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who continued his patrol, leaving us alone.
    “Dave’s a fine fellow. His wife just had twins, and he’s glad to have the overnight shift.”
    We walked along the vacant sidewalk, my duffle bag slapping against my side.
    “Sleepy little town, won’t wake up until about nine or so,” he offered. “They deal mostly with tourists in the summer, so the rest of the year is spent getting ready for the visitors. Getting in the cheap toys to sell them at high prices, that sort of thing.”
    We strolled down another street, the pocket-sized stores tripping over each other in Martha Stewart levels of clichés and cuteness.
    “I’ve got the apartment up over the store here, share it with my roommate.” Harris stopped in front of a building and fumbled with the key. “Got sort of used to living over a business.”
    I peered through the window at the display of old-fashioned wooden signs and toys. A train pulling a trio of cars behind it sat on a green piece of felt, the slick varnished tracks laid out in a circle. Harris chuckled as he wrestled the lock open.
    “I do some wood burning for them, add a bit of antiquing to some of the stuff. It’s all legal, don’t worry. Tell them I have a kit upstairs, they don’t know the difference.” He wriggled his fingers in the air. “They cut me a good deal on the rent. The rest I make through doing odd jobs here in town. You’d be surprised how many people don’t like taking their trash to the dump.”
    I followed him up the wooden stairs, feeling a sense of déjà vu at climbing into a small apartment set over a store. My duffle scraped the walls as we headed for the top floor.
    “He’ll be here. Doesn’t go out much. Leaves me to buy the groceries.” The door swung open. “And beer.”
    The disapproving tone wasn’t lost on me.
    He called out as he walked in, “Told you she’d come.”
    I stepped up behind Harris, my eyes adjusting from the outside brightness. The apartment was tiny, maybe half the size of the Lair. The narrow hallway shot out into a larger open area, the kitchenette/dining room/living room/bedroom a jumbled mess of bachelorhood. Roughly stacked piles of laundry lay on the floor, creating an obstacle course along with a simple burglar alarm for unwelcome visitors. Two cases of beer, both open and one half-filled with empties, sat at the entrance to the kitchen, right beside the refrigerator. The lone window was covered with a pale blue sheet, the sunlight struggling to gain entrance from the street.
    A man looked over from the recliner set in one corner against the wall, the flickering images from the television set in front of him flashing over his face. I squinted, trying to size up Harris’s roommate.
    “I guess I owe you five bucks then.” He got to his feet, a giant of a man who easily matched Steve’s size and body shape. “I assume you fed her breakfast, since I just finished off the last bag of potato chips and I think the bread’s gone bad.”
    “I’m a good host,” Harris protested. “So don’t embarrass me. I know we’ve got that full jar of peanut butter and jelly and plenty of crackers.”
    The man chuckled as he took a few steps forward. “Never let it be said that you don’t know how to entertain a guest.”
    He stumbled against a stack of newspapers lying on the floor and grabbed the edge of the table. His dirty white T-shirt flopped free of his jeans, a portable napkin if the stains and splotches were any indication of his eating habits.
    I ran towards him, ready to catch him if he fell. Harris didn’t move. Instead he took off his jacket and hung it up on a coat rack, ignoring the man’s awkward walk towards us.
    “You’ll forgive my clumsiness.” He stopped in front of me and tilted his head to one side, letting the faint fluorescent light from above the sink illuminate his features. “I’m still getting used to this.” His right hand moved up, close to touching his cheek but stopping just shy.
    I stared at the