The City Under the Skin

by Geoff Nicholson

  “I can tell you more about the compass rose if you like.”

  “Sorry, Zak, not that kind of information.”

  Again Zak felt a pang of not quite explicable hurt.

  “You ever worry, Zak, that the printed map might be a dying form?”

  “I know the printed map is a dying form, but I don’t worry about it.”

  “So what do you think of this?”

  Marilyn flipped open her laptop, and on the screen was a computer-generated map of the city, with a tiny, stationary red spark flashing at its center.

  “What’s that?” Zak asked.

  “It’s Billy Moore’s car,” Marilyn said.

  “Billy Moore?”

  “Our friend with the Cadillac.”

  “You know his name?”

  “Yeah, and I know where he parks his car, on some new lot that’s opened at the corner of Hope Street and Tenth.”

  “Is that worth knowing?” said Zak.

  “Yes. And now I know he lives there too, in a trailer, with his daughter. I’ve seen them. And I know some of where he goes. Not very far, not yet anyway, but I haven’t been tracking him very long.”

  “What kind of tracking?”

  “With a portable tracker. That’s the thing flashing on the map on-screen. You stick it underneath a car, like if you have a fleet of delivery trucks or traveling salesmen, so you can see they’re not goofing off or speeding or going somewhere they shouldn’t. You could use it to keep track of an errant wife if you had one.”

  “It all sounds very high tech.”

  “It cost seventy-five dollars on Amazon. No bigger than a pack of cigarettes. Thirty days’ battery life. Ideal for rugged outdoor use is what it says on the package.”

  Even if Zak had no illusions about the printed map being a dying form, he hadn’t realized how out of touch he was with new developments.

  “So far,” said Marilyn, “our man’s been from the parking lot to a school and back every day, his daughter’s school presumably. And the other day he went to a tailor’s.”

  “You’ve been following him?”

  “Only on-screen. And the fact is, Zak, there are real limits to how much you can learn that way.”

  “You want a printed map?”

  “No, I want us to follow him in the real world.”

  “Us?”

  “Yes. I don’t want to come across as a girl, Zak, but I’d like you to come with me. There’s safety in numbers.”

  “Two’s a very small number.”

  “I don’t want to have to go up against him alone.”

  “I don’t want to ‘go up against him’ at all.”

  “Come on, Zak, there’ll be some urban exploration.”

  “Oh, that’ll make everything all right.”

  “I want you as a partner,” said Marilyn. “A partner with a big brown anonymous station wagon.”

  “And we follow him where?”

  “To wherever he goes. Maybe to where he’s keeping that woman. You might have to close the store a little early.”

  “For you, I’d be prepared to do that,” Zak said. He hoped she realized what a big step that was.

  20. BILLY MOORE’S NEXT JOB

  A third phone call.

  “A woman who goes by the name of Chanterelle,” Akim said lazily. “She’s a dancer, stripper, whatever. She’s working a late shift at the True Gentlemen’s Club. You heard of that?”

  “I’ll find it,” said Billy.

  “When she finishes there, she has to go to another club across town, the Oracle. You’ll step in, tell her you’re a driver sent by the Oracle.”

  “She’ll believe me?”

  “You’ll convince her and then do the usual.”

  “What about the real driver? Won’t he turn up?”

  “Believe me, he won’t turn up.”

  “You know, Akim, I’ve thought of something else to ask you.”

  “Have you really?”

  “Yeah,” said Billy. “See, I can understand that Wrobleski’s too grand to pick up the women, and I’ll buy that you think it’s not your style, but how do you even know who these women are and where they’re hanging out?”

  “Because I make it my business to know.”

  “That’s a strange business to be in, isn’t it?”

  Billy wasn’t expecting much, but there was an arrogance and a vanity in Akim that made him keep talking.

  “I’ve been keeping track of them.”

  “Since when?”

  “Long enough.”

  “Since before or after they got tattooed?”

  “Before they were tattooed they were of no interest whatsoever.”

  “And now they’re interesting?”

  “I just said so.”

  “Knowledge is power, right?”

  “That’s what Mr. Wrobleski says. But some people say ignorance is bliss.”

  “I’m not looking for bliss,” said Billy. “Just one more question. Why have you been keeping track of them?”

  “Because I knew it would come in handy one day. And it has, hasn’t it?”

  “Handy? Who for?”

  “For Mr. Wrobleski, of course. Who else?”

  * * *

  Billy Moore couldn’t remember when he’d last encountered a true gentleman, but he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be meeting any in this club he was going to. It was out by the abandoned heliport, in a low-slung concrete building, wedged between a lumberyard and a pumping station. Above the club’s entrance were flashing lights, a smear of neon, and a billboard-sized image of a fashion model who would look nothing like any of the dancers inside.

  He was wearing his brand-new suit, as described and selected by Carla: elephant gray with a lining that flashed vermilion at irregular intervals. He knew he looked good, probably too good for this place. He paid his money, went into the club, past a couple of bouncers who looked about as threatening as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and took up a position at the bar. The place was a pit of shadow and multicolored points of light, barely a quarter full, the customers an even blend of blue- and white-collar, mostly sedate single men, although one or two, incomprehensibly to Billy, had brought their dates with them.

  Billy watched the acts of half a dozen dancers who were not named Chanterelle. None of them were bad-looking and a couple of them could really dance. One was voluptuous but somehow apologetic, while another—skinny, lank-haired, big-jawed—worked the room with effortless confidence. A redhead who looked old enough to be the mother of every guy in the club had them begging for real or feigned mercy.

  Billy saw that every one of the dancers had a tattoo of some kind or other: a Tinker Bell, an ace of spades, a sleeve of koi and cherry blossoms, and one had seamed stockings tattooed all the way up the backs of her legs; but these were not the tattoos he—or rather Wrobleski—was looking for. And then the guy running the show, a chubby rockabilly guy with a pompadour and mutton chops in not quite matching shades of black, came out to announce the next act: Chanterelle.

  He talked her up so much that anything short of Gypsy Rose Lee would have been a disappointment, and Chanterelle was no Gypsy Rose Lee. She strutted out wearing a futuristic gunslinger outfit: gold thigh boots, ray guns in a holster, and a loose vest with fringes and space badges that fell wide open at the front to reveal heavy, dark, natural breasts. She moved around the stage with chilly self-assurance, her body big and ripe, her oiled skin gleaming in the lights. The real problem was the face. It could have been an attractive face if it hadn’t been so taut, if the features hadn’t been set in an expression of hostile contempt, daring the men to make eye contact with her. Few did, not even Billy; he wanted to remain inconspicuous for now. He got just a few tantalizing glimpses of her back as the vest twirled and flapped around her, but that was as much as he needed. She didn’t display the tattoos, but if she’d really wanted to hide them, she could have chosen a very different outfit.

  Billy Moore glanced quickly around the bar to see i
f anybody was looking at him. He still took seriously Wrobleski’s concern that he shouldn’t be seen, but just how invisible could you be when you were picking up a woman at a strip club? And you couldn’t beat up everybody who might possibly have noticed you, could you now?

  He watched Chanterelle dance her way through three songs. At one point she pressed the sole of her boot into the face of a man in the front row: he seemed to like it. She fondled and licked her ray guns, and in the last song—“Ghost Riders in the Sky”—fired them to shoot cream or yogurt or something all over herself. The final applause was polite rather than enthusiastic.

  She gave a bow that had a lot in common with a shudder, picked up her money, and descended from the stage. The dressing room was across the far side of the club, so she had to pass through the audience. On a busy night that would have made for a lively journey, but this evening she strode across the empty floor without hassle, and Billy was able to fall in step beside her. She looked as if she was going to tell him to fuck off, but before she could do that, Billy smiled and said, “Hi, Chanterelle, I’m from the Oracle. I’m here to drive you over.”

  She looked him up and down. He doubted that he looked exactly like a man who drove strippers from one gig to the next, but he thought that probably helped. Maybe she was even impressed by the suit.

  “You’re not the usual guy,” she said.

  “You just can’t keep good staff.”

  She looked at him dubiously and shrugged. One driver was as good as any other. He followed her to the dressing room and waited briefly outside. She didn’t bother to change into street clothes, simply cleaned herself off, picked up her bag, and put on a long fake-fur coat to cover her outfit. They went out to the parking lot, where she eyed the Cadillac indifferently. She moved to get in the back of the car, but Billy was having none of that.

  “Why don’t you ride up front with me,” he said. “That’d be the friendly way.”

  “I’m not your friend.”

  “Well, there’s no reason to be my enemy.”

  She got in beside him, though there was still nothing remotely amicable about her. They’d been driving for quite a while in icy silence before Billy said, “You’ve got some tattoos on your back.”

  “You’re so observant.”

  “I wondered why you weren’t showing them off.”

  “Because they’re fucking ugly.”

  “Then I wonder why you were showing them at all.”

  “Yeah, I’m a mass of contradictions.”

  Billy wasn’t prepared to let it go quite that easily.

  “Looked like it might be a tattoo of a map,” he said.

  “Did it?”

  “Well, is it or not?”

  “You ask a lot of questions for a driver.” And then, “Wait a minute, this isn’t the fucking way to the Oracle.”

  “Sure it is,” Billy said. “I’m taking you by the scenic route.”

  “If you’re lost, just say so. Don’t be a guy about it.”

  “You think I need a map?”

  She’d heard enough. “Stop the fucking car.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Billy.

  She slapped him across the right cheek, as viciously as she could, though the confines of the car stopped her getting her best swing. Billy stomped on the brakes, the car slewed to a halt, and he grabbed the stripper by the throat with his right hand. He rose in his seat to slam her head back against the side window.

  “You should know I have no problem hitting women,” he said, “and if you do that again, I’ll smash your head through the glass.”

  She seemed to believe him. For a while she sat in a silence even icier than before, but that didn’t suit her for long.

  “So where are you taking me, you cunt?” she asked at last.

  “I’m taking you to see a man named Wrobleski.”

  “I don’t know anybody called Wrobleski.”

  “I never said you did.”

  “What does he want, a private show?”

  “Maybe.”

  “And who are you, his pimp?”

  “I’m just a guy who’s doing what he’s being paid to do.”

  “So you’re his whore.”

  “You really do have a dirty little mind, don’t you? Isn’t getting paid reason enough for what you do?”

  “Don’t get me started,” she said. “And don’t think you know anything about what I do or why.”

  “Fair enough,” said Billy.

  There were plenty of things he’d done in his own past that he could neither justify nor explain, and why would you even bother? Shit happens, and then more shit happens. He drove fast and carelessly. He wanted this to be over. He didn’t even notice the brown station wagon that was following them.

  21. UNCOMMON PURSUITS

  “Is this a car chase?” Zak asked. “I can’t believe I’m in a car chase.”

  “No,” said Marilyn. “I think this is a pursuit rather than a chase.”

  In truth neither of them knew exactly what it was. As Zak drove, he leaned on the steering wheel for support, and his head jutted forward as if he were peering through a mailbox rather than a broad glass windshield. Beside him, Marilyn sat low in her seat, trying to remain grave and determined, yet unable to keep a smirk of pleasure from her face. This was turning out better than she could possibly have imagined. She had hoped, at best, that Billy Moore might lead them to wherever he’d taken the tattooed homeless woman. But it was already bigger than that. First he had taken them to a strip club (damned shame they couldn’t go inside, but Billy Moore would have recognized them), and then he’d picked up another woman, and now they were heading to a place where, Marilyn was confident, something would become clearer, where something, perhaps many things, would be revealed.

  They were heading north; they passed the old, disused sports arena and a decaying varnish works that Zak had promised himself he’d break into and explore one of these days, but for much of the time they were in terra incognita. For now there was something strangely comfortable about following somebody else’s tracks, being devoid of direct responsibility. As he drove, Zak realized that this business of following somebody in a car didn’t require nearly as much skill as you might think.

  Finally they were somewhere in sight of rail yards and landfills. The traffic was thin; the Cadillac and the station wagon were among the few cars on the road. And then up ahead Zak saw a cluster of linked buildings: raised up, set back, brooding, with some fancy architectural additions on the roof. The Cadillac began to slow down: this looked like journey’s end. There was a skinny old man at the gate, which opened up as the Cadillac approached, and Billy Moore drove inside. Zak continued to drive on at a stately pace, quick enough, he hoped, to seem unremarkable, but slow enough so they could get a look inside: a couple of ill-matched men waiting in the courtyard.

  Zak drove on farther, skirted the compound, eyeing the height of its walls, the bars on the windows, the degree of impenetrability, the NO TRESPASSING and ARMED RESPONSE signs. He tried not to feel daunted. When they were far enough away, he did a U-turn so that the station wagon was now facing the compound again, and pulled off the road, down onto a gravel shoulder. He stopped in the deep shadow of a railway arch, between a couple of wrecked dump trucks, a place from which they could neither see the compound nor be seen from it. He killed the car’s lights and engine, and he and Marilyn sat and waited, neither of them with much sense of what they were waiting for.

  “You don’t think that’s Billy Moore’s place?” Zak said, for the sake of having something to say.

  “I’m guessing not,” said Marilyn. “A guy who lives in a trailer in a parking lot generally doesn’t have a second home.”

  “Still, nice Fortress of Solitude, whoever owns it. That’s a Superman reference.”

  “Thank you, Zak.”

  “So what do you think is going on in there?” he asked—a dumb question for sure.

  “Who knows? Sex, drugs, cartography?”


  Time passed, but reluctantly. Zak thought of turning on the radio, but no, that would have been crass.

  “You know,” he said, “I’m pretty certain I could climb up those walls and get into that compound.”

  “You think?” said Marilyn dubiously.

  “It’s what I do—well, a part of what I do. I’m not one of those serious ‘infiltrators’ or parkour guys, but when you do a bit of urban exploration there’s almost always some wall or fence that needs scaling.”

  “That would be quite a climb,” Marilyn said.

  “You think I couldn’t do it?”

  “I’m sure you could,” she said, but it didn’t sound as if she was sure at all.

  “You want me to do it?”

  “Let’s wait awhile,” said Marilyn.

  They waited awhile: nothing continued to happen. Zak was getting very twitchy. He was also starting to feel reckless. He reached out and took Marilyn’s hand. Her eyes arched above her tortoiseshell frames in quiet disbelief.

  “What are you doing?” Marilyn demanded.

  “Being affectionate,” he said.

  “You don’t think sitting in the car holding hands is a little bit … juvenile?”

  She shook her hand free.

  “Well, we could do more than hold hands,” said Zak.

  “What, you think we should start necking? You think we should do some heavy petting?”

  “No, no,” said Zak. “I was just being … nervous.”

  “You know, timing is really all-important in these things.”

  He was silent for a long time, weighing the extent of his rejection and humiliation.

  “Okay, then,” he said at last, “I’m going in.”

  At another time and place Marilyn might have thought this was a fresh declaration of sexual intent, but in the circumstances she knew he meant that he was intending to climb the face of the compound and get inside.

  “You sure that’s wise?” said Marilyn.

  “What’s the worst they could do to me?” said Zak.

  “Shoot you in the head?” Marilyn suggested.

  “No, I don’t think so. The way I see it, nobody who’s really capable of delivering an armed response is going to put up a sign saying ARMED RESPONSE, are they?”