The Tower

At first, Allander had been content to toy with Jade, to engage in a kind of gamesmanship with him. He had been drawn to Jade's astounding arrogance from the start, but more and more, he was beginning to feel an emotional outrage. There had been the whole issue of the obscene and obviously erroneous article in that tabloid, but there was no need to get worked up over that. Still, he felt increasingly drawn to Jade, in a way that was more visceral than tactical.

He watched the house for a few minutes, enjoying the chirp of crickets issuing from the bushes around him. Pretty soon, the living room light turned off and he heard Jade's car start up in the garage.

Allander cut back silently to his Jeep.

Jade raced across town in his car, cutting in and out of lanes of traffic. Honking incessantly, he revved, swerved, and fought his way along the road, passing other cars as though they were moving backward.

At one point, he got stuck behind slow cars that blocked all three lanes, but he managed to cut over and then back, threading his way through them. As he accelerated past the last one, he smiled as the road yawned empty before him, and he pierced the openness ahead, nosing his car forward around turns and up hills.

He arrived at Pour Little Rich Kid five minutes early.

Jade sat for a minute studying his own eyes in the rearview mirror. He sensed a storm rising beneath the green surface.

Pour Little Rich Kid was a yuppie hangout. Like most bars of its type, it was all windows and mirrors, a spacious loft of a building. The mirrors were essential, for the customers looked at themselves constantly and adjusted their hair almost as often as they looked around to check out members of the opposite sex.

It was not the usual hangout for Jade and Tony, but it was slow on weeknights and the ale was brewed in the back. A large sign showed a twenty-something male wearing a cardigan and holding a tennis racket in one hand. His other arm rotated mechanically, tipping a huge ale to his mouth at regular intervals.

"Black and tan," Jade said to the bartender as he swung his long legs over the bar stool, taking his seat next to Tony. The bartender's nametag had "JIM" written on it in big red letters.

Tony looked over at Jade, who was already nervously laying the coasters side by side on the bar. "Oh, I'm fine, thanks. Yeah, work's going well and Maggie's doing just great," he said, smiling as a smirk spread across Jade's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, princess. Forgot to ask how your day was."

"Forgiven. What's the word?"

Jade shook his head. "The FBI's already maxed out on the case. I need to know I can count on you if something comes up and I need more manpower."

"Sure, kid. Of course."

Jade straightened the coasters in a line with the edge of his hand. "So, any more big-league crimes in Falstaff? Kids playing mailbox baseball? Petty shoplifting? Overdue library books?"

"Yeah, fuck you, kid. Nothing too thrilling, though, gotta admit. Some guy beat up his girlfriend pretty bad last night, but he was calm by the time we got over there."

"No action, huh?" Jade leaned forward, paying attention to Tony for the first time.

"No. Nothing." He saw the look of disappointment cross Jade's eyes. "You know, some people consider that a good thing."

Jade downed his black and tan, holding the glass upside down as the creamy head slid into his mouth. He raised a finger to Jim, then lowered it and tapped the rim of his glass.

"I had a guy a few years back who beat up real bad on his kids. I was tracking him on a drug case, wound up at this shady apartment in Oakland. Kids all cowering in the background. I got over there and he looked charged, like he wanted to go. Didn't even try to escape. I was just praying he'd try'n hit me. He came on and I dropped him to one knee with a single shot to the gut." Jade's right arm tightened as he recalled the shot, the soft sink of his fist into the stomach just below the rib cage.

"Had a blade out and tried to swipe at my legs. I broke his fuckin' cheek in four places with the butt of my gun." He told the end of the story gazing at himself in the mirror behind the bar. His face had the dreamy look of someone recalling a romantic interlude.

Tony watched Jade with some concern. He cleared his throat loudly and took a long sip.

"How's the kid?" Jade asked.

"Tommy?"

"Whatever."

"He still remembers that time you brought him that-"

"Yeah, well, it was left over."

Tony lowered his head and smiled. "He's good. Starts kindergarten in the fall."

"That's good. Outta your hair more, huh?"

"Yeah. Guess so. Hadda birthday party last week. Clowns and cake and all that shit. It goes by so fast sometimes you can't even see it."

Jade stared into his own eyes in the mirror again. "Clowns, huh?"