Guilt by Association

by Gilbert, Morris

  They laughed at her stories of the seminary, but Dani noticed that nothing was said about the problems at the agency. That’ll come soon enough, she thought. She listened to the list of Allison’s accomplishments and made much of the girl, happy at how easy it was to bring pleasure to her sister.

  Finally the meal was finished, including strong coffee with chicory to wash down the lemon icebox pie that was her mother’s specialty. Then Ellen said, “You have some more coffee with Dad while Allison and I do the dishes—no, you go on,” she urged as Dani protested. “We’ll join you soon.”

  Dani and her father walked down the hall to the living room, which was filled with the antiques that were her parents’ hobby. She sank down in one of the overstuffed chairs, waited until her father was seated, then asked, “How are you feeling, Dad? You look so good.”

  “Not bad at all,” he admitted, leaning back in his chair. “The doctors are happy, but—” He paused and shook his head. A streak of doubt shadowed his face. “I can’t do what I want to do. You know me, Daughter, always going full-speed ahead.”

  “I know you, all right.” She smiled at him fondly. “That’s why I came home, to keep you from doing just that.”

  “It’s not good at the agency,” he said slowly, biting his lower lip. “I hadn’t realized how much of a one-man outfit we had until I had to step back.”

  He may not have known it, but Dani had known it for a long time. Daniel Ross was the agency. He employed two or three investigators, mostly to do the legwork, but his clients came to him because they wanted Daniel Ross—and that was the way he had liked it. Now that he was unable to meet that demand, inevitably business would fall off, Dani realized. She only said, “Well, Dad, I can’t take your place, but I have some ideas about how we can get some new business until you’re back full time.”

  He looked at her and smiled, saying only, “You’re a good girl, Dani. I thank the Lord for you every day of my life.”

  She shrugged uncomfortably under the praise. “Oh, fuzz! Now, tell me what’s wrong with Rob.”

  “You saw that, eh?” he said heavily. “He’s not doing well, Dani. I guess seventeen is a bad age for kids these days. Somehow I hoped that Rob wouldn’t get involved in the usual trouble—drinking and so on. But he has.”

  “How bad is it, Dad? Is he into drugs?”

  “Don’t know. Not the hard stuff, but these kids today think nothing of smoking pot.” Daniel pulled his shoulders together and shook his head. “I’ve not done a good job, Dani. Should have spent more time with him.”

  Dani shook her head. “That’s wrong. You’ve been a good father to all of us.”

  Awakening with a start, Dani sat up in bed, totally confused. Loud voices came from the hall, and the sound of a thump against the wall brought her out of bed. She threw on a robe, ran to the door, and stepped out into the hall.

  A dim light was on, and she saw her mother struggling with her brother, Rob. He was obviously drunk or high and was talking loudly in an angry voice. “Lemme ‘lone! Don’t—need your help!”

  Ellen struggled to get him down the hall, but he was pushing at her, striking the wall with his fist. As Dani moved toward the pair, he suddenly fell to the floor, almost pulling his mother down with him. Dani grabbed his arm, and the two women pulled him to his feet.

  “Whose zis?” he asked thickly, peering at her face. A rank smell of whiskey came to her as his eyes focused, and he mumbled, “Dani? Zat you, Dani?”

  “Yes, now come on to bed,” she commanded. The two women moved down the hall, propping him up until they got him to his room and Allison, who had come out of her room, opened the door. She had a frightened expression on her face, and Dani said, “You go on to bed, honey. It’ll be all right.”

  She and Ellen shoved Rob into the bed; his tall, gangly body sprawled wildly, and he went out like a light. Ellen pulled his shoes off, loosened his belt, said, “He’ll sleep all night,” then led the way out of the room. “I’m sorry you had to come home to this, Dani,” she said heavily.

  Dani took her in her arms and murmured, “Go to bed, Mom. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

  Ellen went without protest, and Dani returned to her own room. She was wide awake and stood at the window, watching the yellow moon, shaped like an up-ended Cheshire cat smile, move across the sky.

  She stood there for a long time, so long that the thin gauzy strips of clouds veiled the yellow moon. A fog was rising over the lowlands, covering the brown, dead stalks of grass like a soft blanket, and the only sound she heard was the occasional lonesome cry of a night bird.

  Her shoulders slumped as if her thoughts weighted them down. She thought of Rob, wondering if he were one of the many she’d known who seemed to be beyond anyone’s reach; of Allison, with all the fears of adolescence; of Ellen, with the marks of strain on her smooth face; and of her father, whose unprecedented weakness frightened her.

  Finally she went back to bed and lay there, seeking sleep, but it was long before it came.

  2

  Savage

  * * *

  September faded into October, which brought little relief from the muggy heat. Dani tried to ignore her longing for the crisp New England fall she loved, and for three weeks she rose at dawn, spending long hours at the agency. She attacked the problem typically, throwing herself into it with an efficiency that almost frightened the staff.

  She completely overhauled the financial system, installing a Macintosh computer with appropriate software and training Angie Park, the secretary, on it. Every client the agency had served for the past twenty years received a full-color brochure, setting forth the services of the Ross Investigation Agency, and most of them received a personal call from Dani.

  Angie was young enough, at twenty-seven, to fall in with the new urgency that Dani brought with her, but the male operatives were a problem from the beginning. Larry Maitland quit two days after Dani took over. He left cursing women in general and Dani Ross in particular, and Angie sighed with relief, saying, “I’ve fought him off for three years. Never could understand why your father kept him on.” She ruffled her blond hair, adding, “He was good at prowling around Bourbon Street, in the joints, finding out things.”

  “Now he can do it on his own time,” Dani remarked tersely. The two women were sitting in her office, after Maitland left. She studied Angie carefully, then asked, “What about Monroe?” Tom Monroe, a man of almost seventy, was thin and moved slowly, coming into the office only when called for.

  “Oh, he’s got lots of connections with the police and the state troopers.” Angie shrugged. “Your dad never used him for much more than that. He’s retired from the police and doesn’t want to work regularly.”

  Dani nodded, having seen that much for herself. “He doesn’t cost us much.” Then she frowned and tapped her teeth with the pen she was holding. “Then there’s Al.”

  Al Overmile was thirty, an ex-cop. He was handsome in a heavy way—a weight lifter going to fat. He had blond hair, blue eyes and a wide, sensuous mouth. In some way he reminded Dani of Lance Apollo, perhaps because he had tried to take her out from the day she first came to the office. She had refused him coldly, but he seemed totally insensitive. Every time he came to the office, he pursued her with his eyes and usually found some excuse to touch her. Soon she knew he would try to step over the line.

  Angie’s cheeks flushed, and she said tonelessly, “Oh, Al’s all right in his way.”

  Dani gave her a quick look. “You been dating him, Angie?”

  “Well, I used to—but Al’s restless. Likes to play the field.” Angie was attractive, with her large blue eyes and fair skin. But Dani saw at once that her memories of Overmile were not pleasant. Angie shifted restlessly in her chair, then added, “Some jobs take a man, Miss Ross—and I guess Al’s no worse than most of the others.”

  “I suppose,” Dani said slowly, but she was unhappy with the man. To her knowledge he had lost them at least two highly desirable clients.
She had contacted them almost at once, and one, the Melton Oil Company, had been firm. “We like your work, Miss Ross,” the vice-president had said, “and we’d use you—but not as long as you employ Al Overmile.” He refused to be more specific, but Dani knew that if she had turned up two unhappy clients, there were bound to be others.

  That afternoon Dani left the office discouraged. She had done all she could. When she spoke to her father that night after supper, she startled him by bursting out unhappily, “I wish I were a man!”

  They were in his study, where they went every evening to review what she had done. He stared at her, then smiled, “Well, I don’t. I like you just the way you are.”

  She threw her head back, and her eyes were angry. “It’s not fair, Dad!”

  “Dani, there’s always going to be some who will be able to see you only as a woman, and they think investigative agencies need a man—which in some cases they do.”

  “Oh, I know that, Dad.”

  “Well, what’s the problem.”

  “I lost that job with Oliver Hackman.” She sighed and let her head fall back on the chair. “It would have put us in the black, too!”

  “I’ll talk to Oliver,” he said quietly. “But if I understand the job, we don’t have the personnel to cover it.” He hesitated, then asked, “Are you getting along any better with Al?”

  “Oh, it’s all right—but he’s not a top-flight operator, Dad.”

  “And we’re not paying him what a top-flight investigator would demand.”

  Dani laughed and got to her feet, stretching hugely. “Oh, I know that. I’m just ornery tonight.”

  “You’ve worked too hard, Dani.” Her father considered something for a long moment. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Dani, it may be a long time before I come back to work—no, don’t argue with me!” he said sharply. “Even when I do come back, it’ll be on a reduced basis. So, we’ve either got to step up—or close down.”

  Dani slowly nodded. “I’ve been thinking that way, too. We get adequate help and gamble that we can pay the tab. That’s the only way we can make it, I think.”

  “I’ll see who’s available. I can do that much from here with a phone. But you’ll have to do the hiring. You’re the one he’ll have to work for.”

  “I think we can do it, Dad—but you’d better get somebody who can do more than strong-arm people. Some clients insist on talking to a man, so be sure he can carry on a sensible conversation.”

  “I’ll get on it in the morning.” Looking relieved, he asked, “What are you up to tonight?”

  “Going to a rock concert with Rob.”

  “Allison going?”

  “No, she’s got a practice for that play at school.” She made a face and added, “I hate rock.”

  “You always did,” Daniel smiled. “Even when you were a little girl, you hated it. The other kids thought you were perverted somehow. I’m glad you’re going, though. Maybe you can find out what’s going on in Rob’s head.”

  “I hope so—but I’m antediluvian to him. He thinks I’m a square—and he’s right.” She laughed and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll give you a report tomorrow.”

  She didn’t know exactly how to dress for a rock concert, so she wore black cotton slacks, a long-sleeved red blouse, a black plaid jacket, and black ankle boots. When Rob saw her, he groaned, “You’re not going to wear that getup, are you, Sis?”

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  “If you don’t know, I can’t tell you.” He looked at her with a gloomy expression. “Well, let’s go. I can tell them you’re a distant relative I have to show around.”

  They left in his car, a red Corvette, and on the way to the concert she teased him, “Did you know this car has the highest frequency-of-repair record of any American car?”

  “I don’t believe that!” He snorted indignantly. “You just made it up!”

  “Fact. And did you know that if you’re driving a red car, your chances of getting stopped for speeding are three times greater than with any other color?”

  “I believe that!” He nodded. “Next thing, the fuzz are gonna give me a speeding ticket when I’m backing out of the driveway!”

  She carried on with him in a joking fashion, and when they got to the concert, it amused her to see the reaction she got. All his friends looked like escaped refugees, in their baggy clothes and wild hairstyles. Though they all gave her a hard time at first, before the evening was over, most of the girls hated her, for the young men couldn’t keep their eyes off her. She stood out in the crowd like a beacon, and Rob whispered to her once, grudgingly, “You’re a hit, Sis.”

  She gave him a quick smile and said, “It’s our fatal charm. All us Ross kids are irresistible.”

  She endured the cacophonous roar of the various groups with the calmness of a social scientist watching the rites of a savage tribe, then afterwards accompanied them to the apartment of one of the boys. It was soon filled with the same clanging music, and the air was thick with smoke.

  One of the boys, a short, muscular type named Tim, who had been drinking, kept trying to make her lose her cool. He said loudly, “I hear you’re a preacher. That why you don’t smoke dope or drink?”

  Dani gave him a smile and raised her eyebrows in surprise. “No, that’s not the reason.”

  “Why not then?”

  “Dope is illegal, and alcohol ruins your liver.” A laugh went up, and she added, “Besides, I like to do things well, and you can’t do things well if you paralyze your nerves with drugs.”

  “Well, I can do one thing well!” Tim said and fell against her, pawing at her. “I can . . ., hey!” He found himself plucked up, for Rob had grabbed a handful of his thick hair and hauled him to his feet.

  “Cut it out, Tim,” Rob said, and his craggy face was flushed with embarrassment.

  “Look, you were the one who dragged her here, so she gets no special treatment,” Tim shouted. He reached out for Dani, who had come to her feet, but Rob hit him on the side of the neck with a wild swing. It didn’t do more than rock Tim, and he caught Rob in the mouth with a wicked right hand, knocking him down instantly.

  Everyone started to scream, and Rob got to his feet, his face pale and blood running down his chin. Dani said, “Come on, Rob, let’s get out of here,” but before she finished, Rob took another swing at Tim and succeeded in knocking him down. Tim got to his feet at once and threw a punch at Rob—but it caught Dani on the cheek.

  The world exploded, and she was driven backward, hitting the floor with her head. This sent a shower of stars in front of her eyes, and for a brief time she knew nothing. She was not exactly out; it was very much like the time she had fallen off Biscuit, while riding the barrels. The world seemed to be spinning, and all the sounds of the room were muted.

  Then she came out of it to find out that Rob and another boy were half carrying her out to the car. “I can walk,” she protested, but they held on to her and put her inside without more ado.

  “Better have her see a doctor, Rob,” the other boy called as he pulled out.

  “No, I don’t need a doctor,” Dani said quickly. Her face had been numb, but now the pain was coming, and she reached for her purse. Taking out a small mirror, she said, “Turn on the overhead.” He snapped it on, and she saw with relief that the skin was not broken. “Looks as if I’m going to have a whale of a shiner tomorrow.”

  “Never should have taken you,” Rob said between gritted teeth. He added angrily, “That guy is no good.”

  “Oh, he’s all right.” Dani shrugged. “Just a little physical. Anyway, you hit him first.”

  “Well, I like that!” Rob said in an outraged voice. He gave her an injured look, then swerved to miss a car. “I get into a fight to protect you, and you—!”

  “Oh, Rob, don’t tell me it’s the first time one of you guys ever made a pass at a girl at one of your orgies. You’ve done the same thing, I bet.”

  He straightened up in shock, then shot her a
nother outraged look. “That’s different!”

  “I don’t see why,” Dani said calmly. She began to comb the mass of hair, adding, “If you’d taken Allison along, the same thing would have happened to her sooner or later.”

  “Hey—I’d never take Allison to a party like that!”

  “Wouldn’t you, Rob?”

  “No!”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Allison, in case you haven’t noticed, is having a hard time.”

  Rob risked a glance at her, then paused to think about what she had said. “What kind of hard time?”

  “She’s not beautiful like me, and she’s not smart like you,” Dani said in her logical voice. “In a few years she’ll be better looking than I am—but she doesn’t believe that. Right now she thinks she’s dumb and ugly.”

  “Why, that’s crazy, Dani!” Rob said incredulously. “She’s not either one.”

  “You ever tell her that?”

  A long silence fell, and finally Rob said, “No.” Quickly he added, “But I’m having sort of a hard time myself—in case you haven’t noticed.”

  “Sure. You’re dumb and ugly, too.”

  “Don’t be cute!” Rob shifted in his seat and said nothing, nor did she try to urge him to speak. Finally he burst out, “Look, Dani, you’re off in your own little world. You’re a CPA, and you’ve been a cop, and now you’re off into this seminary thing. What have I ever done? Nothing.”

  “And you’re already seventeen years old,” Dani said mockingly. She softened her voice. “What do you want to do, Rob?”

  “I don’t know, Dani. The whole world’s falling apart, and by the time I get on the scene we may all blow up, who knows? I can’t even decide whether or not to go to college. . . .” He went on for a long time, talking fiercely, and Dani realized it was probably the first time this hurting, quiet boy had said those things to anyone.

  His words ran down about the time they pulled into the driveway. Just before they walked in the house, she said, “Thanks for telling me, Rob. And thanks for socking that nerd!”