Chapters (42)
- DEDICATION
- EPIGRAPH
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- ALSO BY RICHARD KADREY
- CREDITS
- ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
“I can’t hear you. Maybe you should say that again with boots and a riding crop.”
“In your dreams.”
“Tonight at least.”
Giselle gunned the engine and they drove back to Hollywood.
Going down the hill was faster than going up. It only took thirty minutes to get to the Roosevelt Hotel.
“Here we are,” Giselle said.
“Here we are.”
She hesitated. “Maybe I was a little hasty earlier. I could come in and help you pick out some things.”
Coop looked out the window and shook his head. He’d turned it over in his head a dozen times on the way back to town and decided that the whole thing was just too weird to take in. “Not tonight. This is something I want to do on my own. You’re classy and everyone will know it. These snooty clotheshorses won’t want me in their shop, which is why I want to be there alone. Rub their noses in me getting some good stuff.”
“I understand,” said Giselle. “Have a good time. I’ll see you at work tomorrow. I’ll send a car to pick you up at nine.”
“I’m capable of driving myself.”
“You don’t know where it is.”
“I’ll be ready at nine.”
“Good boy.”
“Well, good night.”
“Good night,” said Giselle.
They sat there looking at each other for a minute. Coop felt thirteen again. He and Giselle leaned in and had a brief, awkward hug. He got out and waved to her through the window. She nodded to him and drove off.
What the hell was I just thinking? I’m way off my game. She wanted to come in and I said no. Why did I do that? I have no game anymore. None. Even if I had game, it would be tic-tac-toe, a game only played by computers, crazy people, and chickens at state fairs.
Coop took a breath and went into the Roosevelt Hotel, wondering how the hell he was going to explain any of this to Morty.
Jerry parked a block back from the Roosevelt, keeping an eye on the Honda. Coop got out after a couple of minutes and went inside. Dammit. Jerry was too far away to catch up with Coop and see where he was going.
Jerry watched the Honda pull back into traffic. At least the night wasn’t a total loss. Finding out where Coop’s girl lived was almost as good as finding him. He put the Prius in gear and followed her all the way home.