“He knows where to find me,” I said. “But I don’t know how to find him.”

“That’s the way it always works, isn’t it?” she said. “Stay as long as you want. Let me know if I can help.”

—

By the time I got back to the hotel it was late afternoon. I’d stayed at the bar as long as I could, waiting for Frank to find me, waiting for Frank to contact me, waiting to figure out what had happened and where he was, waiting to think of something to say to Froehmer. None of it happened. I finally texted Froehmer that we wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. He never replied. When I got to the hotel, I understood why. He was waiting for me.

The elevator doors were about to close when an arm sent them back the other way. There were three other people in the car, none of whom looked too pleased that their ride was held up by a couple of seconds. Froehmer stepped into the car and didn’t acknowledge me at all. He stood silently across the car, then gave me a hard look. I stared straight ahead, watching the lights in the elevator. There were two stops before my floor and I didn’t know what to say to Froehmer when the time came. The car stopped and the doors opened and I walked down the hall to my room. Froehmer lagged behind me and I could practically feel his anger pressing against me, like the heat from a stove. I stopped at the door to my room and waited for him. He kept his distance and kept his eyes on me. “Everything all right?” he said.

“Everything’s all right,” I said.

“Where’s your partner?” He never said his name, always called him “partner.”

“He should be here soon.”

“Should we wait for him?” Froehmer said and motioned for me to open the door.

There was no point in me continuing to lie to him. I either had the thing for him or I didn’t, and if I didn’t I’d have to tell him where it was. We went into the room and Froehmer looked around. He could see the made bed, the empty bathroom, the empty closet. He sat down and waited for me to say something.

“I don’t know where Frank is, and he has the thing, but I’m sure I’ll hear from him soon. I just need more time.”

“When did you last hear from him?”

“This morning,” I said.

“He had the thing with him then?”

“He took it after,” I said. “But he’ll be back with it.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Froehmer said.

“What can he do with it, anyway?”

“He can fuck things up,” Froehmer said. “And he’s doing a good job of it.”

“There’s an explanation,” I said. “You’ll get what we came for.”