Knight In Black Leather by Gail Dayton (ebook reader ink .txt) 📕

Eli took a deep breath, looking longingly at the bar. She could tell he wanted to go inside and ask questions, but he obviously understood he needed four good limbs to do it.

"What if I go in?" she said. "Ask around?"

"Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. No."

"Why not? Maybe I could find something out."

"It's a gay bar."

"I could pretend."

"Wouldn't work." He twisted in his seat, adjusting his grip on the crutch-weapon. "You look exactly like what you are, a nice, suburban housewife. Maybe you could pretend that you just figured out you liked girls, but that wouldn't explain why you were looking for Flash."

Eli pulled his arm back to his side. "Start the car. I got a few places to start looking."

Marilyn scooted back to her side of the car, shivering a little with the loss of Eli's warmth, and cranked the engine. The air coming out of the heater vents was slightly warmer than the air in the car, for which she was grateful. Traffic was almost non-existent here this time of day, so she pulled into the street and followed Eli's direction.

They cruised slowly through gloomy neighborhoods. The overcast sky contributed its own gloom, but Marilyn didn't think bright sunshine would help much. They passed boarded-up shops and rusting warehouses. Most all of the shuttered steel mills had been torn down, new things built in their place, but the ripple effect still showed, especially in this part of town.

"Are they abandoned?" she asked, passing down a street with more than its share of boards.

"Some of them. Some of them, the people can't afford to have the windows fixed or can't get the landlords to fix them." Eli shoved the quilt in the back seat, now the car had warmed up again. He seemed to be gripping the crutch tighter as they drove down certain streets.

She watched for any flash of red. Usually the glimpse turned out to be a coat or a hat rather than a car, but she saw a few. None of them Corvettes. Their cruising area widened. Now and again, Eli would ask her to pull to the curb and he'd call someone over to the car. After taking a minute to catch up with old times, he would ask about Teresa.

No one ever knew anything. With every block they drove and re-drove, with every person they asked, with every minute that ticked away, Marilyn could sense Eli's tension winding tighter. Darkness fell, making it hard to see into the shadows. They stopped at the drive-through of the fried chicken place and ate while still searching.

"How long ago?" Marilyn asked, as she wiped her fingers while sitting at a stoplight.

"What are you talking about?" Eli tossed a bone back in the box and reached for his own napkin.

"Never mind." She couldn't believe she'd asked the question. It didn't matter when Eli had been Teresa's lover. So what if she'd been wondering all afternoon long? She didn't care. Really. It was over now. More than a year over, according to what he'd told her and she believed he told her the truth. But more, it didn't matter because she wasn't interested in Eli.

"Marilyn, what are you asking? How long ago what?"

Oh hell, who was she kidding? She was interested, even if she wasn't about to indulge the interest and take him up on his offer. Which meant she couldn't indulge her curiosity either.

"Just--it doesn't matter." She shook her head, trying to wave him off. "Don't you think it's time we went to the police?"

"Don't try to distract me, Marilyn. You wouldn't have said anything if it didn't matter. Ask."

She slid a glance at him. He wasn't going to let go of it, was he? Marilyn sighed. "How long ago were you and Teresa lovers?"

Eli stared at her a second in the light of passing streetlamps, then puffed out his cheeks in a deep breath. "I don't know. Ten years? No, seven. It's been seven, I'm almost sure."

Almost? What did that mean? She ground her teeth together to keep the question from popping out. She had no right to her jealousy, and okay, she was jealous. Just a little. Which made her feel low as dirt, given that the woman's life was in danger.

But--what kind of hold did she have on Eli for him to be this worried about her if they hadn't been lovers for--maybe--seven years? It made Marilyn wonder about his claim that they hadn't been in love. It made her wonder...lots of things.

"I came through town a few times back then to check on things," Eli said, apparently taking her silence as a demand for details. "And we'd--you know. A couple of times. I'm not sure when the last time was but about seven years sounds right. I was eighteen. I pretty much gave up sex for a while after that."

Marilyn waved a hand, hoping to shut him up. "It doesn't matter. Maybe we should call the police. It's getting late and we haven't found anything."

"It's barely past seven." Eli tipped his head toward the clock in the dash, accepting her change of topic this time.

"That means there's less than five hours to find her. And a red car is going to be harder to spot in the dark."

"I don't do cops."

"Fine. Don't." The situation had Marilyn's patience running thin and she didn't bother trying to hide her irritation. "I'll call them." She held her hand out for Eli's cell phone.

"Let me try something first." Eli punched a few buttons and waited. "This is Court. Get me the Flashman."

Marilyn pulled into the curb for the conversation. She couldn't tell a Corvette from a Porsche and Eli didn't need to be splitting his concentration. Besides, she wanted to listen.

"Flash. No, I don't have the kid. I told you, I don't know where she stashed him." A pause. "If you'll shut up and listen, I'll tell you why I called. I got cash. Crinkly green spending money that I'm willing to trade for the woman."

Marilyn