“What? Also what?”
“We think, based on what the roommate told us, that Lana may have also been involved with Miletti. Obviously we can’t really know for sure who she was or wasn’t actually sleeping with, but that means we can’t rule anybody out, either.”
“Geez. Now I’m wondering more than ever who she was talking to.”
“Hastings is working on it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Good luck with that, then. Wait – should you really be telling me all this?”
Petreski shrugged. “I’m kind of past caring. It’s not like you’re going to run around telling anybody. Except Don, obviously. And he’s not the type to blab.” Hah! Someone had a selective memory. My confrontation with Perez still rankled.
“And Raymond. Don’t forget Raymond.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll take my chances there.”
“But it’s okay?”
“In a way, you’re kind of an informant, if you think about it. Besides, I’m sure Stanek goes home at night and talks things through with his wife. Why shouldn’t I get a sounding board, too?”
“Stanek?”
“My partner for this case.”
“Bald guy, grey suit? I was wondering what his name was. So I’m, what, the little woman?” I made a face so he could see I wasn’t down with that description, even though I was secretly pleased that he thought of me as a partner of sorts.
“Hardly. You’re... um...”
“Yes?”
“Well, you know.”
“Nope. Not sure I do.”
He scratched his head and scowled at the wall and I decided to let him off the hook for now.
“Tell you what. You think about it and let me know when you figure it out. You hungry?” I got up and headed toward the kitchen.
“God, yes. Should I order a pizza? Or do you want Chinese?”
“What, with this fridge full of food? I was thinking a nice big salad.” The look on his face was worth it. He looked like someone had kicked his puppy – or kitten, rather. “Or, how about a salad with the pizza?”
“Okay. I guess.” He still looked ever so slightly horrified, so I stepped back to the sofa, leaning over the back to kiss him.
“Just because I’m trying to feed you a salad doesn’t mean I don’t still love you, Boo.”
It was out before I realized what I was saying, and there was no putting that genie back in its bottle. His eyes went wide, and I’m sure mine were about to bulge out of my head. I could feel the blood rushing up my neck and my face turning red.
“I mean –” I sputtered out.
“You love me?” he asked at the same time.
“I, uh...”
“You do.”
Whatever I was going to say to that didn’t matter, because he grabbed my shirt, hauled me down over the back of the sofa, and I decided that the salad could wait.
A Familiar Face
“What’s up with you?” Don asked as he buckled himself into the passenger seat of my Subaru.
“Nothing. Why?”
“You’ve been quiet all morning. You’re never quiet. Have another dream last night?”
“Nope. Everything’s good. Really good.” I smiled as I put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. “Really, really good.”
“Oh. Spare me the gory details.”
I’ve always told Don everything. From my freshman year crush on our history teacher to my decade-long obsession with Idris Elba. Every soaring success and every crushing heartbreak, Don heard about it. And yes, sometimes in gory detail.
This time, though... This was different. This was the Real Deal. The L Word. This time I didn’t dare screw it up and it was too new and precious to share with anyone, not even my best friend. Not yet. This time I was keeping it just for me. Just for a while.
Don gave me a funny look when I dropped him off at work, but he didn’t ask again.
I parked in my usual lot on campus, judging where the sun would probably be when I left and choosing a spot that should get some shade in the afternoon. The air hit me like a hot, wet blanket when I got out of the car. Sometimes when we get rain it cuts the humidity, but not this time. I headed for the nearest building, planning to cut through in the A/C.
I didn’t do this very often, only when the weather was bad. Usually that meant rain, but suffocating humidity can count, too. It was an older building, with a door at each end and a long hallway that ran down the middle with classrooms and labs on each side and a stairwell at each end. Everything was a drab, institutional green or grey and I was glad I didn’t have to take any classes here. There weren’t many people around, and the students I did see looked about as lively as the walls, which is probably what made the girl at the other end stand out.
There was something familiar about her, but I only caught a glimpse as she came out of the stairwell and turned to exit the building, her long dark hair swinging and her bright pink dress the only flash of real color in sight. I quickened my pace and came out of the building in time to see her getting into the passenger seat of a fancy little Audi. I couldn’t see who was driving, but I recognized Gloria, the waitress from Slippery When Wet.
I made a quick note of the license plate, wondering why even as I was doing it. There’s nothing inherently sinister about seeing a young woman on a college campus. But it was a coincidence seeing her here when I’d never seen her at all before a couple of days ago, and she was connected to Lana.
I jogged back inside and up the stairs to the second floor. It looked just like the ground floor, except there were some groupings of tables and chairs. I approached a group of three students, a boy and two girls.
“Excuse me? Sorry to bother you, but have you seen Gloria?”
“Who?” asked one of the girls, looking up from her book.
“Gloria. Long dark hair, pink dress. She said she’d be here about now.”
“Sorry. Don’t know her.” She looked back down and I turned to the other two. They shrugged and shook their heads and I moved down the hall, looking at signs and posters, trying to figure out what Gloria might have been doing here.
Most of the offices and labs belonged to the Chemistry Department, but I didn’t see anything that would give me a clue what she had been doing here, or anyone else to ask.
I passed by an open door and glanced in. A woman who looked to be about my mother’s age was frowning at a computer screen, but glanced over at me when I paused in the hallway.
“Are you here to turn in your paper?”
“Paper?”
“Sports Nutrition?”
“Um, sorry. No. I was just looking for someone, but I think I missed her. Sorry to bother you.”
She nodded and resumed frowning at the computer screen.
I moved on, but there were no other signs of life on the floor. The only thing that made sense was that Gloria had been here to turn in a paper, which meant she was a student. Again, nothing sinister, but I tucked this bit of information away to consider later.
Jake Has Concerns
I was on the sofa surrounded by books with my laptop burning a hole in my thigh when Don stuck his head in the door.
“Is my cat in here?”
“I thought he was our cat.”
“Keep telling yourself that. You know you’re going to get testicular cancer holding your computer like that.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” I said, but I leaned forward to put the computer on the coffee table anyway, which disturbed Bridger, who had been curled up next to me. He sat up, stretching so hard he vibrated.
“There’s my baby,” Don cooed and I stuck my finger in my mouth, pretending to gag.
Don opened the door all the way so he could come in to get his cat, and that’s when I saw his companion.
“What’s she doing here?” I asked, nodding at Cat Perez, watching me from the doorway with malice and loathing in her orange eyes.
“Now that’s no way to talk about a lady,” Don said. “She was
on the porch when I got home and followed me in. I hope she hasn’t decided to adopt me – I can’t afford two cats.”
“I think she’s probably pretty self-sufficient.”
“Well, it’s good for Bridger to have a friend, I suppose. He likes having her around.” Bridger started squirming in his arms, so he set him down on the floor. Bridger hopped over to Perez and the three of them headed across the hall to Don’s place.
“Geez, dude,” I called after him. “Close the door, at least.”
I caught him before he closed the door to his apartment.
“What’s up? Don’t you need to study?” he asked. I had a test the next day, but I was as ready as I’d ever be.
“Something kind of weird happened today. At school.”
“What?”
I looked around him to see Perez flicking her tail back and forth while Bridger tried to pounce on it. I couldn’t tell whether she was listening or not.
“Um...”
“Jake, seriously, it’s almost midnight and I’m beat. What’s up?”
“Remember the waitress? From Slippery When Wet?”
“Yeah?”
“I saw her on campus.”
“What was she doing? Like, following you or something?”
“No. I think she was turning in a paper, and then she got in a waiting car and they drove off.”
“Wow. That is weird. So sinister.”
“Fine. I get that it’s not really weird. It’s perfectly reasonable for a young woman to be a student at the largest university in the city. But it struck me as weird that I saw her there so soon after seeing her for the first time where Lana worked. That’s what felt weird.”
“It’s probably just a coincidence. I mean, you could have seen her on campus before, but never noticed because you didn’t know who she was.”
“I guess. But I was in a building I don’t usually go in when I saw her, and I’ve kind of stopped believing in coincidence.”
“Sure, I get it. You want a cup of tea or something?”
“I thought you were beat.”
“I’m going to take a shower. Come in, make some tea, play with the cats, whatever. We can talk later, but right now I’m sticky and I smell like stale beer.”
He turned to head into his bathroom and I stepped into his tiny kitchen – a mirror image of my own – to boil some water. I could hear thumping and scratching noises coming from the main room where Bridger and Perez were wrestling on the floor. I guess she was teaching him to hunt or fight or whatever it is adult cats teach the little ones. That reminded me of the daughter Perez had lost, and it annoyed me that I was feeling sympathy for Perez.
I opened the cabinet to get mugs and teabags, and that’s when I noticed the noise had stopped. I turned to see Perez sitting in the doorway, watching me.
“Hey, Snookum-Doodles.”
She huffed out a sigh and turned her head to one side.
“Fine. I get it. You don’t like me. But Don is my best friend, so if you want to keep coming over here, you’re going to have to figure out how to live with that.”
Her ears twitched.
“As for Boo...”
She turned to look at me.
“Whatever problem you’ve got with me, he doesn’t. I’m not going anywhere.” I paused as I remembered the evening before. “Yeah, maybe not ever, so get used to having me around.”
She didn’t move or sigh or even twitch an ear. She just sat there staring at me to the point that it started to freak me out a bit. I guess Bridger got tired of being ignored by his new playmate and chose that moment to tackle her. She turned to chase him and I went back to making tea.
“Did I hear you talking to someone?” Don was standing where Perez had been not thirty seconds earlier, rubbing his wet hair with a towel.
“Just setting Snookum-Doodles straight on the rules of the house.”
“Don’t call her that. I don’t think she likes it.”
“Is that what you’re wearing?” I asked, nodding at his boxer shorts and faded t-shirt.
“To hang around my own apartment and sleep in? Yes. Geez, I’m not dressing up for you.”
“Not for me, but don’t, like, flash the cats or anything.”
“Seriously? They’re cats; they wouldn’t care if I ran around naked.”
“Ew. Please promise me you won’t run around naked in front of the cats.”
“Uh, sure, okay.” I could tell he was just humoring me, though. He took his mug of tea and headed into the main room. “You still freaking out over Gloria?”
“I wasn’t freaking out. I just don’t like surprises. I like my life to make sense.”
“Ouch. When was the last time that happened?”
“February?”
Don laughed and blew on his tea.
It was almost one in the morning by the time I crawled into bed, but my test wasn’t until eleven and I felt better after just hanging out with Don. I ignored Perez – or “Princess” as Don called her – and she ignored me. It wasn’t an ideal solution, but it would do for now.
Living Arrangements
I was feeling pretty good about myself the next afternoon. The test was over and I was confident I had done well. The only downer in my day was that I was heading to the park to meet Dani and not to Ground Up for a beer. I could have a beer after, though, right?
The sky had started getting grey again that morning, and I wondered whether we were in for more rain. The bayou at the park, which I had to drive over to get to and from school, was still higher than normal. It had a tendency to flood, especially to the east, and I didn’t want to get trapped on one side or the other if we had a serious downpour.
A little rain, though, might be okay. Just enough to cool things off and rain out my meeting with Dani. But no such luck. Dani was waiting for me, stretching her legs at a bench beside the trail. She smiled when she looked up and saw me approach, but it wasn’t convincing.
“You doing okay?” I asked when I got close enough.
“You bet! You ready to walk? We’ll go over some body weight exercises you can do using the equipment in the park as we go.”
“Um, sure. Let’s get going.”
Okay, so she wasn’t in the mood to spill her guts just yet. That was fine. I wouldn’t push, and sooner or later she’d crack.
It happened while she was making me do something called incline pushups on one of the benches. I almost didn’t hear her at first, what with the blood pounding in my ears.
“I have to find a new place.”
I stopped, even though I hadn’t done all the reps she’d told me to do. “Already?”
She shrugged and nodded, her lips tight, and I could tell she was trying to hold it together.
“What happened?”
“There’s no evidence of a will anywhere, not that I expected there to be. She was so young, you know?” Her voice did crack then, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I held out a hand and she took it.
“I’d offer you a hug,” I said, “but you made me get all sweaty.”
She kind of laughed at that and sniffed before squeezing my hand and letting go. “Thanks.”
“But seriously...”
“But no will means the house and everything goes to her family, and that’s just her father.”
“And you want to be out before he shows up.”
“Yeah. I don’t suppose you know of any cheap apartments or anybody looking for a roommate?”
“I might...” I did, actually, but I knew it could also be a very bad idea, in so many ways. “I’ll see, and if I hear of anything I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks,” she put her shoulders back and wiped her eyes. “Thanks a lot. Sorry. I didn’t mean to break down on you there. And you only did four pushups.”
So much for spilling her guts. But if she didn’t benefit from her roommate’s death, what motive could she have had? And I was really getting curious about Lana’s father.
❧
�
�That sounds like one of your worst ideas ever, and you’ve had a lot of bad ideas, you have to admit.”
“I’ll admit no such thing,” I told Don as I contemplated the last half-inch of beer in my bottle. I looked around the Ground Up patio to see who else was there. The King Charles spaniel I had seen the other day was there, watching a bird peck at some crumbs. He turned to look at me and wagged his tail. At least someone didn’t think I was a screw up.
I had just stood up to get a second beer when thunder rumbled in the distance. “Probably time to head home,” I said. The gentleman with the puppy was putting a marker in his book and gathering his trash.
“It’s far away. We might not even get any rain.” Don stood up anyway, adjusting the makeshift sling he used to carry Bridger when he took him out and about.
“No.” I shook my head. “I have a feeling we’re in for some bad weather.”
“Isn’t she still a suspect?” Don asked as we crossed the street.
“Maybe. I don’t know. But she didn’t do it, I’m sure of it.”
“How can you be so sure?”
I couldn’t blame Don for being cautious. Old Mr. Levine on the ground floor was moving into a senior citizen high rise at the end of the month and I was thinking about suggesting that unit to Dani. “She’s gutted over Lana, and now she’s about to be homeless. You don’t kill someone if it’s going to make you homeless.”
“Crime of passion?”
“Hardly. You don’t stop to drug the dog when you’re committing a crime of passion. And the dog knows her – she wouldn’t have raised an alarm over Dani.”
“She might if Dani was hurting Lana. But even if you’re sure, and I’m not saying you’re not right, but even so, what about Petreski? You’re supposed to be careful, and this is skirting the edge of careful.”
“I’m not going to stand by while she gets kicked out of her home by some abusive racist.”
“You don’t know for sure that’s going to happen. We don’t really know anything about him beyond what you’ve heard from Dani, right? He could be perfectly normal.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. Even if he is okay, she believes he’s not and she’s freaked out. I’m going to have to go with my gut on this one.”
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