Tony sat down then and stretched his legs out, watching her as she walked over to the vending machine. He was tired, dead tired, from pushing himself and was taking his first break since about four that morning.
Lydia was well aware he was watching her and, after making a quick selection of chips and a candy bar, turned too fast and dropped the chips. They lay at her feet, a zillion miles from her reach. When she bent down to pick them up, she got dizzy and had to grab the side of the machine for balance. All the while, Tony just watched.
Dear God, she prayed, don't let me do this in front of him, please, and straightening up slowly, she walked out, thankful for the favor. Upstairs at Jan's desk, she wolfed down the candy bar in three bites and was tearing open the chips with her teeth when something suddenly dawned on her.
"Shit! Tomorrow's payday, isn't it?"
Jan nodded.
"Oh no! How did this day creep up on me?"
Jan didn't offer an answer, which was probably just as well, with Lydia's wheels starting to turn. "We need to call the bank, and we need to call them now. What's the manager's name again?"
"Richard Robert."
"Yeah, that's him. Call him. Tell him we need to know the exact balance in the payroll account. Check with Sylvia first, though, to see how much we need."
Jan nodded, and on that, Lydia went back in with Reed and the accountants, devouring the chips in the process.
"So what's the word?" she asked, walking around behind Reed to throw the bag away.
"Honestly?" the one asked.
Lydia nodded. "Nothing but the truth, so help you God."
The accountants laughed, Reed even laughed, and he was still irritated with her. But the truth wasn't funny at all.
"The IRS is going to take one look at this and be on your door step the same day."
Lydia sighed. "And not one receipt to back anything up."
Possibilities were now probabilities. "What you have here and what we have in our files, leaves a void that'll scream audit so fast..."
There seemed to be only one thing to do. "Do you need me here?" Lydia asked, already reaching for her purse. "Can you do this without me?"
Both accountants nodded, and out in the hall, Reed was right behind her. "Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna go visit my wino."
"Why? What for?"
Lydia ignored him and stopped to ask Jan, "Did you get a hold of what's his name?"
"Yes, and you're about six hundred short."
Lydia nodded, thinking. "Okay, that's not too bad, we'll just have to...."
Reed interrupted her. "I don't think you should go down there alone. Why don't you wait until.."
Lydia shook her head and sighed. "Oh, Reed, forgive me. But I'm going. I'm going now because it feels right, and I'm going alone. So if you'll excuse me…."
Reed crossed his arms, just looking at her, irritated but concerned, and Lydia gave in to a smile. "Besides, don't you have a contract to sell or something?"
"No, I've been too busy doing other things, like your job for instance."
Lydia laughed. "Ooohhhh, low blow." Walking away on that note, she phoned Jan from downstairs. "Is Reed still there?"
"No, he's back in with the accountants."
"Good. I don't want him to overhear this."
"What?" Jan asked, when Lydia hesitated.
"I need you to do me a favor."
"Okay."
"I need you to tell Tony he can't cash his paycheck."
Silence.
"Come on, please...."
Jan let out a heavy sigh. "All right. But it's going to be awkward coming from me, it's really not my...."
"Thanks! You're a saint! Tell him he can cash it Monday after I transfer some funds."
* * *
A half-hour later, the wino was peeking out his door at her. "Well if it ain't my fairy godmother."
Lydia hesitated. "I need to ask you a few more questions."
"I already tole you what I know."
"Then just clear something up for me, and I won't bother you anymore."
"You gonna pay me again?"
Lydia nodded. "I want to know why Dan has his mail delivered here. It would be cheaper to get a post office box."
"Maybe," the old man said.
Lydia read that as "Maybe, but…." and gave it a try. "So which apartment was his?"
The old man kind of glanced upstairs.
"I need to see it."
"Why? They ain't nothin' there. Jess' some boxes."
Lydia's heart stopped. She knew it. She just knew it. "Please, I need to see what's in those boxes."
"What you give me if n I let ya?"
Lydia smiled. "Let me see them first. They may be worth more than you think."
The old man mulled that over. "Well, I ain't seen Dan in a while, and I ain't been paid this month…."
Lydia held her breath until he finally nodded, taking a set of keys out of his pocket, and followed him upstairs with her heart in her mouth.
Mice droppings crackled under their feet, cobwebs had to be batted out of the way, and at one point, when glancing up to see how much further they had to go, Lydia could've sworn she saw a rat on the landing.
When they reached the apartment, the old man unlocked the door and stepped back for her to go in first, which had her thinking of a thousand what ifs. But it was nothing more than a gentlemanly gesture of ladies first, and seeing this in his eyes now as he looked at her, she thanked him and went ahead.
The first room was empty, aside from cobwebs, dead flies, roach carcasses, and more droppings. But the second held a bonanza: boxes, boxes, and more boxes - all with Merchant Manufacturing labels on them. The company logo never looked better.
"Yes!" Lydia shouted, scaring the hell out of the old man. "Yes! This is what I've been looking for!" And it was. She opened a couple to make sure. "Do you have a phone?"
The old man shook his head. "No, but they's one at the bar on the corna'."
"Great! Come on, I'll buy you a drink."
She phoned Reed when they got there, saying first thing, "You're not going to believe this," and she was right. He couldn't believe it.
"All of them?"
"Yeah, and I'm gonna need some help."
"Where are you now?"
"At the bar on the corner. It's called Monteleone's."
"You're down there drinking with the wino? Are you crazy?!"
"Probably," Lydia said, laughing. "So don't be late."
When she sat down, the old man asked if he could have anything he wanted, eyeing the top shelf, and ordered bourbon. "Kentucky bourbon."
Lydia ordered a double Scotch. "Cutty, if you have it. Straight, no ice."
"Make mine a double, too," the old man said, and Lydia then proposed a toast.
"To hidden treasure!"
The old man went into a coughing fit after downing his. Lydia had only taken a sip, and when he stopped, she handed him a napkin. "So what's your name?"
"Joe."
Lydia smiled. "Well, I really appreciate your help, Joe."
He pointed to his glass. "Does that mean I can have me another?"
Lydia nodded, waving the bartender over, and this one he drank a little slower. Meanwhile, she looked around the bar. It was typical enough, with booths off to one end, tables in the center, a jukebox, a pinball machine, and a few patrons here and there. But the place had a sense about it, a tired, desperate sense. Like it was the end of the road.
"How'd you get here, Joe?"
He glanced at her. "We jess walk down. That's how."
Lydia smiled, thinking, "good answer," and as he nursed what was left of his drink, she took a good long look at him, trying to see past the glassiness in his eyes, the hollowness of his cheeks, his odor. Yet hard as she tried, she couldn't picture him ever being young, even close, or with dreams, or with someone who cared.
"How do you get by?" she asked.
"I jess do."
Lydia smi
led again. "I can see that. But how? How much social security do you get?"
"Two hundred and forty-five dolla' ev'ry thirds of the month."
Lydia took another sip of her drink and got a chill. "What year were you born?"
The old man looked at her, but didn't answer right away. She was shivering. "Nineteen-nine. It was a very good year."
Lydia laughed kind of giddily, then grew quiet and sighed. "Do you have any family?"
He shook his head, and suddenly feeling lightheaded, very lightheaded, Lydia reached for her bag to pay the bartender, and could've died. No wallet. No money.
"Uh..." She downed what was left of her Scotch. "I think we'll have another round. Oh, and give us some chips. And some of those pickled eggs. You like pickled eggs, Joe?"
When Reed came in a little while later, Lydia introduced him formally to the old man, then pulled him aside. "Can you pay the bar tab? Someone took my wallet."
Reed's eyes widened. "In here?"
"No." Lydia chuckled, feeling right with the world again, having eaten. "The other day. Only I forgot all about it till I went to pay."
Reed reached for his wallet, frowning, paid the bill, and the three of them headed for the apartment. Lydia stopped halfway. "What would make you happy, Joe?"
Joe smacked his lips, thinking about that as he swayed back and forth, and steadying him, Reed looked around the neighborhood. This was crazy. Absolutely crazy.
"Well," Joe finally said. "I don't want no trouble over them boxes."
"There won't be," Lydia assured him.
"And I’d like ta be warm," he said, teetering a little as they walked on. "Yeah...I'd like ta be warm."
Lydia glanced at him and smiled. "Blankets or a heater?"
Joe laughed to himself. "Both."
"Would you like to move? Say maybe to a retirement...?"
Joe shook his head emphatically. "An ole folks home? No." Reed had to help balance him again.
"Okay? What else then?"
Joe scratched his head. "Well, I don't like bein' hungry."
"I wouldn't either," Lydia said, and when they reached his building, "Do you like living here?"
He looked up at the crumbling, two-story structure. "No," he said, and pointed a shaky finger at an old brownstone on the corner - one of the nicer ones. "But I grew up jess down there."
Lydia saw more than nostalgia in his glassy eyes. "How much rent do you pay?"
"Ninety-five dolla' a months."
Lydia nodded, suggesting then that he give Reed his keys to save him from walking up the stairs to the second floor. He did, sitting down right there, and eventually, after only getting in the way, Lydia ended up on the stoop with him.
"All set!" Reed dusted his hands off when the last of the boxes were in their cars, and Lydia pulled him aside.
"Can I have fifty dollars for Joe?"
They helped the old man inside, and Lydia got in her car, motioning to the brownstone on the corner.
Reed shook his head, smiling as he followed her. Old Joe didn't know it yet, but odds were, he would be moving. And not only that, he was never going to have to worry about being cold or hungry again. Ever.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Having the receipts didn't change much. If anything, it only validated their grim situation, unpaid invoices and all. With Sylvia there to file everything, Lydia was off again.
"Now where are you going?" Reed asked.
"To tie up some loose ends."
"Meaning?"
"I have something else I want to check out." She hesitated. "But you know what I'd really like to know." Reed had no idea. He couldn't keep up with her. "I'd like to know what Bob was offering. I mean, really."
"Too bad you can't get your hands on the proposal."
"What proposal?"
"The one he had with him when he was arrested. He tried giving it to Tony, but Tony had to keep him talking, so...."
Lydia didn't want to hear the why's and how's. "Is Frank really his cousin?"
Reed nodded and then shook his head. "Why would you think he'd lie about something like that?"
Lydia kept the comment "Why not, he lied about everything else," to herself. Instead she asked, "How well do you know him?"
"About as well as I know Tony. Why?"
"I don't know for sure, but I may want to go see Bob, and I'm wondering if it's allowed."
Reed didn't think it was, but said he'd try to find out and walked on to his office when Lydia stopped to tell Jan she was leaving.
Jan handed her some messages, two from Greg among others, and with great remorse, Lydia asked for yet another favor.
"I know... I ask a lot of them, and you always do it. But this one's really a biggie."
Jan prepared herself.
"The next time Greg calls, can you maybe find out if I've talked to him in the last couple of days?"
"You mean you don't know?"
Lydia shook her head. "No, not exactly, though I seem to remember something about him coming here this weekend, or meeting him somewhere, or...."
"But you don't know for sure?"
"No." Lydia sat down on the edge of her desk with a sigh. "Tony was cutting my heart into little pieces and feeding it to a dog right about then.”
Jan sympathized with her. "All right, but I don't know how I'm supposed to…."
"I don't either, but you have to, because I think I might have said something…." Lydia hesitated admitting this. "I think I might have told him I loved him."
"Oh, Lydia."
"I know." She felt bad enough as it was. "That's why you have to find out for sure, because..."
"But how?"
"I don't know! Ask secretary questions."
Jan laughed and reached for a pad and pen. "Okay, tell me everything you remember. I'll come up with something."
Lydia left right after that and, about two miles down the road, realized she was being followed again. No doubt about it. With the next glance, though, came relief. The car was different from the other day, but the flashing emergency light that now appeared on its roof struck a familiar chord.
She pulled off to the side, the car behind her did the same, and Frank got out and walked up. "We have to stop meeting like this, Lydia," he said. "People are gonna talk."
Lydia smiled.
"Now what can I do for you?"
Jesus, he looked like Tony, even more so now. "Uh, I think you stopped me," she said.
"Yeah, but that's because you were speeding."
Lydia laughed. She had not been speeding. Obviously Reed had gotten a hold of him. "Well, I did want to talk to you. Do you have a minute?"
He nodded and opened the door, motioning to his car. As they walked back to it, she thought about the other day again, everything that had happened, and supposed she should apologize for her hysterics. But as they got into the back seat, Dave was on the radio talking a call, and she didn't say a word.
Frank listened for a second or two, until Dave shook his head, and Lydia assumed that meant it wasn't urgent. When Frank looked at her, she had to ask, "How can cousins look so much alike?"
Frank smiled. "Me and Tony? It's easy. We come from twin mothers."
Lydia nodded. "Well, that explains that."
Frank laughed. "Is that all you wanted to know?"
"No."
"I didn't think so."
Lydia smiled. They were like old friends. "I wanted to know if I can get a look at the proposal Bob Miller had with him when he was arrested."
Dave signed off the radio then and lit a cigarette, saying, "Hi!" and then, "Why?"
Lydia returned the greeting and explained, "Well, mainly because I still don't understand our financial situation. Oh, and by the way, I found the records and receipts."
Frank smiled. "We heard."
Reed must have told them, she figured. "And partly because I'm curious as to what he was offering."
Frank and Dave looked at each other, and something about the way they loo
ked at each other had her wondering. "Didn't Reed call you?"
Frank nodded. He'd called. But it was Tony they called back, and that was plain as day. Lydia shook her head. They probably had to find out if it was okay with him first. "Anyway, I have this hunch that there's something in that proposal. Something that...."
"Like what?" Frank said. "If we can get a look at it."
That obviously meant she couldn't. "Shit, I don't know."
Frank and Dave laughed.
"Anything," Lydia said. "Anything out of the ordinary. Particularly something too good to be true. You know, like a nice guy clause or something."
Frank smiled. "Is that it?"
Lydia nodded.
"Good. Then we have something we'd like you to do for us."
Lydia glanced from one to the other. "Sure, what is it?"
Frank swallowed. "Cut Tony some slack."
Lydia looked from one to the other again, then lowered her eyes, shaking her head slowly. "That's a little easier said than done. I just can't believe he...."
"I knew you wouldn't let him explain, and even though he won't defend himself, I have to."
Lydia stared down at her hands. "I uh...."
Frank touched her arm. "The way he handled it is just him. He keeps everything to himself. It's his way."
Lydia looked up. "I’m sorry, but I really don't want to talk about this. I have somewhere I have to go." She motioned to the door. "So if you'll excuse me...."
"Can I ask where you're going?"
"Who are you asking for? You or Tony?"
Frank avoided answering. "We can just follow you, you know."
Lydia sighed. They probably would. "There's this man who used to work for us, his name's Jack Cox. I'm going to see him."
"At the electric company? Save yourself the time, he's not there. We lost him."
Lydia's eyes widened. "You lost him?"
Frank nodded. "The department was tailing him, but he managed to shake us. He's gone."
Lydia glanced out the window. "Damn, I was hoping he'd know something."
"He probably did," Dave said.
Lydia sighed. She was also hoping to find out what kind of cologne he wore. "Well, I guess that does save me the trip then. But I still have things to do, so if you'll let me out now."
Call Me Lydia Page 46