Meanwhile he was hungry.

He went back down to his car and drove to the nearest drive-in, a hamburger joint on Pico. They knew him there. He had a double cheeseburger and a strawberry shake.

He went home, intending to go to bed. Then he remembered that he owed Morton a call.

"I'm glad you called," Morton said, "I've just been going over some things withgoing over some things. Where are we now on my donations to NERF? The Vanutu lawsuit, all that?"

"I don't know," Evans said. "The papers are drawn and signed, but I don't think anything's been paid yet."

"Good. I want you to hold off payments."

"Sure, no problem."

"Just for a while."

"Okay."

"There's no need to say anything to NERF."

"No, no. Of course not."

"Good."

Evans hung up. He went into the bedroom to get undressed. The phone rang again.

It was Janis. The exercise instructor.

"Hey," she said. "I was thinking about you, and I wondered what you were doing."

"As a matter of fact, I was going to go to bed."

"Oh. Pretty early for that."

"I just got in from Iceland."

"So you must be tired."

"Well," he said. "Not that tired."

"Want company?"

"Sure."

She giggled and hung up.

Evans awoke to the sound of rhythmic gasping. He flung his hand across the bed, but Janis wasn't there. Her side of the bed was still warm. He raised his head slightly, yawning. In the warm morning light he saw one slender, perfectly formed leg rise above the foot of the bed, to be joined by the other leg. Then both legs slowly descended. Gasping. Then legs up again.