Malany awoke with a start. She had fallen asleep with her clothes on in the moon glow of the TV screen, something she never liked to do. The phone was ringing at a glass-breaking pitch. It was Beckman on the other end, sounding worried, and announcing that he had been arrested and was going to be put in jail if she didn’t bail him out. He would furnish all the details when she arrived.
She heard him say “What?” to someone in the room. There was the hum of panic in his voice. Then the phone went dead. She hurriedly called a cab, grabbed the white envelope of money, and ran down to the lobby to wait.
Beckman was followed into the station waiting room by a policeman streaked with polished black leather belts bejeweled with gleaming bullets. The policeman glared with undisguised contempt, fi
