Free Needle in a Haystack by Ernesto Mallo

I’m telling you, these fucking Jews, all bark but no bite. When the shit comes home to roost, they turn chicken. If you do have any problems, call me and then we’ll see. OK. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Don’t forget to give me the address of that priest. I’ve got to sort this mess out with Maisabé once and for all. I’ll give it to you later. Right, I’m off, you take care of the coffees, OK? Have I got any choice?

10
    Sitting in the dark, Eva asks herself: What is it he wants? Everyone wants something. She decides she’ll start probing Lascano. Let’s find out what he’s up to and see if we can’t engineer a safe way out of here, she’s thinking to herself when Perro arrives home. He switches on the light and takes off his coat. She looks beautiful yet distant, staring at some undefined point on the wall.
    Is anything wrong? No. I just got the feeling there might be something the matter. Is this an interrogation? I was only asking. And what does it matter to you whether I’m OK or not? Well, it’s not so much that it matters to me… Well, if it doesn’t matter to you, then why have you got me held prisoner here? What do you mean? Every time you go out, you lock me in. Do you want to go out, do you want to leave? I want to know what you want from me. Look, girl… The name’s Eva. Sorry, Eva. I don’t want anything from you. I’m your own private prisoner then, is that it? I’m not in the habit of having prisoners in my own home. Oh, no? Where do you usually dump them then? I don’t dump them anywhere, I hand them over to the judge. Don’t give me that, we all know what coppers get up to. Oh really, and what’s that then? Like you don’t know. Look, girl… sorry, Eva. I try to stick to the law. Oh, fuck off. What law would that be then? There are laws; what’s missing is justice.
And who do you think you are, the Lone Ranger? I don’t think I’m anybody. All I know is that I have my work to do and I try to do it as best I can. And since when did cops do any work? Personally, I’ve worked since the age of fifteen, and you? And me what? Nothing. The mysterious superintendent. What have I done to annoy you so much? I want to know what you want with me. I’m protecting you. Don’t ask me why. Protecting me. You want me to suck you off? OK. I’ll suck you off. You want to fuck me? OK, fuck me… I don’t want anything. Don’t make me laugh. You’d be the first cop… That’s enough, you want to leave? You know where the door is.
    Eva gets up and heads determinedly for the door.
    I’m sorry… Sorry for what? I didn’t realize. Didn’t realize what? That I locked you in. It’s habit. I’m always forgetting my keys, so I make sure I lock the door properly when I leave so as to remind myself to take them. What? If I always have to lock the door when I go out, then I can’t forget my keys. I’ve lived alone for a long time. Whatever, I’m off. Please yourself. But without a cent and with no documentation I doubt you’ll get far. The military are very active in the streets these days. That’s my problem. True enough. Well then, I’m off. Off you go then.
    Lascano watches her leave with mixed emotions: relieved to recover his solitude, anguished already by her absence. He starts to follow her, but changes his mind, stops and lights a cigarette.
    Out of the womb, everything is exposed to the world. The street seems sinister to Eva. Beneath her summer dress, she feels the cold between her legs and she shivers. She comes across a few coins in a pocket. Finding a public telephone that works these days can be a real feat. Eva is lucky, but her calls come to nothing, or worse. An unfamiliar male voice answers Domingo’s number. Eva gives her password, but he replies with any
old thing. She hangs up. Either Domingo’s been caught or he’s on the run. Her second call goes unanswered. The third is met by a female voice:
    We’ve just arrived. Who’s that?
    The response is