Nina laughed. She had missed him. Tony Ramirez was a good investigator and a good man, but Paul would always be the best.
If only—she wished again that he was working with her on the Strong case. Paul could find out anything, charm anyone, and he was infinitely curious, to the point that he would continue to work on things everyone else thought were hopeless.
Of course, there was also Paul the problem, Paul the unpredictable. He never lost his temper, exactly. He simply trusted his instincts, even when they took him outside the usually constraining influences of law and morality.
He seemed to be following her thoughts. Reaching out, he ruffled her hair. ‘‘Too bad it got so complicated.’’
‘‘Sandy almost quit the day I fired you.’’
For a moment, he stood contemplating her, and had the grace not to mention that it was he, not she, who had ultimately called for an end to their relationship. Then he looked toward Sandy. ‘‘She looks happy, doesn’t she?’’
‘‘How can you tell?’’
‘‘One corner of her mouth is turned up a millimeter.’’
‘‘Oh, yes. I see now.’’
‘‘I gave them a hell of a wedding present,’’ Paul said. ‘‘I know she’s been pining for one. Every time I talk to her, it’s the same thing. So I picked up a used one in Reno. It’s being delivered tomorrow.’’
‘‘Oh, really? She never told me she was pining for anything. What is it?’’
‘‘A small tractor.’’
‘‘No kidding!’’
‘‘You have to see it sometime. Twenty horsepower, attachments for everything from plowing a field to harvesting the alfalfa. Joseph has twenty acres near Woodfords. I’m just sorry I won’t be here when it arrives.’’
‘‘I never knew you and Sandy were so close.’’
‘‘Once a friend always a friend,’’ he said lightly. ‘‘Listen. Grover Hot Springs isn’t far from here. We could have a soak after the party.’’
‘‘I didn’t bring a suit. Paul, I’m in love.’’
Paul didn’t move a muscle. They were pressed together in the crush, so she would have known.
‘‘Anyone I know?’’ he said.
‘‘Collier Hallowell.’’
‘‘The D.A.? He’s back?’’
‘‘He’s different, Paul. He’s fine. He’s been back for a couple of months. We started seeing each other and— it’s gone very fast.’’
‘‘Is he here?’’
‘‘He’s over there somewhere, trying to land a beer.’’ She scanned the group again, but couldn’t see his head.
‘‘You’re sure about this?’’
‘‘Very sure.’’
‘‘I’m surprised.’’
‘‘Yes.’’
‘‘Someone finally got through to you.’’
Nina said simply, ‘‘Yes. He did.’’
‘‘And he’s—’’
‘‘He’s in love, too.’’
‘‘Well.’’ There was a pause. Then he rested his hand on her shoulder lightly, bestowing a benediction. ‘‘I wish you the best, you know that.’’
‘‘Thanks.’’
He looked into her eyes with the same old warmth, the same old twinkle. ‘‘I’m still here for you. If you need me, I’ll come take care of it.’’
He removed his hand from her shoulder, and Nina turned away from him, touched. There was a sweetness in the words that made her smile and ache at the same time. ‘‘You can count on me too,’’ she said.
The kids had gradually stopped dancing, almost imperceptibly slowing and fading off into the kitchen or out front. A handsome young woman with curly black hair that fell below her shoulders, wearing a blue vest with a long black skirt, held up a big book. She spoke, and the room hushed.
‘‘Let’s perform the ceremony,’’ she said. Nina saw now that the book in her hands was a Bible. Where was Collier? Outside? But Sandy and Joseph were walking through the crowd, which parted for them, making their way to the young woman. Wish trailed behind, along with an assortment of other close relatives, a few Nina recognized. And just like that, the marriage ceremony began.
‘‘As it says in Psalms, God has tested us,’’ the minister said. ‘‘Sandy and Joseph know all about this test.’’ She smiled and began to read from the book, ‘‘ ‘Thou hast tried us as silver is tried. Thou didst bring us into the net . . .’ ’’
Except for the occasional babbling of one of the toddlers, the room, the whole cabin, fell silent and listened. ‘‘ ‘We went through fire and through water; yet thou hast brought us forth to a spacious place . . .’ ’’ the minister read.
Nina, at first listening with half an ear, felt herself drawn in. ‘‘ ‘Sing praises to the Lord, O ye his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime . . .’ ’’
Sandy held Joseph’s hand. All Nina could see of her was her long black hair, held loosely by a silver pin, spilling down her back.
‘‘ ‘Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.’ ’’ She closed the book.
‘‘Sandy and Joseph, I’m so happy today to see you together again in this ‘spacious place,’ full of harmony and love. We don’t often get two chances to make things right in this lifetime. You’re blessed, and I believe you know that you are blessed.
‘‘You know, I used to see you when I was a kid, walking together twenty years ago along the road by Woodfords, and it pleases my soul to think you might do it again. Anything’s possible when you love each other. And I know this time you’re going to love, honor, and cherish each other for the long haul. This morning, your joy has come.
‘‘Let’s have you take the vows.’’
In five minutes, it was over. Sandy and Joseph didn’t exactly kiss, they just sort of brushed cheeks. People surrounded them, and Paul and Nina watched from their corner.
‘‘It takes a lot of guts to do that,’’ Paul said. ‘‘Extra guts to do it with the same person twice.’’
Nina, who had completely choked up during the ceremony, wiped her eyes. ‘‘Maybe they never really broke up,’’ she said. ‘‘Where’s Collier? Do you see him anywhere? He missed the whole thing.’’
‘‘Let’s go find him.’’
A procession had begun from the kitchen. Everyone was bringing out the potluck dishes to the linen-covered tables that had been arranged in the main room. Nina and Paul made their way slowly past the parade toward the front door, until at last they could negotiate their way outside. ‘‘Let’s check the car,’’ Nina said, and they trekked through the snow to the tree that shielded Collier’s Subaru.
Which appeared, like Collier, to be missing.
‘‘Hey!’’ They turned back toward the house. Sandy was waving at them, so they headed back. ‘‘I was trying to talk to you, but I had to get married first. Collier had to go in a hurry. He got paged. There were a lot of people in that room and he couldn’t find you, so he told me to tell you he was sorry to take the car.’’
‘‘No problem,’’ Paul said. ‘‘I’ve got to go right through town to get back to the Reno Airport. I’ll take her.’’
‘‘He could have found me,’’ Nina said. ‘‘I didn’t go anywhere. It must have something to do with—’’ He had been afraid to drive back with her, afraid he might say something he shouldn’t.
‘‘You better get used to it,’’ Sandy said.
‘‘Well, at least I know where he is. Sandy, that was a beautiful ceremony. Thank you for inviting us.’’
‘‘It’s not over yet. Come on in. First, we dance and eat. Then I’m going to cut the cake and there’s coffee.’’
Paul held out his arm. ‘‘Shall we?’’ he said.
Inside on the patio, everyone had joined hands in a circle. The older children, feet moving lightly as feathers over the stone floor, demonstrated the steps. A Shoshone woman began to sing, and everyone was expected to join in.
‘‘
You have to get in the circle and dance,’’ Sandy said. ‘‘Linda’s singing. She’s all the way up from Death Valley. A big circle means big luck for the singer.’’
‘‘And she’s going to need that tonight at the casino,’’ said Joseph, who had appeared beside her. Then occurred one of the most astounding things Nina had ever witnessed.
Joseph gave Sandy’s waist a tickle. And Sandy squirmed and was heard to make a high-pitched giggle!
Paul had rented a car, a red Neon which, in spite of being an economy model, drove like a sports car. He whipped around corners like a teenager. Clutching the handle on the door, Nina told him more about herself and Collier, which he took stoically, and he told her about a woman he had been seeing in D.C., which she attempted to take stoically. Although she had no claim on him, she discovered in herself a tiny touch of possessiveness which she had absolutely no business feeling.
Wasn’t it strange that, even in the midst of the dizzying depth of her love and her complete attachment to Collier, she could feel so close to another man? She knew what she felt was not disloyal—she had simply known Paul for too long and gone through too much with him to make a complete break. She wasn’t sure she ever would, although any feelings for him would stay separate, removed and remote from Collier.
‘‘Paul, could you please slow down?’’ Nina asked. ‘‘Today shook me up enough. And I might think you can’t wait to get rid of me.’’
‘‘You know that’s not so, Nina,’’ he said, slowing down to a nice cruising speed. ‘‘Anyway, to prove my undying love of your company, we’re making a quick stop on the way home.’’
‘‘What?’’
‘‘The day is young,’’ he said mysteriously. In Markleeville, he turned left.
‘‘Where are we going?’’
‘‘Grover Hot Springs.’’
‘‘But I told you I don’t have a suit!’’
‘‘Sandy’s friend had an old tank suit that should fit you,’’ he said.
They reached the park in the late afternoon. The long shadows of trees fell around the two green pools, one very hot and one warm. A few ruddy-looking people lounged around the edges. In the middle of the warm pool, a small girl in a Mickey Mouse swimsuit splashed. Her father held her up by her stomach and lectured her on swimming safety.
In the wood shacks that passed for changing rooms they put on swimsuits, meeting on the concrete outside. ‘‘Hot,’’ they said, shivering in unison, heading for the smaller pool.
They sank out of winter’s chill into the hot pool.
Nina shivered again, this time with pleasure. ‘‘I’m reminded of a recent evening with Andrea in a hot tub,’’ she said, ‘‘although I have to say, this beats your basic backyard setting.’’ The trees were black and emerald and dappled with snow, and the mountains turned purple in the distance.
They lolled a good long while in the water, until their toes shriveled and the lights came on in the pool. Nina swam laps in the colder pool while Paul shot the breeze with two cross-country skiers who had spent the day at Paradise. When Paul got hungry, they dressed and returned to the car.
At Markleeville, they went into the saloon on the corner. Nina had a sandwich and Paul ordered a burger. The crowd inside was sparse but rowdy. After they had been there for only a few minutes, two locals who had been drinking quietly in a corner suddenly stood up, their chairs scraping. The man in the black cowboy hat took out a large-caliber gun, letting it hang loosely from his hand.
‘‘Now you’re makin’ me damn mad, Cody,’’ he said.
His erstwhile friend held his hands at his sides. The two of them stood across from each other, both listing slightly to the side.
Paul got up, seeming entirely ignorant of the action that had instantly blanketed the room in quiet. He sauntered over to the bar and ordered a beer. The lady bartender slipped a beer on the counter and disappeared without taking the proffered bills. Several other patrons edged toward the door and made quick escapes.
Nina, in the center of the room, froze. Cody’s pockets hung heavy on him. She imagined handguns and buck knives. If she got up, she would be involved, and that was the last thing she wanted.
On the other hand, there was the distressing reality to consider that she, aligned only one table away from Cody, was directly in the line of fire.
‘‘She ain’t worth it,’’ Cody answered.
‘‘I told you before, don’t talk about Beth like that!’’ Black Hat raised the gun but before he could do anything with it Paul slammed into him, grabbed his gun hand, whipped him around, and took the weapon.
‘‘I’m glad you didn’t kill him, pal,’’ Paul said, ‘‘ ’cause then I might have to kill you.’’ He gave Black Hat’s arm a good hard twist for emphasis.
‘‘Ow!’’ Black Hat howled. ‘‘What’s your business in this?’’ he cried, struggling. ‘‘We got a sheriff here, and it ain’t you.’’
‘‘Ah, but I have an interest in the overall safety of this room,’’ said Paul, letting him go. He pocketed the gun.
‘‘Gimme my gun back!’’ Black Hat yelled.
‘‘You go on outside with your disputes,’’ said the bartender, reappearing from behind the bar. ‘‘This is the last time you drink in here, Billy Boy.’’
‘‘Aw, no, don’t say that, Rochelle. I bring you plenty of business,’’ said Billy, but the bartender had him by the scruff and was leading him out the front door.
‘‘And don’t come back!’’ she shouted, wiping her hands against her apron as she came back inside. ‘‘You go on with your fun, folks,’’ she said. ‘‘He’s gone for tonight, anyways.’’
Cody, completely unembarrassed by the preceding scene and set at ease by Billy’s departure, came up to Paul and said, ‘‘Thanks.’’
Paul said, ‘‘Better not talk about his wife like that any more.’’
‘‘Lemme buy you a beer.’’
Paul returned to Nina holding two fresh beers.
‘‘Whoa,’’ said Nina. ‘‘It’s the wild, wild West here. You were good, Paul.’’
‘‘I’m surprised to hear you say that,’’ Paul said. ‘‘You being an officer of the court.’’
‘‘I could have got up and argued with him,’’ Nina said. ‘‘Tried to make him see that shooting would result in a felony conviction. But then he would have been even more riled up and he would have shot me.’’
Paul laughed. ‘‘True,’’ he said.
‘‘Paul?’’
‘‘Yeah?’’
‘‘Back there at Grover’s, remember how I told you Andrea’s been talking a lot about codes of honor. How would you describe your code of honor?’’
‘‘I never put it into words,’’ Paul said. ‘‘But if I had to, I’d say, ‘Make love, but when the war starts, make war.’ ’’
Now it was Nina’s turn to laugh.
‘‘And yours?’’ Paul asked.
‘‘I’ve been thinking about that. Maybe just, ‘Do your duty.’ That covers just about everything for me.’’
‘‘What if there’s a conflict among your duties?’’
‘‘Then, like Andrea says, family first. It’s pretty simple, really.’’
‘‘So simple to say, so hard to carry out,’’ Paul said.
‘‘Yes.’’ She set her beer down on the table, reminded of all the complications.
‘‘I sense a duty coming on,’’ Paul said. His mood, too, had changed.
‘‘I need to go home, Paul.’’
‘‘Why?’’ He had a stubborn expression. He didn’t want to go anywhere, he wanted to pretend things hadn’t gone wrong between them, that she wasn’t with someone else now. Nina felt that she had made a mistake going off with him.
‘‘Because it won’t do either of us any good to sit here and get drunk together, and then maybe do something we’d regret,’’ she said.
‘‘You’d regret. Maybe.’’
‘‘I’m sorry, Paul.’’
‘‘I sh
ould have let him shoot you,’’ Paul said.
20
‘‘THEY ARRESTED JIM again. He was arraigned this morning and I called the bail bondsman. He won’t be out until tomorrow morning,’’ Nina said. She hadn’t enjoyed the late-night call from the jail, and she was yawning from the subsequent night of worry.
‘‘I expected it,’’ Tony Ramirez said. Sandy and Wish nodded their heads in eerie unison as the investigator spoke.
Sandy had taken a three-day honeymoon and had shown up as usual on Monday morning. She looked well fed, well rested, and, if it was possible, even more smug than usual. Wish looked happy, too. Having his father at home must agree with him.
Tony continued. ‘‘I contacted Kelly, the youngest sister. She refused to talk to anybody for a long time, but for some reason she’s decided to come forward now. She was hostile but she told me a few things, including a weird story about the client. She’s been subpoenaed. Nina, she could cause trouble.’’
‘‘What does she know, Tony?’’ Nina said. They were in the conference room. The file in the Strong case filled three boxes on the long table; pleadings, background, transcripts. Artie came in, and Nina introduced him to the others.
‘‘Pleased to meetcha,’’ he said to them all and sat down and opened his notebook.
‘‘Kelly is twenty-five years old,’’ said Tony. ‘‘She looks younger than her age, no makeup, coltish if you know what I mean. Okay. She’s going to testify that our boy has a long history of violence. It’s an old family thing. Listen up.’’ He didn’t need to say that. He had their attention. ‘‘Timewarp back fourteen years. Jim’s sixteen, Alex is thirteen, Kelly’s eleven. Kelly says Jim’s doing things to the neighborhood cats.’’
‘‘Like what?’’ Nina said it, but there were interested looks all around.
‘‘Like hurting them. He likes to stomp them.’’
‘‘Uh oh,’’ Artie said. Nina’s breath caught. It was such a chilling detail.
‘‘According to Kelly,’’ Tony went on, ‘‘something’s wrong with Jim. He needs lots of attention. He’s jealous of Alex and Kelly—he thinks Kelly gets all the parental attention because she’s the baby. One day, Kelly is skiing with him and she swears he runs her right into a tree. She has a concussion and breaks her leg in several places and spends three days in the hospital. The hospital records have been subpoenaed.’’
Acts of Malice Page 27