Desperate Measures

by Fern Michaels

  “We’ll get through this,” Maddie said, then took her turn in the shower.

  While the water pelted her, however, Maddie cried again. She needed to talk to Pete. Pete was a lawyer, but then so was his uncle, Leo Sorenson. When they got back from the police station, she’d call him to see if he knew how to reach Pete. She felt better almost immediately.

  For hours they looked through mug books and drank bitter, black coffee that tasted like farmyard mud. At seven o’clock they ate dry corned beef sandwiches and two pickles, compliments of the NYPD.

  “One more hour, Detective, then I’m calling it quits,” Maddie said at eleven o’clock. “I have a store to open tomorrow.”

  “That goes for me too,” Janny grumbled. “Maybe the men were from out of town or something.”

  “Keep looking, ladies,” Nester said quietly. “This might surprise you, but I haven’t seen my kids in two days. I leave before they get up and get home after they’re asleep.”

  At twenty minutes past eleven Maddie’s eyebrows shot backward to meet her hairline. She nudged Janny and pointed.

  “It’s him,” Janny squealed. “Look, here’s the other one. Look at all that hair. I knew he had a lot of hair. Maybe it’s a wig or one of those pieces men glue on their heads. They call them rugs or ... something.”

  Nester leaned over to peer at the pictures. “Big-time, ladies. Real big-time.”

  “What does that mean?” Maddie asked nervously.

  “Hoods. They have a godfather that protects them.”

  “Who’s going to protect us?” Maddie demanded hotly.

  Nester’s face showed disgust. “The police, that’s who.”

  “Against a crime family, the underworld?” Janny said. “Those people kill people in prison. If you think I’m going to ... to finger . . . crooks, you have another thought coming. That sandwich and coffee doesn’t buy you anything. Not with me it doesn’t,” Janny sputtered.

  “Ladies, ladies, you watch too much television. You don’t seriously expect me to believe you’d let two thugs gun down two innocent people, smash up an innocent woman’s store, and not do anything about it, do you?”

  “I think Janny is right, Detective Nester. I . . . I really don’t want to get involved. We told you who they are, you take it from there.”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” Nester said quietly. “If you don’t help us, they walk free. They go unpunished. Do you want that to happen?”

  “Of course not,” Janny said, “but I’m selfish enough not to want to put my life on the line either.”

  “You’ll be under police protection.”

  “That thought doesn’t comfort me very much,” Maddie said. “Who were the men who were killed?”

  “Underlings,” Nester said. He watched Maddie carefully, his instinct warning him her decision would be her friend’s decision.

  Maddie thought about her life, Pete, and the new store. It would all be disrupted if she did what this man wanted. She thought about the house in Connecticut and making love with Pete in front of the fireplace. “I agree with Janny.” She got up, stretched her neck muscles, her eyes on her friend. “I want to go home now,” she said firmly.

  Janny’s eyes thanked her. “Me too.” She scurried alongside her friend for support, half expecting the detective to drag them back to their seats.

  Nester loosened his tie. He jerked at it and then pulled it over his head. He tossed it on the desk. It was a nice tie, Maddie thought. He was nice too. That and a dime wouldn’t get her a cup of coffee anywhere in the world.

  Maddie surprised herself when she asked about Mrs. Ky. Janny, her eyes round, stared at Maddie.

  “Are you asking me if she’ll be safe?” Nester said. “I don’t know. She said she didn’t see anything. I believe her, you believe her, but will they believe her? That alone should be reason enough to make you do your civic duty.”

  Maddie frowned. “Look, we had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We told you who the men are. I’m not going to let you ruin my life. It’s your job to protect Mrs. Ky. Us too,” she added as an afterthought. “You won’t do that, will you, unless we agree to do what you want? Well, isn’t that right?”

  “No, it isn’t right. We’ll do everything we can, but we aren’t a baby-sitting service.”

  “Exactly where does that leave us?” Janny demanded.

  “It means whatever you want it to mean,” Nester said quietly. “Protective custody isn’t so bad. We put you up in a nice hotel, pay for all your meals, give you twenty-four-hour bodyguards. After the indictment and the arraignment, we wait for the trial. Your testimony will put those bastards behind bars. You’ll be sending a message that this city, that innocent people, won’t put up with this kind of thing. It’s so close to home, ladies, it has to make you think.”

  “I am thinking,” Maddie said. “What happens to us after you give us the red carpet treatment? After the trial? How long will you protect us? Day, weeks, months? Years?” she asked.

  “As long as it takes,” Nester said.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  By the time Maddie and Janny reached Fairy Tales, Maddie thought she would jump out of her skin. Janny, she noticed, had a noticeable tic over her left eye.

  The smell of fresh paint, wallpaper, and new merchandise assailed her nostrils as she opened the shutters on the front window. Janny turned on the lights, bathing the fairy-tale room in a soft, mellow glow that mixed with the warm August sunshine. Maddie turned on the air-conditioning.

  “There’s not a single thing to do except say hello when the first customer walks through the door,” Janny said. “I’ll make coffee and you call Pete’s uncle. We have a whole hour before you unlock the door. You could call Detective Nester to see if there’s any . . . news. They might have caught the guys by now.”

  The rainbow-colored caftan Maddie had on swished nervously as she headed to the little office at the back of the store. She was on hold when she heard the front door tinkle. She heard Janny drop the basket of the percolator into the sink. A moment later she saw a flash of ginger-colored pants running to the front of the store. “It’s Detective Nester,” she heard Janny call over her shoulder.

  Maddie listened intently to the person on the line for a moment. “I’d like to leave a message,” she said. “Tell Mr. Sorenson that Madelyn Stern, Pete’s fiancée, called, and I would appreciate it if he’d call me at the store or at home after six.” She left both numbers. Why was she surprised to hear that the elder Sorenson was in court? After all, he was an attorney, and attorneys hung out in court most of the time. “Damn!”

  Maddie walked to the front of the store, where Janny was deep in conversation with Detective Nester. She smiled when she heard Janny explain how a particular game was played. Nester was giving her his undivided attention. “I’ll buy one,” he said.

  “The store isn’t open yet,” Maddie said stupidly.

  “I wanted to beat the crowds. My wife told me about this store. She can’t wait to get here to spend my money. I think you’re overpriced,” he said mildly. “Pretty upscale area. Guess the rent is high. My wife explained to me about markups. So, have you ladies thought about what we talked about last evening?”

  Maddie blinked. “Yes and no. We’re frightened, but I guess you already know that. I don’t understand why we have to be scared out of our wits. We didn’t do anything wrong, and here we are, looking over our shoulders, afraid to sleep, afraid to go out. It’s not right and it’s not fair.”

  “No it isn’t, but that’s the way it is.”

  “We pointed out the men. Can’t you watch them? You should be able to arrest them without involving us. We need a lawyer. That means we have to pay out a fee, and we didn’t do anything wrong. What kind of justice is that?”

  “It’s the system. I told you, you have to pick them out of a lineup. You can’t just say someone did something and have the police rush in willy-nilly and arrest people. They have rights too. You witnessed
a crime. It’s your duty as a citizen to come forward.”

  “Who are those men?” Janny demanded.

  “The shooters are Bull Balog and John ‘the Angel’ Naverez. The dead men weren’t carrying any ID. We think they’re top lieutenants of a New York crime family. If we can’t make the arrests stick, they stay free to kill someone else. I guess you didn’t see today’s paper,” Nester said, placing a copy of the Daily News next to the cash register. Maddie recoiled; so did Janny.

  “Read the article and call me. I can have Angel and Bull picked up and schedule a lineup after you close up shop. Good luck with your grand opening,” Nester said, sticking the gaily wrapped package under his arm.

  “Bottom of page two,” Nester called over his shoulder. Maddie shivered when he closed the double Dutch doors.

  “We should have charged him double,” Janny seethed as she ripped the paper open. She read aloud, the color draining from her face. Maddie sat down on the stool behind the counter, her face as white as Janny’s.

  “This is positively shitful,” Janny exploded when she was through reading. “Mrs. Ky described us perfectly. And then saying we live in her building on East Forty-ninth, around the corner from the U.N. building—God! Does Mrs. Ky know your name, Maddie?”

  “Not that I know of. I don’t go in that often. Every so often I stop for milk or bread, sometimes the paper. Actually, Pete goes in more than I do. He buys canned salmon for Tillie. I’m sure I never told her my name. She’s a very shy, sweet little lady. She calls me ‘miss.’ I’ve seen her in the elevator from time to time. She does know, if she remembers, I get off at seven. She’s . . . higher up.” Maddie’s face closed up tight. “She knows . . . oh God . . .”

  “Now, don’t panic,” Janny dithered. “She . . . won’t tell. After all, she must know the score. No, she won’t mention it. What reason would she have to do that? She’ll just assume you told the police yourself. The paper doesn’t say anything about what floor you live on. We’re not going back there tonight, right?”

  “Right,” Maddie muttered. “Mrs. Ky’s English isn’t very good. Even if someone asks her, she might not understand. We can go to Pete’s apartment. I have a key. We won’t even go back for clothes. We’ll make do with what we have. We can wear these . . . costumes tomorrow. We can pick up some underwear at an all-night drugstore along with toothbrushes.... No, we aren’t going back there,” Maddie said emphatically.

  “Does that mean we’re going to go to the lineup?”

  “No. Yes. I don’t know. Turn on the radio and see if there’s any news. We should have listened this morning. Why didn’t we?” Maddie asked, her face creased with worry.

  “Because we’re stupid, that’s why,” Janny said sourly.

  “We’re not stupid, Janny.” She thought for a minute and came up with one of Pete’s favorite phrases. “We’re piss-ass scared. Damn it, this isn’t fair. Our lives are changing minute to minute, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I think . . . I think . . . we’ll be safe at Pete’s. His place is on Fifty-fourth between First and Second. He’s on the ninth floor. We can use the stairs and go in the back way. There has to be a back way. I could use that coffee now.”

  It was seven o’clock before the women entered Pete’s apartment. Two stops, via a cab, at a twenty-four-hour drugstore and at Chase Manhattan to make a night deposit, completed their day.

  “For someone who’s a bachelor and away a lot,” Janny said, “Pete has a well-stocked freezer and cupboard. You name it, it’s here. Does he cook?”

  “Like a gourmet chef. Listen, they’re rehashing the news,” Maddie said, sitting down on the sofa, her eyes glued to the huge television screen on the wall.

  “This is like being in the movies,” Janny said, settling herself next to Maddie. She kicked off her shoes. She bounded off the chair a moment later when she heard Detective Nester’s voice say, “Mrs. Ky dialed 911, but was unable to tell us what was wrong. By the time we arrived at the scene, both Mr. and Mrs. Ky were dead.”

  Janny slid to the floor as Maddie slammed at the seashell centerpiece in the middle of the coffee table. She watched as it shattered on the parquet floor. A moment later Maddie ran to the door to check the locks. She was breathing like a long distance runner when she returned to huddle on the floor next to Janny, who was crying into her sleeve.

  “We’re next. I know it. They’re going to find us. Sure as hell they are. We should take all our money out of the bank and go ... as far as we can. It’s our fault the Kys are dead. How are we going to live with that?” Janny sobbed.

  “It is not our fault. How can it be our fault? Maybe it’s a little bit our fault . . . no, it isn’t. It’s Nester’s fault. It’s the police department’s fault. Why didn’t they give the Kys protection, like they said they’d give us? It’s their fault. She didn’t see those men. We were the ones who picked them out of those . . . damn dirty books.”

  “Maybe it’s a warning to us,” Janny cried. “The best thing we ever did was to come here. Does the doorman where you live know where Pete lives?”

  “No, how could he? Listen, we have to think about this calmly and rationally and make a decision. One we can live with. Damn it, now I’m not going to know if Pete’s uncle called. I have to find a way to get hold of Pete. I’ll call around the world if I have to. The important thing right now is, we’re safe. No one knows about this apartment. No one saw us come in. We were smart enough to get out of the cab a block away. We’re starting to think and act like criminals.”

  “We should dye our hair, cut it, so we don’t look like we do—you know what I mean,” Janny said. “Maddie, I just had a horrible thought. Do any of the people in the building know about your new store?”

  “Everyone,” Maddie replied, sitting down with a thump. “Pete put up a notice in the lobby. He was so proud. We joked about it.”

  “Maddie, what are we going to do?”

  “Janny, I don’t know. I don’t feel like I’m capable enough to make a decision right now. You have a say in it too, you know. All we did was go out for an ice cream cone, and now our lives will never be the same. It’s not fair.”

  “Are you sure the door is locked?” Janny asked.

  “Yes. There’s no fire escape outside the window either. We’re as safe as we can be. Pete has an unlisted number, so no one can call us. For now we’re okay.”

  “What about Fairy Tales?”

  “Oh, Janny, I don’t know,” Maddie wailed. “I just don’t know.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The luxurious hotel room was starting to close in on him. Pete knew he had an acute case of cabin fever. Usually he was able to shake it off by going for a walk or doing some brisk calisthenics, but today nothing was working. Maddie’s roommate Tillie would be a welcome companion at the moment.

  Christ, he detested this business. He didn’t know how it was possible to be so good at something he hated as much as he hated the practice of law. He hated the travel, loathed hotel rooms.

  Where the hell was Maddie? He’d been trying for days to call her, and now the operator was telling him her phone number was disconnected. He hadn’t really started to worry until he had the operator try Janny’s number and was told that it too was disconnected. The phone number at Fairy Tales was temporarily out of order. What the fuck did that mean?

  He should have been out of here three days ago, but one of the older Chinese refused to conduct business over the weekend and then said he wasn’t free until tomorrow. Four whole days to do nothing but hang out. “Shit!” he said succinctly.

  The uneasy feeling he was developing in the pit of his stomach had nothing to do with the bourbon he’d consumed. He was worried and wasn’t sure why. Damn it, he needed to talk to Maddie. Needed to hear her voice. He still didn’t know how Fairy Tales had done opening day.

  Pete leaned back into the fluffy pillows. Nine days till his wedding. He was off schedule now by four days, thanks to Mr. Li Yuen.

  No matter what, he was
leaving on the twenty-sixth of August. No one was going to disrupt his wedding. No one!

  Pete reached for the phone. He dialed a set of numbers and waited. His own voice on his answering machine hummed over the wire. Maddie wasn’t there either. He redialed, and smiled when he heard Ruth Ann Gabriel’s voice. Annie was his buddy, his pal, his friend, his compadre. He couldn’t wait to introduce her to Maddie. He fired up a cigarette before he took another long pull from the bourbon bottle. He was to the three-quarter mark.

  “Pete! Is that you? Where in the world are you? You sound like you’re thousands of miles away.”

  He liked the chuckle in her voice, liked the energy she put into everything she did. Annie cared about him. She was better than two sisters. “I’m in Hong Kong. How are you, Annie?”

  “Hanging in there, Pete. And you? When are you coming to Boston?”

  “Soon. Annie, I need you to do something for me. I hate to ask, but I’m worried about Maddie. Do you think you can hop down to the city and check it out for me?”

  “I think you just have pre-wedding jitters. What’s got you so uptight?”

  He told her.

  “Okay, I’ll take the shuttle after work—for you, Pete, at least this once. Do you have a number where I can reach you?”

  Peter rattled off the Peninsula’s number and his room number. He gave her Maddie and Janny’s addresses. “Try Fairy Tales too. It’s the store Maddie just opened. The operator said the number is temporarily out of order. She’s been saying that since yesterday. I’ll stay glued to the phone. Listen, stay at my apartment, no sense in you paying for a hotel room, and I’ll reimburse you for the air travel. You are one in a million, Annie.”

  “That’s what friends are for, Pete. Are you sure you’re going to make it back in time for the wedding?”

  “Hell yes, I’m sure. Annie, I’m sick and tired of busting my ass. I want out. I need a life. I need a year—”

  “To surf, I know. The grand dream. You want to roast weenies on the beach, make love in the sand, swim in the moonlight, eat cold hot dogs and warm beer for breakfast. Find Barney. I remember it all, Pete.”