Greg Rucka: A gentleman_s game

Chace nodded, not hearing him.

Landau sighed, put a card on the desk beside the pack of Silk Cut. "You call that number if you need anything, you understand, Miss Chace?"

"Sure."

He hesitated, then seemed to acknowledge there was nothing he could say that she wanted to hear. He left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

For several minutes, Chace stayed in the chair, staring at the Med. Then she roused herself enough to go to the desk and get the pack of cigarettes and the ashtray. There was a book of matches in the ashtray, and she used them to light the first smoke, then used the ember of the first to light the second, and so on.

She was on her eighth when the telephone rang.

She didn't answer it. • She called down to the desk and told them that she wasn't to be disturbed.

She undressed and went back to bed.

When she awoke next, it was early evening, and the message light on the telephone was blinking orange. She took another shower, then used the room service menu to order dinner, which was a bottle of scotch and a Caesar salad.

After lighting a cigarette, she picked up the phone again and called the hotel operator, saying that she would again be accepting calls. • The phone rang six minutes later, and she answered it this time, saying, "Yes."

"Tara," Crocker said. "You can come home now."