Two days must have passed, and no sign of Skinny. The first two girls disappeared and were replaced by Sara, the girl from the diner. Conner was pleased, although a little surprised.

Jackie could not have cared less and seemed annoyed by Conner's familiarity with the new hostess.

Sara came into the room with two servings of the house special – meatloaf with potatoes and glazed carrots. "It's a specialty of Skinny's," she said and plopped it down on the table. She pulled out a bottle of whiskey and sat that next to the food. "This is a specialty of mine."

"How'd you get that past the guard?" he asked. "D'ya bribe him?"

"Shithead doesn't bribe that way," she sighed. "We wonder about that boy."

"So, does Skinny own that diner too?"

"Yeah, that's where he gets his girls. Well, most of them."

"CJ?"

Jackie was getting annoyed. "Who's CJ?"

"This chick," Conner said. He was about to say more in the way of an explanation but thought better of it.

Sara sat with them for a while, and talked of the day Conner and Harry came into the diner.

"When are we getting out of here?" Jackie said with a tsk.

Sara looked at Conner to answer as if Jackie was not even there, "Skinny isn't done with you two yet. You pissed him off and got in his way. He'll be down to visit soon, wants to ask some questions. He likes answers that fit his questions."

"How old are you?" Jackie asked.

"Old enough."

"Seems to be the standard age around here."

"Well, let's just say that I'm not as mature as you are lady." Then she turned to Conner, "Your mother here seems a bit nosey."

Jackie stood up and looked at Conner, who had been sitting back and watching up until now. He was smiling.

"You enjoying this are you," she said.

"You two are doing fine. I have nothing to say."

Sara turned to leave, "Skinny will be here shortly. He wants to find out how much you know. My advice to you is to play it stupid. He doesn't like it when people get too close. He's really pissed about CJ."

"I could really use some clothes," he said, "My own preferably." He was still naked.

"I'll see what I can do."

She knocked on the door, and it opened. She smiled at Conner and ignored Jackie, and turned and left. The door closed quickly behind her. The bolt clicked.

Conner listened at the door as soon as it closed. She was still there; a shadow covered the peephole. They spoke in soft-muffled tones. Then she walked away down the hall, but the bodyguard remained. Conner could hear him breathing heavily through his mouth. He paced back and forth slowly on his soft padded sneakers. When he had taken four steps, the floor creaked, and he turned back the other way, passed the door three steps, and turned. This went on for five minutes.

Conner turned to look at Jackie. Sized her up and wondered how strong she was. She seemed strong and sure-hearted, yet frail and vulnerable. Talking with her and watching her strut about in just a towel, he concluded she was not shy and could take a good joke or two.

Sara was attractive too, and that complicated things. Always, in the back of his mind he thought about her as a character in one of his plays: a heroin for sure. The bizarre situation they were living through may be okay for Harry, but it was not acceptable to Conner. But it gave him new energy. He wanted a typewriter, or at least a notepad and pencil.

His creative juices were flowing like a spring river. He had been working on a new play about two brothers—one is a Harvard professor and the other a grill cook—who go on vacation to a dude ranch outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Conner looked at Jackie. He smiled. "She could be useful."

He wondered if she had grown used to him or maybe thought there might be some attraction between them. Maybe he hoped. As a writer, he knew how men and women in tight places and stressful situations often find sex relieves tension. He used that scenario many times in his plays. Jackie, however, wasn't reacting to the situation like one of his heroines would, and it gave him pause enough to consider rewriting the dialogue between the men and women in those parts of his plays.

Jackie still had a sour look on her face, "Do you think so?"

"Do I think so what?" He had forgotten what he said. "Something is wrong here."

Jackie rolled her eyes. Conner continued un-phased, "Have you noticed anything unusual about the girls here?"

"They're all whores?"

"Yes, that too, but they are all young, very young. Under 20 young."

Jackie sat on the couch arms folded over her chest, pouting, her head turned away from him. "Oh, I don't think they are that young. Sara isn't so young." She turned her head twirling her hair in her left hand. "I thought you would notice her. Don't you feel that something terrible is happening here?"

"You mean aside from this being a whore house?" he said.

"You're joking, but you know what I'm saying." Her hands were on her hips as if she were scolding him.

"Look, Jackie," he said. "This isn't lost on me. I understand that this place shouldn't be here. Normally, I don't concern myself with how people make a living, but this asshole seems very bad."

"Seems?"

"Yeah, he's a criminal and I'd like nothing more than to see him behind bars, but I didn't ask for any of this. I was on vacation."

"And now here we both are against our will. And what about your friend's little whore? CJ? How much of this is her doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"From what you said about her, she has more to offer Skinny than her services. She's either really good or she knows something about him that he's afraid of getting out."

Conner thought about what she just said, surprised that he hadn't thought it himself. "Huh. You think so?"

"I'd say so. I mean he has plenty of girls working here. What's one more or less?"

"What do you do?" He wanted to change the subject. He would have to think about that some more.

"Meaning?"

"For a living. You look like you are in good shape. What do you do when you're not hiking?"

"Meaning what?"

"Wait, don't tell me. Let me guess. You work out of doors. No? For an outdoor company. No?"

"I work for a sports marketing company. We represent players in the media. We get them advertising gigs," she paused. "Billy Jean King."

"Oh," said Conner, "You know her? So, you're an agent."

The deadbolt sounded, and the door opened quickly and with force. Skinny entered, smelling of gardenias and wearing a new black studded shirt with mother of pearl buttons. He wore the same boots and clean jeans. He had slicked his hair back and applied fresh grease. He entered the room and smiled. Conner could see the gold teeth gleaming between his lips. He looked over at Jackie to see what her reaction would be.

She stared at him with a steady gaze, lips curled in a slight snarl, and eyes wide open. Before today, she had only seen him in the dark.

"What did you do with Paula?" Jackie wasted no time in starting in with him. Conner looked surprised but realized she was passionate.

Skinny ignored her for the moment, and looked around the room, his boots clicking on the hardwood floors.

"I hope you two are happy." He looked at how Conner was dressed in a robe and towel. "But then I see you two got acquainted." He looked at Jackie and leered. "Maybe I should put that on his bill hey sweets?"

Jackie didn't flinch. "Where's Paula?"

"I don't know no Paula," he said. "Who's that?"

Conner stopped her before she said anything else. He knew it was fruitless and that Skinny was toying with her, and she couldn't win. "Hold it, Jackie. He can't hear you."

"Oh, I hear her fine, stud." He exhaled in overly dramatized exasperation, "What am I to do with you two?" He took a pack of Marlboros out of his shirt pocket, took one out, and lit it, and before he put it away, he offered one to each of them. "No? Could be your last wish."

"Do you have a firing squad outside?" Conner said sarcastically.

"Well, it's snowing outside so I guess you two are safe for now. Looks like we're all stuck inside for about a few days anyway. No school. Except you and her ain't goin' outside to play in it." He turned to leave. "As to you missy, you and your friend were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm afraid Paula screamed a bit too much. Mouse didn't mind though, he got out of her what he wanted before he killed her." He opened the door a crack. "I wouldn't get your hopes up any, leastways not 'till I figure what to do with you. I'll be back," he said as he closed the door.

Jackie stood stiffly looking at the door for what seemed like ages. Her face was tense, and her fists clenched. Her face turned from an expression of defiance slowly to frustration.

He said nothing and watched her color turn red. Then she burst out crying like a kettle whistling.