by Mike Faricy
“What do you do all day, when you’re not teaching guys how to dance?” he asked, sipping decaf and studying her as she answered.
She couldn’t bring herself to tell him she was with the County Investigator’s office. She just wasn’t ready for the exit lines yet, so she told a white lie. “I’m sort of in the insurance industry, pretty dull. I type a lot of reports and stuff.” She gave a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.
It was a big white lie, sandwiched between some truth. The investigator’s office sometimes worked in conjunction with insurance agencies. She had typed the reports on two different, large insurance recoveries over the past year. Neither one had been too successful, but she had typed the reports and served as one of the department assistants between a number of different state and federal agencies.
“Once someone loses something, I’m part of a team that helps to find it,” she said, not looking directly at Hub. She evaded his eyes, hoping he wouldn’t see the dishonesty in her face.
Hub didn’t want to ask any further questions. That might lead to Macey asking him questions, and that could lead to her learning he and Val were acquainted.
‘Jesus!’ He suddenly thought, ‘Val! It is close to 1:00.’ The Moonlight had closed almost an hour ago, and Val was probably going crazy right now. Hub did the only thing he could think of, the old stretch and look at the time routine.
“Man, Macy, look at the time,” he said, glancing at his watch, trying to sound casual. “It’s almost one, way too late for me, and you gotta be at work tomorrow. Let’s get you out of here.”
“Thanks for the coffee, Hub,” she said as he half-walked, half-ran to her car. “Mmm-mmm, say,” she said, planting her feet as Hub continued on for another ten feet past her. “Would you be interested in a picnic Saturday? Nothing fancy, just you, me, and the best fried chicken you ever ate.”
“Yeah, I’d like that. It sounds perfect. Thanks, but I’d better get going,” he said, gently grabbing her elbow and walking as fast as he dared without seeming too pushy.
“Don’t you bring anything. I’ll take care of everything,” she said.
“How about I bring some beer?” he said, picking up on her not so subtle hint, and walking backward in the direction of his truck.
“Beer would be great. Call me. I’m online under Macey Evans,” she called after him. “Right under dateless,” she said under her breath.
He drove back to the Moonlight as fast as he dared and found Val spinning and high-stepping his swing routine, alone, in the half-dark. The only light illuminating the room flooded across the dance floor from the open office door.
“What the hell happened? I saw you here, and then the next thing I know, you’re gone,” Val asked, spinning left then right. “You gonna knock off a piece, that’s okay with me. Just don’t leave me hanging. Okay? What am I supposed to do? Sleep here?” He spun around and said, “We got a lot riding on this, man.”
“I was just having coffee, and time got away from me. Sorry. Come on. Let’s go.” He held the door for Val, feeling more like a father picking up an obnoxious teenager than the guy who was an hour late.
“Hey, look, Hub. I’ve been cooling my heels here for over an hour,” Val whined, walking into the warm midnight air. “We gotta figure something out. Can’t be having this every night. I mean, come on!” he said, climbing into the truck.
“Well, I already told you what to do. What’s to figure out?” Hub asked across the hood. “If you had your own set of wheels, it would be better all around. We’re taking a hell of a chance just riding around, let alone living together.
“Look Val, we’ve got this thing really starting to work. I scored some nice little items tonight. But, right now, all roads lead right back to the Moonlight Dance Academy and you and me. We gotta get you a set of wheels, and I need a separate place to live, or we run a real risk of someone putting all this together.”
“You think it would be a good idea for you to move out, for us to live separate?” Val asked, hoping he didn’t sound like he was too eager.
“Yeah, nothing personal, Val. Except your taste in movies sucks, but I think it would be safer for both of us. Don’t you?” He paused for a fraction of a second, afraid to let any more time pass and give Val a chance to disagree. “I’ll maybe start looking tomorrow, see what I can find.”
There was really no point in telling Val he had already found a place just over on West Tyler. In fact, he’d put a deposit down that afternoon. Start looking tomorrow? Christ, he planned to move tomorrow.
Chapter 18
Just like any other day, Macey was at her desk before 8:00 on Friday morning. She wanted to review the notes she had typed up for an ongoing investigation. It was white-collar crime, real white-collar as a matter of fact, a dry cleaning operation scamming six figures right off the top.
She had been with the county investigator’s office for eleven years after transferring out of Tampa Metro. There wasn’t a problem at Metro, other than the fact that, after trying for three years to get into police work, once in, she quickly found out she hated it. She hated dealing with the same type of slime balls, day in and day out. Dead end, burned out, stupid, slime balls, who were guilty, guilty, guilty.
The slime balls they went after at county were just as guilty. Not that Macey actually went after anyone, but she did type up the reports. That was like being in on the action, as much as she cared to be.
Of course, there had been her neurocardiogenic syncope diagnosis. In layman’s terms, she couldn’t stand the sight of blood. It made her nauseous and caused her to faint. It proved to be rather difficult for her to perform her duties as an officer of the law at Tampa Metro. She was fainting or throwing up every time there was blood present. A weakness she had been unable to overcome, and her law enforcement career drifted into a clerical role, a role she was more than willing to embrace.
Carlos Prensa saw Macey at her desk as soon as he got off the elevator. They had a brother/sister sort of relationship, more than just workmates, and just now, Carlos was wondering what he could pull on Macey to yank her chain.
“Hi,” he said, pulling a chair alongside her desk. He set the coffee cup down. Went through two minutes of first thing in the morning conversation, before he reached for the empty cup and knocked it over on her desk, jumping back as he did so. “Oh, my god, I’m sorry.”
Macey jumped halfway out of her chair. “Damn it, Carlos, you idiot. Oh, Jesus.”
“No, Jesus was probably who you were out with last night and this morning. I’m just Carlos.”
“You’re a jerk, that’s who you are! Like I need your stupid stunt first thing in the morning, you idiot!” she laughed and finished the last of her morning muffin.
“Macey, you must be getting some love action somewhere. You seem to have been in a pretty decent mood all week. What, has some poor, innocent, unsuspecting victim wandered into the picture?” Carlos asked.
“I need a new guy in my life like a drunk needs another drink. That last one worked out so well.”
Carlos knew some of the details of her last relationship, none of them very pretty. Why? he wondered, for the umpteenth time, did so many of the gorgeous ones always end up with the jerks? She’d had a torrid fling, ending about a year ago, with some possessive jerk who ultimately beat her up and fled town. The good news was he fled town. The bad news was, no one knew if or when he might ever come back.
“Come on, Macey,” Carlos called over his shoulder, halfway to the elevators. “Can we get moving now that you’ve finished stuffing every last crumb into your already full face? We’ve got that briefing to attend upstairs, and if you’ll recall, tardiness is frowned upon.”
Chapter 19
Hub moved into the West Tyler apartments on Friday. The move took all of ninety minutes, including drive time. He tossed his suitcase and Blue Earth athletic bag in the back of the Ford Ranger along with his duck decoys. On the way over to the apartment, he bought a queen-size mattress and box sp
ring on sale, grabbed the free bed frame with purchase, and was completely moved in before lunch.
On Saturday, he called Macey for directions, then picked her up an hour later for their picnic on the beach. She looked great, wearing shorts, a too-small T-shirt and carrying enough food in a picnic basket for ten people.
As she climbed into the Ford Ranger, it suddenly dawned on Hub that he had never really touched her. He’d delivered the expected peck on the check a couple of times, the thanks for coffee sort of deal. He’d certainly held her as she had instructed on the dance floor. And he’d clearly stomped her feet uncountable times. But he’d never really touched her, never just pulled her in tight or even planted a lingering, passionate kiss on her lips. It suddenly dawned on him that Macey was different, and he didn’t want to screw it up.
She gave directions, and they picnicked in a nice shady corner of the park, watched kids play, ate, chatted, ate, went for a brief walk, came back, and ate some more.
Finally, Hub said, “That’s it. One more bite of anything, and it’s coming out my ears.” He sipped some cold beer, thinking that might help settle his stomach. He was feeling fluttery and anxious somehow.
“You can really do that, make it come out your ears?” Macey asked.
Hub gave her a look. “Yeah, it’s because I don’t have any brains to get in the way, that’s why.”
She laughed and gave him a moment to study her. “So, Macey, you’re pretty nice, real nice as a matter of fact. How come there aren’t lots of guys hanging around you? Or are there, and you just haven’t told me about them?”
She didn’t blink. She just looked at Hub with those hazel eyes, emeralds with flecks of gold. She looked for a very long moment, thinking, turning her answer over in her mind. This was usually where she would tell a guy she worked with the county investigator’s office. Then wait for him to say ‘That’s interesting, gee, look at the time’ and know that he would never, ever, call her again.
“I don’t know. I’ve had some long-term relationships, but they just sort of drifted away after a while. You know, usually no big blow up or anything.” She shrugged her shoulders, ignoring her lie about the disaster her last relationship became. “They just sort of went from hot to lukewarm over time before they fizzled out altogether. To be honest, I suppose sometimes it was me and sometimes it was the guy.”
Hub gave a thoughtful look. “That’s a lot different than me. My relationships always seem to go from hot to big blow up. I somehow manage to skip all the in-between stuff and get right down to this sucks, and it’s over,” Hub said. “You know, you think everything is going great, you move in together, come home with flowers, and she’s getting dressed to go out on a date with someone else.”
“Are you kidding? That really happened?” she exclaimed.
“No, well, not quite. I mean, it’s sort of like that in a lot of ways. I wasn’t coming home with flowers. I think it was Valentine candy, as a matter of fact. But it was always something along that line. All of a sudden, they seem to want out. Have no interest in fixing whatever it is that’s broken. I’d come home, and either the locks were changed, their clothes were gone, or my stuff was piled in the driveway.
“That’s what happened the last time, and there must be something to it. To tell you the truth, maybe it’s my fault. Obviously, a part of it is. I have to include myself when I say no one wants to spend any time fixing whatever is broken. It just seems easier at the time not to try to get them to come back or to just leave if they want me to. After a few times, that’s gotta say something about me.”
He laid back and looked up at the sky. “I’ve had some nice ladies, and I’ve had some real bitches. They just all seem to come with a hidden expiration date.”
“You’re pretty easy to talk to,” she said, beginning to pick up their picnic debris. She stuffed bowls and plates back into the basket. “Who knows, maybe this time we’ll both get it right?”
She said it matter-of-factly, almost to herself, not looking at him. He didn’t react, but what she said wasn’t lost on him. He had a way of going blank in the face when he wanted, so you couldn’t read him. That’s the way he looked now, blank in the face, just staring up into the sky.
“Well, should we head out?” Macey asked, brushing her hands together after closing the lid on her picnic basket. “I think we’ve probably done enough damage here today.”
He was quiet on the short drive back to Macey’s. She kept herself occupied working the radio and finally landing on a Springsteen song.
He carried her basket into the house, along with their barely touched case of beer. Hanging a pace or two behind her, focused, thinking, ‘Man, those shorts look great,’ knowing all along he wasn’t really thinking about the shorts.
“Hub, you feel like some coffee?” she yelled, leaving him standing in her living room as she walked straight into the kitchen from the front door.
The air conditioning felt refreshing without being uncomfortably cold, and the yellow walls of her living room seemed to wash over him. He couldn’t determine what it was at first, then realized the room smelled like her perfume. Not heavy, not overwhelming, just the slightest hint of her, spicy, erotic, exciting.
He didn’t feel like coffee at four on a Saturday afternoon. He felt like finishing off the case of beer and having a really wild night. But it looked like that wasn’t about to happen, and he sure as hell wasn’t anxious to go home and sit in his empty apartment.
“Yeah, coffee would be great,” he answered.
She took a minute longer to get the coffee ready then set the timer. “Hey, I got this set for 6:15 to start,” she said, coming out of the kitchen, beginning to wrestle her little T-shirt off while walking toward her bedroom. “That gives us a couple hours in bed to burn off calories. You interested?” she called back down the hall to him.
It wasn’t exactly the way he had played it out in his mind. He was thinking more along the lines of pouring three or four pitchers of margaritas in her after the case of beer, but the end result was the same.
“Yeah, that works,” he said, walking out of his shoes, moving quickly to the bedroom, not needing a second invitation. “But I’m not sure a couple of hours is going to be enough time.”
“Whoa, you’re that good?” Macey’s eyes were suddenly bright, flashing.
“No, I just consumed a lot of calories. It’ll take a long time to burn them off.”
She shook her head in disgust and continued to undress. She casually kicked her shorts into a corner by her closet and pushed play on the CD player next to her bed.
Subtleties weren’t always lost on Hub, and he noted a bud vase with a rose, the CD player already loaded and ready to go with soft, sexy music. He also noticed she had slipped out of her clothes in about five seconds and lay casually on the bed, naked, watching him undress with wide eyes, enjoying the show. He was staring back at her as he dropped his shorts to the floor, his belt buckle and car keys thumping on her wooden floor like a drum roll announcing his grand finale was about to occur.
“Well, what are you staring at?” she laughed, moving her legs slightly. Her breasts were bright white in contrast to the tan skin.
“Mmm, glad to see you wear a top when you’re in the sun,” he said.
“Jesus,” Macey laughed, and threw a pillow at him. “Isn’t that funny. I was wondering all this time if you were gay. Obviously, you’re looking forward to joining me, so get in here!”
She patted the bed, sliding over ever so slightly, making sure there was almost enough room for him next to her.
Later that night, she pulled on her T-shirt, strolled out to the kitchen, turned off the coffee, and got two beers out of the refrigerator. “You up for a little Sound of Music?” she asked.
Hub was wearing a smile, stretching, his arms raised over his head, standing naked in her living room, illuminated by the soft half-light washing out from the kitchen. He got this quizzical look on his face, not at all sure what she was talking ab
out.
She rolled her eyes. “You know,” she said, handing him a bottle of beer, “the movie.” She emphasized the word movie, shaking her head, raising her eyebrows.
Clearly, he didn’t know. He shook his head, wearing a vacant expression.
“You’ve never seen it? Oh, come on. You’ve never seen?” She twirled around, holding the bottle of beer high over her head, raising her T-shirt well above her navel, singing slightly off-key. “The hills are alive!”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Hub asked, watching her T-shirt settle back to barely recover her navel, enjoying the bounce of her breasts.
“Oh, baby!” She stepped forward and kissed him, “Great, a Sound of Music virgin. We can watch it twice. This is the best day, ever!” she said and dragged him, naked, onto her living room couch.
He noticed the movie was cued up to play as soon as she touched the remote. Maybe she really did have the whole day planned. Fine with him. He liked her plan. Sit around naked all night, with a great looking blonde who got the beer. They made love for quite some time somewhere in the middle of the movie and then slept through the better part of the replay.
Meanwhile, Val drove north, up to Atlanta.
Chapter 20
Val had left just before sunrise on his drive to Atlanta. He was driving a rented car filled with silver trays, place settings, and jewelry. He wasn’t making the trip cold. He’d done his research and established some contacts over the phone during the past couple of weeks. He was driving north armed with a list of a half-dozen people he planned to see. Legitimate businesses, who, at least over the phone, gave the impression they wouldn’t ask him a lot of stupid questions about how he came to be in possession of the items.