the desk clerk I hit my head when the car went off the road.”
“Go sit down. I’ll find something to clean it up.” She stared at him. “Do it.”
Bolan did as he was told.
She brought a towel from the bathroom and cleaned up the gash as best she could. When she was done she filled the room’s kettle and plugged it in the electrical outlet while she prepared coffee. They sat silently drinking and for a time there was a fragile peace.
Bolan found a pair of white bathrobes in sealed plastic laid out on the bed. He passed one to Dukas.
“Take the first shot in the bathroom,” he said.
“Don’t think I won’t,” she said.
Bolan pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his mud-streaked jacket and called Barbara Price.
“Run these names through the system,” he said to the Stony Man mission controller. “Billingham. Somebody important. Other is a perp named Kimble. I’d guess he has a rap sheet. I expect he’s no more than a hired gun. See what comes up.”
“Hey, how are you two doing?” Price asked.
“I’d say we’ve both had better days.”
“Any light at the end of the tunnel?”
“Still digging.”
“Erika?”
“They killed her friend Tira. Erika found her. She’s coping,” Bolan said.
“That translates as covering it up well,” Price replied.
“I’ve got it covered.”
“Look after my girl.”
“Yes, Mama,” Bolan said.
“I’ll call when we get something on these names.”
Bolan closed the phone. He could hear Dukas moving around the bathroom, and he thought about the remark Price had made about him looking out for the young woman. He was conscious of his responsibility for her. It was uppermost in his mind. Her safety was at the top of his list.
The bathroom door opened and Dukas appeared. She had changed into the bathrobe and looked slightly less stressed.
“All yours,” she said.
Bolan picked up Tira Malivik’s bag and handed it to her.
“Check it out,” he said. “See if you can find anything.”
She held the bag, hesitating, and Bolan could see the hurt in her eyes.
“It’s like invading her privacy.”
“No. It’s helping to find out who took her from you. She was your friend, and I don’t think Tira would feel you were doing anything wrong,” Bolan said.
Dukas opened the bag and tipped the contents across the bed. As she started to go through them she heard the bathroom door close.
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