Binding the Shadows (Arcadia Bell) - By Jenn Bennett Page 0,58
soon see if he knows who’s distributing it.”
Lon scowled. Guess it was his turn to be grumpy now. Because he definitely wasn’t the only one with creepy friends.
I was supposed to meet Hajo at a pub, but he texted me as I was driving into Morella and asked if I’d come to his place instead. I hesitated, until he told me he was having some people over that lived in his high-rise. That sounded safer than meeting him alone, and to be honest, I was a little curious about his fancy apartment.
Hajo owned a condo on the twenty-second floor of one of the tallest buildings in downtown Morella. He’d first told me about the penthouse pad a month or so ago, at which time I accused him of being a showoff—he lived down the hall from a semi-famous professional football player with a five million dollar contract. Hajo claimed the real reason he bought it was because it was so far above all the dead bodies.
Hajo is a death dowser. That’s his Earthbound knack. He can track death trails all over the city and pinpoint where bones are buried. Though he’s tall, dark, and handsome, he spends most days being miserable, highly aware of every dead rat in the sewer.
Hajo is also a dick with a capital D.
Lon hates his guts, and he has plenty of reasons to resent the guy. Hajo has few scruples. He can’t keep a girlfriend because he has a fatalistic notion of fidelity and will fuck anything that doesn’t have the backbone to fend off his less-than-romantic come-ons. And yet, he’s too depressing and brooding to be a swinging, happy-go-lucky playboy. You almost feel sorry for him. Almost.
Around seven that night, I pulled the Jetta into the high-class parking garage below Hajo’s building. I was surprised Hajo was actually allowing me there, as he’s fiercely protective of his privacy. Like I’ve said, he won’t discuss anything illegal on the phone and prefers to meet in shady places. Comes with the territory, I suppose; drug dealers have to be on guard. And judging from the fancy digs, he was way better at his job than I’d first imagined.
I tried to text Lon and tell him about the change in the meeting place, but there was no reception in the elevator. He could’ve come with me, but in the end we decided that it wasn’t cool to ask his in-laws to babysit Jupe while we headed off to meet a drug dealer. Better to tell the smaller lie that I had to step out and take care of something related to the bar. He did warn me, as he always did when I met Hajo, that if I wasn’t back in two hours, he was coming to get me and possibly calling the police. I’d never tell Hajo this, of course; he’d probably take it as some testosterone-fueled compliment that Lon saw him, however remotely, as a potential threat.
The penthouse hallway had a modern art deco feel to it, with plush green carpeting and gold chevron uplit sconces on the walls. An even fancier gold elevator sat in the middle of the floor, manned by a building attendant. I found Hajo’s condo and swung the gold knocker against the door several times. It opened, and some waif of a girl stood on the other side. She looked up at my halo and said in an unidentifiable European accent, “Oh. He’s inside.”
Low, atmospheric trance music pulsed as I entered. I expected to see a few people. I didn’t expect to see a freaking party. Then again, it was the holidays. Thirty or forty people were buzzing around the large, dark apartment. The only light came from scattered candles, a few low-light lamps, and the entertainment: a video projector shining a Kenneth Anger film ten feet high across one wall. Jupe would shit a brick if he could see this setup. It was like the kid’s beloved drive-in, just indoors.
Damn, Hajo. His drug den was ten kinds of awesome: big and showy, with high ceilings and a long balcony stretching over a stunning city view. Way nicer than Peter Little’s place, actually. Lots of rich purple and golden green. Low, sleek furniture and pillows scattered everywhere, like some Middle Eastern palace. I wondered how many of the girls walking around with no shoes were part of his harem.
The waif left me on my own. I felt a little nervous around people who were way richer and hipper than me,