Pete Hatcher pushed through the warm, dry night air that was trapped between the tall hotels and casinos, feeling the stored heat from the sun still rising from the concrete to his ankles. He had tightened his back muscles to keep his spine straight and his shoulders back, but it felt like a pose, so he tried to lose his self-consciousness and slouch a little. It was hard to do anything for so many days without ruminating on the way it must look, what they must think about it. He had tried to look formidable and alert, as though he would be hard to kill. The idea was worse than childish. It was the reaction of an animal trying to convince a predator that he wasn't weak enough to take down just yet.

The part of Las Vegas that he loved was the Strip, with the exaggerated shapes of its giant buildings lit up in candy colors that burned against the blue-black desert sky, but being downtown like this was different. The carnival neons and incan-descents glared from all sides and bounced off asphalt and concrete, then washed across the faces of the people walking with him as a dead yellow-gray that cast deep shadows in their wrinkles and sunken eyes.

He followed a couple who seemed to sense it. Each eyed the other and the woman became uncomfortably aware that the ghastly light that had skinned the life from her beloved's cheek must have done the same to her own. She bravely forced a smile that only gave her face deeper hollows and the bared teeth of a skull. The pair reached the roofed-over mall, re-treated to the nearest glass door, and escaped into the soft blue of a bar lit with the twinkle of tiny star-white bulbs. When they had taken a few steps into the cool, machine-made air, Pete saw them both give a little shrug-and-shudder to be sure none of the leftover street magic was clinging to them.

Hatcher followed them through the bar into the big casino, then skirted the margin of the gaming floor, ignoring the din of the bells on the slots and the rattle of coins in the collection pans that bounced off the walls above his head to excite the customers. He moved deeper, staying far from the blackjack tables and crap tables, where bright overhead lights shone on the green felt and turned the dealers' starched white shirts into semaphores. He stepped to the little window in the wall a few feet apart from the cashiers' cages.

He said to the middle-aged woman behind the glass, "There was supposed to be a ticket for the midnight show left for me."

"Your name, sir?" He had somehow assumed she would know his face, but her expression was only attentive.

"Pete Hatcher."

Hatcher took the ticket and read the seat number while he was still in the light, then handed it to the girl in the fishnet tights and frock coat at the door and let her lead him into the show. Hatcher never looked back to see whether the two men were still following. They were.

The round walls of the room were lined with big plush booths in three tiers, and the space in front of the stage crowded with rows of long, narrow tables arranged like the spokes of a wheel so nobody in the cheap stackable chairs along them could see better than anybody else.

The woman he had been told to call Jane was already seated in the dark booth when he got there. She was thin, with gleaming black hair braided behind her head, a long, graceful neck, and bare shoulders that showed no trace of a line in the tan and made him want to believe that she was in the habit of sunbathing naked. He felt an unexpected, tearing pain when he looked at her, so he glanced at the stage. This was what he was about to lose--not the money or the fancy office or the clean, hot desert air. It was the women, ones like her. They weren't ever from here, but this was where Pete had always found them. It was as though they were the winners of some quiet beauty contest, judged not by a bunch of potbellied Chamber of Commerce types but by the women themselves, before they were even women. They seemed to take one look in the mirror and know that the creature looking back at them didn't belong in Biloxi or Minneapolis.

Les informations fournies dans la section � A propos du livre � peuvent faire r�f�rence � une autre �dition de ce titre.

Description de la librairie

Visitez la page d�accueil du vendeur

Informations commerciales relatives au vendeur

Gilbert Trading Company
LA, U.S.A.

Conditions de vente et de livraison

Conditions g�n�rales de vente

We guarantee the condition of every book as it's described
on the Abebooks web sites. If you're dissatisfied with your
purchase (Incorrect Book/Not as Described/Damaged) or if the
order hasn't arrived, you're eligible for a refund within 30
days of the estimated delivery date. If you've changed your
mind about a book that you've ordered, please use the Ask
bookseller a question link to contact us and we'll respond
within 2 business days.

Droit de r�tractation

Si vous �tes un consommateur, vous pouvez exercer votre droit de r�tractation sur le contrat conform�ment � ce qui suit. Le mot � consommateur � d�signe toute personne physique agissant � des fins qui n'entrent pas dans le cadre de son activit� commerciale, artisanale ou professionnelle.

Informations concernant le droit de r�tractation

Droit statutaire de r�tractation

Vous avez le droit d'exercer votre droit de r�tractation sur ce contrat dans les 14 jours sans donner de raison.

Le d�lai de r�tractation expirera au bout de 14 jours � compter du jour o� vous-m�me, ou un tiers autre que le transporteur et d�sign� par vous, prendrez physiquement possession de la derni�re marchandise, du dernier lot ou de la derni�re pi�ce.

Pour exercer votre droit de r�tractation, remplissez �lectroniquement et envoyez une d�claration claire sur notre site Web, sous � Vos achats � dans � Votre compte �. Nous vous communiquerons sans d�lai un accus� de r�ception de cette r�tractation sur un support durable (par exemple, par e-mail).

Pour respecter le d�lai de r�tractation, il vous suffit d'envoyer votre message concernant l'exercice de votre droit de r�tractation avant l'expiration du d�lai de r�tractation.

Effets de la r�tractation

Si vous exercez votre droit de r�tractation sur ce contrat, nous vous rembourserons tous les paiements que vous avez effectu�s, y compris les frais de livraison (� l'exception des frais suppl�mentaires r�sultant du choix d'un mode de livraison autre que le type de livraison standard le moins cher que nous proposons).

Nous pouvons d�duire du remboursement la perte de valeur de toute marchandise livr�e, si la perte est le r�sultat d'une manipulation inutile de votre part.

Nous effectuerons le remboursement dans les meilleurs d�lais, et au plus tard 14 jours apr�s le jour o� nous aurons �t� inform�s de votre d�cision d'exercer votre droit de r�tractation sur ce contrat.

Nous effectuerons le remboursement en utilisant le m�me moyen de paiement que celui que vous avez utilis� pour la transaction initiale, sauf si vous en avez express�ment convenu autrement ; en tout �tat de cause, aucuns frais ne vous seront factur�s � la suite d'un tel remboursement.

Nous pouvons suspendre le remboursement jusqu'� ce que nous ayons re�u les marchandises ou que vous ayez fourni la preuve que vous avez renvoy� les marchandises, en fonction de la premi�re �ventualit�.

Vous devez renvoyer les marchandises ou les remettre � Gilbert Trading Company, Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.A., sans retard injustifi� et, en tout �tat de cause, au plus tard 14 jours � compter du jour o� vous nous avez communiqu� votre d�cision de r�tractation du pr�sent contrat. Le d�lai est respect� si vous renvoyez les marchandises avant l'expiration du d�lai de 14 jours. Vous devrez prendre en charge les frais directs du renvoi des marchandises. Vous n'�tes responsable que de toute diminution de valeur des marchandises r�sultant d'une manipulation autre que celle n�cessaire pour �tablir la nature, les caract�ristiques et le fonctionnement des marchandises.

Exceptions au droit de r�tractation

Le droit de r�tractation ne s'applique pas � ce qui suit :

Distribution de journaux, de revues ou de magazines, � l'exception des contrats d'abonnement ; et
Fourniture d'un contenu num�rique qui n'est pas fourni sur un support mat�riel (par exemple, sur un CD ou un DVD) si vous avez accept�, lors de votre commande, que nous puissions commencer � le livrer et que vous ne puissiez pas exercer votre droit de r�tractation une fois la livraison commenc�e.

Conditions d'exp�dition

Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.

Frais d'exp�dition � l'int�rieur de ce pays�: Etats-Unis

Frais d'exp�dition � l'int�rieur de ce pays�: Etats-Unis
Quantit� command�e	5 � 14 jours ouvr�s	3 � 6 jours ouvr�s
Premier article	EUR 4.82	EUR 10.96

Les d�lais de livraison sont fix�s par les vendeurs et varient en fonction du transporteur et du lieu. Les commandes transitant par les douanes peuvent �tre retard�es et les acheteurs sont responsables de tous les droits ou frais associ�s. Les vendeurs peuvent vous contacter au sujet de frais suppl�mentaires afin de couvrir toute augmentation des co�ts d'exp�dition de vos articles.