste of an elusive perfume. As if all that weren't enough, she had a terrific new tan, which fascinated Keyes because Je

"It's been a while since you've been here," she said, pouring white wine.

"You've really done some work on the place."

"Damage, you mean. It's Skip, mostly."

Keyes pointed to a cluster of pockmarks high on the living-room wall, beneath a stuffed largemouth bass. "Are those bullet holes?"

"Now, don't get all worried."

Keyes got up for a closer look. "Looks like a .38."

"He got mad one night watching the TV news. The governor was talking about growth, how growth was so essential. The governor was saying how one thousand new people move to Florida every day. Skip's opinion about that was considerably different than the governor's. Skip didn't think the governor should have been quite so happy."

"Why did he shoot the wall?" Keyes asked.

"Because he couldn't bring himself to shoot the TV—it's a brand-new Trinitron," Je

"It's fine. Je

"I know, I know. I hate it, too. Skip says it makes a good cocktail table. He bought it at the flea market. He keeps his newspaper clippings inside there."

"That's a bit odd, don't you think?" Keyes said.

"At the very least he should get it refinished."

Keyes ate faster. This was more traumatic than he had feared. Meeting in her house—the place she shared with Wiley—had not been Keyes's idea. Je

If Je

Keyes had a simple theory about Wiley's disappearance. He figured Skip had orchestrated the whole thing to gouge a fatter salary out of the Miami Sun.Wiley's usual strategy, when he wanted more money, was to arrange for friends at the Washington Postand the New York Timesto call up with phony or wildly inflated job offers. Then he'd charge into Cab Mulcahy's office and threaten to defect. Mulcahy quit falling for the Fantastic Job Offer ruse about two years ago, so Keyes figured Wiley was merely trying out a new scheme.

Keyes also now realized that the idea of publishing a Ricky Bloodworth column might have backfired, and that Wiley was holed up somewhere, howling with glee over Mulcahy's torment. Keyes now believed—though he dared not tell Mulcahy—that Wiley might wait weeks before emerging. He might wait until his readers began rioting.

And Keyes also believed that Je

"Did you love me, Brian?"

"Yes." He started to gag. He hoped it was just a fish bone going down the wrong way. Je

"Deep breaths," she said soothingly. "Don't eat so fast."

"Why," Keyes rasped, "did you ask me that question?"

"Skip says you were madly in love with me."

"I told you that myself," Keyes said, "about thirty thousand times."

"I remember, Brian."

God, there's the smile.

"How about now?" Je

Oh no, you don't. Keyes shifted into a tough-guy mode. "This is business, Je

"Idon't know."

"Oh really."

"Brian! This isn't fu

"Why?"

"Because he's a good target," Je

"Cream and sugar," Keyes said painfully. "But I think I'll wait."

"Okay. As I was saying, Skip's a very well-known person, a genuine celebrity. That makes him a perfect target for kidnappers. Look at Patty Hearst."

"Or Frank Sinatra, Jr.," Keyes said.

"Exactly."

"You ever read The Ransom of Red Chief?"

"Sure," Je

"Nothing."

Every so often Keyes's attention was drawn to the coffin, which dominated Je