Crazy in Chicago

by Norah-Jean Perkin

“Thanks.” He set down his glass and nodded to her. He was going home without having achieved his objective.

  But it didn’t matter. He’d be back.

  * * *

  Guilt gnawed at Roberta as she sat in the passenger seat of Cody’s Corvette the next evening. I should tell him, she thought.

  She chewed her bottom lip and fiddled with the chain around her neck. I should tell him the truth. The truth about why she was accompanying him on a visit to see his friend’s new baby, despite her refusal yesterday to get involved romantically. About the real reasons why—despite the feelings he’d sparked in her—she wouldn’t go out with him.

  She squirmed on the leather bucket seat, then glanced at him. He hummed a cheery tune, apparently unperturbed by the terms of friendship she had laid out before agreeing to come with him. If he’d only known how difficult it had been for her to hide her eagerness to accompany him no matter what.

  Guilt welled up in Roberta and she pressed her lips together to keep it inside. The real reason rested in the file lying open on her kitchen counter. The file containing the newspaper clippings about his disappearance. The clippings that had lead her to suspect more than a year ago that he had been abducted by aliens.

  But she couldn’t tell Cody that. Not until she had enough proof to overcome his skepticism. Not until she had enough proof to build a convincing case of alien abduction, one that would give her respect within her field, one that would make even Garnet take notice and stop patronizing her.

  Her fists clenched in her lap. What a lucky coincidence that her neighbor should turn out to be a potential alien abductee! But coincidence or not, she couldn’t jeopardize her first real chance at a big case by dating the subject of her investigations. When she proved her case—and her intuition told her she would—she couldn’t risk an emotional attachment that might contaminate her objectivity and the results of her investigations. No one would accuse her of subjectivity! That had always been the biggest problem with Garnet’s books, especially the ones involving his own abduction.

  She winced as her nails dug into the palm of her hands. Still, she felt guilty about not telling Cody. With a pang she recalled the genuine delight in his eyes when she’d agreed to come with him tonight.

  I’m doing this for his own good. Abductees always feel better once they know and accept the truth, she insisted to herself. With determination she shoved the guilt aside and concentrated on what was going on now. “So who are these people we’re visiting?” she asked. “Anyone I would know?”

  Cody shook his head. “Probably not. But you might have heard of one or the other. Allie and Erik Berenger. They both work at The Streeter. He’s a photographer and she writes the column “Street Beat”. She’s the one who wrote all the articles about my disappearance last year.”

  “Oh.” Roberta remembered all right. “The one you were going to marry?”

  “Yes.”

  Roberta mulled that one over. “And you’re still good friends?”

  Cody glanced at her, then shook his head in amusement. “Actually, Allie and I are probably better friends now than when we went out together.”

  “Are you sorry it ended the way it did?”

  “No, not really.” Cody sounded matter-of-fact. “Allie’s great. We just didn’t work together as a couple.”

  A spurt of relief surprised Roberta. “And what about Erik?”

  Cody frowned. “He doesn’t like me. I’m not sure why.”

  He glanced at her again and his lips curved upwards in that winning smile that made her feel as if he’d never smiled at anyone else.

  “That’s why you’re here,” he continued. “To shield me from his disapproving glare. And also to hold the baby. I’m not much good at that.”

  Roberta struggled to find something to say that would diminish the effect of his smile. “I guess holding the older babes is your specialty, right?”

  “Ouch!” Cody looked wounded.

  “Sorry.” Roberta suppressed a chuckle.

  “I told you I’ve reformed,” he continued, pulling into a parking space on a street in the largely commercial area of North Chicago. “And you have to admit, I’m on my best behavior today, right?”

  “Right.” Roberta mentally reminded herself to leave that aspect of Cody alone. He was her neighbor, and the subject of her investigation. That was all. His love life wasn’t her concern.

  Cody turned off the car and Roberta got out. She looked around. After regular business hours, the downtown street of store fronts, small businesses and the odd warehouse was deserted, save for the odd car and two men standing on the sidewalk a half block away. “So where do your friends live?”

  “There.” Cody nodded to the building in front of them, then reached into the back of the car for the gift bag. A pink and white teddy bear peeked out the top.

  “But that’s a warehouse.”

  “Right. It was. Now it’s renovated into a combination of studios, offices and apartments. Their apartment is actually a huge studio with a kitchen and bathroom.”

  Roberta followed Cody through the front doors. They entered a utilitarian lobby and took the elevator to the fifth floor.

  A door down the hall opened as they got off the elevator. An auburn-haired woman stuck her head around the door. “I’m so glad you’ve come. I was wondering when you’d get here.”

  She sprang down the hall and flung her arms around Cody. He hugged her back with an equal show of warmth. A twinge of jealousy took Roberta by surprise; she frowned.

  The woman stepped back, then regarded Roberta with open friendliness. Her warm smile dispelled Roberta’s feelings of discomfort.

  Allie looked from Cody to Roberta. “And this is?”

  “Bobbi. Bobbi Vandenburg. My next door neighbor.”

  Roberta bit back the correction on the tip of her tongue. Only her family and childhood friends called her Bobbi. But she’d likely never see these people again so it didn’t really matter.

  “Well, come in.” Allie bounded down the hall ahead of them to her open door. She wore shorts and a loose cotton top, and despite the fact the baby had been born only ten days earlier, looked fit and slim.

  Inside, the large, airy, studio-apartment glowed with warmth and brightness. Windows lined the dark green street-side wall, and the three other walls were exposed brick. A kitchen area filled one end. At the other stood a tall Japanese divider that Roberta assumed hid the sleeping area from view. A single door, partially open, led to the bathroom. An eclectic mix of posters and paintings covered the walls. Roberta noted two paintings portraying the kind of strange and distant worlds she related to science fiction novels. She hoped she’d have a chance to look at them more closely.

  A tall, well-built man, whom Roberta assumed was Erik, stood at the windows with his back to them. At the sound of the shutting door, he turned around.

  Roberta blinked. In his arms, Erik held a tiny, blanket-wrapped bundle that made him appear almost comically large.

  But it wasn’t the contrast between the size of the baby and the man that surprised Roberta. Nor his unusual good looks resulting from a combination of chiseled Slavic features and dark hair streaked with silver. Nor the gray eyes of an odd shade she’d never seen before.

  It was the way he looked at his visitors, with an absolute absence of expression. It chilled and fascinated her at the same time.

  “This is my husband, Erik. And Erik, this is Cody’s neighbor, Bobbi Vandenburg.”

  Erik nodded. His lips turned upwards in a wintry smile that affected no other part of his face. Roberta understood why Cody might think this man didn’t like him.

  “Sit down, please.” Allie gestured to a pair of couches placed around a glass coffee table. She settled in one, pulling a bare foot under her. Erik, still holding the baby, sat down beside her while Roberta and Cody arranged themselves on the opposite couch.

  “So how’s parenthood?” Cody addressed Allie. “You look great.”

  “Wonderful.
” Her glowing smile told the tale. “But tiring. I haven’t had a lot of sleep since she was born ten days ago.”

  “I can sympathize. I haven’t been sleeping too well lately either.”

  Roberta glanced at Cody as he rubbed his chin. He didn’t look any more rested than he had the day before. She wondered if he’d slept much last night. She hadn’t, something she refused to attribute to anything but her excitement over discovering that a potential alien abductee lived next door to her.

  “That’s what you get for your wicked lifestyle,” Allie teased. She paused, and her smile turned to a frown. “It is that, isn’t it?”

  Cody shook his head. “I’d like to say it was, but you know as well as I do the state of my social life. No, I haven’t slept more than an hour or two each night for a week or longer. I haven’t got a clue why.”

  Allie’s frown deepened. She telegraphed a look Roberta couldn’t interpret at Erik, then focused on Cody again. “Is something bothering you?”

  Cody laughed. To Roberta it sounded strained. “Of course not. Anyway, I didn’t come here to talk about how tired I am. I came to see this famous baby you keep telling me about. What did you decide to call her?”

  “Star. Star Christina Berenger.”

  Entranced by the name, Roberta leaned forward. “Is your daughter named after someone in your family?”

  Erik spoke. “Not really.” He looked down at the tiny pink bundle in his arms. Slowly his expression softened, and his eyes shone with a tenderness and pride all the more surprising for his previous impassiveness. Some of the feeling remained when he directed his gaze at Roberta. “In a way, she was a wish come true, reminding us of everything we shared.”

  The simple, romantic statement bowled Roberta over. She looked at Erik with new regard. How wrong first impressions could be.

  “I hope you like what I brought her,” Cody said, nudging the gift bag forward with his foot. “The girl in Neiman Marcus’s baby wear told me this is de rigeur for today’s stylish baby.”

  Allie laughed and reached for the bag. She pulled out the pink and white teddy bear, and then a denim-like sleeper, with a matching blue jeans jacket studded with metallic stars. She held up the jacket and chuckled. “I’d better watch it. She’s going to be better dressed than I am. This is great, Cody. Thanks.”

  “Can I hold her?” Roberta couldn’t resist asking.

  Erik nodded, and Roberta rose and took the sleeping child. She cuddled it close to her body and looked down into the tiny face. Black eyelashes dusted the pink cheeks and rosebud lips pressed together in an unconscious smile.

  “She’s beautiful,” Roberta cooed, oblivious to everyone around her. She rocked the child, then looked up at Erik and Allie. “You must be so happy. What a wonderful daughter.”

  Allie glowed. Even the dour Erik looked pleased. Roberta turned to Cody. “Come and look at her. It’ll be love at first sight.”

  Cody ambled to Roberta’s side and peered down at at the baby. For a fleeting moment Roberta thought how wonderful it must be to have the man you loved at your side and the child you’d made together in your arms.

  Cody whistled softly. “She’s a real looker.” He winked at Allie. “Just like her mother.”

  “Here, you hold her.” Roberta held the baby out to Cody.

  He stepped back. “I don’t think so. I’m not . . .”

  “Just for a moment. Holding a baby is one of the joys of life,” Roberta persisted. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

  “Hold her,” Allie chimed in. “You’re not going to hurt her.”

  Cody’s stance shouted reluctance, but he agreed. “All right. But I told you I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  With stiff, awkward motions, Cody took the baby from Roberta. After coaching from Allie, he held the infant correctly, supporting her head and back and holding her close to his body.

  For several moments Cody stood alone in the middle of the room, staring intently at the sleeping bundle in his arms. Finally he looked up and smiled at Roberta and Allie. “This isn’t so bad.” His gaze returned to the baby. “In fact, it’s pretty good. She’s so light. Like holding a doll. And so tiny. Like . . .”

  With a suddenness that Roberta recognized from previous attacks, Cody turned sheet white. Then a startled look that Roberta had never seen before crossed his face. He started to sway. The baby stiffened and screamed.

  Roberta grabbed the child from Cody, and pushed him towards the couch. He collapsed onto it and shut his eyes.

  As suddenly as she’d begun, the baby stopped crying. Roberta looked down into her tiny round face and started. The child’s rosy complexion had turned as white as Cody’s. And the bluish-gray eyes, so like Erik’s, stared at her with the same chilling absence of emotion. Roberta hugged the child closer.

  She glanced at Allie and Erik and was stunned to see fright on Allie’s face. Allie and Erik exchanged another unreadable look, then Erik shook his head.

  Allie stood up and reached for the child as if nothing had happened. She smiled at Roberta, then hugged the child to her breast.

  Shaken and confused, Roberta sat down. Beside her, Cody seemed to have recovered from his passing attack.

  “Sorry about that.” Cody shook his head. “Lack of sleep must be catching up with me.”

  “No harm done.” Allie stroked the child’s forehead; Erik said nothing.

  Roberta frowned. On the face of it, everything had returned to normal. But why had Cody suffered that attack of nausea now? And what was that anxious look that had passed between Allie and Erik?

  Could it be simple concern for their daughter? Or was it something more?

  * * *

  Roberta waited until they were outside on the darkening street before she voiced her suspicions.

  “That was more than a nausea attack.”

  Cody avoided her gaze. He fished around in the pocket of his shorts for the car keys.

  “Something else happened.”

  Cody stiffened. He looked at her, but his eyes didn’t quite meet hers. “What do you mean?”

  “For a second, you looked really strange. As if you’d seen something. Something terrifying.”

  Cody paused. He opened his mouth, then shut it and shrugged. “Leave it to an employee of a UFO organization to read something into every little facial expression.”

  Roberta thought his comment forced, but she let it go. “Have you gone to the doctor yet?”

  “No.” Cody grimaced. “And I’m not going either. I already told you how much time I spent fooling around with doctors after my disappearance, and all for nothing. I’m not about to waste my time again.”

  His eyes clouded and he rubbed his forehead. “I’m tired. I’m not sleeping. That’s all.”

  In the quick fire manner that Roberta found so unsettling, his demeanor changed once more and he smiled. “A problem which you’re not helping me with at all.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes. If you were at all concerned for my well-being, you would have warmed up my milk and massaged my weary body with warm scented oils last night instead of kicking me out the door.”

  “Oh, yes.” Sarcasm tinged Roberta’s voice. Cody sounded like the playboy described in last summer’s papers. “I’m sure that’s just what the doctor would have ordered.”

  Cody laughed. He winked at her before turning and striding to the car.

  Roberta followed. Cody was impossible. Impossible and far too likable. It certainly explained his success with women. But she was worried. Cody’s symptoms of insomnia and nausea, while common to victims of alien abductions, could also indicate any one of dozens of other conditions or diseases. Alien abduction or not, he needed to see a doctor. Any extraterrestrial investigator would recommend the same thing.

  Cody inserted his key in the passenger door lock. Without warning he jerked his arm upwards and covered his eyes. He moaned and staggered against the car.

  Roberta ran to his side. “Here,” she said,
“lean against me. You’ll be all right in a moment.”

  She slipped her hand under his arm, then staggered as his weight settled against her. Struggling to stay upright, she helped him across the sidewalk to the wall of the building in front of them. Roberta pressed him back against the wall, using her own body to anchor him there, through one shudder after another. She felt the clamminess of his skin, and prayed that this spell would pass quickly. Finally, after what seemed minutes and minutes but was likely only seconds, his heartbeat and breathing returned to normal. He grew quiet.

  Roberta sighed. Now that the attack had passed, she knew she should back away. Maintaining her resolve to keep Cody at arm’s length was hard enough under any circumstances. Now she was far too conscious of his lean, muscular body pressed against hers, of his warm breath on her neck, of his enticingly masculine smell. But he moved before she did, his hands resting lightly on her waist.

  “You were right.”

  “Right?” Roberta squirmed away so she could look into his face. “About what?”

  “About me seeing something. Something different during the attack in Allie’s apartment. It happened again here, when I tried to unlock the car.”

  “What . . . what did you see?”

  Cody frowned. “Not all that much. Just a flash of blinding blue light. I don’t know why, but it terrified me. As if . . . as if . . .”

  “As if what?”

  “That’s just it. I don’t know. Like something bad was about to happen. I don’t know what.”

  Roberta listened with mixed feelings. Despite her suspicion that Cody had been abducted by aliens, she didn’t know what to make of this new information. She’d never heard anything like this before. Abductees often cited bright light in recounting their abductions, but never a blue light.

  She didn’t have time to puzzle it out now. Instead she concentrated on the man in her arms, and how he was doing right now. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  “For what?” His closeness was addling her brain.

  “For holding me. Someone else might have just let me slide to the pavement.”

  “I couldn’t do that. I . . .” Roberta started to step back but Cody’s hands locked around her waist.