[Greg Anos]

"Wait for ten minutes, then plug him and join us at the beachfront place."

Not on my watch, he wouldn't. I stomped on the gas and came roaring to the hideout.

Just as I was getting there, a black Caddy came roaring out of the garage. I tried to cut him off, but I could only put a dent into his back fender. He kept goin' like the entire FBI was on his tail.

I couldn't follow, 'cause I had to rescue Rock. At least they hadn't time to close the garage door.

I stopped the car and got out. I looked in the garage and saw what looked like a pile of old clothes on the garage floor near the house. I pulled my .22 and did a hide-and-rush to the garage. No fire from the house. So far, so good.

I got to the clothes pile. It was Rock, all right. And he wasn't movin'.

I checked the pulse. Strong and steady. I looked around and saw the remains of a broken 2x4 and a dented fedora. I smiled. Rock may not have the tunic of a Musketeer, but he has the skull of a '40's PI. Solid granite. Now for the fun part...

I opened the back door and did a leap-and-roll into the house, popping up with the .22 leveled and my back to a wall. No movement.

I had to do one of those athletic house searches, wishing I had somebody to back me up. In the living room, I found one of Harry's goons, sound asleep on the floor. I thought about lengthening his sleep with another bop on the head, but I was gonna to need to question him later. There was a door to a basement, which I jammed. I wasn't gonna tackle a basement without Rock backing me up, after he came to.

The house was clean. I was a bit tuckered out. All the adrenaline, and running, leapin' and bouncing on and off the floor was making me think I was a Dallas Cowboy, without the criminal record.

Once I cleared the house, I tied up the goon with my best hog-tie knots, and went to check on Rock.

He was starting to stir, I went back into the house and got a bottle of Bourbon from the wet bar.

He saw me when I returned. "Why don't you take the heavy end next time?"

"Here Rock, have a shot of whiskey."

He did. "How long was I out?"

"Maybe five minutes. Do you want me to haul you to an E.R., my treat?"

"What kind of P.I. do you think I am? I'm just warming up."

I knew I'd get that answer, but I had to ask. I also had to keep an eye on him as well. Even granite can break

"When you feel able, I've got the goon tied up in the living room."

"Your usual job?"

"My best knots, short of doin' him up as a bag job."

"His name is Solly." Rock managed to get up, a bit unsteady, but up.

I led him to the livin' room and got him a chair. Solly was awake, too.

"Hello, Solly. I said. "Have a nice nap?"

He glared at me.

"A shot of bourbon?" I offered.

He responded with a string of curses.

"Friendly fella, Rock. You want to do the interrogation, or shall I?"

"It's been a hard night. You do something for once, other than setting me up as a clay pidgeon."

"I guess you have a point there, Rock." I took a slug of Bourbon.

"Ok, Solly, where's the beach house."

"Like I'm gonna tell a fat P.I. and his dumb sidekick."

"Now Solly, that's not the right way to look at things. Your boss told you to drop by after 10 minutes. How can we drop you off, if we don't know where you need to go?"

"You're not gettin' anything out of me with those trick questions."

"Solly, here I am, bein' a nice guy to you, and that's all the thanks I get. I got you a nice chair, offered you a drink, even offered you a ride to work. What more do you want?"

He made a suggestion that was anatomically impossible.

I clucked. "You want to add anything, Rock?"

Rock shook his head and winced. "I don't think my head is ready for shaking yet."

"Just take it easy, Rock. I'll handle this Gorilla." I turned back to Solly who was grinning. "You'd better wipe that grin off your face, or I'll use your head for pinata practice."

Soly sneered, "You wouldn't dare."

I took another sip of Bourbon. "You're right, Solly. In about another five minutes. I'll have to go looking for Harry the old-fashioned way. Meanwhile, in about another hour and thirty minutes, an old friend of mine will be landing at Love field. It's somebody you know, coming straight from Chi-town."

Solly turned a little pale, but kept it out of his voice. "You don't scare me."

"Too bad, I figgered you'd be smart enough to know when to be scared. You see, that mutual friend is a lady named BadGoodDeb."

Solly turned real pale then and started sweating.

"You see, she has a legit bounty from the City of Chicago to bring back your boss. And her favorite dog is the one your boss dognapped. When she finds out you know where they both are, she's not gonna be a nice guy like me. But suit yourself. All I'll do is make a phone call. I'll have nothing to do with anything else that happens." I gave him a big smile.

I then looked at the clock on the wall. "You have five minutes before I leave the message with BadGoodDeb."