The Erection Set

I rattled the ice in my glass and tried the drink again. “Positive little gal, aren’t you? Who you got picked out?”

An impish grin tugged at her mouth. “Oh, I’m already engaged, so I can afford tq be positive.”

“He’s going to have his hands full with you, kitten.”

“Yes, I know.” She put her drink down and uncurled from the chair, then walked slowly across to me. Her arms went up and encircled my neck, her mouth moist and open. “Wouldn’t you like to have your hands filled with me, Dog?”

It was a strange kiss, slow, easy, then like magnets pulling together hard and frenzied with her body melting into mine, fusing with heat and crazy wanting. The knot of the blouse became undone and her warmth was pressed against me, a low moan deep in her throat.

When I held her away my breath was coming too damn fast and I had trouble keeping my voice under control. “You’re an engaged woman, Sharon. Remember?”

“There are times when I could forget very easily.”

I tied the knot back under her breasts. “Quit making me pant. I’m beginning to feel like one of the toadies at Walt’s party. I have to go.”

“You can stay if you want to.”

“No I can’t.”

“Why not?” Her tone was teasing and that impish grin was playing around her mouth again

“I didn’t bring my can opener,” I said.

“I can lend you one.”

Then we both laughed and she got my coat. At the door I kissed her good night, a small, brushing kiss with my hand under her chin. I looked at those big eyes again and took a deep breath. “Any trouble from you, kitten, and you’re going to get bounced.”

“Wonderful!”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” I laughed.

“Tomorrow?” she said.

“Tomorrow.”

A war movie from the late forties was thundering through the apartment when I walked in. Lee was sprawled on the floor, a soft cushion under his head and a drink in his hand, staring glassy-eyed at the TV screen, an overflowing ashtray beside him. He jerked around, startled, when I touched him with my toe, taking a full second to recognize me and relax.

“Buddy, do you cut a path when you move.”

I walked over to the bar and poured myself a ginger ale. “Now what?”

“Oh, nothing, nothing at all. Nobody can get near that Cass doll without it being plotted like the D-day invasion and you walk out with her on your arm in five minutes. Just how do you pull it off, Dog?”

“I’m polite.”

“Balls. I don’t know what you’re after, but you got everybody watching you like a hawk. From now on, a nonentity you ain’t.” He burped and finished his beer, tossing the empty can at a wastebasket and missing. He pushed himself to his feet and stood there, swaying. “Dick Lagen made a phone call.”

“Good for him.”

“It was about you.”

“Great,” I said.

Lee made a disgusted face and weaved over to a chair. “Look, Dog, when that guy starts a project, he just doesn’t let up. I didn’t get most of the conversation, but he’s doing a rundown on you and Barrin Industries.”

“So?”

“If you have anything to do, get it done fast”

I finished the ginger ale and started taking off my clothes. “Why should I?”

“Because if you have anything to hide, forget it. That newspaper syndicate of his lets him go all the way out. They’ve got contacts all over the world and ...”

“Lee,” I cut in, “knock it off. If he wants a biography, I’ll give it to him personally.”

“Sure you will. How much of it will be true?”

“None of it,” I said.

“That’s what I thought.” He stared into his hands a second, then wiped them across his face. “Dog ... no shit now, you in some kind of trouble?”

“Just staying alive is trouble,” I told him. I folded my coat across a chair and stripped off my shirt. His eyes saw the scars and went wide, his tongue flicking out nervously to lick his lips.

“Dog,” he said, “you know this apartment is being watched?”

“Who says?”

“The doorman, Danny ... he’s a retired cop. He spotted them this afternoon. I heard him telling Clarence when they changed shifts. Look, nobody ever cased this building before, even when the whores had an operation going in the penthouse. These guys aren’t cops, either.”

I walked over to the phone, picked up the receiver and dialed a number. When a voice I recognized answered, I said in Spanish, “Chet, you have a tail on me?”

Chet Linden had just awakened, but was totally alert. “Uh-huh,” he said. “We decided to keep you under surveillance until we’re sure. Have a good time with that pretty blonde, Dog? If you want any information on her I can give it to you.”

“Friend, you wouldn’t want to aggravate me, would you?” I asked him.

“Certainly not, Dog.”

“Then cancel the tails. The next time out I’ll simply lose them. If I pick them up the second time I’ll lean on them a little. If it happens for the third time I’ll hurt them good and come after you.”

“You change colors fast, Dog.”

“Let’s keep it pleasant, Chet. This isn’t amateur night. You should know better. Now, do you lift the tails?”

After a moment he said, “What’s your itinerary?”

“Tomorrow a meeting with the family. Then back here, I suppose. I’ll be glad to let you know if you don’t deactivate this number.”