TWENTY-ONE
DENVER, COLORADODuke Johnson wheeled the Cadillac to the boarding house curb. He peeked into the rear-view mirror at Ramona Parker adjusting her dress and sliding out the back passenger door. Tears filled her eyes, as she walked on unsteady legs to the front door as if in a trance. Neither she nor Jeffries said a word in parting.
Duke knew what had transpired when he had gone for a walk in the country before the sun went down. It was the same thing that happened the other times that Jeffries took a woman to the same deserted road. Duke knew what it was all about tonight. The boss had the goods on Ramona, based on what Duke had discovered through a detective friend in Georgia.
Duke watched her stumble up the steps in the darkness to the door, seeing the pain in her every movem
