Annie Seymour 01-Sacred Cows

by Karen E. Olson

  He nodded. “I’ve got a little. Enough anyway for a room. I know the manager.”

  Figures.

  I pulled out my wallet. “I’ll get your coffee.”

  He grinned. “Hell, Annie, when this is all over I’d still like to hire you.”

  The old Hickey was back. I was becoming an old softie. I just hoped no one would find out, it would ruin the reputation I’d spent years honing.

  Hickey was about to leave, but I put my hand on his arm and he sat back down. “Wait a minute. You said Vinny had a ticket to Vegas for you.”

  “Yeah, he was going to pick me up for a flight at ten but he never showed.”

  So maybe Vinny wasn’t going anywhere himself; he was just taking Hickey to the airport. But that still didn’t explain where he might be now.

  I put some money on the table for the banana split and the coffee. “Do you need a ride to Branford?” Once I started, I couldn’t stop. The niceness was oozing from me. Well, not really, but it was the closest I would ever get.

  Hickey nodded. “Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”

  We didn’t talk on the way, both of us lost in our own fears and thoughts. My brain wheels were spinning about Vinny and how he was helping Hickey and the evidence that sat in my safe deposit box. What the hell was I going to do with all that?

  It was inching closer to the end of the day, I didn’t have any answers and I still had to go talk to that stupid cow doctor. Moo.

  CHAPTER 18

  I pulled into the parking lot behind the building that housed the cow hospital. I knew it was the right place because there was a stupid cow in front dressed in scrubs. Well, it had scrubs painted on its body and a stethoscope around its neck. I stared at it for a few minutes from the car, not really afraid to get out, but the damned cows were just too spooky. Maybe I really did need to go on vacation.

  I started a list in my head of places I wanted to go. Hawaii was first on the list, but I knew I could never afford it. Paris was second, London was third. Palm Springs was fourth, because I’d spent some time there a few years ago and had fallen in love with it. Disney World was fifth, I had to admit it. There was something about that damned Mouse.

  I saw someone moving in the window. He probably saw me, too, and wondered why I was sitting in the car like a moron. I took a deep breath and got out, careful not to get too close to the Doctor Cow. You never know when you’ll end up in the Twilight Zone and one of those things would come charging at you.

  I was losing my mind.

  I pushed the door open and then I really wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Naked fiberglass cows, some standing, some lying down, surrounded me. I thought they’d all been painted, but these must be extras.

  “Hello?” I shouted, my voice bouncing off the walls in the huge room.

  “Up here.”

  I looked up to see the loft, but I couldn’t see anyone. I found the stairs to my right and ascended them out of the cows and into darkness. A single lamp burned at the far end of the loft, and I approached it tentatively. Being jumped made me a little more wary than I would’ve been before.

  “Hello?” I asked again, still not seeing anyone.

  He stepped out of the shadows and into my light. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

  Vinny had a five o’clock shadow that made him mildly attractive in that Don Johnson/Miami Vice sort of way. If I hadn’t known about the fiancée, I might have taken advantage of the darkness since it had been a while since I’d had my eggs poached.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded.

  “Hiding out, what do you think?”

  “Hiding from whom?”

  He shook his head. “Are you dense or are you just baiting me?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe a little of both. It’s Torrey, isn’t it? I saw Hickey this afternoon. I took him to the Branford Motel, and who knows if he’s still there. We probably won’t hear from him ever again.”

  “He’ll probably stumble into some lucrative escort service business he just can’t pass up,” Vinny said, chuckling. “He really does need to lie low. Torrey’s got people everywhere and he can’t afford to have anyone around who can nail him.”

  “But the cops can’t find him, so what’s the problem?”

  Vinny smiled condescendingly and it pissed me off but I kept my mouth shut. “They will, eventually. After I find him.”

  “But how can you find him when you’re in hiding, too?”

  He was quiet for a moment. “Touché.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you’re getting married?” It just came out in a rush, I couldn’t stop it.

  “Why, Annie, I didn’t think you cared.”

  “Shut the fuck up. So tell me what’s going on.” I was embarrassed I let that out. I couldn’t possibly really be interested in him. He was so annoying, lurking everywhere.

  “Rosie and I have been together a long time. She gave me an ultimatum, and I took it.”

  “That’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

  “I thought it was.”

  “Don’t be an asshole.”

  “You see, I didn’t know I’d meet anyone as colorful as you, so I gave her a ring.” He was baiting me this time, and I didn’t want to fall into his trap.

  “Torrey. I’ve got the envelope.”

  “Good. Is it in a safe place?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.” My eyes had become accustomed to the dark now, and I could see jars of paint and newspaper on the floor in the back of the loft. “What did you do to the cow doctor? Do you have him in some sort of stable or something?”

  “I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

  “Funny, funny, ha-ha.”

  “You think I’m kidding.” He wasn’t smiling. “You know, you’re not the only one with connections.”

  This time I knew he didn’t mean Tom. Vinny was from Wooster Street, so of course he knew about my father. His father probably had something on the side himself. I know, I know, you can’t stereotype, but it just seemed that if someone from the neighborhood wasn’t mobbed up, they knew someone who was or were related to someone who was. That was just the way it was.

  “I glanced at the affidavits and saw the other stuff. What’s on the tapes?”

  Vinny smiled evasively. “Some pretty damning stuff.”

  “But he’s gone. He could be gone forever.”

  “No one’s that lucky. It’ll catch up to him.”

  “Did he kill Melissa and Allison?”

  Vinny moved toward a stool and sat down. “I’d offer you a seat, but there only seems to be one.”

  “I don’t care. Did he kill them?”

  “I’m still not sure. Maybe. Maybe not.”

  I started pacing. I do that when I’m trying to think. “You said he’s got people checking things out for him. Can he trust them not to talk?”

  “Of course not. That’s how he’s stupid. Can you stop pacing? It’s making me nervous.”

  I stopped next to him, close enough to smell him. It wasn’t unpleasant, I hate to admit it, rather a musky man-type smell that made me catch my breath.

  “What’s going on with us?” he asked quietly.

  I shook my head to shake him out of my system and backed up. “Nothing. What the hell would be going on? You’re getting married.”

  “But you didn’t know that before.” He paused. “How did you find out?”

  “I was in your apartment. With your mother. We were looking for you. I saw a picture. She’s pretty.”

  “She’s a knockout. So you’ve seen my apartment.”

  “You could’ve told me you live so close.”

  “Did you snoop?”

  “Your mother was there.”

  “So if she wasn’t, you would’ve snooped.”

  “We were looking for you. And I’m a journalist. I’m paid to snoop.”

  “Fair enough. I would’ve snooped, too.”

  This was going nowhere. “You know, I have to go back with a cow
doctor story.”

  “He can see you tomorrow morning at ten. Just tell your editor he couldn’t make it.”

  “If you’re not going to tell me any more, then I’d better go.” I turned and started walking away, but I felt his hand on my arm and stopped.

  “I need your help. It won’t take long, but I can’t do this alone. You’re the only one I trust with this.” His voice was soft.

  I turned, his face close to mine. “Shouldn’t you call the cops?”

  “That’s not my job.”

  “It’s mine.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He moved closer, and I tried to move back, but he slipped his arm around my waist and leaned in toward me. “But you’ll help me, won’t you? I mean, this means a good story, and the cops won’t let you get it. I will.”

  I squirmed, and he tightened his hold on me. I could feel his leg pressed against mine and I lost it. I kissed him, hard, and he kissed me back like someone who wasn’t about to get married to someone else in a few months. I don’t know how long it lasted, but there was some groping and heavy breathing involved. I don’t know which one of us pulled away, maybe we both did at the same time, but all of a sudden we were two separate people again.

  “I shouldn’t have done that,” he said quietly.

  “So you’ve got a conscience after all.” I tried to keep my tone light, but it bothered me that he was playing me while he had a fiancée.

  “Oh, Christ, Annie, we’ve both thought about it.”

  “Okay, so that wasn’t my imagination?”

  He sighed. “I love Rosie, but it’s different now than it was. We’ve known each other a long time. I was happy the way things were, maybe, because, well, I didn’t want to tie myself down to her forever.” He arched his eyebrows at me. “Typical man, right?”

  He was reading my mind again.

  “She kept pushing me, and I finally said, okay, let’s do it. But then I saw you again and I was attracted to you. It made me start questioning my real feelings for Rosie.” He stopped and rubbed his forehead as if it was difficult to tell me this. This was a kinder, gentler Vinny DeLucia. And I was warming up to it. Not that I hadn’t been in heat three minutes ago.

  He smiled. “But I suppose you don’t really want to hear all the sordid details of how I’m screwing up my personal life.”

  I shrugged. I did want to know, and he knew it.

  We pondered what he’d said for a few seconds before he spoke again.

  “Let’s deal with Torrey first, and then see where we’re at, okay? We both have a job to do and we can’t be too distracted.”

  “This fiancée thing needs to be worked out,” I started.

  “Give me a break, Annie. Don’t you think I know that? Now, do you want to help or not?”

  I sighed, one of those long, deep sighs that I hoped would make him think I was being put out. “I’ve got some free time. I guess I could help. What’s your plan?”

  He cocked his head and smiled in a way that made me want to kiss him again. But I had to put that kiss out of my head. I tried to think of Tom, but he certainly wasn’t thinking too much of me these days, so it wasn’t hard to drift back to Vinny.

  “I can’t tell you now,” he said.

  “Fuck you.” I turned and started back down the stairs.

  “Wait.”

  I stopped and turned my head so I could see him from where I was. “Don’t play these games, Vinny. If you want my help, I’ll help. But you have to tell me what’s going on. Those are the rules.”

  “Meet me at ten at my parents’ restaurant. I’ll be in front.”

  “It’s so clandestine,” I said sarcastically.

  “Two girls have died, maybe because of Torrey. Can we afford to take any chances? He knew I had the tapes and probably knows you’ve gotten them. Like I said, he’s got spies everywhere.”

  I remembered what Hickey said. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll see you tonight.” My voice was steady, but my knees were shaky as I went down the stairs and let myself out. My eyes squinted in the daylight that was quickly turning into dusk. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, I wasn’t sure Vinny even had a plan. This could be something he was thinking up as he went along. Which wouldn’t be too good for either of us.

  Marty wasn’t happy I didn’t have a story.

  “You’re off as of tomorrow,” he said when I explained the cow doctor could meet me in the morning.

  “It won’t take long,” I promised, and it was a promise I knew I could keep. This story was a piece of cake, I could do it with my eyes closed.

  “No. Bennett himself has said you’re not to work the rest of the week.”

  “Do I need to get my résumé together?” I asked.

  Marty shook his head. “No. This’ll pass. But we have to humor him.”

  I hoped for my career’s sake that Vinny found Torrey sooner rather than later. I wasn’t sure how much of this I could take.

  “We can send someone else tomorrow morning,” Marty said.

  I shrugged. It was no skin off my nose anyway. I didn’t even want to do the story. I went to my desk and sat down, wondering where my official seat-warmer, Dick Whitfield, was. Oh, yeah, he had that press conference. Could he have finished the story already?

  I strolled over to Marty’s desk again. “Hey, what happened at the press conference?” His eyebrows shot up and I scowled. “I just want to know, okay?”

  He hit a few keys on his computer and pulled up Dick’s story. “I’ve been trying to figure it out. It’s all over the place. But mainly it seems the Peabodys are pissed at the school and the city and intend to sue both.”

  Which confirmed what Melissa Peabody’s uncle had told me at the memorial service. I wanted to point that out, but I held my tongue. I was in too much shit already. “My mother’s firm is involved, isn’t it?”

  He peered at me over his glasses. “Did she tell you about that?”

  “She said the family called them, but it was off the record.”

  Marty frowned but didn’t say anything.

  I went back to my desk, playing back my conversation with Vinny in my head.

  My phone was winking at me, and I dialed my voice mail.

  “Hi, Annie. It’s Richard Wells.”

  A second after I wondered what the fuck he would want, he gave me the answer. “I was hoping maybe we could get together on this Mark Torrey story. I saw your piece and figured you know how to reach him. And maybe some time down the road I could help you out.”

  Christ, this guy wouldn’t let up, would he? What did he think I was going to do? Hand over all my notes and bow down to him just because he worked for the goddamned New York Times? But this did tell me that he probably didn’t have as much as I did. For a second, I was happy about that, until I remembered Bennett didn’t want me writing about Torrey anymore. And it was only a matter of time before Richard Wells found someone who would talk to him.

  I didn’t even wait for him to give me his number, I just hung up and quickly dialed another number. Paula answered on the first ring.

  “You guys close to Torrey yet?” I didn’t even say hello.

  She didn’t seem to mind. “We’ve got a good lead. What do you hear?”

  “I’ve got something you might be interested in.” Vinny would kill me, but this game was getting old. I just wanted it over, I wanted my life back. Rather, I wanted my job back. If the feds got their hands on Vinny’s information, I could be exonerated and back on my beat. And maybe, just maybe, I could beat Richard Wells on this story.

  “I’m listening.”

  “I can’t tell you right now. I’m at work. How late can I call you? I’ve got a meeting at ten.”

  “Jesus, Annie, are you okay? Has Torrey been in touch with you again?”

  “No. Really. But I got my hands on something you may need.”

  “You can call my cell phone anytime. Be careful, okay? There’s a lot of money at stake and the guy is running scared. Never know what anyone like
that will do. He’s got connections everywhere.”

  The warning reverberated through the dial tone. I glanced at the clock and saw it was close to seven. Time for my dinner with Tom.

  He’d left a message on my cell phone to meet him at a Thai place on State Street. Despite all the food I’d inhaled during the day, the menu looked appetizing. Tom, on the other hand, did not. In Vinny I liked the unshaven look, but on Tom it looked menacing, complementing his scowl.

  I pushed the menu to the side. “Something tells me we might not be eating.” Too bad.

  “This isn’t working anymore.”

  I bit my lip. “I know.”

  “I think we need to just call it quits. It’s been fun while it lasted.”

  The waitress hovered. I ordered two beers. I wondered what Tom would drink.

  “This case has been tearing us apart,” Tom continued when she left, “and I guess we’re just not strong enough to get through it.”

  “I don’t know what to say.” How original. I hate being dumped. It’s why I don’t like monogamous relationships. How had ours become that without us knowing it?

  Tom kept going as if I hadn’t said anything. “I’ve been figuring you’d be breaking up with me because of Vinny DeLucia anyway.”

  I took a deep breath before lashing out. “There’s nothing going on with me and Vinny.”

  “Give me a break, Annie. You’re spending all sorts of time with him, he’s in your apartment, he’s saving your life. Christ, the guy is hooked on you, can’t you see it?”

  For a moment I forgot what was going on and wondered if I really was getting under Vinny’s skin. But Tom’s face brought me back. “No, Tom. I can’t. He’s getting married in the spring. He’s working on the Torrey thing and he thinks I can help. God knows why.”

  Tom stood up. “Shit, Annie. Stop lying to yourself. I’m sorry about dinner, but I’ve lost my appetite.” He took a couple of bucks out of his wallet, I guess for the beers. “Just be careful, okay? Torrey’s unstable. He’s backed up against the wall, and we don’t know what that’ll do to him.” He handed me the money and walked away.

  As I watched him leave, the beers came. The waitress was going to take one away, but I told her to leave it. As I sipped, I realized that was the second warning in less than an hour about the same thing.