“He’s reviewing with me the literally hundreds of convicts I’ve helped to put in jail during the last three years who are now on parole somewhere or already out on the street. Not to mention the hundreds more who might be writing from prison and getting someone to smuggle the notes outside to me. Not to mention the hundreds more than that who might have just seen me in the courthouse and developed a fixation on me. It’s going to take a little time, Mother.”
“There’s no need to get huffy with me Amanda,” her mother said stiffly. “You’re very defensive about this policeman.”
“I’m defensive because you’re expecting miracles that no one can provide. The cops can’t just run around arresting everyone who’s ever heard of me. There’s a little thing called the Constitution, with all those pesky amendments. We live in a republic, Mother, haven’t you heard? Dictatorships are efficient, democracies are slow. Everyone has rights. It’s tedious work to gather enough evidence to make an arrest and Kelly’s doing an excellent job. If you complain about him to Lieutenant Manning or anyone else I promise you that you will not be happy with my reaction.”
“Well!” Margaret said, outraged. “That was quite a speech. I’ll thank you to spare me the summation for the jury.”
“And I’ll thank you to let me handle this my own way. This is my problem and I am satisfied with the management of my case. If you or Dad do anything to interfere with it I will be tremendously upset, do you understand me?”
Margaret Redfield was silent.
“Do you understand me?” Mandy said again. “I want an answer.”
“Yes,” Margaret said shortly, and walked away.
By the time Tom reappeared Mandy had had more than enough and she told Tom she wanted to leave. She tore him away from some further schmoozing and hoped he was tired enough for a quiet ride home. Her hopes were dashed as he said when they were getting into the car, “There’s something I have to tell you.”
Mandy groaned inwardly. “What?”
He looked uncomfortable as he put the car in gear and glided out of their parking space.
“I know it’s bad timing with your stalker still at large and everything, but…”
“But what, Tom? What is it?”
“I have to go to China,” he said flatly, turning his head to look at her.
She stared at him. “China?” she repeated in disbelief.
He nodded. “The cost of the steel rebars we need for the marina garage roof supports, and the sides of the boat slips, has gone up dramatically since we began construction. I can get them abroad for a fraction of the cost, they just have to meet our local building codes. I have to go to Beijing to check them out and make sure they’re up to standard, and if they are I need to negotiate a deal to import them.”
“Can’t you send somebody else?”
“There’s nobody who knows the situation better than I do,” Tom said simply. “I’m bringing Ken Stilwell for the international law and Ronnie Dillard for the monetary exchange.”
“You don’t speak Chinese.”
“I’m bringing a translator also.”
Mandy digested that information in silence for a minute and then said, “When will you leave?”
“Tuesday.”
Mandy looked over at him. “So you have been planning this for a while.”
He shrugged. “I was hoping all this hate note nonsense would be resolved by the time I had to go.”
Mandy was silent for the majority of the trip and then said, “Take a left at the next light and head downtown. You can drop me off at Karen’s loft.”
“It’s eleven PM. Does Karen know you’re coming?”
“I’ll call her. It’s the weekend. I don’t think she’ll mind.”
Tom did as she directed and listened as Mandy talked to Karen briefly on her cell phone. He pulled up to the entrance to Karen’s building and said, “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Mandy nodded and got out of the car. She smiled at Karen’s doorman and rang the bell on the mailbox in the lobby. When the light went on she went up in the elevator and tapped on Karen’s door.
Karen pulled it open and greeted her with, “You’re lucky I didn’t have George Clooney in bed with me when you called.”
“Ha-ha,” Mandy said dispiritedly and pushed past her into the living room, where she dropped onto the sofa and kicked off her shoes.
Karen joined her on the couch, belting her robe. “Well, you look terrible. What happened at the charity thing? Did Tom announce that he was having a sex change operation or something?” She giggled at her own joke.
“Not quite. He announced that he’s going to China.”
“I always knew he was a Communist,” Karen whispered dramatically. She went into the kitchen and filled a kettle with water for tea. She turned the flame up under the pot and returned to the living room.
“It isn’t funny, Karen. I’m doing my best to hold everything together while the police get nowhere with this nut sending me hate mail. Now the nut has stopped doing that so I’m sure Manning will conclude shortly that I’m just insane and put Kelly on another case. Tom’s manner of showing support for me during this crisis is to take off across several continents and international datelines to make a business deal with a bunch of foreigners.”
“So what upsets you more? Tom’s defection or the possibility of Kelly being removed from your case?”
Mandy threw Karen a dirty look.
“It’s a fair question. Something is bothering you a lot to bring you here at almost midnight. Is it the cop?”
“It’s everything. I don’t even know if I’ll have my job when this is over, most of my research has now been transferred to somebody else for the duration. And who knows how long that will be?”
“It could be worse. You’re hardly impoverished. You can live off your trust fund while you look for something else.”
“That’s not all.”
Karen drew her legs up onto the couch and crossed them, tucking her robe around her calves. “Well?” she said.
“Kelly was at the fundraiser tonight.”
“He was there? Alone?”
Mandy shook her head. “With a policewoman from his precinct. He works with her.”
Karen rubbed her palms together. “The plot thickens. Is she attractive?”
“Gorgeous. I’ve seen him with her before, at Pirro’s. They must be dating.”
“Ah, I see. Hence the spectacular funk. You think he’s sleeping with her?”
“Gee, Karen, the thought occurred to me. The two of them together look like a perfume advertisement, you know, two half naked models groping each other. They both have dramatic dark hair, huge beautiful eyes and dazzling smiles. I don’t know which one is prettier.” Her expression was glum.
“You’re not exactly the dog’s dinner yourself,” Karen said dryly.
“She’s a colleague, Kelly admires and respects her. Right now he thinks I’m some terrified waif who’s haunting his office with this annoying problem that he can’t solve and that won’t go away.” Mandy’s shoulders slumped.
“He knows this stalker is not your fault, Amanda. That can’t be all of it. Why are you so upset tonight?”
“Oh, last week I had a car accident and Kelly had to bail me out of that too.”
“A car accident?” Karen said carefully. “That must have been rough, given your history.”
“It was. And I put on quite a show, snapping at him like a fishwife. I’ve just been the picture of sophisticated maturity lately. He must think I’m demented.”
“Why do you care what Kelly thinks?” Karen asked gently, feeling a flash of compassion for her friend. “And what role does Tom play in all of this?”
“I don’t know,” Mandy replied hopelessly. “I don’t know anything any more. And now Tom is taking off for the Orient and leaving me defenseless against the Celtic charms of dashing Detective Kelly.”
“You really like this cop a lot, don’t you?” Karen asked sympathetic
ally.
Mandy nodded. “Too much,” she whispered. “He asked me to dance with him once at the fundraiser and I practically undressed him on the dance floor.”
Karen snorted derisively. “Knowing your usual behavior I’m sure that’s just a SLIGHT exaggeration.”
“I’m not kidding. You should have seen him in a tuxedo, he was dazzling. Heads were turning as he passed. People were literally staring at him.”
“Maybe they thought he was a waiter,” Karen said, grinning. “You know, they saw the tux and were looking to place a drinks order.”
“You’re not helping me, Karen,” Mandy said with exaggerated patience.
“Sorry.”
“I wanted to kiss him at the end of the band’s number and I’m sure he could tell,” Mandy continued. “He didn’t say one word to me when the music stopped but I couldn’t let go of him. I had the most powerful urge to throw myself on him, he felt so strong and smelled so good. And then… my mother showed up.”
“Cavalry to the rescue?”
“Hardly. Kelly was really nice to her but she froze him out with her uppity society grande dame routine.”
Karen nodded. “I’ve seen it.” Karen got up to silence the whistling kettle.
“The whole thing was just awful. I couldn’t wait to get out of there and then on the way home Tom hit me with his ‘I’m going to China’ speech.” Mandy closed her eyes. “If one more thing went wrong tonight I was going to take a cab to the airport, get on a plane and join Jordan in the ashram.”
“Jordan who?” Karen said, laughing. She proceeded to make tea for the two of them in a ceramic pot, measuring loose tea and putting it in a strainer.
“You don’t remember my ex, Jordan Brimmer? ”
Karen shook her head. She and Karen were childhood friends but had not seen each other for several years after college while Mandy went to law school in New York and Karen had gone to medical school in Massachusetts.
“He was a pharmacy student I met my first year in law school.”
“I thought his name was George.”
“George was junior year in college.”
“George in junior year was your first?” Karen asked, interested in clarification.
“Second. Bill happened when I was a freshman, and then after him was George, and then I spent several years with Jordan, who moved to Sri Lanka and joined an ashram.”
Karen grinned. “That must have done a lot for your ego.”
“I wasn’t devastated.”
“And you wouldn’t be devastated if Tom never returned from China.”
Mandy looked at her.
“Correct?”
“I wouldn’t put it that way,” Mandy said.
“How would you put it? This nifty cop looks so good to you for one reason: you’re not in love with Tom. You’re upset about Tom going to China not because you’ll miss him but because you know Kelly will look even better to you in Tom’s absence.”
Mandy sighed heavily.
“Your parents love Tom. You don’t.”
“I don’t know what love is. I don’t know what I’m looking for, really. Tom is what is known as a ‘good catch.’ He doesn’t expect me to bow to him when he comes home from work or to meet him at the door with a cocktail in my hand. He respects the fact that I want to continue my career and…”
“And he and your father are partners in the marina deal which ties it all up neatly. Right?”
Mandy was silent.
“You’re a serial monogamist but obviously none of these old hookups ever lit your fire. I’ll tell you something I’ve noticed which may be relevant here. You’re more excited about talking with Detective Kelly regarding your nutcase admirer than you are about having sex with Tom.”
“I’m not ‘excited’ about my case,” Mandy said, annoyed. “A creep is stalking me and sending me hate mail. I’m not having fun, Karen.”
“I didn’t say you were having fun. But you like Kelly a lot and you’re having trouble accepting that.”
“Why should I have trouble with it?” Mandy asked uncomfortably.
“Because you’re engaged to somebody else?” Karen suggested. “Because that somebody else is taking off for China, for God’s sake, when you’re in the middle of this crisis? Buying steel supports from the Chinese at a discount is more important to him than sticking around to help you through this when you need him.”
“They need the metal beams, Karen, and this is the only time Tom can get the supply at this low price. The marketers will sell it to another buyer if he doesn’t respond quickly.”
“Gee, you sound just like Tom.” Karen folded her arms and stared at Mandy. “Don’t you think it’s time you started living for yourself instead of doing what your parents want? I know that you’re grateful to them for adopting you but you’re carrying that way too far, in my opinion.”
“They’ve given me everything,” Mandy said quietly. “A very comfortable life, the best education, their undivided attention.”
“Yes, I know, everything that money can buy. And it’s about time their attention was divided. You need to make your own choices.”
“I could have grown up in orphanage or in foster care or something worse. They saved me from what could have been a terrible fate.”
“So they get to choose your husband for you?” Mandy demanded. “Are you really willing to settle for Tom Henderson when this sexy cop is scoping you?”
“How do you know he’s sexy?” Mandy asked, smiling in spite of herself. “You’ve never even seen him.”
“I’ve seen your reaction to him, and that’s enough.” Karen leaned forward and tapped Mandy’s arm. “You mark my words. Your father will survive even if this deal with Tom doesn’t come off. Don’t sacrifice yourself for it.”
“My father has sunk most of his money into it,” Mandy said. “He took one last risk before retirement to make a big score. He needs to work with Tom if either one of them is going to realize a profit from it.”
“That’s not your concern. Do you actually think you have to marry Tom in order to make it happen?”
“I think if I don’t marry him the deal may go down the drain.”
“So let it go!” Karen said forcefully. “Tom has gotten enough plus points already just from associating with you and your socially prominent family, not to mention your father’s hefty contributions to his campaigns. You don’t need to throw in the rest of your life as a bonus.”
Mandy hesitated and then said evenly, “The marina deal is not all of it, Karen.”
Karen stared at her. “What do you mean? There’s more?”
“I’m sure you remember my brother Rick,” Mandy said.
“Oh, of course. Rick who now lives in Florida, whom your parents never see but who feels free to drain them dry for each one of his new business schemes, all of which are doomed to failure. Rick, their almost 40 year old biological offspring who has been pissing their money away for years, leaving you in the position of the good child who has to make up for him? What is he doing these days? Importing wine from Chile? Starting an online brokerage house? Ramping up a direct mail stationery business? Breeding sharpeis with dogs supplied by a Hong Kong puppy mill?”
“I’m surprised you remember all of those ventures,” Mandy said, impressed.
“Rick is very memorable.”
“He’s heavily in debt.”
“Now there’s a shocker.
“The boating equipment business he had in Florida failed and he had invested in the marina here with loans against that business.”
Karen nodded. “Another reason to marry Tom and bail everybody out of trouble.”
“I wish the whole thing weren’t so complicated,” Mandy said unhappily.
“It’s not complicated at all. I’m going to explain to you exactly how you can make it simple.”
Mandy looked at her.
“You are not indebted to your parents for adopting you. Your mother couldn’t have more children afte
r Rick and your parents wanted a little girl. They had the money and the resources and the connections to get exactly what they wanted, and they adopted you for themselves, not you. They wanted to make themselves happy. And it is not your job to bail your brother out of bondage AGAIN. Your parents have made a career out of doing that and it hasn’t made a bit of difference in Rick’s life one way or another. Your father took a chance he shouldn’t have taken to try to set his son up for the future before he retired. That was your father’s choice and you can’t sacrifice your happiness to save his bacon.”
“It sounds so reasonable when you say it,” Mandy replied. “And I didn’t think I was sacrificing anything when I got involved with Tom, it just seemed natural and right to go with the person my parents approved of and liked.”
“Until you met Kelly.
“And then it didn’t seem right any more because I realized what I was missing,” Mandy said simply.
“What were you missing?” Karen asked kindly.
Mandy closed her eyes. “Electricity,” she said. “ Longing. Desire. ”
“Sex. In other words.”
Mandy opened her eyes. “I’ve never felt this strong an attraction to anyone. It’s not just sex, although I find him irresistible in that department. Even his flaws are attractive, they make him distinctive rather than odd. His eye teeth are uneven and I like that, he has a scar on his chin and I like that, he has wavy hair with all these cowlicks and curlicues and I like that too. I want to be with him all the time and I think everything he says is interesting and funny and intelligent. And I know that’s ridiculous because he really doesn’t even say that much. He makes me feel secure and not lonely, wrapped up in his care and…happy. I can’t describe it better than that.”
Amanda's Blue Marine Page 7