I told McKesson the few details I knew about Holly’s disappearance. When I was finished, he yawned. I glared at him. He’d made clucking sounds of concern and asked a lot of questions, but none of them were about Holly. He wanted to know how many witnesses there were, what they had seen and heard. I knew he was forming up a mental list, compiling a report on this incident. How big was the exposure? Could it be contained?
From his point of view, there was no problem. No real witnesses, no residual effects or evidence. Just a few strange words from a landlady who was more worried about who was going to fix her door than about her tenant. I came to understand that no one was going to be overly concerned about the disappearance of an unemployed stripper.
“Look,” I said to McKesson, stepping close to have few intense, private words. “Forget about the event. That’s minor, and you are in the clear there. Now, I’m asking you to do the rest of your job—find Holly.”
McKesson sighed. “Oh, it’s like that, is it? Doing more than sleeping on her couch?”
I didn’t bother to deny his suggestion. It didn’t matter if Holly and I had slept together—even though we hadn’t, I still wanted her back.
“She’s missing,” I said, “and you know better than anyone what might have happened to her.”
“Look, Draith, we aren’t about to call out the bloodhounds and helicopters on this case. This isn’t a junior high kid with perfect grades. She had a history with drugs. People like Holly vanish every day on these streets just because they want to. She might be skipping out on her rent. She could be anywhere.”
I glared at him until I could speak without shouting. “You can’t keep the Gray Men out of here, you know. You can’t keep them a secret forever either. They are getting more and more bold. They are stepping into and out of our world as they please. Doesn’t that worry you?”
I had his attention now. “Yeah,” he admitted. “It does.”
“We had a gun battle in that mini-mansion in Henderson. What about the next time? What if they had been inside that place when we got there, a dozen of them or a hundred? Armed with weapons we can’t face?”
“This isn’t an invasion, Draith.”
“How can you be so sure?”
McKesson smiled wearily. “It’s not like that. They come for their own odd reasons. They’re more like mobsters than soldiers from a hostile nation.”
“You’ve talked to them?”
“You just have to trust me concerning their motivations.”
“All right,” I said. “But something is up. You know that as well as I do.”
McKesson looked thoughtful. “This is something that you can’t help me with. I would tell you to stay clear entirely, but I don’t think you can now.”
I stared at him. “Are you saying we have people going through to their side as well?”
McKesson laughed. “There you go, thinking big again. Thinking of Pentagon boys and agents with perfect teeth and black belts. It’s nothing so formal. We have our Community, they have their equivalent powers. We’ve had a truce for a long time, but—”
I cut him off. “A truce? How long?”
“Since the eighties, I guess,” he said. He eyed me as if worried he’d said too much. Finally, he shrugged. “Since the tests ended.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What tests?” I wanted to ask, but suddenly, McKesson leaned away.
I stepped forward and tried to look over his shoulder. He jabbed at me with his elbow, pushing me back. I came forward and grabbed his arm. I wrapped both my arms around his wrist and pulled his hand toward me.
We both stared at his wristwatch. The hands were moving, all three of them, all swinging around to point west.
“Something’s coming, isn’t it?” I asked. “Something is opening up. Is it close to us?”
McKesson had his hand on his pistol. “Let go of my arm,” he said, speaking each word with slow precision.
I let him go. He glared at me for a second, then relaxed. “I’ve shot men for less, you know,” he said.
“I’m sure you have.”
“There is something coming,” he said. “And yes, it will be close.”
I looked toward the west and I began walking that way, the direction the hands on his watch had indicated. McKesson made a sound of exasperation and followed me. It was dark now. The pale orange sodium lights flickered into life, illuminating the streets and the apartment complex.
“You should keep your nose out of this one, Draith. We have rules in place.”
“Rules?” I asked. “Since when are there rules in this game?”