“I, uh, saw Walt come in here a few weeks ago,” I admitted sheepishly then shrugged. “I was curious.”
“Well, as you know, curiosity can be a very dangerous thing.”
My fingers danced along the keys of Basso’s piano a few hours later, playing a well-worn composition I had created years ago. It was a bright, cheery tune, but I wasn’t really paying attention. My mind was on what Cassandra had told me.
Could she be telling the truth? I did remember a Cassandra Brown going missing a few years ago and the police giving up on the search, presuming her dead. It had a big thing, too, given that she had been the wife a cop. For the life of me, though, I couldn’t remember who the cop had been.
I could always tell Emerson on the off-chance that it was true. He might be able to verify at least some details Cassandra had told me. He must have been on the force when all of that had happened.
“I think I could watch you play for hours.”
I started, my fingers slipping and hitting the wrong keys.
“Golly.”I pressed a hand to my chest to steady my racing heart. “Did you have to scare me?”
Basso chuckled and stepped into the sitting room, coming over to me and wrapping his arms around me. I felt my skin recoil at the contact, but I placed a hand on his arm in feigned affection.
He released me and stepped away as I pushed to my feet, saying, “It’s been a rather good day.”
“Oh?” I watched as he poured us both a glass of brandy. “I thought you would be more upset, given that you found a few spies in your ranks.”
He shrugged, handing me a glass. “They couldn’t have gotten much if they were still there. I’m not too upset about Talbot—he’d only been with me a few months. But Welsh?” He took sip and pulled a face. “He’d been with me for nearly a year.”
“But as you said, they couldn’t have had much on you,” I reminded him.
Basso beamed. “Precisely.” He lifted his arm out, looking proud. “I’m still here. I won, Hazel, and tonight, we celebrate.”
The Golden Sparrow was packed full and the Corcoran Brothers were on stage, their music filling club and persuading the patrons out onto the dance floor.
Basso had left me only a few minutes before to deal with a “delicate matter”, leaving me alone at the table with an almost empty sidecar.
Draining my glass, I got to my feet and made my way over to the bar—and almost ran smack into Leo.
“Goodness, I didn’t expect to see you here,” I said while Leo hastily apologized.
“I’ve been avoiding this place,” he admitted, “but I actually have business here tonight, so... here I am.”
My eyes moved to the young girl at his side who I didn’t guess was more than fifteen or sixteen. She shrank into his side when my eyes landed on her and Leo automatically wrapped a protective arm around her.
“This is my sister,” he introduced as she peered nervously up at me. “This is Juliette.”
“Your sister?” I stared openly at her now, extremely curious.
Her black hair had been curled with care and her lips were painted a deep red. And as he said it, I began to see a resemblance between the two. Not much of one, but they had the same eyes and chin.
“I don’t think I knew you had a sister,” I said after a moment.
“You didn’t.” He sighed and released her. “I’m trying to get her some jobs singing in clubs. We haven’t had any luck, though. No one wants a girl as young as she is.”
Juliette was biting her nails anxiously, dark eyes fixed on me.
“And how old are you?” I asked her with polite curiosity.
“Fifteen,” she answered around her nails. Leo gently pulled her hand from her mouth and Juliette looked embarrassed. “I’ll be sixteen in October.”
“And you sing?” I studied her then smiled at her. “Are you any good?”
“She is,” Leo insisted. “And now that you’re here, I was wondering... Do you think you could talk Basso into listening to her? Even one night a week could do wonders for her.”
I considered for a long moment, thinking only of Leo’s connection to Mimi. Did Basso know?
“I’ll try,” I said after a moment and Leo looked visibly relieved. “This place is pretty booked, though, but he’s got another club in Lower Manhattan that I know of. Maybe we can get her on there.”
Leo grinned widely at me, looking excited. “Thanks, Hazel. I’m sure she’ll be a success if I can just get her up there on stage.”
“Well, I’d love to hear you,” I said earnestly to Juliette before turning back to Leo. “I’ll see if I can talk to him tonight. Don’t go anywhere and meet me back here at the bar around ten or so. Hopefully, I’ll have a good answer for you.”
I left Leo and Juliette then and returned to the booth just in time for Basso and his men to come back.
None of them looked disheveled, which meant that whatever they had just done hadn’t been too strenuous. I waited, though, to gauge Basso’s mood. If I misread him, then I could end up doing more harm than good for Juliette.
Once he was settled and had a fresh glass of whiskey before him, I finally broached the topic.
“Who is she?” he asked as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. They were the one thing I couldn’t bring myself to try, no matter how many times Basso insisted I try. I hated the smell too much.
“Her name is Juliette Warren,” I replied. “She’s an acquaintance of mine, but she is fairly young.”
His eyebrows rose at that. “How young?”
“She’ll be sixteen in October.”
Basso considered this for a moment then asked, “Have I ever heard her sing before?”
“No,” I said truthfully. “But I trust the word of her brother.”
He eyed me suspiciously. “Who’s her brother?”
My stomach flipped with nerves as I said, “Leo Warren.”
There was an unmistakable paleness to his face now. Fury had hardened his face as he glared around the room.
“I take it you’ve heard of him,” I said cautiously.
“I have,” he said.
“You should still give his sister a chance,” I insisted and shrank a little when he turned his fiery gaze on me.
There was an unmistakable paleness to his face now and fury had his hands trembling as he glared down at me.
“You know who he is,” Basso said and I nodded once, my expression carefully blank.
“I do,” I answered. “But that’s in the past now, isn’t it? And what does his sister have to do with anything? She’s innocent.”
“He had what was mine,” Basso growled and I bit my tongue.
What was yours? Mimi was no one’s to own, you bastard.
Basso clicked his tongue, appearing to mull it all over. Then, to my surprise, he said, “Tell the girl I’ll see her here, tomorrow, at ten in the morning. She better not be late.”
Relief mixed with fear. I didn’t trust the way he seemed to accept her auditioning for him and I suddenly began to worry for Leo. Had I just erased any doubts he might have had about Mimi and Leo? Had I just condemned a friend to death?
The next morning dawned bright and warm as I rose with the sun. I hadn’t slept more than a few minutes at a time as fear gnawed at me. I needed to see Emerson. If I had inadvertently made Leo a target, then I refused to be involved any longer. What if the next time I stepped into that back room, it was Leo strapped to a chair, awaiting torture and death?
I didn’t care if anyone was following me. I prayed it was Judd, but something told me it was Al.
Emerson greeted me somewhat coldly after an officer announced my arrival.
“I thought we had agreed, Miss MacClare, that you wouldn’t come here unless I called,” he said, moving around to sit behind his desk as I strode into the room. He fixed me with an icy stare as he settled into his chair. “You endanger everything by showing up here.”
“I’m done,” I said firmly and I watched his expres
sion turn into one of exasperation. How I had sung this tune many times. “He’s going after a friend, Leo Warren, and I won’t help him do it. You should have plenty of evidence now. Arrest Basso and end it. Today.”
“Miss MacClare, there is no backing out,” Emerson said a cold, unfeeling voice. “We have discussed this numerous times at this point. It is up to you to convince Basso that this friend of yours is no threat or you will deal with the matter yourself.”
“But—”
“You agreed to help me, Miss MacClare, and your help I will have.” He had risen to his feet, his voice loud and hard. Gone was the warm detective I had met after Mimi’s funeral and in his place was a cold, distant man with only one goal: victory.
I stared at him in disbelief, a quiet rage building inside me. I didn’t miss the way he carefully avoided the evidence he must have had against Basso.
Surely he had enough, I thought as we stared one another down. I had seen him torture someone to death. I had seen him authorize interrogations that resulted in death, had heard him sanction murder. If nothing else, he was an accomplice to it all. But yet, Emerson did nothing. Why? What in the name of God was he waiting for?
“What happens next is up to you.” Emerson sat back down, his voice calm now, but still firm. “If you don’t do what he asks, if you don’t go back, he will kill you. And I won’t be able to help you. We’re close, Miss MacClare, so please stick with us just a little while longer.”
“And watch another friend get killed?” I scoffed and took a step towards the door. “Go to hell. And deal with the consequences of me not going back yourself.”
“Miss MacClare, this is not some silly game that you are playing!” Emerson suddenly shouted, freezing me in my tracks. Rage colored his voice and turned his face a blotchy red. “This is life and death now, do you understand? If you walk away now, he will most certainly kill you. And then he’ll replace you and the cycle will keep going. My informants will be compromised, just like Detective Connor’s. Do you want that, Miss MacClare? Don’t you want him to pay for what he did to Miss Waters?”
My lower lip was quivering now and I had unshed tears blinding me.
God, I was so afraid. I was afraid of Basso, of what he would do to me if he ever discovered the truth. I was afraid of what he would do to Leo, now that I had confirmed that he and Mimi were lovers. I had practically handed him on a silver platter to Basso and now I had to deal with that for the rest of my life.
“Go home,” Emerson said, cutting through my fretting, “and do not, under any circumstances, come back unless I tell you to. Am I making myself clear?”
I felt like a child again who had knocked over a priceless vase.
But I bobbed my head mutely all the same, letting a few tears fall.
“Good.” He settled back in his chair and observed me for a moment longer before he waved me away and bent over a sheaf of papers piled up before him on his desk.
As I walked slowly towards the Golden Sparrow, I watched the people on the sidewalks pass by, laughing and joking, not caring about anything at all. I missed the days when all I was worried about was how I was going to master the Hammerklavier before my concert. I should have just stuck with my old dreams, I thought morosely. I should have never stepped foot inside of a speakeasy. My life would have been so much simpler if I had never gone to the Golden Sparrow.
But Mimi would still be dead, I reminded myself as the barber shop that posed as the front for the club below came into view up the street. She would still be gone, but the difference would be that I would never any answers or know why.
What I did, I told myself, I did for her. It was all for her.
Because I loved her.
My footsteps faltered and then I stopped right in front of the stairs leading down to the speakeasy, my mind curiously blank.
I had said it before, many times. I had always loved Mimi. She had been my best friend, after all. But as I thought it, I felt something shift in me. A realization that I hadn’t fully comprehended. My heart felt the change, but my mind was still working to catch up to it.
I loved her. I loved her as I loved Frankie.
“Oh.” My voice was small, light and breathy. I felt odd, but it also felt like everything made sense now.
But I would have to deal with that later, I told myself then gave myself a tiny shake before stepping into the Golden Sparrow.
Chapter 21
Within seconds of listening to Juliette Warren, I knew I was listening to something truly spectacular. I had never heard anything like her before. Her age is what I supposed was what impressed me so much what with being only fifteen and with a voice that seemed to belong to someone far older and more mature than her.
Her voice was like liquid gold, perfectly pitched and mesmerizing to listen to.
When her voice had faded out and she shrank back slightly as the song ended, Basso and I sat in quiet awe at the tiny girl on stage, who had seemed to bloom right before us while she performed, retreat back into herself as she awaited our verdict.
I glanced at Basso, whose eyes were narrowed as he considered her.
Finally, after several long, impatient minutes of waiting, he got to his feet and strode up to Juliette, who was biting her nails nervously.
“It would be my honor, Miss Warren, to have you perform here,” he said and Juliette’s face split into a broad smile, her eyes glittering with delight.
She looked towards Leo, who had been sitting towards the back of the club, watching quietly as his younger sister sang.
“We’ll start you off on Friday nights,” Basso said, straightening his jacket. “And bring your own songs, if you have any.” Turning back to me as Juliette left with Leo, he said, “I think we’ve found us a gem.”
Getting to my feet, keeping my eyes fixed on Basso and not Leo’s retreating back, I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head lightly on his chest.
“She was wonderful,” I said, voice slightly muffled against him. “I can’t wait for everyone else to hear her.”
“She’ll be the next Bessie Smith,” Basso murmured and I closed my eyes, wondering if Leo would get to see his sister become a star. “Just you wait.”
Basso dropped me off at home and, as I was getting out, said, “Don’t worry about tonight. But tomorrow afternoon, I’ll need you to do something for me. Since I have a mountain of work to do at the warehouse, I’ll be sending Robert and Al with you. It shouldn’t take too long.”
Dread curled in my stomach, but I nodded all the same, mouth dry, before closing the door and walking inside.
I didn’t even time to consider what Basso would have me do aside from what I feared the most because, when I stepped into sitting room, I was greeted to the sight of my mother, standing with Danielle near the window.
They both turned expectantly at my entrance and I felt my nerves split and fray. How was I going to make it to the end of all of this if I couldn’t even handle my mother returning home?
“Tea,” Mama said to Danielle before moving to settle down into her chair.
Setting my handbag on the piano, I sat down across from Mama and waited.
“I’ve given myself plenty of time to think over your proposition,” Mama began.
I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut as I waited for her to tell me that I would have to live with her and Mr. Hayes. I didn’t think I could bear it.
“I think it would be a fine idea for you to stay here,” Mama said, “with Danielle, of course. She would look after you and you’ll keep Mrs. Brandt. I could even hire a new maid as well, just for the sake of filling the house so it isn’t so empty. And of course, I’ll be around to visit.”
I was beaming, filled to bursting with happiness. I had freedom to do as I pleased now and no one could tell me no.
Leaping to my feet, I crushed Mama in a tight embrace.
“Thank you, Mama,” I said into her ear. I didn’t want to leave my childhood home, not yet, and certainly not to go live with a n
ew family that I didn’t even know.
“But you will be required to join in on family dinners once a month,” Mama warned as I released her and settled back down in my chair.
I shrugged. “A small price to pay,” I said with a wide, pleased grin and Mama smiled back. I thought she looked a little sad, but then Danielle arrived with tea and the look vanished.
Mama stayed only a little while longer before she left and, when she had gone and the door was closed and locked behind her, I felt her absence more keenly than ever.
That night, I barely slept. All I could think of was Leo and the task Basso wanted me to do for him tomorrow. I could almost feel that it was connected and I tried to prepare myself for what I was sure would be the inevitable: I was about to watch Leo’s murder.
With a huff of annoyance, I rolled over in my bed onto my side, arms crossed rigidly as I glared at the wall opposite me, fretting the night away.
When the peaked its golden head over the smallest buildings, I rose and stole down to the kitchen just as Mrs. Brandt began boiling water for coffee.
She started at my entrance, clearly surprised and slightly alarmed at my sudden appearance. I only offered her an apologetic smile in return.
“Goodness, Miss Hazel,” she said, hand over her heart and her eyes wide. “You nearly sent me to an early grave.”
“Sorry, Mrs. Brandy,” I said earnestly. I leaned against the table, gazing eagerly into the mixing bowl before her. “What’s for breakfast?”
She smiled a little. “Eggs, potatoes, a bit of toast,” she answered then jerked her head towards the kitchen maid, who came every day to help out, “and I’ve got Sarah cleaning up some fruit for you.”
I grinned, my stomach rumbling. “That sounds wonderful.”
“I’ll have it ready for you soon,” Mrs. Brandt assured me. “Give me about another half an hour and Danielle will have that table set for you before you know it.”
With the assurance of breakfast to keep my going, I went back up to my room and stared into my wardrobe for a long time. I wondered if I would need something comfortable but sturdy. But a quick glance outside at the hazy air told me that it was going to be another sweltering, stuffy day. I would need something light, then, as well, I told myself.
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