“I wouldn’t share a used stick of gum with you.” She stood up, smiling sweetly for Jake’s benefit in case he was still watching. “Now what would you like to eat?”
“You sure blow hot and cold. You give a guy really mixed messages, did you know that?”
Maybe he really was slow, thought Melanie. “Where are you reading hot anywhere?”
“So you really don’t remember—.” Lenny bit his lip again. “Don’t push me, Mel. Or maybe I will tell people.”
“Tell them what? You’re a stalking psycho?”
“I’ll tell them the truth. About the photo. About you.”
“And what makes you think anyone will give a shit what you say?”
“See? You do care. I bet you got some calls already. Admit it, my idea worked. Would it hurt you so much to toss something my way?”
First Tiffany wanting a piece of her tips, and now him. Everyone wanted something from her. Melanie didn’t need the aggravation, there were more important things to concentrate on. “What do I have to do to get rid of you?”
Lenny brightened. “How about dinner? We could sit and talk.”
“About what?”
“About your future. Our future.”
“Our entire future is going to last about thirty minutes. That’s the time it should take you to eat and get out of my life.”
“Why do you treat me like this? I know you aren’t like this all the time. Like when you’re alone.”
“Like you know.”
“I know you have another side. You know I can help you like I already did.”
Shit, the guy just didn’t give up. “There’s nothing you can do for me.”
“I could surprise you—again.”
“What are you babbling about?”
“You’re a smart girl, you figure it out.”
Melanie had no idea what he was talking about. Did he mean his raving at the hotel? “I’m in no mood today, believe me. Just give me your order, okay?”
Lenny looked like he was going to say something else, but then smiled and said, “I’ll have the breakfast special.”
“It’s too late for breakfast.”
“I’m sure you can get them to make an exception for me. Is the cook a guy? I bet you can get a guy to do anything for you.”
Except get rid of you. Melanie thought about it for a second, wondering if it would be worth it, see if the cook would throw Lenny out right in front of the owner. Another time it might be fun to see, but not today. “Fine. I’ll get you the breakfast special. How do you want your eggs?”
“Over easy,” said Lenny, drawing out the word easy. He laughed. “Just like the way things are going to be for you. And us.”
Melanie wrote down the order. Had another thought and turned back to Lenny. “You know, if you want easy, there’s someone else here who wants you bad. Better than wasting time on me.”
Lenny’s head spun like a top. “Who?”
Melanie flicked her eyes to the hostess station. “Tiffany, up front. She made it a point of telling me how hot you looked when you came in. She actually wanted to serve you herself.”
“Did she?”
“Really. She gets off in twenty minutes. If you eat fast, you can catch her.”
Lenny looked at her suspiciously. “You wouldn’t shit me, would you?”
Melanie raised her hand. “I swear.”
“She’s not as good looking as you.”
“So here I am helping you out like you wanted, and you’re complaining?”
Lenny shrugged. “Maybe I don’t want her.”
“You know, women love a guy who gets lots of other women. It’s a competitive thing. You make it with Tiffany, I’ll think more of you, and maybe we can have that dinner.”
Lenny’s head swung back and forth between Melanie and Tiffany, Melanie feeling the need to pinch herself to keep from laughing, this was the hardest acting job she’d ever done.
“Hurry up with my order,” said Lenny.
Melanie spun for the kitchen, wondering what that was all about, Lenny acting like he knew her. He had as much chance of having dinner and seeing the inside of her apartment as Tiffany did.
The coffee maker beeped and Melanie poured herself a cup, more to keep herself busy; Gigi only had decaf in the apartment. Melanie never understood why people drank decaf.
Gigi was staring blankly out the back door window, as she had been for the last twenty minutes.
“Sure you don’t want a cup?” Melanie asked.
“No, thanks.”
Melanie dumped two sugars into her coffee, if she wasn’t going to get the caffeine she might as well get the rush. Thought about adding a third. She grabbed the skin over her hip, not much fat there, she wanted to look good for the shoots that would be coming soon. She could afford another sugar.
She sipped the coffee on the way to the small dining table. “Why don’t you come over here and sit.”
“I can’t believe someone was right out there.”
“No one is there now. Come on, it’s no use staring out the window.”
Gigi sat across from Mel, hugging herself, disappearing into her oversized sweater. Melanie had already comforted Gigi, now was the time to get her over it.
“I feel so guilty,” said Gigi.
“About what? You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“This whole thing is turning into one big lie.”
“You worry too much.”
Gigi leaned forward. “And you don’t worry enough. About anything! For God’s sake, Mel, this is serious!”
“There’s nothing to worry about. Trust me. I’ve got this all worked out.”
“I haven’t even told the apartment manager about the break-in yet.”
“No.” Melanie didn’t raise her voice, Gigi had to understand why instead of being told. “You can’t tell them anything about this. They’ll call the cops, they’d come here.”
“But I have to tell them. What if the burglar is out there right now and he’s planning to go after another apartment? We have to warn the other residents.”
Melanie’s first instinct was to suggest that it wasn’t a burglar, since nothing had been taken. But the alternative, that a man had come in to harm her sister, was even worse, and she didn’t want that thought in Gigi’s mind.
Melanie had already called John, the last guy she’d had over to Gigi’s. She’d woken him up, he was in Europe, and according to him, had been for a week. He swore he barely remembered that night. Melanie had driven them in her car, and he’d been pretty high. She hung up and immediately called his office, asking for him, and was told he was overseas. He worked for a big law firm; Melanie didn’t think he’d be likely to have a burglar buddy.
Maybe Gigi had dreamt the whole thing. She could have heard the break-in, her mind filling in the blanks, weirded out by the pills. “Gigi, is there some guy who you’ve been interested in? Attracted to?” Having fantasies about?
“No, why?”
“You know, someone you might have been—dreaming about.”
Gigi, incredulous. “You think I made this up?”
“No, no, not at all. I believe you. I’m just trying to see if the break-in and—what you remembered from that night were the same.”
Gigi hugged herself tighter. “I was really groggy.”
“So there’s no one you’ve had the hots for? It’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with a little fantasy now and then.”
“It didn’t seem like anyone I knew.”
“Okay.” Melanie needed another approach. Gigi thought the guy might have been in bed with her, but who would go that far and not do anything? More likely Gigi had dreamt the whole thing, a fantasy dream about a man she knew, someone who didn’t want to hurt her, a guy without the guts to ask her out. What was it Gigi thought he had said? That when he saw her again, they’d do it for real. Sure sounded like someone she knew. “Gigi, is there some guy you’ve—been hoping would ask you out? Or did some guy ask you
out and you turned him down?”
“You think someone might be after me?” Gigi shrunk down farther into her sweater.
“No, that’s not what I meant. Just—someone on your mind.” Melanie stopped herself from adding someone you wanted to surprise you.
Gigi shook her head vehemently. “I can’t think of anyone.”
“Who was the last guy you dated?”
“Evan Schmidt. My friend Susie introduced me to him. We had dinner a few times.”
“When was that?”
“Last summer.”
“Jesus, Gigi, you haven’t had a date since last summer?”
“I’m pretty busy. I don’t really have time.”
Melanie again wondered if they shared the same genes. “You gotta get out more. What happened to this Evan? Did he want more and you turned him down?”
“No, he was a real gentleman. I liked him, but he moved away. I haven’t spoken to him in six months.”
Melanie hadn’t met many real gentlemen, but if one could be found it would be Gigi who would do it. “Okay, so probably not Evan. Anyone else?”
“No. It had to have been a burglar. That’s why I’ve got to warn everyone.”
“Gigi, listen to me. If you do, the police will be suspicious that my sister got broken into the same night I got broken into.” I’d be fucked, thought Melanie. I won’t be able to leverage this at all. “If they found out I’d not told them the truth, I’d get in trouble.”
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I was protecting you. You really don’t want this coming out at the office. A break-in, sure, that would be okay. But you told the police you might have been attacked. Do you want everyone whispering behind your back at work, there’s the girl who got assaulted?”
“I don’t think they would say that.”
“I know you always think the best of people, but they can be mean. You remember how those boys were when you were young. You know what happened to those boys? They grew up into men. And a lot of women aren’t any better. They’ll make up stories about you. Anyone who is jealous of you, anyone who doesn’t want to admit you get ahead because of your hard work, believe me, they’ll do anything to take you down.”
Gigi started crying, the last thing Mel wanted, she’d hoped to avoid playing hardball. But she had to get Gigi focused. She got up and wrapped her arms around her sister, pulling her close, giving her strength. Soothingly, she said, “I know you’re upset, but you’ve got to try to think clearly. I’m going to take all of this off you. I’m going to make it so you can just forget it, like it never happened. I will deal with it. All of it.”
Still sobbing, Gigi said, “What are you going to do?”
“I’ve already done the most important thing. Right now no one thinks anything happened here. Let’s just keep it that way, okay? It will be better for you. And you’ll be helping me too, by not getting me in trouble.”
After a moment Gigi nodded, but Melanie continued to hold her until her sobs subsided. Melanie hated seeing her sister this way, Gigi didn’t deserve this at all. Maybe the break-in had spurred the bad dream. Melanie reminded herself to take her pills back.
If Melanie caught whoever had broken in, she’d deal with him in her own way. The guy had probably thought the apartment was empty, had run off when he had seen Gigi. Or he was a pervert, peeking in windows.
“Listen. I don’t want you to be nervous, but from now on, keep your eyes open.”
Gigi looked up. “For what?”
“Just guys acting funny. Hanging around here, following you. Paying you lots of attention.”
“You mean a stalker?”
“No, nothing like that,” said Melanie quickly, but of course that’s what she meant. “Just anyone who’s acting weird, wanting to be with you.” Someone like that jerk Lenny, she thought.
Lenny. This sounded exactly like him. Always coming back to her, even after she’d practically humiliated him. Talking like they were fuck buddies.
“Gigi,” she asked casually. “Do you know a guy named Lenny? Grutz, Gruse, something like that.”
“No, why?”
“Nothing. Just a jerk I ran into who’s a little strange. Couldn’t be him if he doesn’t know you.”
Besides, Lenny wouldn’t have the balls.
CHAPTER 14
Robert Winter watched morosely as the catering staff at the Lexington Hotel set up the banquet room for the awards ceremony. A nasal voiced supervisor was barking orders—snorting orders, to be precise—even though the staff certainly appeared to know their jobs. All except one poor guy who looked clueless, a small boned Latino, constantly glancing to the other staff to see how to set the tables. That’s how Winter would be, not knowing where the soup spoons should go, or even if there should be soup spoons.
Winter wasn’t the only one who noticed the Latino’s distress. The supervisor bore down on him like a bird of prey, or more like a waddling penguin, strutting in her too tight skirt and snappy heels across the room, the other workers skittering out of her path, sentient bowling pins avoiding the oncoming crash. Her hapless target backed up against the wall, frozen in place.
“I bet he wouldn’t even look that afraid if it was Immigration coming,” said a voice at his shoulder.
“Damn it, Beth, what are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too, dear brother.” She stood on her toes and kissed Winter on the cheek. Beth hadn’t been blessed with the family gene of height.
“I didn’t mean it that way.” Winter hadn’t seen Beth since, when? A funeral. For some reason he couldn’t remember whose. “It’s a long drive.”
“I’ve been looking for an excuse to get into Boston, this was a good excuse.”
Winter didn’t believe that for a minute; Beth hated cities, even one as small as Boston, which is why she lived in some rural town in Pennsylvania. She’d come for him. “Why? No Starbucks in your hayseed town?”
Beth smiled up at him, fussing over his tie. “We do have a Starbucks, actually. And can you believe it—they’re going to install something called electricity this year! But what I really came for was the Dunkin Donuts, one on every corner, it’s just so cultured here.”
Winter let her fuss, touched that she’d made the trip. “I hate these things,” he said.
“The tie?”
“The reason for it.” Winter flicked his hand toward the room. “The tie too.”
“You’re getting a big award, you should be proud. I know I am.”
“It’s all bullshit.”
“I doubt they are going through all this for nothing. About time they gave you some credit.”
Win gently pushed her hand away. “I don’t need an award.”
“How about Brooker? I hear he’s getting one too. Speaking of which, where is the big guy?”
“He doesn’t want to be here either. He threatened to not show up.”
Beth tilted her head. “I don’t get it. Some recognition can’t hurt. Especially since Brooker caught some rapists, right?”
“Attempted rapists. And the word is they’re going to sue the city for police brutality during the arrest.”
“How can anything be more brutal than a rape?”
“That’s a question with no good answer.” Winter thought about telling her the truth, that it was he who stopped the attempted rapists, the two men in the airport stairway. But what would it serve? He didn’t need Beth’s, or anyone else’s, recognition. “It’s all political. The department is getting out ahead of the lawsuit, trying to put a good spin on the situation. Make the slimeballs look guilty, just out to save their skin.”
“Are they?”
“Sure.”
“Guilty or slimeballs?”
“Both. If they weren’t, the department wouldn’t take the risk.” The department had wanted to be on the offensive, but chafed at giving the award to Brooker. He and Winter both had a long history of playing to the edge, and while that had been overlooked and even c
ondoned years ago, it was a different time. But the woman who’d been saved in the stairway was related to a friend of the governor, and she’d been vocal about her savior getting recognition, even though she was a little hazy about the details of the rescue. That she’d been assaulted, though, was certain.
“It can’t be all political, otherwise you wouldn’t be getting an award too,” said Beth.
“A bunch of us are, they went through the trouble to set up the room and everything, they need to get their money’s worth.”
“I’m sure it’s more than that.”
“Just more politics.” Winter’s award was for solving the series of random burglaries. His theory had been right. The burglars had been scoping out possible prey at the airport, returning from trips where they might have come into money. Another supposedly random case, not so random at all once you connected the dots. Closing a burglary case would be no reason for an award, especially for Winter, but one of the victims had turned out to be a retired law and order judge who had even more connections than the governor. The judge, a true lover of the limelight, couldn’t comprehend why someone wouldn’t want a public award, and that’s why Winter was here.
What kind of crook was smart enough to plan and keep secret a series of high stakes burglaries, and yet didn’t realize they were breaking into a judge’s house? Another mystery, the mix of incredible smarts and mind boggling stupidity of crooks.
“Where’s Audrey?” asked Beth.
“Ah, I didn’t even bother to tell her about this. The traffic from the city . . .”
“At this time of the afternoon?”
“She’s real busy, her job.”
“You always make excuses for her.”
This was an old conversation that Winter didn’t want to have again. Beth knew that his daughter Audrey didn’t like that Winter was a cop. Audrey hadn’t always felt that way; Winter suspected that the last few years working with the elite in Boston had changed her.
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