by Ingrid Thoft
Stuart looked at the man’s ankle. “What do you mean?”
“His socks. He got them from this store.” Fina didn’t know that for sure, but there was no harm in bluffing. Either Stuart was going to give her some info or he wasn’t. Lying about the guy’s sock purchases didn’t hurt anyone.
Stuart scratched his belly. He was wearing a mustard-colored sweater that made him look like an oversized jar of Grey Poupon. It wasn’t a good look.
“I don’t know the guy,” he finally said.
“But you have an idea?” Fina rummaged around in her bag and pulled out a small packet of tissues. Before she’d left the car, she’d positioned a couple of twenties so they were peeking out of the plastic sleeve. Stuart’s gaze was drawn to the cash.
He glanced around the store. The giant customer and the tailor were talking, and a couple of other shoppers were eyeing the merchandise.
“I don’t know who he is,” he admitted quietly, “but I’ve seen him.”
“You don’t have a name or an address?” Fina asked.
Stuart shook his head. Fina looked around the space and noticed two security cameras in opposite corners. If they were working—and that was a big if—they might provide evidence that the mystery man was a customer, but it still wouldn’t tell her who he was.
“Do you think Joe knows his name?” Fina asked.
“He pretends to know all the customers, but I doubt it. This isn’t Brooks Brothers, after all,” Stuart said, his mouth veering off into a sneer.
Fina suddenly felt wearied by the whole task. Maybe she should just call Cristian and share this new development, but that might lead to even greater frustration. He would investigate the same avenues she would, but in a less timely fashion, and he’d get all the credit.
“Do you have a mailing list or some other system for keeping track of your customers?” she asked.
He rested his hand on the edge of the counter as if he were sidling up to the saloon in a western. “Maybe.”
Fina put the tissues and the money back into her bag and started to turn away. Stuart was completely out of his league when it came to bluffing, and even if he let her walk away, Fina could live with that. A willingness to walk away was the key to successful negotiating.
“Wait,” he said, raising his hand. “I didn’t say no.”
“Yeah, but I really don’t have time for maybe,” she said, taking another step toward the door.
“You don’t want to talk to this guy because he lost something, do you?” Stuart asked.
Fina didn’t respond. If her calculations were correct, Stuart would be more motivated to help if he believed it was part of a cloak-and-dagger operation, not the recovery of lost property.
“I’ll give you a list,” he said, his eyes trained on her bag. “I don’t know what good it’s going to do you.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Fina said. She wasn’t sure what she’d do with it, either, but she’d learned never to dismiss any piece of information, no matter how useless it seemed in the moment.
Stuart clicked the mouse, and a printer under the counter started humming. Fina reached into her bag and pulled out the cash. The risk when paying for information was that people told you what they thought you wanted to hear, which was not necessarily the truth. But it was a risk that she was willing to take. More often than not, the recipients of Fina’s bribes weren’t interested in repeat visits from her.
He handed her a few sheets of paper with names, e-mail addresses, and mailing addresses.
“We send out a lot of coupons,” Stuart said.
Fina took the list and scanned it. There were about three hundred names listed. Tracking these people down would be a huge task, assuming her theory wasn’t completely off base to begin with, but she couldn’t spend time worrying about that. She had started down this road, and when it came to detecting, it was always better to keep moving than to stand still.
—
Fina dreaded tackling the list of customers, nor did she have a plan for how to do it, so she decided to put the information aside for the moment. She was getting hungry and called Cristian, but he was tied up at work and dinner wasn’t an option. In the interest of killing two birds with one stone, she called Matthew at the office.
“Are you free for dinner?” she asked him.
“What’s the catch?”
“You’re so cynical.”
“Sorry. I’ll be free in a couple of hours,” Matthew said. “Why don’t you meet me here?”
“Actually, I have a place in mind in Cambridge.”
“So there is a catch!”
“I’m trying to cross paths with a certain someone, and he frequents this particular place,” Fina said.
“Does ‘cross paths’ mean you want to talk to the guy?”
“Probably not, but I’ll play it by ear.”
“Well . . .” Matthew trailed off.
“The food is good, there’s live music,” Fina said, “and they make lots of fancy cocktails. It’ll be fun.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“No. I wouldn’t invite you to something that was going to be dangerous.”
He hooted. “I’ll tell Scotty you said that.”
“I didn’t invite him that day. He invited me, remember?” Fina really wished the car bomb culprit could be found so she could clarify the target. If she was going to be given a lot of grief, at least it should be earned.
“Okay,” Matthew said. “Where is it?”
Fina gave him the address. “And take off your tie,” she said. “We don’t want to stick out like sore thumbs.”
“Jeez. Any more rules?”
“Nope. That’s it. See you soon!”
She smiled in anticipation. Good booze and a good brother were a winning combination.
—
Two hours later, Matthew ordered a Manhattan and Fina opted for a glass of red wine at the bar. Technically she was on the clock, so hard alcohol seemed like a bad idea. Not long after they sat down at a table tucked into the corner, the man she’d spoken with two days earlier made his way over to their table.
“Hey, I saw you a couple of nights ago, but you left before I could stop by,” he said to Fina.
“Sorry about that. My friend needed to get going.”
“Amy, right?” he asked, smiling.
“That’s right.”
Matthew looked at her askance and studied the menu.
“And you’re Marshall?” Fina asked.
“Right.” He extended his hand.
“This is my friend Matthew,” Fina said as the men shook hands.
They chatted for a few more minutes, then Marshall was summoned to the bar.
“Amy?” Matthew asked once they were alone.
“You know I use different names sometimes.”
“Why are you using one here?”
“Because I couldn’t risk having Marshall mention me to the guy I’m looking for. Have you ever met another Fina?”
“No, thankfully,” her brother said. “But if the guy’s here, isn’t he going to see you?”
“Possibly, but it’s getting pretty crowded. Even if he does, I can explain it away.”
“Of that, I have no doubt,” Matthew said, holding up the rocks glass of his newly arrived drink.
Fina clinked her glass against his and took a sip. She didn’t know anything about wine, but her rule of thumb was to choose the second least expensive option. Unless Carl was paying, in which case she would opt for the second most expensive option. It still wasn’t clear who was footing the bill for this investigation, so she erred on the side of frugality.
Fina had decided before Matthew arrived that she wasn’t going to bring up the Haley situation. Something had to be done, but until she had a plan, she’d keep her mouth shut. Harping
on the issue might just annoy Scotty and Matthew, and she needed their support. The information about Karla’s kids was creating a slow burn in her stomach, like an ulcer, but Fina knew that she needed to be strategic and clever. She didn’t want to be the next Ludlow exiled from the family fold.
It was a welcome respite to spend time with Matthew and not discuss family drama. He got a second drink, and they sampled a variety of foods, including pork belly sliders, oysters, roasted Brussels sprouts, and sweet potato fries.
“This is a weird combination of food,” Fina noted, pushing at a piece of octopus with her fork.
“But it’s all delicious,” Matthew said.
There was movement at the end of the room with the stage. Fina turned her chair so she could see better and swiped a couple of fries from a serving dish. After a few minutes, three guys took the stage and kicked off a thirty-minute set. It was a mix of folk, country, and rockabilly, and though she wouldn’t download the album, it was pleasing enough to listen to. Not that Fina was really listening; she was mostly scanning the crowd and keeping her eye on the door in hopes that Jamie would show.
She and Matthew took turns hitting the bathroom during the band’s break. As Fina weaved her way through the crowd, she noticed Marshall checking her out. Fina pretended that she didn’t notice and hoped his seeming interest wouldn’t put a damper on her investigation.
Back at the table, Matthew had ordered coconut macaroons and a rhubarb tart.
“No chocolate?” Fina asked.
“‘Thank you’ would be nice, but I forgot who I’m with,” he said, flagging down the waitress. “Do you have anything chocolate for my sister?” he asked the woman. She left, promising to return with milk chocolate panna cotta.
Fina leaned over toward Matthew. “I’m not your sister tonight, remember?”
Matthew rolled his eyes.
“You would suck at undercover work,” she said, grinning.
Before he could respond, the band returned and launched into another set.
The panna cotta arrived and was quickly consumed. Fina and Matthew were contemplating calling it a night when something caught Fina’s eye at the side of the stage. There were two men, their heads bent in conversation. The hair on one of them looked familiar, and when he raised his head, Fina could see that it was Jamie.
“Yes,” she said, but not so quietly that Matthew didn’t hear her.
“Your guy?” he asked directly into her ear.
She nodded and watched the conversation for another minute. The second guy abruptly walked toward the door leading to the restrooms and disappeared. Thirty seconds later, Jamie followed him.
“I need you to go see what they’re doing,” Fina said to Matthew.
“What?” he asked over the din.
“Those guys. I’m interested in the one with longer hair. I need you to go see what they’re doing.”
Matthew looked annoyed. “You said this wasn’t dangerous.”
“It’s not. For all I know, they’re just peeing.”
“Oh, come on.” Matthew shifted in his seat.
“Now, Matthew,” Fina insisted. “It’s important.”
He tossed his napkin onto the table and pushed back his chair. “People are going to think I have bladder control issues,” he said.
“Well, you are nearing that age,” Fina said, then ducked from his swatting hand.
She watched him thread his way through the crowd and pass through the same doorway as Jamie and the mystery man.
Fina watched the door and finished her wine.
Five minutes after he’d left, Matthew made his way back to her. He pulled out his wallet and threw a wad of cash on the table.
“Let’s go,” Matthew said.
“That bad?” Fina asked, grabbing her coat and standing.
He started to push her in the direction of the door.
“Did you leave enough money?” she asked. “Wait, I need a receipt!”
“For Christ’s sake, Fina. Come on.” He glanced toward the door to the restrooms, and Fina followed his gaze. The mystery man was scanning the room, an angry expression contorting his face.
Fina picked up the pace and ducked through the velvet curtain hanging between the room and the front door. Presumably, it tempered the frigid air that blew in with every entry and exit, but it also provided an abracadabra feel to the moment. She pushed the door open, and Matthew followed on her heels. He took hold of Fina’s elbow and steered her around the corner toward the parking lot.
“What did you do?” Fina asked. “Am I going to have to shoot somebody?”
“Just get in,” her brother said, unlocking his car with a tweet of his keys.
He started up the luxury sedan, and Fina flipped the switch to turn on the seat warmers. Everyone’s priorities were different.
“Unless someone is actually coming after us,” Fina said, “you should take a deep breath and calm down.”
Matthew rotated in his seat and looked behind the car. “I don’t see anyone.”
“I’d say you and Scotty are like a pair of little girls, but that would be an insult to little girls,” Fina said. “They’re braver than you two are.”
“Those two guys didn’t go into the bathroom,” Matthew said.
“Okay.”
“They went down the hall to a back room and were doing a drug deal.”
“So why’d we have to flee?” Fina asked.
“Because I walked in, and the guy got pissed. He threatened me.”
Fina considered the scenario for a moment. “Who was the buyer and who was the seller?”
“Your guy was the buyer.”
“Did you see what was for sale?” she asked. “Weed? Pills? Powder?”
“Pills. A little plastic Baggie of white pills. What do you think it was?”
Fina thought for a moment. “I don’t know: ecstasy, amphetamine, oxy. Did you get a good look at the pills?”
Matthew shook his head. “No. At that point the guy was already threatening me. I can hold my own in a fight, but I’m an officer of the court. I can’t be anywhere near a drug deal.”
“You were right to hightail it out of there,” Fina said. “I honestly didn’t know that’s what was going on.”
Matthew looked at her dubiously. “What were the other options?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he was hooking up with the guy or buying a gun. Maybe they’re in a book club together and were exchanging this month’s selection.”
“I’m glad you never lose your sense of humor,” Matthew said sarcastically.
“Come on,” Fina said, punching him in the upper arm. “It’s kinda funny, and you’ve got to admit, a little exciting.” She grinned at him.
A hint of a smile appeared on Matthew’s face. “I’m not going to admit that.”
“Think what boring, sheltered lives you and Scotty would lead if not for me.”
He snorted and put the car into drive. “Where are you parked?”
Fina directed him to a nearby side street, where he stopped next to her car. She reached into her wallet and started to pull out some money.
“You don’t need to do that,” Matthew said.
“I don’t want to hear that I stiffed you on the bill in addition to putting you in danger,” Fina said.
“I’m not going to take your money. You’re my little sister. Until you find a man to take you off our hands, I’ll do my part.”
Fina made a gagging motion, then reached over and hugged him. “Thanks for dinner and the company. I had fun.”
“Let’s do it again,” Matthew said, “minus the dramatic exit.”
“Sounds good.”
Fina climbed out of his car and into her own. He waited until she gave him a thumbs-up, and then he took off down the street, most definitely exceeding the
speed limit. Fina’s tactics allowed the rest of the Ludlows to pretend that they were simple, law-abiding folk, but that was a bunch of bull. Compared to your average family, they were a band of outlaws. Fina just offered a dramatic point of contrast.
She turned the heat up and glanced at the clock. It had been a long day, but it wasn’t over yet.
Jamie had some explaining to do.
—
Fina sat in her car, her boots slipped off in the foot well. She pressed her feet close to the heater, hopeful that her running car wouldn’t raise any red flags. She was parked outside Liz and Jamie’s house, and it was late. A nosy neighbor might approach her or call the police, asking them to check out the unfamiliar car in front of the house where the neighbor was attacked. It would be an inconvenience having to explain herself, but Fina was willing to risk it.
She’d been sitting there for forty-five minutes when the Passat pulled into the driveway. Fina scrambled to pull her boots back on and get out of her car before he closed the front door behind him.
“Jamie,” she called out across the front yard. “We need to talk.”
He was startled to see her. “What are you doing here? It’s late.”
“I know, but it’s important.”
“I’m tired, Fina. Let’s talk tomorrow.”
She climbed the front stairs and stood next to him on the stoop. Fina reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She tapped on the flashlight app and shined the phone in his face.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m confirming that your pupils are dilated. Do you realize that if you’d been pulled over, you would be in deep shit?”
Jamie was putting his key in the lock when the door opened. Mrs. Sandraham stood there, her face a mask of disapproval.
“You’ll wake up the children,” she said.
“Sorry,” Jamie said meekly.
The woman pulled on her coat and walked cautiously down the dark path. She crossed the street to her own house and disappeared inside, the front light winking off.
Fina followed Jamie inside.
“Seriously, Jamie. One look at your pupils and a cop would haul you in for being under the influence.”
