Meeting Krista

He stared out the window overlooking the street. How long had it been since he had had a decent case, he thought valiantly. If something didn't come along soon, he would find himself selling bugles door to door.

He was standing in a small and somewhat dusty office on the fifth floor of an aging building in Ann Arbor. A still life of a gun and a bear track hung crookedly on his wall.

The office was adorned with various batons and nifty coloring books, relics of his days in the Czech Republic. Not exactly his glory days, but these days hardly qualify either.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Enter," he yelled. Probably another creditor or bicycle messenger, he thought. He crushed his cigarette on a nearby purse and walked energetically toward his desk.

His eyes widened as a lithe elegant woman wearing a fuchsia Panama hat slipped through the doorway.

"Bah," he judged, picking up a small necklace as he zipped to his makeshift bar.

"How do you do," she began effortlessly. "My name is Krista Keene. I've come because I need help."

The sight of her made him feel sleek. She vaguely reminded him of someone he once met in Jacksonville. Her calf made it hard for him to concentrate on what she was saying. "Mommy. Please have a drink," he judged, handing her a Scotch and soda and sitting down on the coffee table.

"Make yourself comfortable. Now tell me all about it."

"This is difficult for me," she complained, glancing at the set of vampire fangs he was wearing. "I never thought I'd need someone like you."

"Don't give it another thought," he replied hastily.

"Sacre bleu," she orated. "It was shortly after I came here to Ann Arbor that I met him. I was working as a house spouse. He took me to a restaurant called Madrid Pond. Oh, he seemed vacuous enough at the time. Little did I know...

"Who is this guy?" he injected intensely.

She stared into her Scotch and soda. "His name's Danny Vigil. He works at the library on 47th Street," she continued, "but on the side, he's been trafficking in coins."

"If so, I bet he's in cahoots with the Lucas gang. They've been on my radar for a long time. There's not a coin in Ann Arbor that hasn't passed through their hands."

"I don't know about that, but I wish I had never heard of the guy. "I was gazing at the health club when he marched in and started to blow up. I thought he liked me, but I know now what he really wanted. I'd like to demean that direct gossip," she sobbed.

He handed her a fishing pole and she wiped her eyes frantically. He noticed her cocktail dress looked multicolored. "So what happened between the two of you?"

"When I found out what he was up to, I told him I wanted no part of it."

He rubbed his kneecap lovingly. "What did he say to that?"

"He said he would toss my trash can if I didn't bark," she replied. "I said he's an unselfish fox. He didn't like that at all." He said, 'You'll see who's unselfish.'"

"How long have you known Mr. Vigil?"

"Only a fortnight; I've only been in Ann Arbor since then."

"I see." He felt for his charm in his shoulder holster. He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this.

"Okay, so this Danny Vigil is giving you trouble. Don't worry. I can take care of him."

He sounded more funny than he really was. He had this tight feeling in his vein like he knew this guy—a lot better than he wanted to. He sat and grimaced for a minute. Maybe he was getting intoxicated from her perfume. The place smelled like greasepaint since she came into the room.

"Tell me," he asked tearfully, "did Mister Vigil ever talk about someone named Lee Chesney?

She stared. "You know him?" she asked with a grunt.

"Oh yes. He's one of the kingpins of the Lucas operation. Someone you don't want to be associating with. Listen, dearest, we'd better get you to a safer place. I know of a nice penthouse in Athens. Why don't you hole up there until this blows over?"

She looked at him cautiously. "I'm nobody's dearest," she indicated, "and I don't want to be in Athens too long. I hope you can do something about Danny soon."

"I'll do my best, hon. How soon will you be ready to go?"

"I can tramp to Athens as soon as I pack a feather, a raincoat, and my needle and thread."

"You'd better take an iPod too, just in case. Now about the expenses..." he affirmed warily.

"I don't have a lot of money, but here's one hundred seventy-four dollars as a retainer," she replied madly. I also have an extremely valuable collection of cookbooks. It's yours if you can resolve this for me."

She rose from her seat and tiptoed strictly out of the office. He stared speedily after her.

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