Harbor Blues

by Cheryl Devenney

  “Well, I won’t open it officially, but I can’t stop Scott from checking into it on his own.”

  “Will you let me know what he’s doing?”

  “Sure. Here’s my card,” he said and jotted a number on it. “I put my home phone on the back. You’d better call me there instead of the office.”

  She took it, and he asked, “Have you got a business card?”

  She pulled one out of her purse and handed it to him. “Call me on my mobile number. Thanks, Charlie. I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”

  He stared into her eyes. “I was too, until a few minutes ago.”

  ◆◆◆

  Charlie received a call from Ted early the next morning to meet at a coffee shop in Wilmington, located at the north end of Harbor division. They ordered breakfast and reminisced about their glory days as they ate.

  Midway through the meal, Ted changed the subject. “Well, I didn’t really ask you to meet me here to talk about old times.”

  “I figured that,” Charlie said.

  “I’m concerned about Scott and the Mancini case.”

  “He’s a pretty determined kid.”

  “I know, but I’m afraid he’s going to start kicking up more shit than Melanie needs,” Ted said.

  “I tried to talk him out of it but—”

  “She’s pretty vulnerable right now, because of her father’s death. I thought running the bar was a bad idea, but to make matters worse, the girl shows up and dredges up more of the past. I don’t know how much of this she can take.”

  “If I remember, she’s a pretty tough cookie.”

  “I know my wife!”

  Charlie tensed up. “Look, I feel like I’m in the middle of a family dispute. First Scott begs me to open the case. Then Melanie asks me not to, and now I get the feeling I’m about to be ordered to leave it alone.”

  “Melanie asked you not to get involved?”

  “Hell, yeah.” Charlie shook his head. “Jesus, I’m only a salty detective with two busted marriages, but I can see you people need to talk to each other more.”

  “You just keep Scott away from the case.”

  “Listen, I’ll do what I can,” Charlie said. “But he’s trying to be the girl’s hero so he can stay in her panties. Even as his senior officer I can’t compete with that.”

  CHAPTER 7

  1998 arrived with the usual amount of New Year fanfare, and once again Melanie found herself doing her duty as the supportive wife of the assistant chief. Ted’s purview stretched from the northern San Fernando Valley, to the southern tip of the city of LA. This time the function was a chamber of commerce mixer in the San Pedro area, in a restaurant high on the cliffs overlooking the ocean.

  Melanie tried to circulate, but made her way to a familiar face. She and Alice Morton had worked together on a couple of civic projects and had hit off. So much so that, she shared her plans about the nightclub with her.

  “So what are you going to call it?”

  “McNeil’s, of course.”

  Melanie saw Ted waving her over with a drink in his hand, and Alice saw it, too. “What’s Ted think of the idea?”

  Melanie winked at her and smiled, then turned toward Ted. “I’ll let you know when I tell him.”

  She caught Ted’s eye as she approached him where he stood with two other men.

  “Hello, Martin,” she said. “How are you?”

  “It’s always good to see you, Melanie.”

  She extended her hand to the other fellow. “I’m afraid we haven’t met. I’m Melanie Swain.”

  “I’m Jack. Nice to meet you. Ted was telling us how much time you’ve put in at the Watts Children Center lately.”

  “I’ve enjoyed it.”

  “I’m sorry to hear about your father,” Martin said.

  “Thank you.”

  “And you’ve kept his bar open?”

  “Yes, and I’m planning to remodel it, and open a nightclub.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ted’s mouth drop open. Then he took a gulp of his drink.

  The man’s face lit up. “I like it. It could really stimulate some much-needed business in this town.”

  Melanie smiled. “I hope so.”

  “Ted, you never mentioned anything about this,” Martin said.

  “Hey, it may also be a good excuse for our chief to spend more time in our neck of the woods,” Jack added.

  Ted downed his drink and set it on a table. “Well, we’re not sure about this.”

  Melanie shot him a dirty look, but he continued, “Look, fellas, it was good talking to you, but I promised Jeff Michaels we’d discuss some security issues at his plant.”

  He directed her away and toward the bar. “Bourbon and soda,” he said to the bartender.

  While waiting, he leaned over and whispered to her, “What the hell was all that bullshit?”

  “It wasn’t bullshit. I’m really planning on doing it.”

  “And this is how you tell me?”

  “If you’d been home for more than ten minutes this past month, I might’ve been able to tell you sooner.”

  He grabbed his glass off the bar and took a long drink. “Well, I know now, and I hate the idea! Now go mingle. That’s why you’re here.”

  She wanted to lash out at him, but remembered her place and went into the ladies’ room to compose herself. When she came out, two guys she had never met approached her. They introduced themselves as Bart and Alex, and she proceeded to make small talk with them.

  At one point in the conversation, Bart managed to ease his hand around her waist and place it on her lower back. She tried to step away from him, but he stayed with her. She was about to remove his hand when Ted walked up and yanked Bart’s hand off of her.

  “That’s off limits, guy.”

  Melanie spun around and saw the anger on Ted’s face, so she chuckled. “Oh, oh,” she said. “He caught us.”

  Bart smiled. “Hey Ted, sorry about that. You’ve got a pretty engaging lady here.”

  “That doesn’t give you the right to— Melanie took Ted’s arm, and said, “Bart was just telling me he’s a former San Francisco detective.”

  “I know.” Ted said.

  “Sure. Ted and I go way back.”

  Ted mumbled. “Yeah, once an asshole, always an asshole.”

  Melanie knew she had to get Ted out of there. “Uh, please excuse us. Good to meet you both.”

  She took Ted’s arm and led him toward the exit. “What’s the matter with you?”

  “With me? You’re the one hanging on that guy.”

  She spoke out of the side of her mouth, so as not to be heard by the others as they walked toward the door. “You think I enjoy that?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Well, I don’t, but I would’ve handled it without making a scene. You tell me to mingle and then you walk up and practically throw a choke hold on the guy.”

  As they walked across the parking lot to their car Melanie noticed Ted staggering. “How many drinks did you have tonight?” she asked.

  “Not enough.”

  Once in the car, Ted burned rubber out of the lot, and Melanie asked, “What’s wrong? I’ve never seen you drink so much at one of these things?”

  “Leave me alone.”

  “Why are you so against my plan?”

  “Because you’re my wife, not some fucking saloon owner.”

  “Ted, please slow down. In fact, let me drive.”

  He ignored her and continued to speed, veering in and out of his lane into oncoming traffic.

  “A nightclub can be a very respectable business.”

  “Respectable, my ass. Surrounded by a bunch of lowlife guys, looking to get laid every night. I thought we agreed you wouldn’t work right now.”

  She knew it was futile to argue with him in his drunken state. “Let’s talk about this later, Ted.”

  He ignored her suggestion. “Didn’t we agree?”

  “But it’s been almost
a year. I need to do something.”

  “So my career is not important to you anymore?”

  She knew him. He wasn’t going to let this go. “I didn’t say that, but I should’ve taken that promotion instead of becoming a trophy on your arm.”

  She watched him take a wrong turn leading them higher up the curvy San Pedro hills. “Ted, where are you going?”

  He stepped harder on the gas and nearly rammed into the rear end of a car stopped at a stop sign. The force of it made her brace herself on the dashboard.

  “Damn it, Ted. Let me drive!”

  “So being my wife is not enough for you anymore?”

  She grabbed the strap above her head and used the other hand to grip the dash. She had to get him to stop the car. “I don’t even know if I can get permits for the re-model. It may not even work out after all.”

  “Melanie, why the fuck did you marry me? You never even noticed me until Mancini bought it.”

  He turned to her and started to grab her, just as someone stepped off the curb at an intersection. “Mel, listen to me…”

  Melanie saw the pedestrian just about to cross their path and yelled, “Look out!”

  Ted twisted the steering wheel with both hands, spinning the car 180 degrees and missing the pedestrian by inches. “Shit.”

  Melanie took a deep breath, jumped out of the car, and spoke to him through the open door. She pointed to the convenience store on the corner. “Come on. Let’s go in the store. You can get some coffee, and I’ll drive us home.”

  He sat there motionless, staring straight ahead.

  “Well, I’m not getting back in this car with you! I’ll call a cab if I have to.” She slammed the door and waited to see if he would get out, but instead he stepped on the gas and left her standing on the road.

  Melanie watched his taillights fade from sight. Goddamn him.

  She paced around where she stood for a few minutes, reliving the past couple of hours. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him about her plans the way she did, although it had worked at the restaurant when she told him she wanted to keep the bar. What provoked such a violent response from him this time?

  When people started noticing her standing there, she reached for her phone in her purse and called Scott. She heard his answering machine and headed for the store. She slipped her phone back into its place and noticed the business card Charlie had given her. She knew he lived nearby. Why not? I need to talk to somebody.

  ◆◆◆

  Charlie showed up within a half an hour in his SUV, and at her request, he parked in the lot near a deserted area of the beach. She wasn’t ready to face Ted at home, and had missed walking on the beach at night since living in the Valley. She jumped out of the truck and took off toward the water, kicking her shoes off along the way. With Charlie right behind her, she reached the tide line, stopped, and took deep breath.

  “He’d been drinking more than usual tonight,” she said. “But I wasn’t ready for him to go ballistic.” She began to walk. “I really thought he was going to hit that guy.”

  Charlie followed along. “Sounds like the Ted Swain I know.”

  “But he never loses his cool anymore. I can’t remember the last time we fought.”

  “Bad day at the office?”

  “I didn’t think so.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

  “Maybe it’s the stress catching up to him,” she said.

  “And what about you? How are you holding up?”

  “Oh, I’m fine. Or at least I was until tonight.”

  Charlie grabbed her arm, and they stopped walking. “Your husband’s about to become the top cop of LAPD, you’ve just decided to close one business and open another, and your dead lover’s daughter shows up to seduce your son into resurrecting a lot of old wounds. Call me a chauvinistic bastard, but I think it’s a lot for one woman to deal with.”

  Melanie giggled. “You, a chauvinist?

  “Talk to my last wife. She was an expert on that shit.”

  Melanie laughed, took the pins out of her wind-blown hair, and let it fall onto her shoulders.

  “That’s the way I like it,” Charlie said.

  Melanie pretended to ignore the remark. “How are your kids, Charlie?”

  “The oldest just graduated from San Diego State. She’s getting married in a few months.” He sighed. The youngest just finished rehab and blames me for her addiction.”

  She touched his arm. “I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, hell, she’s probably right. When her mother told me to leave, I was a real asshole about it. I hardly ever saw the kids.”

  “The job has killed more than a few marriages.”

  “It’s a good excuse, anyway.” Charlie turned and faced the water. “You know, I was surprised you’d married Ted so soon after Mancini.”

  She sat down and wiggled her toes in the sand. “Well, I, uh, got pregnant with Ted’s baby and—”

  “Whoa,” Charlie said with a shit-eating grin. “How’d that happen?”

  She stuck her tongue out at him, “—and he asked me to marry him. I didn’t want an abortion, and I didn’t have many choices. I couldn’t stay with my father after Enzo’s murder.”

  He joined her on the sand. “And what about now?”

  “Now, I can’t imagine my life without Scott.”

  “So your marriage amounts to nothing more than one roll in the hay twenty-five years ago? Doesn’t say much for Ted.”

  “Look, you’re talking to the woman he dumped on the highway. You expect me to throw him roses?”

  “Not me. He’s the guy who caught the woman I was chasing. You can throw him to the goddamn press as far as I’m concerned.”

  “Wouldn’t they love this story?”

  “You that mad?”

  Melanie nodded. “But I’ve managed to keep the media at bay so far, and I don’t intend to make us both look ridiculous.”

  “I’m surprised he’s never jumped in your shit like this before. It’s his MO.”

  “I’ve never crossed him before. Not about something so important.”

  “Not even your singing career?”

  She smiled. “You remember that?”

  “Sure. For the longest time I kept expecting to hear you pop up on the radio. Did you ever make that tape?”

  Melanie nodded. “Yes. I was looking for an agent when I found out about the baby.”

  The sound of the waves crashing onto the shore filled the dead space between them. Then Charlie asked, “What if he doesn’t budge on the club?”

  “I’m not going to let him stop me.”

  “Good for you.”

  “Because seeing you again reminds me of how I felt before Ted; like I could do anything.”

  He bent his head toward her face, and when she didn’t turn away, he kissed her tenderly on the lips. With his next kiss, she put her arms around him and kissed him harder.

  Taking her cue, he pushed her down into the sand, and the kisses became more intense. When his caresses reached her breasts she moaned and said, “Charlie?”

  “Hmm?”

  Melanie popped up. “What are we doing?”

  Charlie rolled over. “Being with you takes me back, too. When my brain was in my crotch.”

  Melanie laughed and sat up. “I got a little wrapped up in the moment myself.”

  She stood up, brushed off the sand, and held her hand out to a disappointed Charlie. He smiled, took her hand, and pulled himself up. “Guess this means I’m not going to get lucky tonight.”

  CHAPTER 8

  The next morning, Melanie strode through the family room past Ted, asleep in a chair. She turned off the lamp and spoke his name.

  He jumped up in his seat and spun around. “Melanie, are you all right?”

  “Fine.”

  “I went back for you a little later, but you were gone.”

  She sat on the couch. “I spent the night at McNeil’s, and Scott drove me home this morning.”

/>   “The way I was driving, I could’ve killed you,” he said with remorse.

  “And yourself.”

  He moved to the couch and sat next to her. “I’d like to make it up to you.”

  Melanie turned to him. “The only way to do that is to support me with the club. Can you do it?”

  He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. “Let’s just say I won’t oppose you.”

  ◆◆◆

  A few mornings later, Melanie went to McNeil’s early to meet with the building contractor. He confirmed her plans for the layout and gave her some other exciting ideas for the club. With this, and Ted’s approval, she was anxious to get started on the project.

  As she readied herself to leave and head back to the Valley for lunch with Sandra, James Mah appeared at the back door and let himself in.

  “Hello, Melanie.”

  “Jesus, you scared me, She exclaimed. “I’m in a hurry. What can I do for you?”

  “Word is out you’re planning to remodel.”

  “That’s right.”

  “So you’re not taking me up on my offer.”

  She continued to lock up. “The property is not for sale. I don’t care about the money.”

  “Well, I know that you do care about your husband’s career— and that you’ve been the consummate wife for one of LA’s top cops—or not.”

  She didn’t like where this was going. “What are you trying to say, James?”

  His eyes narrowed. “I want this property. All of my capital is locked up in a development deal that includes this place. I need it, and you’re going to sign it over to me.”

  Her face flushed. “You’re crazy, I—”

  “Let me finish. If you don’t sell it to me, the police commission may have to find out that the candidate’s wife of many years is involved with a business that fronts for a far-reaching methamphetamine ring. I think they would re-consider their assistant chief’s promotion, don’t you?”

  Melanie’s heart sped up, and her voice shook. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Let me explain. It’s about that investment deal you made with Dean’s car dealership last year.”

  “That’s right, a car dealership. I don’t know anything about meth.”