Hamilton looked her up and down, from her pert, short brown hair to her dark stockings and high heels. "It would have to be a girl's I.D., wouldn't it?" he asked gently.

face.

A big, beaming smile crossed the 'girl's' expertly madeup

(Later)

Despite the lateness of the hour, Hamilton rang the apart- ment number again.

"Yes," the feminine voice was sleepy.

"It's me again," he said hoarsely.

"Oh," there was a quietness on the other end. Then the electronic lock on the door clicked. "Come on right up." The tone was guarded.

Linda was almost the same as she had been the previous evening, save that her negligee was a darker color, a shade of brown, coloring her body and legs to make them even more attractive.

"I'm sorry about last night," said Bud very quietly. "I really over-reacted. I'm sorry."

"Oh, Tyler," there was a sob in her throat. She threw her arms about her brother's neck and clung to him for awhile. He felt her eyelashes, long and wet, on his neck. She released him and led him into the living room.

"Let me explain about Clay," she said, sitting down beside him on the old chesterfield.

"You don't have to," said Bud.

"i want to," she said shortly. She took a cigarette from the box on the table. Bud picked up the lighter and lit it for her. She leaned back on the cushions and crossed her legs, a high- heeled slipper dangling from her upraised foot.

"Clay isn't really my fiance," she began with a rush. "I'm not going to marry him, or anything like that. After all, he's a transvestite, too." She glanced quickly at her brother. "His parents are rich and if one word got back to them....well, they'd cut him off at least. Well, we're friends, Clay and I, and when I needed money for these breast enlargements, he had it and was willing to help me. When I need a man to excort me out, well, he's there, too. He gets a kick out of passing me off as his girl friend. He was here the other night, and I'd made him up as Carla, which he likes to be but when you came in, he took off his wig, his dress and his makeup. He's scared of you.

--

""

Bud smiled. "Scared of me," he said lightly. "And I'm such a pushover for a pretty face."

-69-