The Taxman Killeth

by Mitchell, Mary Ann

  “Put it on my tab,” the guy to her left said.

  Amy looked in the mirror and saw the man to her left staring at her. Since the man’s nose seemed to lean too far to the left of his face, she wondered whether his nose had been broken by Joey on several occasions. His blond, curly hair was matted against the upper part of his forehead, and his eyelids drooped as if they were about to close.

  “Thank you, but I’d rather pay,” she said, fishing around in her blazer’s inside pocket for some bills.

  The guy’s hairy hand reached over to pull her hand out of her pocket. She instantly set her hand down on the bulbous edge of the bar. The bartender had already walked away to serve the scruffy bum. Things could be worse, she said to herself, looking at the knit cap pulled low over the bum’s face and the black eye patch that hid his left eye. But she wasn’t too sure about that when the guy on her left swayed against her shoulder. She thought about moving over a stool, but didn’t want to make a scene.

  “I’m Morgan,” he said. “I haven’t seen you here before.” He pulled away from her to have a better look.

  “Come here every night?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “No place else to go.”

  Amy took a deep breath.

  “Know Joey Landis?”

  “The guy who got shived? Yeah. Weren’t his dame, were you?”

  “No. I’m looking for a friend of his.”

  “Hey, we were all friends of his. I was a friend of his.” He moved closer to her. “So your looking’s over for the evening, baby.” He grinned and she noticed that his top front teeth were missing. She could understand why, given his pick-up technique.

  Just when she thought things couldn’t get worse, a smell hit her so hard she almost fell into Morgan’s lap. She heard the stool next to her squeak on the cigarette-studded floor. Something brushed her arm. She figured it had to be the filthy tweed jacket she had seen on the bum.

  “Whoeee... Maybe you should open some windows, Will,” Morgan said to the bartender.

  Amy looked in the mirror and saw the bum sitting next to her, his chin drooping down upon his chest so that she couldn’t see his face. Her eyes shifted to see what Morgan was going to do. She didn’t want to be in the middle of a fight.

  Morgan was bracing himself with a quick shot of whiskey followed by a gulp of beer. It must have numbed his senses, because he seemed to forget the odor, even if she hadn’t.

  “You’re not drinking, sweetie. It’s going to take you a long time to catch up with me,” Morgan said.

  She had no intention of doing so.

  Morgan reached for her hand, but she withdrew it from the bar. Instead, he reached up and rubbed his nose. After he was finished he used the same hand to order up another whiskey.

  “And back her up,” he said.

  “But I haven’t even touched this glass yet.”

  He looked down at the wine.

  “Make the next one straight up. You’re never going to be any fun if you keep drinking that watered down piss.” Morgan was becoming anxious. He had started to move around on the stool as if he couldn’t get comfortable. “You know, you’re not going to do any better than me tonight.” He leaned closer and smiled. “I’ve got a job.”

  She could think of a lot of out-of-work friends she’d rather be with. The bum next to her burped. Amy could see that the bum was holding his beer mug tightly. She was almost afraid it would suddenly explode in his hands.

  “Hey, drink up.” Morgan patted her on the back.

  “I have to go to the ladies’ room.”

  “What? You haven’t even taken a sip yet. You got bladder problems or something? I had a girlfriend who periodically—”

  “Excuse me.”

  Amy slipped off the stool and headed for the back of the bar while Morgan told her to hurry back. Once inside the ladies room, Amy was glad she really didn’t have to use the facilities. As soon has she had walked in, she splattered water with her footsteps. There was only one stall and a clogged sink. The mirror was streaked with scratches, and the bum smelled heavenly in comparison to the room she was presently in. The door slammed into her back.

  “Oh, sorry,” a tall meaty woman on wobbly heels said, while skittering through the water to the stall.

  Amy opened the ladies’ room door and peeked out. Morgan seemed to be engrossed in conversation with the bartender, and the bum had disappeared. Good idea, she thought, as she made her getaway past Morgan and out onto the street. Amy took a deep breath. A familiar odor crossed her senses, then a hand covered her mouth and pulled her sideways into the vacant lobby of a deserted building.

  Her muffled curses never made it to her kidnaper’s ears; however, the heel of her boot must have hit its target because she felt the man behind her briefly bend forward, although he never released his hold on her. It was his turn to curse. The voice was raspish but familiar. Amy stopped fighting and sank back into his chest.

  “Don’t scream,” he whispered. “It’s me, Todd.” He slowly lowered his hand from her mouth and she spun around, and flung her arms around his shoulders. Instantly she pulled back.

  “You could use a shower.”

  “Actually, it’s more the coat and hat than me. Hate to think where they’ve been.”

  “Why are you wearing them?”

  “Fewer people would recognize Todd Coleman in this outfit than in a leather bombardier jacket and cowboy hat.” He smiled, remembering how handsome she had found him in that hat.

  “I have to talk to you in private.”

  Todd looked around the stained and dilapidated lobby.

  “I don’t see anyone else.”

  Amy wanted to be alone with him for a little while. Hell, for the night, if she could talk him into it.

  “No, not here, we might be interrupted.”

  There was a slight scratching sound. Amy looked into Todd’s blue eye. Her eyes were opened wide, questioning where the sound came from.

  “Probably a rat,” He saw Amy stiffen. “Or a cat. I don’t think whatever it is will intrude on our conversation. I think it will make a point of avoiding us.”

  “No. Are you staying on the streets?”

  Todd noted the pout on her lower lip. This wasn’t going to be easy. He knew they hadn’t casually run into each other. She had to have been looking for him.

  “I’ve got a room, but don’t even think about going back to it with me. The folks in this bar were dreams in comparison to my neighbors.”

  “Okay. Then it will have to be my place.”

  Todd shook his head.

  “No one’s going to know who you are dressed like this.”

  “You always take home bums, do you?”

  “At times I have, but not the kind you’re talking about. I see your point.”

  “Tell me what was so important that you’d risk walking around in this area.”

  “Come on, I’ve got an idea.” Amy attempted to drag him out of the lobby.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Amy. You’re going to tell me what brought you here, then we’ll find you a cab.”

  “I won’t go home. And certainly the way you look you couldn’t call me a cab nor force me into one. The only thing you’d succeed in doing is getting arrested.”

  “What’s your idea?”

  “We’ll go to a hotel and get a room. There you can take a badly needed shower, we can have food brought to the room, and talk.”

  Todd laughed.

  “You don’t believe that I’ll be able to smuggle you into a hotel the way you look, do you?”

  Still laughing, Todd shook his head.

  Chapter 14

  Let’s Talk

  Amy and Todd were standing outside the Greyhound bus terminal.

  “I’m going to the Hilton to register for a room, Todd. You stay here and wait for me. Don’t move from here.” Amy had tucked him into a dark crevice of the terminal building.

  “Amy, they’ll never let me into the Hilton.”


  “Don’t worry about it. I happen to know there’s a convention in progress. It will be easy for me to shuffle you in among the crowd.”

  “Who’s participating in this convention?”

  “Psychiatrists.”

  “What are you going to do, try to pull me in as some raving lunatic that you’re trying to help?”

  “No. I’m hoping to be able to hide you in a crowd.” Amy took another look at Todd and sniffed the air. “Otherwise, I have a story. Don’t worry and don’t move,” she warned as she walked away in the direction of the hotel.

  Todd wondered how he had let her drag him into this part of the city. Basically by her threats of a tantrum and of making a scene, he thought. But instinctively he knew better. He’d also like to be alone with her for a while without worrying about threatening her safety.

  Several people walked by. Most clung to the curb of the sidewalk when he came into view. They tried to look anywhere but at him; obviously fearful that he would beg for a handout. A couple of young men chewing pizza and gulping down beer stared at him. Todd looked down at the ground. He knew the lower portion of his face was now covered by hair, and he had pulled the knit cap low on his forehead, almost meeting the black patch he had found in his hotel room. The men stopped for a minute to discuss something, then moved on.

  Where the hell was she? Todd wondered. He wasn’t sure how safe it was to stand near a bus terminal when one was wanted by the police. Maybe they kept a constant watch there in case he tried to get out of town. Todd’s blue eye scanned the street Amy had gone down. No sign of her black figure. Dammit, he thought, if he got picked up because of that meddling woman...

  Todd’s shoulder was suddenly jostled. He looked around and saw the two young pizza eaters.

  “Here, take it.” The young man handed Todd a slice of pizza. The guy’s friend stuffed a cup of Coke into his other hand. “We thought this would be better than giving you cash.” The two walked off.

  Stunned, Todd stared down at his bounty. He hadn’t had much of a dinner, just a burger and fries, because he had been in a hurry to get down to the bar. Luckily, cash hadn’t been a problem for him, since he had a separate account under an assumed name and was able to draw from it at the automated-teller machines.

  The pizza was warm and smelled good. The two guys had gotten the pizza topped with everything. Pepperoni, sausage... hell, there was even a couple of artichoke hearts. Todd bit into the slice, savoring the cheesy, gooey texture.

  “I don’t believe it,” Amy yelled.

  Todd tried to shush her but the cheese hitting the back of his teeth made it sound more like a naughty sound.

  Realizing they were on the street, Amy lowered her voice.

  “I told you to wait here. Instead, you go off to a brightly lit pizzeria to stuff your face.”

  He tried to clarify the situation, but Amy hushed him with the flat of her hand against his mouth.

  “Don’t tell me it wasn’t brightly lit. I’ve never been in a pizzeria that had anything less than harsh bright lighting. Yuck,” she said, pulling her hand away along with some strings of cheese that had gotten stuck in his beard.

  Todd figured she would never listen to his story and once again bit into the pizza. He offered her a bite, but she didn’t seem appreciative. He finished the slice himself and downed the coke at the end.

  “Satisfied?” she asked.

  “A little more oregano and it would have been perfect,” he said, wiping his beard with a napkin.

  “Come on. The place was packed. I managed to get a last-minute cancellation. The lobby is practically wall-to-wall people.”

  “This late?”

  “Yeah. The clerk told me they had some lecture after dinner followed by a movie. There wasn’t a doorman anywhere to be seen when I came out. If our luck holds out...”

  It hadn’t; a hotel employee was holding the door for a stream of people heading out of the building.

  “Don’t say a word,” she whispered as she dragged him across the street to the hotel entrance.

  Amy kept an eye on the employee. When she reached for the side door, the employee began calling to the grungy bum that she had by the arm.

  “This is my brother. Thank God, I’ve found him. Mother’s been worried sick. He’s been missing for over a year now. He took off after...” By this time she had managed to open the door and push Todd into the lobby. Amy followed without finishing her sentence.

  “Fast talker,” Todd said.

  She pulled the card-key out of her pocket and held it in front of her so that it was visible.

  “You think that will ward off the house dicks?” Todd asked.

  “It had better.”

  Todd was surprised at her resolute tone. He wondered whether she were ready to go to battle for him in the midst of the thinning crowd.

  Amy and Todd had the elevator to themselves. The waiting guests drew back and decided to pass. Amy pounded the close button several times before the doors sprang into action.

  Once inside their room Todd dropped into a chair. Amy ran into the bathroom. Todd could hear the shower water running.

  “The water’s a perfect temperature,” she said re-entering the room. “They told me we still have time to order some food. That slice of pizza couldn’t have filled you up. What would you like?”

  “Amy, I’m not really a bum. I eat three times a day.”

  “Well, you certainly can’t sit down in a fine restaurant and eat. You must be surviving on fast food.”

  “Even in my real life, I’ve survived quite well on fast food.”

  “I don’t believe that. What about that French restaurant you took me to?”

  “My main vice is steakhouses. But I don’t eat in them every night.”

  Todd took off his jacket and pulled the tee shirt over his head while kicking off his sneakers.

  “You’re not going to strip here?”

  “It’s only fair, Amy. I’ve gotten to see most of what you have to offer, which I rather liked, by the way. Now we’ll see how I stack up.”

  Amy ran into the bathroom

  “Great idea! We can compare while we shower together,” Todd said.

  He moved into the bathroom, and Amy slipped past him, closing the door behind her. She heard him laugh, but he didn’t try to follow her.

  She decided to order a bottle of champagne along with the steak for Todd and the salad for herself. Why not, she thought, it was a celebration of sorts for her. She had been afraid that her chances of finding him were minuscule; instead, she had managed to locate him on her first night on the street.

  Todd took an exceptionally long shower, and, incredibly, the food arrived before he had finished in the bathroom. Amy tipped the waiter and locked the door behind him.

  Amy’s breath was knocked from her when Todd exited the bathroom. His hair was dark and shiny. Water drops twinkled on the dark hair covering his chest. He had wrapped a bath towel around his waist but it barely covered his thick thighs.

  “I hope you don’t mind. I don’t relish getting back into those filthy clothes.”

  “No. I understand.” Her voice was shaky and soft.

  “What’s that I smell?” Todd looked to his right and saw the table covered with food. The bottle of champagne rested in an ice bucket.

  “I wasn’t sure. I went for medium-rare hoping it wouldn’t be too overcooked or undercooked for you.”

  “Perfect,” he said, turning his head back to her. “But you look overdressed.”

  Amy took off her blazer and sat on the bed to pull-off her boots. Todd knelt down to help, pulling both boots and socks off her feet.

  “Feel less conspicuous now?” she asked.

  Todd moved up to the bed and placed one arm behind her as he pulled her face up toward his. His kiss was gentle at first. Then, as his tongue gained entrance to the inside of her mouth, the pressure grew. The velvety softness of her drove his passion.

  How could he have tried to forge
t this woman, he wondered, as his hands traveled the luscious fullness of her breasts. Eventually his hands worked to the bottom of her turtleneck, and he stopped the kiss long enough to pull the garment over her head.

  “This is more like it,” he groaned, reaching behind her to undo the black lacy bra that scarcely covered the tips of her breasts, but she stopped him.

  “No. We should eat and talk.”

  “Eat first, talk later,” he said, ducking his head down to lap at her erect nipples through the lacy curlicues of the material. He heard her moan.

  “Todd, the steak will be cold.”

  “I’m too hot to worry about the steak, Amy.”

  Amy fell back across the bed as Todd undid the bra. She let him slip the satin straps down her arms. Then he began working the button and zipper on her slacks while nipping at the sensitive flesh below her breasts. Once he had removed the slacks, Todd knelt before her and spread her legs. He fingered the satin of her bikini just above her mound. Amy’s own fingers moved underneath the fabric of her panties and pushed them down over her hips, allowing Todd to remove them completely.

  He feasted on the slippery softness of her femininity. He tasted her passion and sensed her opening to his demands. Knowing that neither of them could wait any longer, Todd stood and removed the bath towel. Amy’s eyes concentrated on the thickness of his erection as she moved further up the mattress.

  She looked up at his eyes and caught the fire brightening the blue of his irises and reached her arms out to him.

  “Are you sure, Amy? You know I might not have much of a future.”

  “We’ll work together to make a future for us.”

  Todd knelt on the mattress, straddling Amy’s hips. Gradually he slid inside her, watching her responses, wanting desperately to satisfy her. When she moved too quickly, he slowed her with a whisper. “Don’t hurry, Amy. I want to stay inside of you for as long as I can.”

  Her body joined him in slow, luxurious thrusts. She used her fingers to wind through the dark locks of his hair as he covered her breasts, neck and lips with kisses.