“You need to call him or something?” she asked. “Or should we just go back?”

Indecision ran through his expression. I didn’t think he’d ever encountered anyone just walking into the building and saying they wanted to see Laser.

“We’re going back, Marty,” Isabel said, starting to walk.

We followed her and Marty stayed behind, not leaving his post. I wondered if there would be any consequences for him.

Isabel led us down a shadowed hallway and around a corner. There were people in sleeping bags in several open-doored rooms, passed out and huddled together for warmth. The building wasn’t as cold as the outdoors, but the fact that I could see my breath as we walked told me the heat wasn’t on, either.

We came to another set of locked off doors. There was an intercom and buzzer next to the door. Isabel stuck her finger on the buzzer.

“Yeah?” A voice asked through it.

“It’s Isabel,” she said. “I need to see Laser.”

“He ain’t seein’ anyone.”

“I need to see Laser. Tell him I’m here,” she said.

Thirty seconds later the door lock clicked and it opened. A tall, lanky guy in a gray hooded sweatshirt and black nylon sweatpants stood in the doorway.

“What do you want?” he asked Isabel, then looked quickly at Boyd and Stevie before letting his eyes settle on me.

“I need to talk to him,” Isabel said. “Won’t take long.”

“He’s asleep,” the guy said, still staring at me.

“Wake him up then,” she said. “And you can tell him I told you to. But I’m talking to him.”

The guy frowned, stuck his hands in the front pocket of the hoodie. “Wait here,” he finally said and closed the doors.

I looked at Stevie and Boyd. “Either of you carrying?”

Stevie shook his head and Boyd’s face colored.

“Okay,” I told Boyd. “You’re our only cover. When we get to him, whatever kind of room we’re in, make sure you move away from the three of us. If things go wrong, we don’t want to be a cluster target. But do not bring it out unless it’s absolutely necessary. Clear?”

Boyd nodded, relieved I wasn’t angry. “Got it.”

“And the guy that answered the door?” I said to him, then looking at the other two. “He had something on his left hip. Assume everyone from here on in is armed. Doesn’t mean we’ll see anything, but be cautious and be prepared.”

Stevie did his usual shrug, while Boyd nodded.

Isabel looked tense.

“You’re doing fine,” I told her. “You’re being pushy. That’s good.”

“Good until someone gets shot,” she muttered.

The door lock unlatched from the other side and the guy in the sweatshirt was back. “Okay, he says come in.”

The four of us stepped through the door. The hallway here was better lit and as we walked, I counted twelve doors, six on either side of the hall, all of them closed. We turned a corner at the end of the hall and the doors at the end of this last hall were open. It would’ve been the boss’s office if it was still an office building.

Instead, it was Laser’s home.

Indirect lighting in the corners gave the entire room a shadowy feel. A bed was pushed over into one corner, a large desk on the other. A flat screen was attached to the back wall in front of a couple of leather recliners. Two space heaters sat on opposite walls, heat emanating from them.

A small guy in his twenties with thick glasses and short brown hair was in one of the recliners, his feet propped up, a Diet Coke in one of his hands.

Another guy sat on the edge of the desk. About the same age, but heavier, a baseball cap on backwards above large eyes and a flat nose. He had on a long sleeve Vikings T-shirt and shiny white sweatpants.

“A little late for you, Isabel,” the guy in the chair said. “I’m kinda irritated.”

“Looks like you were awake, Laser,” she said. “So, I don’t feel too bad.”

Laser chuckled, then did a slow take on the rest of us. “Stevie. Boyd. I know you two. But I’m not familiar with your friend.”

I didn’t say anything.

“He’s my friend,” Isabel said.

“Check him, Nate,” Laser said.

The guy on the desk slid off the edge and walked over to me. Which was good because it gave Boyd the opportunity to drift over to the wall, away from us.

“Arms up,” Nate said.

I held my arms out and he did an incredibly lazy pat down. He missed at least three places I could’ve hidden a weapon and I knew that one day his arrogance would probably get him killed.

“Clean,” Nate said, then retook his post on the desk.

“Who are you, dude?” Laser asked, adjusting his glasses.

“Isabel’s friend,” I said. “Just giving her a hand.”

“And maybe giving her a little something else?” he said, then chuckled at his own joke.

Isabel’s face reddened.

“I heard you were kind of an asshole,” I said. “Good to know people don’t lie.”

His chuckled died and he pushed the recliner forward, standing up. He was a good five inches shorter than me and at least fifty pounds lighter. “Excuse me?”

I stepped toward him and kept an eye on Nate. “I said I heard you were kind of an asshole and you proved that right. Are you deaf, too?”

He was taken aback by my coming forward and he took a step back toward his chair before he realized he’d done it. He stopped and sort of wobbled, trying to catch his balance.

Nate stayed in place.

“We’re looking for a girl named Jessica,” I said. “I’m told she’s here.”

“Yo, man,” he said, sticking out his chest, trying to recover. “You better chill.”

“Or?

“Or?” he asked confused.

“Or what?” I asked, stepping even closer, crowding him. “If I don’t chill. What’s gonna happen? Let me know what I’m up against here.” I nodded at Nate. “I’m aware of him. But is that it? Because if you’re gonna threaten me, you’re gonna need a little more than him.”

Confusion ran through Laser’s eyes and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nate start to move.

“Hold it,” Boyd said.

I turned my head. Nate’s hand was at the back of his waistband, but Boyd already had his gun out, locked in on Nate.

Boyd was turning out to be alright after all.

“I got him,” Stevie said and moved behind Boyd and over to Nate. Nate’s hands were up and clear and Stevie pulled the handgun from Nate’s waist and stepped over near Boyd.

I turned back to Laser. “So. Or what?”

Laser swallowed hard and backed up until he stumbled against his recliner. There was nowhere for him to go. “Yo, man. There’s a lot of people here.”

“No,” I said. “There’s a lot of girls here. Not people. Girls.”

“Man, you don’t know…”

I shoved him hard and he fell back into the recliner. “Don’t tell me what I don’t know. Tell me where I can find Jessica.”

Laser adjusted his glasses. “Take it easy.”

“No, I’m done taking it easy,” I said. I motioned at Stevie. “Gimme that.”

Stevie hesitated then handed me the gun.

I held the gun and looked at Laser. “Open your mouth.”

“What?” he said.

“Open your mouth.”

“Look, man, I…”

I pressed the barrel to his lips. “Open.”

His eyes grew wide and he managed to get his mouth open wide enough for me to push the end of the barrel in.

“Was it like this, Boyd?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice tight, not enjoying the memory.

“Joe,” Isabel said. “Come on.”

I ignored her and looked at Nate. “Your gun, right?”

Nate nodded.

“So, when I blow his head off, it’s gonna look like you did it,” I said. “So, not only am I gonna kill your buddy here, but you’ll get the blame. You see where I’m going with this, Nate?”

Nate swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

“Joe,” Isabel said, her voice louder. “Stop.”

Laser squirmed in the recliner, sucking on the gun.

“Doesn’t feel good, does it?” I asked him. “Probably about as comfortable as being locked in a room in this dump.”

He couldn’t take his eyes from the barrel.