keyon0910

@@@@@No word of her condition was available at press time My Minnesota people knew that on the night of my triumph, a good friend had diedThere would be bursts of laughter and occasional raillery, then glances in my direction to see if I mindedBy nine-thirty, the scrambled eggs I'd eaten were sitting like lead in my stomach, and I was getting one of my headaches - the first in almost a month I excused myself to go upstairsI'd left a small bag in the room I hadn't slept inThe shaving kit contained several foil packets of Zomig, a migraine medicationIt wouldn't stop a full-blown Force 5, but it usually worked if I took a dose early enoughI swallowed one with a Coke from the bar fridge, started to leave, and saw the light on 773 the phone flashingI almost left it, then realized the message might be from Wireman It turned out there were half a dozen messages The first four were more congratulations, which fell on my aching head like pellets of hail on a tin roofBy the time I got to Jimmy's - he was the fourth - I had begun punching the 6-button on the keypad, which hurried me on to the next messageI was in no mood to be stroked The fifth message was indeed from Jerome Wireman He sounded tired and stunned"Edgar, I know you've got a couple of days earmarked for family and friends, and I hate like hell to ask you this, but can we get together at your place this afternoon? We need to talk, and I mean really Jack spent the night here with me at El Palacio - he didn't want me to be alone, that's one helluva good kid - and we were up early, hunting for that red basket she was on about, andBetter late than never, right? She wanted you to have it, so Jack took it over to Big PinkThe house was unlocked, and listen, Edgarsomeone's been inside 774 Silence on the line, but I could hear him breathingThen: "Jack's severely freaked, and you got to prepare for a shock, muchachoThough you may already have an idea-" There was a beep, and then the sixth message startedIt was still Wireman, now rather pissed off, which made him sound more like himse