“This little cocksucker?” Hogg laughed. “Shit …” Then I think he changed his mind. “Sure as shit he helped me! Didn’t you, you little bastard!”

“Well, this ten—” Mr. Jonas pulled loose a bill and handed it to me—“is a tip for you … kid.” He would have been more comfortable saying young man. “And this is yours.” The bills offered between Mr. Jonas’ small, pale fingers crumpled in Hogg’s great, grubby ones.

Hogg shifted his weight and thumbed at his crotch, the bills clutched in a knot. I guess he was getting itchy. “You got anymore work for me to do, Mr. Jonas? I done the last job real good.” Reaching up, he pushed the fistful of pale green into his dark green shirt pocket. I could see a bill’s edge poking from a tear in the pocket bottom.

“Well …” Mr. Jonas stood awhile, thinking. “Now, I did tell some friends of mine about you, not too long ago, actually.… Last night, as a matter of fact. And they mentioned to me—they had come over to give them to me, actually—the names of three women that could use … well, some of your disciplining.”

I felt Hogg’s bass laugh down in my foot.

“Yes,” Mr. Jonas went on. “I believe they could.”

“Sure,” Hogg said. “Just tell me where to find them, Mr. Jonas—”

“One of these women, you see, cheated on a young man of my acquaintance—he was in my employ, that is, for a while … one of my bodyguards, I believe. Anyway, this young lady, though he’s lost all interest in her, not to say respect for her, he still wanted to make sure—”

“Shit,” Hogg said. “You know I don’t like to hear no pretty stories, Mr. Jonas. Just tell me who they are and where to find them. As long as they’re people who don’t want the police pryin’ into anything about them, I’ll stick the bitches.”

“Of course.” Mr. Jonas reached under the other lapel, took out an envelope. “In here is all the relevant information. I’m sure you’ll find it sufficient: names, addresses, and pictures. The two of them who have jobs, it tells where they work.”

“Yeah.” Hogg took the envelope. “That’ll be fine.” After all the runaround, he didn’t seem surprised.

“Hargus … eh, Hogg?”

Hogg asked: “What?”

“My friends and I—my bodyguard, and then the other two, who—well, we were talking about this, you see, and …” Mr. Jonas’ mouth moved around as though he were trying to catch out a fish bone with his front teeth. “Well, we all thought—my other friends as well, you see—that given the situation, we wanted something a little special for these young ladies. A little out of the ordinary. Do you know what I mean?”

“You want me to set it up so you can watch me work ’em over? Shit, Mr. Jonas, I don’t mind that. Cost you more. But lots of my customers like to watch me when I—”