Looking at me through red, watery eyes she said, "Just promise you'll never tell Angela about last night. Please."
Her request struck me as telling. She was embarrassed by her conduct, but she wasn't worried about those she worked with or her friends knowing, she was worried about her daughter knowing. I replied, "I promise I'll never tell Angela that you had too much to drink last night. You said she was at her grandparent's last night, so she won't even know you weren't home." Then I added, "I can't think of any reason I would even contemplate telling your daughter you had too much to drink, or anything else embarrassing for that matter. Give me a little credit."
PJ rubbed her forehead, "I know Jack. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. I'm just working so hard to set a good example for Angela. She's at such a vulnerable age. I just don't want her to see my faults."
I reached over and patted her arm and said, "Just relax. You're doing a great job with Angela. Sissy's always telling me what a great young woman you're raising."
A smile attempted to cross PJ's face, but quickly faded, "Thanks Jack. I guess I'm just on edge. You're right, this whole situation with Tim is eating me up. I can't sleep. I can't concentrate. I feel like I'm just going around in circles. Now, because of my stupidity last night, I'm not even certain I'll remember everything we talked about before I crashed into that sea of alcohol. You make all of that effort for me and I do something so stupid as pickle my brain."
PJ seemed to be shrinking before my eyes. No longer the self-assured, assertive woman I had come to respect as a hard working cop and devoted single parent. She seemed to be a glass figurine with a thousand fissures. One poke and she would disintegrate into a million shards of broken glass.
I decided to attempt some subtle tough love, "Okay, enough beating yourself up. Now it's time to move forward. I expect you will remember everything we talked about, but let me give you my notes. I made notes after I met with Spencer. Everything I told you that he said is in the notes. I made copies of the screen shots of everything I found about Tim on the web. It won't hurt for you to look at everything anyway, maybe you'll see something I didn't, or you may even see a flaw in my logic. You've got much more investigative experience than I do."
PJ seemed to reinflate somewhat. She said, "Yeah, that sounds good. You're probably right. It'll probably all come back once I feel a little better. Thanks Jack, you're a good friend."
PJ's said that to me before, and before, it always left me feeling a little disappointed because I wanted to be more than just a friend. For some reason it felt fine today.
Just then Elena stuck her head out the door and said, "Breakfast is served."
PJ and I went inside and joined Elena around the table. Poached eggs on toast for the two of them and bacon, eggs, and buttered toast for me. I looked up and asked, "No bacon for you or PJ?"
Elena shook her head, "Watching my figure. I didn't think PJ's stomach was up to bacon this morning. Lots of fat, you know." PJ nodded in obvious agreement.
"Oh, but it's okay for me?"
Shaking her head again, Elena said, "Not in the least, but I'm a patient woman. I'll work on changing your eating habits in due course."
Somehow, I didn't think she was kidding.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
After breakfast, PJ said she was beginning to feel somewhat human again. She thanked Elena and me profusely for taking care of her and told us she owed us "one". I doubt she would have put it that way if she knew who Elena's father was. Once she learns that little fact she may not speak to me again at all. How do I get myself into these messes?
After PJ left, Elena and I went back to bed. It started innocently enough with me complimenting the breakfast she had prepared and her reply about what the proper reward to the cook should entail. It was all downhill from there. It was early afternoon by the time we made it out of bed for the day.
Elena told me she needed to go home as she had work to do to prepare for the kick-off of her new project on Monday. After a lingering kiss at the top of the outside stairs, I watched her drive out, headed back to Miami Beach. I found myself reflecting on the past three days and wondering where we were headed with this relationship. I didn't know what the outcome was going to be, but I did know we were going to find out, Elena had made that very clear.
I wandered downstairs and found a light crowd. Early afternoon on a beautiful Sunday only the serious drinkers want to be inside. I was surprised to find Sissy tending bar. Sissy has tended bar at Cap's since before I arrived. At one point, Sissy was Mickey's all around right hand, but after Marge started working she ran things during the day and Sissy ran the place at night. I couldn't blame Aunt Jean if she recruited Marge just so she could diminish Mickey's reliance on Sissy. It would be easy for any woman to be jealous of the time her husband spent with Sissy. In a word, she is -- stunning. She's five feet eight inches tall with legs a mile long and a body most women would kill for. If her body wasn't enough, God blessed her with striking features of high cheekbones, large almond shaped sparkling blue gray eyes, and naturally full lips.
After the period where I helped to hide Sissy from the hit man that killed Allison and the Miami reporter, she and I played house for a time. It was fun, but we both came to realize it was not a long term thing. We went through our period of friends with benefits, but now are probably just friends. A couple of weeks ago she took the last of the personal things she had been keeping in my apartment for the occasional sleepover. Nothing dramatic, just a changing of the times.
Sissy had been working less and less because she's gone back to college. Now, she's taking an internship in Atlanta and will be leaving soon. I'm not even certain that she'll be back. I have mixed emotions. On one hand, I certainly want to see Sissy pursue her education and a professional career, if that's what she desires. On the other hand, I'll really miss her around here. She's always fun to joke with and great with customers. Fortunately, Dana seems to be stepping into Sissy's role behind the bar. Even though she's a recent transplant from Pittsburgh, Dana has proven she can josh with the South Florida crowd like a lifetime local.
I took my usual spot on a stool at the end of the bar and Sissy ambled down, "Hi Jack. How are you doing today?"
"Great Sissy. Just great. I didn't realize you were coming in today."
"I asked Marge to give me a few shifts this week. Wanted to say goodbye to folks before I head for Atlanta next week. Seems funny, not having this place to come back to."
I said, "You'll always have this place to come back to, I've told you that time and again. Get it through that pretty little noggin of yours, this is your home and you can always come home."
She reached across the bar and squeezed my hand, "Sometimes you're down right compassionate, Jack. You learning that from Elena?"
Now this is tricky waters for even a first-rate sailor. Talking to a woman who was once primary in your life about another woman who is filling that role today. Not certain this is a journey I should take. "Don't you know, Moe's been teaching me compassion."
Sissy laughed out loud and then said, "Okay, we won't go there if you don't want to, but before I leave for Atlanta you and I are going to sit down and have a long talk about where you're headed with this latest fling. You want a Landshark?"
What is it around here anyway, everybody's so worried about my personal life? I replied, "Sure, I'll have one. Just one."
"That'll be the day." She turned and headed for the cooler to get my beer.
A voice called out, "Make that two, Sissy."
I looked up at the guy walking toward my end of the bar and felt my throat closing. It was Justin. I hadn't seen Justin for five or six weeks, since he left in the fishing boat he had purchased from Captain Bob. It looked like he hadn't shaved or cut his hair since I last saw him. His perpetual tan was burnished a deeper bronze as if he'd been stranded on a desert island. He was wearing his usual uniform of deck shoes, cargo shorts, and a faded tee shirt. The 180 pounds of lean muscle packed on his si
x foot two inch frame glided easily up onto the stool next to me. His steel gray eyes bore into me as he stuck out his hand and said, "Great to see you, Jack."
I shook his hand. It was rough and dry like that of a working man and his grip was firm, but not bone crushing like a guy trying to prove his machismo. No, Justin isn't the kind of guy who needs to prove anything. The catch in my throat released and I said, "Great to see you too. I didn't know you were back. How was your trip?"
"Just got back this morning. Trip was great. Came back to get some work done on the boat. Having some problems with the fuel system."
Just then, Sissy set two Landsharks in front of us and said, "Hi Justin. Haven't seen you in a while. Your barber mad at you?"
Justin smiled at Sissy and replied, "No, I've been cruising. The ports I've stopped at weren't the kind of places I felt like getting anywhere close to someone with easy access to a straight razor." His eyes flicking quickly up and down Sissy he said, "You look fantastic as always. I was afraid you'd have left for Atlanta by now. Glad I caught you."
Sissy started telling Justin about her plans for the move to Atlanta, but I wasn't really listening. I was trying to identify what it was about Justin that caused me concern every time I saw him. After all, he's saved my ass on more than one occasion. He saved Sissy from the hired killer who was after her and he led the rescue of Elena and I from Bracchi. While there is an air of danger around him, he's obviously on my side. I guess that's it, he's been on my side, but I'm never confident that things will always remain that way.
A couple of guys climbed onto stools down the bar and Sissy cut off her conversation with Justin and went down to take their orders. Justin took a long pull on his beer and turned toward me, "So Jack, in spite of conventional wisdom, you've decided to start sleeping with Mancuso's daughter." It was a statement, not a question.
"How the hell did you know? I thought you just got back?"
"I was talking to Juan out back on my way in. He was out there cleaning some kitchen mats."
I said, "Damn it, doesn't anyone have anything to do around here other then keep tabs on my love life?"
Justin chuckled, a rare occurrence, and said, "I guess you provide relief from the boredom of day to day routine work."
"Glad to know I have purpose around here." I took a very long drink of my Landshark.
Gesturing toward Sissy at the other end of the bar Justin asked, "So, what do you think of Sissy going to Atlanta? Think she'll ever be back?"
I thought about that for a minute and then answered, "For several reasons, I think it's great that she got the internship. I think Sissy sorely underestimates her abilities. Just being selected for the internship is good for her ego. My guess is that she'll do a great job, she's smart, she's a hard worker, and she has personality. I think she'll fit in anywhere and succeed, if given half a chance."
"Think she'll be back?"
"I don't know the answer to that one. Not much tying her to this area. Oh sure, she loves this place and, of course, us. I'm just not certain that's enough to bring her back after she sees a new wider world out there."
Justin nodded as if deep in thought. Finally he said, "I think you're right. She certainly has the brains and the personality, if she can just overcome her looks she'll do just great."
"What do you mean, overcome her looks? She's gorgeous, her looks may be her strongest asset."
Justin took another drink of his beer and looked sideways as me, "Jack, for a guy with the education and experience you have, you sure have a simplistic view of the world. Sissy's looks may play well for her as a bartender, but they will be a double edged sword in the professional world. Her looks may get her in the door, but they'll be an impediment to people taking her seriously. She'll need to work twice as hard to be taken seriously. It's not human nature to think a woman can be blessed with both looks and intelligence."
This is twice in the past few days I've been lectured about the burden of being an attractive woman in the modern professional world. First, Elena and now Justin. I could take it from Elena, after all she no doubt has personal experience, but this guy, he's a damn mercenary of some type. What the hell, between assignments killing people, he must be trying to get in touch with his feminine side.
Seeming to read my mind Justin said, "Surprised I'm so sensitive to the plight of the beautiful professional women of the world?" Nodding toward me he continued, "You know the same thing. Probably better than I do. You've spent plenty of time around professional people. You just may not have taken the time to notice. Think about the most attractive female lawyer you've ever known. Now, what comes to mind first, how she looked or the great legal argument she made?"
The damn guy's a shrink. What's his thing, help people come to grips with their issues before he kills them? Sensing my resistance Justin commanded, "Come on Jack, who's the most attractive lawyer you've ever known?"
I blurted, "Katherine, my ex."
"Okay, what comes to mind, her dynamite appearance or her sharp legal mind?"
"Both. Equally."
"Cite one of her great legal arguments."
"Ah, well it's been a while since I thought about it."
Justin shook his head, "Bet you can close your eyes and picture her naked even though it's been a while."
Fortunately, Sissy walked up and said, "You two look deep in serious discussion. Does it warrant another round?"
Justin replied, "Sure does. I'm just getting warmed up."
My life just gets more and more bizarre, I'm sitting here being lectured about my lack of sensitivity to women in the workplace by a guy who looks like a castaway and kills people for a living.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
PJ looked up from her desk as Tim came into the office, "Morning Partner, how are you doing this Monday morning?" Her voice was warmer than her feelings.
Slumping into his desk chair Tim replied, "Fine, but not gone from this place long enough."
"Well, don't get too settled, Beans just called and wants to see us. Sounded like he thinks he's found something. I told him we'd come see him as soon as you got in."
Tim massaged his forehead, "Oh, great. Kick off the week listening to Beans talk some minuscule detail to death. I feel a headache coming on already."
PJ scoffed, "Join the club. I've had a headache for two days myself."
Tim slowly stood and said, "I need to stop and fill my coffee cup on the way."
PJ picked up her notepad and the open can of Coke from her desk and headed for the door.
The walk to Beans' office was quiet. The usual Monday morning chitchat about what each had done over the weekend just didn't seem to get started. The one day off, having worked Saturday, was only part of the chill that both felt.
Beans' office was its usual sea of disarray. Unfortunately, the office seemed well organized in comparison to its inhabitant. Beans wore the same clothes he had worn to the detective's meeting on Saturday. It was obvious from the multitude of wrinkles that if he had taken the shirt or slacks off at any point in the past forty-eight hours it was only to wad them up before putting them back on. His hair was styled after Albert Einstein.
As they had on their previous visit, PJ and Tim cleared stacks of file folders from the two chairs in front of Beans' desk and sat down. PJ asked, "Beans, have you been home since we saw you Saturday morning?"
Seeming distracted from his train of thought Beans replied, "Ah, no, not really. I just got caught up in this," gesturing at the mountain of paper on his desk, "and thought it best to keep pushing. I think I have something for you."
Looking around at the empty Red Bull cans littered about the office, Tim asked, "Don't you ever sleep?"
Beans looked confused by the question, but finally answered, "Of course I sleep. I lean back in my chair whenever I want and grab whatever sleep I need. I really don't need much sleep." Clicking his keyboard he continued, "Let me show you what I found."
The monitor on the sidewall came to life and aerial ph
otos of three buildings appeared. Beans said, "After you asked me to see if I could find similarities in the venues, I pulled up these three shots from Google Earth." Using his laser pointer he indicated the building on each of the pictures. "These are the three banks. Here are the after hours deposit boxes." He struck a few more keys and each of the pictures morphed into a wider view. "This is where I found the similarities. Directly adjacent to the driveway leading to the deposit box is a parking lot."
PJ and Tim looked at each other. Tim shook his head and said, "Don't you think that is a pretty common occurrence in a city like Hollywood, Beans? Do you think that really has anything to do with the location of our heists? The proximity of a parking lot?"
Beans shook his head, his hair looking like it might take flight from his head, "No, of course not. Let me finish, if you would?"
Tim replied meekly, "Sure Beans. Sorry. Go ahead." PJ was glad it was Tim who said what they were both thinking and not her.
"I went through the security video we have from all three banks. Two of them had cameras that captured the vehicles in the adjacent parking lots. I reviewed the video going back two weeks. Remember we got video for the two weeks before each robbery to see if we could spot anyone casing the places. Anyway, I found something very interesting." His fingers danced across his keyboard again and the picture changed. Now two pictures were showing two parking lots. A couple more keystrokes and the pictures zoomed in on the trunk lids of two separate vehicles. Beans asked, "See that?"
PJ and Tim were quiet and then PJ ventured, "Two trunk lids?"
Beans' laser pointer danced across the pictures, "Not the lids. What's on the lids. See, right there."
Tim said, "Looks like satellite radio receivers to me. Am I missing something?"
Beans ran his hand vigorously through his already wild hair, "I thought you two were detectives. Satellite receivers are on the roof of the vehicle. Better reception. I think those are cameras."
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