Fresco helped Garris up, got him undressed from his dripping clothes and put him to bed. The man was still drunk, muttering under his breath, only bits and whispers clear to the ear. Fresco heard his own name once, and Gina's, before he tumbled the scrawny and shriveled remains of the man into his dirty bed and let him sleep.

He took the key with him when he left, locking the door behind him. Fresco made about as much of an impact on the clerk on the way out as he did going ...