She frowned, and suddenly he regretted the remark. She was feeling bad enough. But it was true: He’d have to watch his back if he linked up with Alicia. Have to find out who was behind all the rough stuff, then throw them off balance by feeding them a few doses of their own medicine. Get them watching their backs.

“Hang in there,” he told her as he pulled open the door. “I’ll let you know if I come up with something.”

Jack walked away thinking about curiosity. One of his worst vices. Rarely did it fail to get him in trouble.

3.

3.

Jack spent most of the afternoon looking at real estate. He finally found the place he wanted: a three-story Victorian town house on West Twenty-first Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

The place had a history, and Dolores, the chubby agent from Hudak Realty, told him the whole sordid story. The previous owner had been a psychiatrist who’d blown his head off near Times Square and left the place to one of his patients. The patient later had an accident in the house and didn’t want to stay there. So she was offering it for lease, fully furnished.

“Perfect,” Jack told her. “But I must, absolutely must move in immediately. Rehearsals begin tomorrow, and I simply can’t have any distractions.”

Dolores said she was sure that would be no problem. She seemed ga-ga over the fact that her client was the actor who would be taking over the part of Javert in Les Miserables. He promised her tickets for his first performance. “When I step on that stage, you will be in the audience.”

Jack signed a one-year lease as Jack Ferris, then paid first-month and last-month rent plus a security deposit with a check from a Santa Monica bank. He’d be done with the place before it bounced.

On the way out of the Hudak office he managed to snag a few pieces of stationery, and a blank deposit receipt form.

He picked up a disposable Kodak camera and hurried back to snap a couple of photos of the town house before the light faded. Then he called Jorge and met him at the Malibu Diner on Twenty-third—decent coffee and a fabulous array of their own baked goods.

He gave him the camera and a sheet with the layout and copy for the flyers they’d planned.

“Get this printed up with the Hudak Realty letterhead on top. Then pass them out like we discussed.”

Jorge looked at the camera, at the rough sketch of the flyer, then at Jack.

“This will get me the money I am owed?”

Jack shrugged. “It’s bait. If Ramirez bites, we’ve got a shot. If he doesn’t, we’ll try something else.”

“All right. If you say so.”

Jorge left, shaking his head.

Jack couldn’t blame him. This was a long shot, even if Ramirez took the bait.