himself but despite the muscles there was something
preternaturally meek and childish about him.
“Mr, Carmichael, you were pretty keyed up over
the phone and you’re just as nervous inperson.
Want to tell us why?” Milo sat back-and crossed
his legs.
It’s always pathetic when someone physically impressive
starts to fall apart, like watching a monument
crumble. I saw the look on the blond man’s
face and wanted to be somewhere else.
“Tell us about it,” said Milo.
“It’s my own damned fault. Now I’m going to
pay.” He got up, went into the kihen, and came
back with a bottle of pills.
“B-twelve. I need R when I’m stressed out.” He
unscrewed the lid, shook out three capsules, swallowed,
and washed them down with coffee. “I
shouldn’t ‘be taking in so much caffeine but it calms
me down. Paradoxical reaction.”
“What’s on your mind, Doug?”
“My working at Adam and’Eve has been a a
secret. Until now. I knew all alon it was rfiky,
that I might run into someone who knew me. !
don’t know, maybe that was part of the thrill.”
“We’re not interested in your private life. Just in
what you know about Nona Swope.”
“But if it leads somewhere and ends up in court
I’m gonna be subpoenaed, right?”
“Could happen,” admitted Milo, “but we’re a
‘ long way from that. Right now we just want to find
144 Jonathan Kelhrrnm-
Nona and her parents so we can save a little boy’s’
life.” -.,-
The detective went on. in great detail about’
Woedy’s lymphoma. He’d retained everything I told
him and was throwing it back in Carmichael’s handsome
face. The biond man tried hard not to listen
but failed. He took all of it in, obviously pained. He
seemed a sensitive one and I found myself liking
him.
“Jesus. She told me she had a sick brother but
she never said how sick.”
“What else did she tell you?”
“Not much. leally. She didn’t say much about
anything. Talked about wanting to be an actress–the
usual delusional stuff you hear from most of
the girls. But she didn’t seem depressed like you’d
expect with a brother that sick.”
Milo changed the subject.
“What kind of gigs did you two do?”
Returning to the topic of his work made Car-michael
anxious ag ‘aim He tangled his fingers together
and twisted. Knots rose on the heavy, ams.
“Maybe I should get an attorney before we go any
further.”
“Stiit yourself,” said Milo, pointing to the phone.
Carmichael sighed and shook his head. “No. That
would only complicate things even more. Listen, I
can give you some insights into Nona’s personality
if that’s what you’re after.”
“It would help.”
“But that’s all I’ve got: Insights, no’ facts. How
about you forget where you got them from?”
“Doug,” said Milo, “we know who your father is
and we know all about, the bust, so stop dancing
around, okay ?”
Carmichael looked like a
stable, ready to bolt despite
“Don’t panic,” said Milo. “We couldn’
about that stuff.”
“I’m not some kind of pervert,” Carmichael
insisted. “If you traced me that far back you know
how it happened.”
“Sure. You were a dancer at Lancelot’s. After the
show one of the ladies in the audience picked you
up. Sex for money was discussed and she busted
yOU.”
“She entrapped me. The cunt!”
Lancelot’s was a male stripper joint in west L.A.
catering to women who thought liberation meant
aping the crudest aspects of male behavior. The
club had long been the object of neighborhood complaints
and a couple of years ‘back the police and
the fire inspectors had paid it lots of attention. A
harassment suit by the owner had ended that.
Milo shrugged. “Anyway, daddy got you off, the
file was closed, and you promised to behave yourself.”
“Yeah,” said Carmichael, bitterly: “End of story,
right? Only it wasn’t that simple.” The blue eyes
burned. “Dad commandeered my trust fund–money
left to me by my mom. It was illegal, I’m sure of it,
but the lawyer in charge of the trust is one of Dad’s
California Club buddies and before I knew it the
old man had all of it under his control. And me by