by Helen Phifer
She pushed herself up from the table. ‘Come on, off you go. You have your own life to live and I’m just being a silly, morbid, old fool. I’ll have a large brandy and go to bed. Tomorrow is another day. I’ll forget about that stupid note and make sure I put my lipstick on.’
She winked at Maria who smiled and stood up. ‘Well, I’m only across the hall if you need to talk to me, even if it’s in the middle of the night. You just call or give me a knock.’
‘Thank you, I will.’
‘Promise?’
She shook her head, ‘I’ll be fine. Thank you for taking the time to listen to a crazy, old bat like me ramble on. I swear even though it sounds it, I’m not senile just yet.’
Maria bent and kissed her cheek. ‘I know you’re not and I’m serious about calling me.’ She walked towards the front door, sensing that Miss Green needed to be on her own.
Maria shut the door behind her and waited to hear the dead bolt turn before heading into her own apartment. No idea what to make of the last fifteen minutes, she kicked off her shoes and turned on all the lights. If she hadn’t been creeped out enough before, she was now. Not bothering to turn the TV on she switched the radio on instead as she checked out each room. She felt as if she was being watched, no idea by who or what, but it was enough for her to make sure there was no-one hiding under the bed or in the closets. Changing into her pyjamas and pouring herself a large glass of wine she picked up a notebook from the table. Then sitting crossed legged on the sofa, she began to write down a list of everything weird that had happened to her today. The lively chatter on the radio interspersed with a selection of Lady Gaga songs took away some of her unease. The wine helped as well, as she wrote down what had happened at the house on West 10th then the bizarre conversation with Miss Green. She wondered if there was some connection. How could there be? She hadn’t told anyone except Frankie about the house. Miss Green wouldn’t know where she’d been or what she’d been doing at work would she? It was all just some weird coincidence, nothing more. She sipped the wine, questioning her beliefs in the paranormal. It wasn’t something that she’d ever had to think about before. She didn’t believe in stuff like that, being a black and white say-what-you-see kind of girl. Yeah, but what about saying how you feel, Maria? You know there was something up in that attic apartment. You felt it, you heard it, Christ, you smelt it. Are you going to deny how scared you were? Maybe Miss Green and that house aren’t connected, maybe you’re the connection? Her entire body shuddered at the thought. She needed to take her mind off it, needed to relax, or she was never going to sleep. She picked up the phone and waited to see if Frankie answered. It went to voicemail. Downing the rest of the wine she grabbed the throw off the back of the sofa and lay down, an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion making her yawn. Wrapping herself in it she didn’t turn any of the lights off and left the radio on. She closed her eyes and hoped that sleep would come fast.
Chapter Eighteen
The hammering on Maria’s apartment door was so loud she jumped off the couch confused. Her heart racing, she wondered what was wrong. Her first thought being her neighbor, she ran to the door and peered through the peephole to see Frankie standing there. His shirt buttons undone, sleeves rolled up and his eyes glassy. Relieved it wasn’t her neighbor she began to slide back the assortment of bolts and chains, opening the door. She looked at the clock on the wall realising it was almost 2am.
‘What the hell, Frankie? You scared the living crap out of me.’
He grinned. ‘You rang me and then I couldn’t get hold of you. I was worried. Sorry about scaring you. I also need somewhere to stay, I’m locked out.’
She stepped back to let him in and he stumbled past her, the sour smell of bourbon turning her stomach.
‘Where have you been? When I left you a couple of hours ago you were on your way home to Christy? How did you get in this state?’
He laughed. ‘She’s a bitch, you know that don’t you. She ripped my head off as soon as I walked through the door. I wanted to strangle her with my bare hands and I’ve never felt like that before.’
He collapsed onto the sofa. Maria felt scared for Christy, surely he wouldn’t have hurt her.
‘Where is she? Did you hurt her?’
He started laughing. ‘Hurt the ice queen? You got to be kidding me. I wanted to, but I didn’t. Come on, Maria, you know me. I’m not the wife beating kind of scumbag we deal with. I left and went back to The Cat.’
She let out a sigh. ‘I know you’re not.’ Turning around she began to fill the percolator up to brew a pot of fresh coffee.
‘I need to pee.’ She turned to see him stumbling along to the bathroom and let him go. He was going to need an IV of black coffee pumped straight into his veins to sober him up. She remembered that he hadn’t eaten and began to make him a sandwich, he needed carbs in his stomach. The noise of the percolator disguised his return. She turned around and screeched to see him standing behind her.
‘What the fuck, Frankie.’
‘I’m not that ugly.’
She smiled. ‘You’re not ugly at all.’
‘Then why doesn’t Christy ever want me?’
He reached out a hand and touched her cheek. ‘You’re beautiful, Maria, I love you.’
For a moment she was tempted to kiss him; he was very attractive and she liked him a lot – more than she should. Then she came to her senses and pushed his hand away.
‘Yeah, you’ve got beer goggles on. Tell me that when you’re sober.’
He lowered his hand, the moment gone. He smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes like it normally did. It was the saddest smile she’d ever seen and it broke her heart a little. She passed him the sandwich. ‘Eat this, or you’re gonna be barfing all day.’
‘Thanks. Sorry for waking you up.’
She carried two mugs over, placing his on the coffee table. Nursing hers she sat back down on the armchair. He stuck his thumb up at her as he tried to eat his sandwich without making too much mess. She tried not to watch him, instead she sipped at her coffee wondering if she would be able to get back to sleep. She wasn’t angry with him, in fact she was glad of the company. In her dream she’d been about to go back into the house on West 10th and she’d been terrified. He finished his sandwich and she leant across, passing him the mug.
‘Good job we’re not on an early shift tomorrow.’
He nodded. ‘Old Addison has done us a favour. No fresh meat for a while.’
She wasn’t sure if she agreed; she had a feeling that this was just the start and they were about to get involved in something she’d never dreamt about in her darkest nightmares. He finished his coffee and kicked his shoes off.
‘Can I sleep on here?’
She nodded. ‘I’m going to bed, take your pants off or they’ll be creased to shit and don’t tell me you’re not wearing boxers because, if you aren’t, leave the damn things on.’
He let out a loud laugh. ‘I’m wearing underwear.’
‘Good to hear, get some sleep.’
He saluted her, his eyes closing before he’d even laid down. She shook her head and left him to it, going to her bedroom. She closed the door to the sound of his gentle snoring, wondering if she should text Christy and let her know he was okay. Then decided against it. Frankie was a hard-working, decent man and she did treat him like crap. He was too good for her, maybe she needed to realize that and stop taking him for granted. She didn’t know how lucky she was to have a husband who loved her so much. Being single had never really bothered Maria, but she didn’t know if it was the events of the last few days, or the wine, but she couldn’t help wondering how nice it would be to have someone to snuggle up to and take her out on dates. She climbed into her bed, this time turning out the light. She felt safer knowing Frankie was asleep on her couch, even if he was comatose.
Her alarm went off and she reached out to press snooze. Her eyes didn’t want to open. No wonder, when she remembered her late night visit and wondere
d how hungover Frankie was this morning. Forcing herself to get out of bed she walked out of the bedroom to the smell of bacon, crisping under the griddle. She took one look at Frankie who apart from having dark circles under his eyes and a pair of crumpled pants looked better than she did.
‘Morning. Sorry about last night, Maria. Was I a complete asshole?’
She shook her head. ‘No, not at all.’ She wasn’t sure whether she was mad or envious of him; if she’d drank that amount of bourbon she’d be in bed for a week feeling sorry for herself.
‘I shouldn’t have come here, but thank you for letting me in. I appreciate it.’
He passed her a plate of food which she took from him.
‘Thank you. Are you not feeling like shit?’
He shook his head. ‘Well, apart from a headache and my mouth feeling like it’s been licking the men’s locker room floor at the station. No, I’m good.’
She shook her head. ‘Jeez, if I’d consumed that much I’d be dying. So, have you spoken to Christy?’
‘Not yet, I’m going to go home and apologize. Then ask her what the fuck is wrong with her.’
‘Don’t get angry with her, keep calm. If you two aren’t getting on you know you can sleep on the couch here don’t you?’
He smiled. ‘Thanks Maria, I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
‘If you’re going to cook me breakfast every day it’s to my advantage, I’m being completely selfish.’
He crossed the room and bending down he kissed her on the cheek. ‘I’ll see you later, I need a shower, some pain killers and a couple of hours in my bed. We can decide what we’re going to do later.’
He let himself out and she wished that Addison had never given them the cold case to work on.
Chapter Nineteen
Maria left her apartment and crossed the hall to knock on Miss Green’s door, she waited to hear the familiar shuffling of her feet along the hallway. After a couple of knocks she released the breath she’d been holding in when she heard her.
‘Who is it?’
‘Maria, just checking you’re okay.’
‘I am thank you, I look a frightful state so I’m not going to open the door and scare you.’
Maria chuckled. ‘You couldn’t look a state if you tried. I’m going out now. Do you need anything?’
‘No thank you, I’ll see you later, honey.’
‘Bye.’
Glad her neighbor hadn’t given herself a coronary in the middle of the night she left to go to the public library on 5th Avenue. There was a man sitting on the bottom steps of the apartment building, talking on his cell. She wondered who it was as it wasn’t exactly sit on your ass on a marble step kind of day. As she passed him he stood up.
‘Maria.’
She turned to him and shook her head as she realized who he was. ‘Tell me, Mr Williams, a busy man such as yourself must have better things to do than hang around outside my apartment block?’
She stared at him, her arms crossed waiting for his answer.
‘I haven’t been here long and to be honest with you, not today, it’s my day off.’
She looked around for the fancy town car. There wasn’t one. He wasn’t dressed in a suit today, he was more casual and he smiled at her.
‘Look, all I want is to buy you a coffee, maybe get to know each other a little. You never know, when you have a conversation with me you might not think I’m such an asshole.’
‘I never said you were. I said there were laws against this kind of behavior, it’s called stalking.’
He held his hands up. ‘Sorry, I guess I am a little weird. I sincerely wanted to thank you. I like you and I’m not used to not getting what I want. So I am an asshole, but I’m extremely grateful for what you did the other day. You’ll be pleased to know I’ve hired another security guard. You don’t expect that sort of stuff to happen. Hopefully I’ll see you around, bye.’
He turned and began walking away, instead of doing what her head was telling her to she followed her heart and ran after him.
‘I’m going to the public library to do some research, you can buy me a coffee in there if you want.’
She looked down at his feet and laughed to see his shiny, new Nikes. ‘You came prepared today?’
His cheeks turned pink. ‘I did.’
‘Come on then, you can break your sneakers in.’
They walked towards Washington Square Park. Even though it was winter, it was still busy. Maria liked Central Park, but she loved the atmosphere here. There were always the same faces mingled in with the tourists and some of the buskers were talented. In fact, many a warm, summers night, she’d sit here with a cool drink and a book in her hand, people watching and listening to some performers who were worthy of Broadway. She paused to listen to Marvin playing the piano that he wheeled there himself whenever the mood took him. His bright blond spiky hair always perfect, he nodded at her and she mouthed, ‘Morning.’ Pulling a ten dollar note from her pocket she felt Harrison’s hand on hers.
‘Let me.’
She watched as he pulled two fifties out of his pocket and pushed them into the cap on the top of the piano. Marvin’s eyes widened and Maria winked at him as he carried on playing and she still put her ten dollar note in. He blew her a kiss and she laughed, then waved and carried on walking.
‘That was very kind of you.’
‘You’re not angry?’
She shook her head. ‘No, if you can afford it then it’s nice. So long as you’re not just showing off for my benefit and besides, Marvin deserves it. He lets Sam – one of the homeless veterans who sleeps in the park – sing along next to him when he’s in the mood to sing. Then he gives him some of the money people have given them. He’s one of the good guys.’
‘He’s talented as well.’
‘He is, extremely. I’ve never heard anyone play a rickety old piano like Marvin, sometimes he moves me to tears with his music.’
They carried on walking up Fifth towards the library; it was a fair distance and she wondered if Harrison was regretting his decision to accompany her. She stole a glance at him, he looked happy enough.
‘So why aren’t you at work today? Is it your rest day?’
She shook her head. ‘I wish. Frankie, my partner, turned up drunk in the early hours and slept on my sofa. He’s gone home to make it up to his wife and sort himself out, so we’re working a late shift.’
Maria wondered if she should have told him about Frankie’s business, but if he wanted to be friends with her Frankie was a big part of her life. He needed to know this, not find out later on.
‘Frankie is lucky to have you, I take it you’re good friends?’
She didn’t detect any jealousy or anger in his voice, which was good. He seemed genuinely interested.
‘Yes, we are. You have to be able to trust your partner in my job, your life depends on it. He’s like an older brother and my best friend rolled into one.’
‘That’s good to know, I like him already. You have a dangerous job, Maria. What made you decide to become a cop?’
He’d taken her by surprise with his answer about Frankie. She’d thought there might be some Alpha male thing going on even though she belonged to no-one but herself. Although her loyalty would always be to Frankie, she found herself warming to the man next to her. She didn’t know Harrison Williams any better than she knew Marvin the busker however he was surprising her and in a pleasant way.
‘I like helping people, I don’t like seeing nice people having their lives ripped apart for someone else’s pleasure. It pays well, and my customer service skills leave a lot to be desired.’
He let out a loud laugh. ‘You’re also very honest, I like that.’ He stared up Fifth as they walked against the crowd of tourists heading down towards the Empire State Building. Maria smiled.
‘You don’t walk much do you?’
It wasn’t a criticism, she walked everywhere because it was cheaper and she hated driving in the madnes
s of the city. The never-ending symphony of car horns drove her insane. If she could afford her own driver then she probably wouldn’t be walking either.
‘Not really. I play squash, I swim, I’m not into the whole gym culture although there’s a pretty decent one at the office. At least that’s what the staff say, I don’t really go in there.’
The beautiful building of the public library came into view and she thought she heard Harrison sigh with relief. They went up the stone steps and joined the queue to get inside, when it was their turn she smiled at the security guard who stepped forward and hugged her.
‘Maria, where have you been?’
She laughed. ‘Working.’
‘You tell them not to work you too hard, takings are down over at the café.’
‘Abe, you are far too cheeky for your own good.’ He winked at her and she carried on walking through. Harrison following her to the small café tucked beneath the grand staircase. He was looking around, his mouth open.
‘It’s beautiful.’
‘Please don’t tell me that you live in the city and have never visited.’
He shook his head and she rolled her eyes at him. ‘What about the Empire State and Rockefeller?’
She watched as his cheeks began to burn for the second time. ‘I’ve been to functions in the Rainbow Room and the NBC studios, I’ve had meetings in the Empire.’
She tutted. ‘You live in this amazing city, with some of the most wonderful buildings and landmarks and you’ve never visited them, been to the top of them to take in the views?’
‘I don’t do tourist stuff.’ His voice was defensive and she began to laugh.
‘I’m not criticizing you, I just can’t believe you never been. I love the Top of the Rock, it’s my favorite view of the city, plus, you can see the Empire from there.’
‘You surprise me, Maria, I thought as a tough New York City cop the last thing you’d want to do is to visit the tourist attractions.’
‘Yeah, well, I think it’s important to love where you live. I love New York, I love the buildings, the architecture and the history. I feel as if I’m pretty blessed to be here.’