Read Ambient 06 - Going, Going, Gone for Free Online Page B

business?« I asked.
    »Coincidence, undoubted,« she said. »You’ve seen them here?«
    »Today,« I said. »First time I saw ’em though was last night, in DC. Then again this morning.«
    »Washington, DC?«
    »Know the place?«
    Eulie looked less than slaphappy. Chlojo lifted her head like she wanted to give the ceiling a onceover. She had as many scars under her chin as she did on her face, and it struck me she’d been through major trauma. Car wreck? High-school chemistry experiment gone haywire? Crazy boyfriend? She was put back together pretty well, considering. Maybe she used to work as a lab rat for a Palm Springs nip and tuck man. Some scalpel jockey honing his blade on the riffraff before trimming the dowagers. »Saw here when?« Eulie asked, leaning forward, legs apart. »Oh,« I said, »before I went to Max’s. I spun some platters and they hightailed it.«
    I subtly began to fold up in the middle, because my southern inflation was starting to become a little too obvious. I was damned every which way and up with these gals. Didn’t matter if I tried not to go on beaver patrol with Eulie; I’d slide my eyes in the opposite direction and there I’d be, gazing deep into Chlojo’s posturepedic couture. Their six of one and half dozen of the other was knocking me way past blueball into mood indigo. The worst of it was that no matter how much these two were giving me happy pants, not knowing who they really were or why they were really here made me feel like a cat in a bag listening to the riverboats getting louder.
    »You see them now?« Eulie asked.
    »Nowhere nohow,« I said. »They weren’t much for tunes.«
    »We need to execute necessaried tests. Is that acceptable?«
    »Sure,« I said, »don’t let me get in the way.«
    She nodded to Chlojo and they started unloading their
    gear. I picked up her empty satchel thinking at first it was
    leather but finding out soon enough it wasn’t leather or
    plastic. Whatever it was, it looked expensive, so I guessed
    the stuff was one of those new miracle space age things like
    Tang. Eulie positioned a set of twelve little black blocks on
    the floor and started tapping each of them in turn with a foot-long black rod. The tip of the gizmo was round and I couldn’t help wondering if Trish had been right, and my unforgettable guests were little miss muffets after all. Sad story indeed if true but I thought I’d wait till all evidence was in before passing judgement. Eulie stroked the beast’s sides in the expected manner as she tapped each box. The tip lit up with a pink glow like a car’s cigarette lighter. She aimed her rod my way, and it was hard not to flinch.
    »Chlojo, position in accordance.« She snatched up the boxes and laid them out in a semicircle on the hearth, in front of my bricked-up fireplace, on the hearth. »We’ll ready en momento.«
    The little one was a charmer, no doubt; impressive as I might have thought Chlojo to be at the getgo, the longer I was around her the more I found myself developing a soft gooey centre for the wee missy. She had some trace of an accent; sounded familiar. »You two New Yorkers?« I asked.
    She shook her head. »Jersey.«
    Farmer’s daughters going hogwild in the big city: that explained their fashion parade if not the goofball behaviour. You may take the girl out of Secaucus but you can’t take Secaucus out of the girl. My nerves started doing that jingle-jangle-jingle; I knew if I was going to keep playing host with the most I was going to need relief.
    »You ladies wouldn’t drop your drawers if I fired up, would you?«
    »What?« Eulie asked. Chlojo finished lining up the boxes and stood up. I took a pinch and a Bugler from the stash at hand and started up a one-hand Detroit roll.
    »Herbifaction,« Chlojo said to Eulie.
    »Of course.«
    »Muchas thankas,« I said. After giving the bone a quick lick I flipped up the crystal on my Doxa Firelight and clicked the bottom stem; the fire flowered up from the face