“Right, thanks for the heads-up. He’ll be going up to his room?”
“So you know about that?”
“I saw him head up there last time. I figured that’s where your VIPs go. They’re not going to be in general pop, are they?”
“General pop?”
“Just a term I’ve heard used. Should I just clear his whole party in without checking IDs? He seemed a little ticked off when I did that the first night.”
“Yes, just let them in. I’ll vouch that they’re all legal,” she added with a smile tacked on.
“Will Karl be in tonight?”
“He’s already here. In the back.”
“I’ll stop in and see him before I go on duty.”
“Good.”
He left her there and continued on to the back to see Karl. The big man was seated at a table and looked better. Rogers saw no cane. And Karl wore no sunglasses.
Karl motioned for Rogers to take a seat. He did so.
“I heard about the ‘incident’ the other night.”
“How?”
“Cop on the beat is an old bud of mine. He told me. These punks are starting to be a real problem.”
“I can handle it.”
“I have no doubt of that. But the thing is, we don’t want that kind of trouble. You kick the shit out of some of these college boys, or maybe even kill one, it’s not good for business. See what I mean?”
“I see. And I won’t do anything to mess it up for the bar.”
“Good man.”
Rogers left him and went back into the bar area in time to see Myers ascend the stairs, unlock the door to the VIP room, and go in. He drew back and watched. A minute later she reemerged and shut the door behind her. In her right hand was the door key. But she had something in her left hand that hadn’t been there before.
He backed up and then came around the corner as though just emerging from the back hall.
They met at the bottom of the stairs.
She said, “How’s Karl?”
“Like a new man,” said Rogers, glancing down. Myers was gripping something in her left hand, but he couldn’t see what it was.
She looked back at him. “Anything else?”
“No. I’m good to go.”
Chapter
38
ARE YOU GOING to tell me, or are you just going to keep driving?”
Puller was staring directly at Knox.
“I’m trying to process it all in my head so I can give you an efficient version,” she replied.
“Where have you been?”
“Finding out things.”
“And did you?”
“Processing, Puller, give me a sec. I was wheels down just an hour ago. It’s still a bit garbled in my head.”
He waited until she pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of a 7-Eleven. She put the car in park, undid her seat belt, and said, “I need coffee. You want some?”
“Okay.”
She got out, went in and bought two large coffees, came back to the car, presented one to him, and took a sip of hers.
“Are you done processing?” he asked.
“He thinks they were connected to whatever was going on at this Building Q?”
“Yes.”
“And what exactly was going on there?”
She shook her head. “Mack either didn’t know or, more likely, did know but wouldn’t tell me. Mack always took the oath of confidentiality very seriously.”
“So you’re telling me that some government project resulted in the deaths of four innocent women?”