Coop thought for a minute. “You know, if someone told me that being kidnapped and locked in a Dr. Who theme park was not the weirdest thing that was going to happen to me today, I might not have believed them.” He patted himself down for a cigarette, then remembered that they were gone with his new clothes. “Wait a minute. When you stole my stone, is that what I was supposed to do? I was supposed to round up a posse and track you down?”

Giselle glanced around the room. “It would have been nice.”

“When you disappeared I was under the impression that you didn’t exactly want to see me. If you wanted me to find you, you might have left a trail of bread crumbs or something.”

Giselle pointed the toe of one shoe at his torn pants. “What happened to your nice clothes? They’re all dirty and ripped.”

“Did you ever see The Great Escape?”

“Sure.”

“I pulled a Steve McQueen.”

She nodded. “That’s why Nelson likes you so much. You almost got away.”

“Almost got away is being generous. But I got to spend some quality time with someone’s pet direwolf.”

“Yeah, I heard potbellied pigs are out and wolves are in. Was it friendly?”

“Most of it. Just not its teeth.”

“I’m sure you could have charmed it if you’d tried.”

“I was too busy trying not to look like a T-bone steak.”

Giselle smiled at him, but Coop didn’t smile back. His face had redeveloped amnesia when it came to smiling.

“What exactly am I doing here?” he said. “What are we supposed to be doing together?”

She came over to the table and sat down a couple of chairs away from him. “It’s like Salzman said. The DOPS wants the box. You need to get it for them. And I’m here to help you.”

“You had a nose transplant? You’re a bloodhound now? Because unless you are, it’s like I told your boss: I wouldn’t know where to begin finding Babylon.”

Giselle wiggled her eyebrows for a second. He’d forgotten she did that when she was about to tell a secret. Coop had a feeling he’d forgotten a lot about her. He’d sure tried hard enough and had the hangovers to prove it.

“I know how to find him,” said Giselle. “At least, I know where to start.”

“Where?”

“You know Jinx Town?”

“No. What’s that?”

“Have you heard of Squid City? Voodoo Beach? Little Midnight? The Fade District? Happy Valley? People call it a lot of things.”

Coop nodded. “Oh, yeah. I’ve heard of it. My brother used to call it Rancho Weirdo.”

“Charming. How is Nick?”

“I couldn’t tell you.”

“You’re still not speaking?”

“Yeah. Let’s go with that.”

Giselle waved a hand dismissively. “Forget him. What did you think of Jinx Town?”

“Nothing. I’ve never been.”