I smiled.

"Who is Mr. Demon?"

"He's a wrestler. Mommy says you wrestle with demons and he's the boss of all of them."

"I see."

I looked over her head at Eleanor and smiled. I wasn't mad about anything. I was simply in love with my daughter and how she viewed her world. The literal way in which she took it all in and took it on. I knew it wouldn't last long and so I treasured every moment I saw and heard of it.

"Can I keep this picture?"

"How come?"

"Because it is beautiful and I want to always have it. I have to go away for a while and I want to be able to look at it all the time. It will remind me of you."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going back to the place they call the City of Angels."

She smiled.

"That's silly. You can't see angels."

"I know. But look, Mommy has a new book to read to you about a monkey named Billy. So I'm going to say good night now and I'll get back to see you as soon as I can. Is that okay, baby?"

"Okay, Daddy."

I kissed her on both cheeks and hugged her tight. Then I kissed the top of her head and let her go. I stood up with my picture and handed her the book Eleanor would read to her.

"Marisol?" Eleanor called. Marisol appeared within a few seconds, as if she had been waiting in the nearby living room for her cue. I smiled and nodded to her as she received her instructions.

"Why don't you take Maddie in and get her set up and I'll be right in after saying good night to her father."

I watched my daughter leave with her nanny.

"I'm sorry about that," Eleanor said.

"What, the picture? Don't worry about it. I love it. It's going on my refrigerator."

"I just don't know where she picked it up. I didn't directly say to her that you fight demons. She must have overheard me on the phone or something."

Somehow I would have liked it better knowing she had said it directly to our daughter. The idea that Eleanor was talking about me in such a way to someone else-someone she didn't mention at the moment- bothered me. I tried not to show it.

"It's all right," I said. "Look at it this way, when she goes to school and kids say their dad is a lawyer or a fireman or a doctor or something, she's got the trump card. She'll tell them her daddy fights demons."

Eleanor laughed but then cut it off when she thought of something.

"I wonder what she'll say her mother does."

I couldn't answer that, so I changed the subject.

"I love how her view of the world is uncluttered by deeper meanings," I said as I looked at the picture again. "It is so innocent, you know?"

"I know. I love that, too. But I can understand if you don't want her thinking you're out there literally wrestling with demons. Why didn't you explain it to her?" I shook my head and thought of a story.

"When I was a kid and I was still with my mother, there was this time that she had a car. A two-tone Plymouth Belvedere with push-button automatic transmission. I think her lawyer gave it to her to use or something. For a couple years. Anyway, she suddenly decided she wanted to go cross-country on a vacation. So we packed the car and just took off, her and me.

"Anyway, somewhere in the south-I don't remember where-we stopped for gas and there were two water fountains on the side of this service station. There were signs, you know. One said white and the other said colored. And I just sort of went up to the one marked colored because I wanted to see what color the water was. Before I got to it my mom yanked me back and sort of explained things to me.

"I remember that and sort of wish she'd just let me see the water and didn't explain anything."

Eleanor smiled at the story.

"How old were you?"

"I don't know. About eight."

She stood up then and came over to me. She kissed me on the cheek and I let her. I put my arm loosely around her waist.

"Good luck with your demons, Harry."

"Yeah."

"If you ever change your mind about things, I'm here. We're here."

I nodded.

"She's going to change your mind, Eleanor. You wait and see." She smiled but in a sad way and gently caressed my chin with her hand.

"Will you make sure the door is locked when you leave?"

"Always."

I let go of her and watched her walk out of the kitchen. I then looked down at the drawing of the man fighting his demon. In the picture my daughter had put a smile on my face.

Before going up to my efficiency at the Double X, I stopped by the office and told Mr. Gupta, the night man, that I would be checking out. He told me that because I had been keeping the place on a weekly basis, my credit card had already been dinged for the entire week and I told him that was fine, I was still leaving. I told him I would leave the key on the dinette table after I gathered up my belongings. I was about to leave the office when I hesitated and then asked him about my neighbor Jane.

"Yes, she is gone, too. Same thing."

"What do you mean, same thing?"

"We charge her for a week but she not stay a week."

"Hey, do you mind me asking, what was her full name? I never got it."

"She is Jane Davis. You like?"

"Yeah, she was nice. We talked on the balconies. I didn't get to say good-bye. She didn't leave a forwarding address or anything like that, did she?" Gupta smiled at the prospect of this. He had very pink gums for someone with such dark skin.

"No address," he said. "Not that one."

I nodded my thanks for the information he had given me. I left the office and went up the stairs and then down the walkway to my room.

It took me less than five minutes to gather my things. I had some shirts and pants on hangers. I then took out of the closet the same box in which I had brought everything and filled it with the rest of my belongings and a couple of toys I kept in the place for Maddie. Buddy Lockridge had been close, calling me Suitcase Harry. But Beer Box Harry would have been better.

Before leaving I checked the refrigerator and saw I had one bottle of beer left. I took it out and cranked it open. I figured one beer for the road wouldn't hurt me. I had done worse in the past before a drive. I thought about making another cheese sandwich but skipped it when the thought reminded me of Backus's routine of eating grilled cheese sandwiches each day at Quantico. I went out onto the balcony with the beer for one last look at the rich men's jets. It was a cool and crisp evening. The blue lights on the far runway twinkled like sapphires.

The two black jets were gone, their owners either quick winners or losers. The big Gulfstream remained in place, red dust caps over the intakes on its jet engines. It was settled in. I wondered what the jets might have had to do with Jane Davis and her stay at the Double X.

I looked over at Jane's empty balcony, just four feet from my own. The ashtray was sitting on the railing and I could see it was still filled with half-smoked butts. Her unit had not been cleaned yet. And that gave me an idea. I looked around and down at the parking lot. I saw no human movement except for out on Koval, where the traffic was stalled at a traffic light. I saw no sign of the night security man or anyone else in the parking lot. I quickly hoisted myself up onto the railing and was about to climb across to the next balcony when I heard a knock on my door. I quickly dropped back down and went in and answered the door.

It was Rachel Walling.

"Rachel? Hello. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing that catching Backus couldn't cure. Can I come in?"

"Sure."

I stepped back to let her enter. She saw the box with my belongings piled into it. I spoke first.

"How did it go today when you got back into town?"

"Well, I got the usual tongue-lashing from the SAC."