by Amy Shannon
“You don’t think I’m morbid or anything?”
“No, of course not. You have an interesting and eclectic collection. I like what you said about proving that evil can die.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen a lot, sitting here.”
“We’ve had some interesting cases, that’s for sure, but we specialize in interesting and unique,” he smiled. “Now, I’d like to look at your contracts.”
“Thank you, Leonard,” He pulled a folder out of his bag. “How about tonight, you join me for dinner at my place and I’ll show you more of my collection? I have an interesting collection of battlefield debris.”
“Hmm, I think I will,” Leonard smiled.
“When do you expect Ms. Macavoy to return?”
“I’m not sure. She’s dealing with some family issues right now. And Strick is out on a case, I think,” Leonard said. “Let’s sit over at the table in the corner. We can go over these together,” He pointed.
Savvy sat at the bar, glaring at Friend, who was wiping down the bar. “How much longer?”
“I don’t know. He and Tim haven’t come down yet. Savvy, you don’t need to do this. I said I was sorry.”
“I don’t believe you and I want to talk with Harry,” She crossed her arms.
“I’m surprised you didn’t bring Strick with you,” he grunted.
“I don’t need back up and he’s out on a new case,” she grabbed the mug of coffee, and drank it down. “More, barkeep.”
“You’re lucky you’re his daughter.”
“You have no idea how lucky you are right now,” she said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind,” she turned her head toward the back of Capone’s pub, which was set up to resemble a 1920s speakeasy. Harry, her biological father, and his husband, Tim, an NYPD Lieutenant, lived upstairs but also owned the bar. She watched as Harry walked toward her.
“Sunshine,” he kissed her cheek. “Why here so early? Aren’t you working a new case?”
“Do you know everything?” she smiled.
“Pretty much, yeah,” he grinned. “Coffee for both of us, Friend.”
“Yes, sir,” he turned toward the coffee pot.
“A booth?” he pointed to the corner of the dim-lit bar.
“Definitely,” she glanced toward Friend and then back at Harry.
“We’ll take our coffee over there and then we don’t wish to be disturbed,” he commanded.
Friend nodded without turning around. He knew what was about to happen and there was not a thing he could do except plead to keep his job and his place in the family. He’d even prepare himself for begging, family style, but only if that was necessary.
Savvy and Harry sat in the booth, both being silent until Friend brought over the pot of coffee with two mugs. They watched as Friend walked away. Savvy took Harry’s hand. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“Is this about Friend or all of your brothers?”
“All of them, well the ones that are alive.”
“What did they do?”
“They paid off Ryan, you know, Leonard ex.”
“Paid him off?”
“Yeah, to leave Leonard, so he did. Now, it’s probably a good thing, but they had no right.”
“Definitely not. How is Leonard?”
“He dealt with Ryan last night. Ryan spent most of the money and wanted him to take him back. He didn’t. I think Leonard may be interested in our new client, but we’ll see.”
“So, you’re stuck in the middle again?” Harry patted her hand.
“I don’t want to be. I am so angry with them, mainly for not being honest and always trying to get with Leonard when they are between men. It’s not right. They also told me they tried to pay off Strick, but he didn’t accept.”
“I didn’t know that either. I will admit that I had Tim check Strick out when you two first got together.”
“I know, and I did, too, just to make sure I wasn’t trusting someone I shouldn’t. I felt I could trust him, but I’m not always the best judge of characters.”
“Of course, you are. You hate it when your prospective clients judge you and you always see what’s on the inside of people. You trust them before they know they can trust you. You’ve got good instincts, Sunshine,” he smiled.
“I hope so.”
“So, you have an interesting case, huh?”
“Yeah, it is interesting. I can’t go into much detail, but it may be related to a series of robberies that had unique collectibles stolen.”
“Did you run the M.O by Tim?”
“Not yet. Strick is working on the pawn shop robberies and I’m focusing on our client. He’s a private collector and seller.”
“Adler Stein, right?”
“How d’you know?”
“I figured when you said interesting and collectible. I’ve seen his collections. You know Tim just loves history, especially when it comes to the World Wars.”
“He should get together with Strick, he loves the military and Presidential history.”
“Hmm, interesting but I can see that about Strick. Especially from his military background.”
“There is something else that I could use your advice on,” she smiled.
“What’s that?”
“Angelica gifted me the rest of the block, you know the buildings from my Agency to the other corner. There are some storefronts and apartments and the one right next door is empty.”
“Wow, that’s big. She is your biggest fan,” he grinned.
“Yeah, well, I had her divide it up between me, Strick and Leonard,” she sighed. “She suggested expanding our office.”
“What about your living space?”
“Well, I like the downstairs and Strick wants me to live upstairs with him, completely. I just don’t know how to go about it or what we should do with what isn’t being leased currently.”
“I own the three buildings up to the alley that is parallel to your building. The storefronts are leased and full and the apartments above the storefronts, I have them as rent controlled. I do that, so the residents will stay. I also have a maintenance company that is run by my lease company, so I don’t have a lot of day to day stuff to deal with.”
“Oh,” she sighed. “Good to know. This is new to me. You helped me get the Agency and I paid you back. I didn’t deal with banks or other outside resources.”
“Well, you have an almost-lawyer on your staff, I’m sure he could help you.”
“Yeah and I wish he’d just take the bar exam and get it over with. He’s the best lawyer and yet, he still works as my assistant. He runs the office, does all the tech stuff and creates whatever apps or stuff we needed digitally, but he could be doing more.”
“He likes what he does, but maybe taking the bar exam could help him do more for you and your Agency,” Harry suggested. “And you could pay him more.”
“He says I pay him too much as it is and now, we’re all partners.”
“Good. Have him write up the contract, so even though you are family, it is a legal binding agreement.”
“I will, thanks,” she smiled. “I better get back. I have a case to solve.”
“Oh, and, Sunshine?” he smiled as she stood up.
“What’s that?”
“You ever going to marry Strick?”
“You just think that everyone who is together should be married.”
“Just everyone who is in love as you two are,” he smiled. “And maybe you should be the one to propose.”
“Hmm, one more thing for me to add to my to-do list,” she laughed. “I’ll see you later. Love you, Harry,” She glared at Friend as she walked out of the bar.
Harry stood up. “Friend, you and I need to talk.”
“Yes, sir,” he muttered, walking over to the booth.
9
Savvy walked into the Agency and smiled at Leonard, who was reading through a large brown law book. “Studying?”
“Yeah,” he sighed, looking up. “I made a decision and I don’t want you to talk me out of it.”
She sat on the edge of his desk. “So, you and Mr. Stein are dating?”
“I don’t know if dating is the word. Uh, does that affect him as your client?”
“Nope,” she smiled. “And you’re taking the bar exam?”
“Yeah, How d’you guess?”
“I can read the title of your book,” she smiled. “So, what made you change your mind? You’re not leaving us, are you?”
“No, I thought that I would be able to do more for you here and maybe if some of your clients needed an attorney as well, I could help. I mean, I wouldn’t take on my clients or anything, this office isn’t big enough for that…”
“Hold on,” she touched his hand. “We can make the office bigger, but I don’t want to expand the downstairs apartment. Second if you wanted to do both, take on clients and still run this Agency, you can do that. We can even hire a receptionist if we wanted to. But all that aside, one thing at a time. When is the bar exam?”
“In four days,” he sighed. “Well, Saturday morning. After that, there isn’t another one for six months. Savvy, I want to do this.”
“How did you decide?” she smiled.
“Something Adler, uh, Mr. Stein said,” he smiled.
“I’m glad you like him, but what did he say? I’ve been trying to convince you for years, but you claim you like running this office.”
“It’s no claim. I certainly do. We’re family, always have been, always will be,” he smiled. “But, Adler and I were having some coffee together and he just said that every day he tries to be better than he was the day before.”
“And that changed your mind?”
“More like helped me make up my mind,” he explained. “I don’t want my being here to change. Savvy, I like being here, part of this family.”
“Good. Now, there is something else I wanted to talk with you about.”
“Is this about our partnership?”
“Well, kinda, but I was outside staring at the buildings we now own,” she smiled, taking his hand. “Come on. Let me show you,” They both stood up and she led him out of the Agency toward the large sidewalk. She led him to the building to the right of the Agency. “Storefront empty. Upstairs apartment empty. This building has the storefront and only one apartment. Kinda like where I live. I thought and if you disagree tell me,” she smiled.
“You want me to live here?”
“Yeah, I mean, we expand the office, once you and Strick put your heads together and figure out how best to do it. And then, fix up the upstairs and it’s yours. There is a blocked doorway, which I never realize before until I looked at the blueprints, between the upstairs here and where Strick lives. I guess it led to the stairwell in our place, but it’s bricked over or something.”
“You saw the blueprints?”
“Well, I called Joseph, you know, Angelica’s husband and he had his assistant email the blueprints. We should be getting all the information about the buildings, such as blueprints, history and everything from the messenger service. So, what do you think?”
“What does Strick think about this?”
“I called him, and he said that it would be great if you lived close.”
“Yeah, but then…” he smiled. “I can’t have an excuse for being late.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
“Yeah, sure,” Leonard said, putting his arm around her. “So,” he led her back to the Agency. “You said Strick and I could design the expansion.”
“Yes,” she said. “You two know logistics and things that will work. I like my office and my space, but we do need a little more space and maybe a room, like a conference room for privacy, for those clients that are suspicious of everything and everyone. And you…”
“Me?” he opened the door and then sat behind his desk. “What about me?”
“You may need an office, too, for privacy. Now if you want an office out in the open like you are now, that’s fine, but if you’re going to see clients, you’ll need privacy.”
“I’m sure I can figure something out,” he smiled. “Thanks, Savvy.”
“This is good for all of us. I didn’t want a gift so extravagant, but Angelica wouldn’t take no for an answer. I guess I know better.”
“You’re her best friend and she thinks of you, all of us as family,” Leonard said.
“I know,” she smiled. “She’s a wonderful woman. So, I have some research to do and I need to review the photos that Strick took the other day at Mr. Stein’s place.”
“And Strick is working on the pawn shop case, still?”
“Yeah, he thought he could close it, but he got another lead. It may or may not have to do with Mr. Stein’s collection. Coffee?”
“I’ll get it; you get started on working,” he smiled.
“You smile more now,” she walked over to her desk and opened her laptop.
“I do not,” he grinned.
“Mr. Stein seems to have a good effect on you.”
“He’s a nice man and I don’t need to worry…” he stopped. “Ryan is gone. Gone for good and I feel so stupid for rushing into something with him.”
“You’re not stupid. We’ve all had our heart broken and in our line of work, we know how people are.”
“Doesn’t matter. Now if your brothers will just leave me alone.”
“I’m doing my best and I talked with Harry.”
“I’ll get coffee,” he headed over to the coffee pot.
Savvy knew he needed those few moments of peace before they could discuss anything. Leonard was still hurt by Ryan and even his new friendship with Adler was not taking that away yet.
10
Savvy flung her bag over her shoulder as she jogged up the steps to the American Museum of Natural History. She nodded to the security guard, who kept his eyes focused on her. She was used to the looks and raised eyebrows that her rainbow linen tunic and brown corduroys seemed to gain, even with her suede jacket, with long fringe, that ran from the collar under her braids. She always made sure the bright purple streaks stood out in the braid as they added to her character. She pulled her identification wallet out of her bag, showing the ID and badge to the security guard. “I’m looking for Mr. Gutenberg.”
“Do you have an appointment? The museum’s exhibits are currently closed.”
“Yes, I called ahead this morning. I’m Savvy Macavoy.”
“Oh, right, I’ve heard of you,” the tall African-American stood up from his post. “You’re Tim’s step-daughter?”
“Yes,” she smiled. She didn’t think of herself as anyone’s step-daughter. She was Harry’s biological daughter. Her two mothers were gone, but she was their daughter. Tim was married to Harry, so it all made sense, even if she didn’t think of that. To her, Tim was Tim. Her police contact and father’s husband. Tim was a lieutenant in the Major Crimes division. He recently transferred there from robbery. “Oh, are you Jarrod Johnson?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he smiled. “I’m sorry. I’ll get Mr. Gutenberg right away.”
“It’s all right. Uh, Jarrod, may I call you Jarrod?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded.
“I’m looking into some stolen collectibles for a client of mine. I heard he comes here often and sometimes loans his collectibles for exhibits. Can you give me some information about the security here?” She put her ID back in her back and took out a small notebook.
“Uh, sure, what did you need to know?” he sat back in his chair, behind the security counter.
“Is it just you?”
“No, there are security guards on different floors and a security room on the fifth floor. When we’re closed, we have posts and then do routine checks. When we’re open, there are men on the move constantly and then some at posts like this one. If we have special events or special displays, the security is usually amped up and there are also display alarms and cameras th
roughout the museum. Security, all of us, are all hired and vetted by the museum and are not a private contract.”
“Thanks for the information,” she sighed. “I better meet with Mr. Gutenberg.”
He handed her a card. “This has my number on it. If you have any more questions, you can call me directly.”
“Thanks,” she stuck the card in the pages of her notebook. “I appreciate it.”
“Uh, I heard you used to be NYPD,” he said, standing up.
“For about a minute,” she smiled. “I’m better at being my own boss.”
“I understand,” he smiled. “That’s what Tim said.”
“He talks too much,” she laughed.
Jarrod picked up the phone. “Mr. Gutenberg, Ms. Macavoy is here to see you. All right, I’ll send her right up,” He hung up the phone. “Just take the main elevator to the fourth floor. Follow the signs to the curator’s office. Mr. Gutenberg will be right there.”
“Thank you,” she smiled, turning toward the elevator. She walked across the long shiny, tiled lobby toward the silver doors of the elevator. She could feel Jarrod’s eyes on her and figured he was probably curious as most were. And she was curious as to how he knew Tim and why Tim would talk about her to anyone. She pressed the up button and got into the elevator when the doors opened.
When the doors opened on the fourth floor, Savvy walked off the elevator and followed the sign directing her to the curator’s office. She was about to knock on the door when it opened. “Mr. Gutenberg?” she asked.
The older gentleman, wearing a dark suit and white carnation in his lapel, smiled at her. “Yes, Ms. Macavoy, I presume.”
“Mr. Stein said you could answer my questions.”
“Ah, yes, he did say you’d be coming. He called me earlier and told me to give you whatever help you require,” he opened the door wider. “You may come in. I’m sorry that it looks in disarray, but it is how I work.”
Savvy followed Gutenberg into his cluttered office. Tables and shelves were piled high with stacks of papers and in the corner of the room, a desk with a velvet top was completely clear, so much that it stood out in the room. He pulled up two chairs and faced them. “I do a lot of work here. I work for the museum but also do outside appraising. He mentioned his Hitler skull was stolen and that you were looking into who took it. I don’t know how I can help you. I haven’t seen that piece since I appraised it for him.”