Closet Confidential

by Maffini, Mary Jane

  Everyone’s a prima donna these days, even the unflappable Mona. I said, “They need to know that Pepper’s keys are inside of the locked car and Nick may be hurt, too.”

  “Got it. Hold on, I’m calling it in.”

  I tried to hold it together as I shouted, “And Pepper’s lost a lot of blood. A whole lot.”

  “Stay on the line,” Mona said.

  I sat and got my breathing back to normal after stating my case. Had I told her everything? Had I made sure they knew they were going to have to open the door of Pepper’s car? Would they realize how serious it was? Would they have the right tools?

  “Charlotte?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m on the county road near the entrance to Bakker Beach.”

  “Stay in your car. Keep it running with the doors locked, and move down the highway away from the entrance. Do you hear me, Charlotte?”

  “Yes, Mona. I hear you.”

  I may have glossed over the fact I was driving an official police vehicle. And one that appeared to be involved in a crime. I had planned to park it back by Pepper’s car after I made the call, but even in my state, I could see that wasn’t a good plan.

  “There’s a problem, Mona.”

  “Beside the officer down and the missing officer?”

  “Yes. I’m actually in the police car.”

  “Of course you are. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself,” Mona said. “That’s a good one, even for you.”

  “It was empty and the door was open and I realized that my car was up the road and when I saw that Pepper was injured, I knew I had to get help. And—Oh crap.”

  Mona said, “What now?”

  “There goes my car!”

  “What?”

  “My Miata. It’s racing down the highway toward town. He must be doing a hundred and fifty.”

  “Who was driving?”

  “I don’t know. I couldn’t see. But whoever it was, he’s got plenty to feel guilty about.”

  12

  Inexpensive over-the-door shoe racks keep shoes visible and the closet floor neat. Don’t keep more shoes than you can store in view!

  I took a minute to call Tierney. My hands and voice shook, but there was no point in him getting the information third-hand from some snickering colleague. It was getting close to our date time, although that wasn’t going to happen now. Tierney arrived shortly after the ambulance and the fire department.

  I had to admire those firefighters. I took a chance and followed them in Nick’s police car after they all shrieked past me. They were prepared for anything. The firemen apparently have special tools for getting into vehicles, something thin and yellow called a glass punch according to the smart young cop I remembered from a previous encounter. He was one of the first on the scene and took the time to check if I was okay. Why couldn’t they all be like him? Normally he was friendly and concerned, and even better, he wasn’t so tall that I had to strain my neck to look up to him, like so many men in my life, Jack and Tierney included.

  Six more police cars arrived in chaotic short order but had to be moved so that the ambulance with Pepper could scream away to Woodbridge General. A tall, awkward guy with a hangdog face stepped out of the last cop car to arrive. Tierney chewed him out for blocking the road. The latecomer’s seventies-rock-musician mustache almost quivered. Serious face or not, in my opinion having a mustache like that proved he wasn’t nearly as intelligent as the crisp, clean-shaven junior officer. For one thing, he had the look of a cartoon dog and he seemed to be walking in circles.

  “Move your sorry butt, DeJong,” Tierney added to the cop with the mustache, before he ambled by me, jingling his keys. To me, he said, “I thought you were going straight home to get ready.”

  I braced myself for a blast. “Something that Pepper said on the phone alarmed me. I wanted to reassure myself. I went looking for them.”

  “We’re the police. We would have found them.”

  “You would not have found them. Don’t even pretend. You are so new to Woodbridge, I bet you’d never even heard of Bakker Beach. And another thing, do you expect me to believe that your colleagues would have looked for a married couple, both police officers, here in make-out mode before dinner? Because that wouldn’t happen.”

  “Eventually, they would have been found.”

  “Eventually wouldn’t have been soon enough. Pepper could have died here. All alone.”

  “Tell me again why you thought to look here?”

  “I checked out places that Nick liked to go when we were kids. This was the first location I tried. I figured he was keeping a low profile.”

  He scowled and paced back and forth, glowering at Pepper’s vehicle. “Explain to me again where the squad car was.”

  “I think it was right there.” My hands were still shaking as I showed him how Nick’s car had been parked. “I could put it back if you want. The door was open and the keys were still in the ignition. The engine was idling. I needed to get away.”

  “Okay. And the person who took your car?”

  “I don’t even know if it was a man or a woman. I saw a dark shape. And I was out of there.”

  “Could it have been Nick?”

  “I can’t believe that it was Nick. How could he leave his wife like that?”

  “Why did you think you’d find Pepper here?” I figured I knew what he was doing. Typical cop stuff. Asking his questions in a disjointed way, seeing if I’d stumble as I told my bizarre story.

  “I was looking for Nick.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I knew Pepper was also looking for Nick. Being Pepper, she had a good chance of finding him. If I found Nick, I’d find Pepper.”

  “Why did you want to find Pepper?”

  I hesitated. I would be violating a confidence. But it was the right thing to do. Pepper had been making up her own rules and look where that had gotten her.

  “She was almost hysterical, worried about Nick. She even left her baby at Jack’s cycle shop.”

  “That’s hard to believe.”

  “Hard for anybody to believe. Except for Jack, of course, who thought it was the most normal occurrence in the world. And Little Nick, who was having baby fun.”

  But Tierney didn’t want to talk about Jack. “What was she worried about?”

  There we were, at the moment of truth. I could connect with Tierney, who I knew to be a decent person, or keep Pepper’s secret, whatever it was. I thought about Pepper and her terrible injury, and I thought of Nick, missing.

  “She thought Nick was frightened of something, that he might have stumbled on something dangerous.”

  “And you didn’t see fit to mention it to me? We were talking before you drove out here.”

  “It was too vague for one thing. I didn’t even know if it was true, or if . . . You know, it can’t be easy being married to Nick Monahan, so it seemed possible that she was overwrought, exhausted from the baby and Nick’s usual hijinks. But I did track Nick down and talk to him earlier today.”

  “And?”

  “And I didn’t learn anything. I could tell he was scared, though there was no clue what he was frightened of. He acted as though he was afraid for Pepper, too. I wondered if he’d been gambling and lost a pile of money or experimenting with drugs and he was afraid she’d catch him and leave him. I suppose in either case, there could have been people after him. I even considered the possibility of a jealous husband. That’s all I know. But Pepper was worried about him. But before you chew me out, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have gotten much out of him, either.”

  Tierney gave me a hard look.

  I said, “And being Nick, he could have been afraid of embarrassing himself in front of his co-workers. He’s as dumb as a post, but he’s not crooked in any way.”

  “Embarrassing himself? How?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he’s losing his hair. You know how vain he is.” I was surprised to f
ind that I felt a smidgeon of guilt over trashing Nick in front of his superior officer. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about Nick, although he was like having a badly behaved little boy around. That reminded me of Pepper.

  “We shouldn’t be wasting time here. I want to go to the hospital and see if Pepper’s all right. Maybe I should call Sally. Her husband’s a doctor and—”

  “I’ve met Sally and Benjamin, remember? At Margaret’s after wedding party?”

  “Sorry. I forgot. I’m rattled by all this. Can I go? Do you think I can help here? Do you want me to look through the woods for Nick? Because—”

  “I would ask you to, but you’re wearing the wrong shoes for it,” Tierney said.

  “What?”

  “Of course I don’t want you to look through the woods for Nick. You saw Pepper’s injuries. She’s a trained police officer and look what happened to her. You are a civilian. And a tiny, unpredictable, utterly obsessive civilian at that. You have a handbag as a weapon. Oh wait, you don’t even have that with you. It’s in your car, I bet. So. Do I have your assurance that you’ll call me if you have an idea? I mean any idea remotely connected to Pepper and Nick? I’d like to know that you won’t run into another dangerous situation because you are too stubborn to call me.”

  “You don’t need to use that tone.”

  “But you do need to keep in touch with me on this.”

  I still didn’t see what choice I’d had. And while I did agree that keeping in touch with Tierney was a good idea, I couldn’t imagine going on a date after what had happened to my friend.

  “I guess our dinner’s off. You’ll be tied up with . . .” I gestured around at the squad car and Pepper’s vehicle.

  “We’ll be doing a search for Nick. We have to get as much covered as possible before it gets dark.”

  “Will you keep me in the loop about Pepper?”

  He paused and nodded. “If I can.” I was pretty sure he was bending some rule and I appreciated it. “I don’t imagine they’ll let anyone see her for a while. She’ll need to be examined. That kind of head injury is going to require tests.”

  I had to admit that was true. “I should get over to CYCotics and help Jack figure out what to do about Little Nick before I go to the hospital. I hope Pepper left everything the baby needed. She didn’t expect to end up in emergency.”

  “Good idea. And Charlotte. You’ve been friends with both of them for a long time.”

  I blurted out, “Pepper’s been my friend almost all my life. We went to school together. We used to call ourselves the misfits. Along with Sally and Margaret and Jack.”

  “But not Nick?”

  “Oh no. Nick wasn’t a misfit. He was always a cool guy. We were spectacularly uncool.”

  Tierney’s mouth curved in a smile. A cool smile. “Pepper and Nick are a strange couple. And from what you said earlier it sounds like they’d been having some issues lately.”

  “Lately? They always have issues. Nick loves to chase women. He doesn’t usually catch them. But the chasing, that’s an issue in itself.”

  “I get where it would be. So my point is, do you think that Nick would have hit Pepper?”

  “No.”

  “Hear me out. Maybe he backhanded her to keep her from screaming at him? Didn’t mean to hit her that hard. Then he panicked and—”

  “No!”

  “People are often in denial about what others are capable of doing. We don’t like to think that one of our friends could beat his wife. But it happens and we have to face up to it. Do the right thing.”

  “No argument here. I don’t think that Nick would do that. For one thing, he’s not an angry person. He’s not struggling with rage or control issues. He loves Pepper. In his own stupid way.”

  “A lot of guys beat the women they think they love.”

  “I understand what you’re saying and I’m trying to get my head around that, but the fact is, Nick is scared of Pepper. She’s in charge. I could believe that she’d clobber him before I could see it happening the other way around. But at the same time, I don’t believe she would hit him. Oh God, I hope I’m right about all of this.” I stared at Tierney.

  “I hope you are, too.”

  I stood there chewing my lip. Pepper had grown up in an abusive home. She’d had the bruises to prove it, although she always denied that. Her dad had been a cop, too. Had she found more of the same with Nick? A pattern repeated? Had I missed the signs because I was too caught up in my own images of what kind of people they both were?

  I felt shaky about the entire situation. “Can I go now? I’d like to go see her. And I need to find out if Jack’s all right, too.”

  “You know something, Charlotte. You’ve had a shock. You’ve been in a bad situation. Why don’t you go home and go to bed. Or take a bath or something to relax. Everything in the world is not your responsibility.”

  “Maybe that’s true. But my friends are. Pepper is. Nick is my friend in a weird way. How can I go home and take a bath when we don’t know if Pepper’s going to be all right or what’s happened to Nick?”

  “Okay, okay. I’ll get one of the officers to take you by the bike shop and then to the hospital. We’re on the lookout for your car.”

  “Thank you. I’m sorry tonight didn’t work out.”

  “There will be other nights.”

  “Let’s hope you find Nick and he’s all right.”

  Tierney nodded grimly and stared out over the Hudson for a long minute. I had no idea what he was thinking. Half of the uniformed officers milling around kept their eyes on him. I understood this was serious business, two of their own.

  The smart young officer drove me to CYCotics, his dark intelligent eyes lacking the humor I usually saw there. No sign of his quick wit, either. He seemed distracted by the seriousness of a situation that couldn’t have a good ending. I was, too, and forgot to ask his name. I figured I should find it out as he kept showing up at crime scenes that involved me. Something in common and all that.

  I don’t know why I’d been so concerned about Jack. He had Little Nick rigged up in his one office chair. He was using his foot to gently jiggle it up and down as he did a bit of paperwork standing at the cash desk.

  A grin creased his face. “Hey, Charlotte. This is a boys’ club, but maybe we’ll let you in. I’m almost finished here. We had a ton of customers around the time we should have been closing, right, little dude?” He glanced behind me at the young officer with the serious face. “What’s going on?”

  “Pepper’s been hurt. She’s at the hospital with some kind of head injury. I’m going over there now. I needed to know if you were all right and managing.”

  “Why wouldn’t I manage? Never mind. What happened to Pepper?”

  “We don’t know.” I glanced at the cop, but he had ambled to the other side of the shop to examine a particularly seductive racing bike hanging on the wall. Jack would have cheerfully sold it to him for less than ten thousand. He wasn’t paying any attention to us.

  “That’s bad,” Jack said.

  “And Nick is missing,” I hissed.

  “What?”

  “Shh. Do you think it’s possible that Nick could have injured Pepper? Hit her? Have I been wrong about him all these years? Is he worse than merely a vain and vacant pretty boy?”

  Jack scratched his head. “I don’t know, Charlotte. Pepper would have sent him flying through a window if he’d even thought about something like that. But—”

  “But what?”

  “People in abusive relationships hide it. The abuser wants to get away with it, and the person who’s being abused may be frightened and ashamed. Might be afraid to be left alone.”

  “I understand all that, Jack, as upsetting as it is. I’m wondering if that’s what we have here.”

  “Nothing to do but ask Pepper, I suppose. She’ll probably be furious if you even try.”

  “For sure. But trust me, the cops are going to ask her. I’m getting in there first. Let�
��s hope that she’s able to answer questions.” My voice wobbled. “Oh, Jack, there was so much blood.”

  Jack wrapped his long arms around me. I needed to be held and comforted in this terrible situation. He whispered, “Did you see the wound?”

  “I saw an awful gash on her forehead. She was lying against the steering wheel.”

  “Everything happens for a reason,” Jack said.

  “It’s good to have a tame philosopher around in these challenging times,” I muttered.

  The smart young officer cleared his throat. I had forgotten he was even there. I supposed he had things to do. I said, “Jack, you’ll have to take Little Nick home. Better put him upstairs in my place.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if for any reason they send a social worker around to check on him, your house is furnished in bike parts and there’s no food in the fridge. No fridge at all, unless you bought one yesterday.”

  “But you don’t have food in your fridge,” Jack said.

  I heard the cop clear his throat again. I raised an eyebrow, and Jack turned and stared at him.

  He said, “No, ma’am, but it’s a nice place, well-decorated and clean, and obviously a home. You’re right. It will make a good impression.”

  I told Jack not to let any social workers look in the fridge until I stocked it up. “Call Sally,” I added. “She’ll know what to do when you run out of anything that has to do with babies.”

  “What is everybody talking about?” Pepper said. “I can’t remember anything, and the questions these so-called doctors ask are absolutely ridiculous. How did any of them ever get through medical school?”

  At least she wasn’t in the intensive care unit. And she hadn’t required surgery. It was bad enough though that she was surrounded by mysterious equipment and equally mysterious hospital smells. Still, Pepper lay in the hospital bed, pale, wan, and even feistier than usual. The bandage on her head covered part of her hair. “I hate it here,” she added with a grimace. “I don’t want to be in a place like this without getting to carry home a squirming bundle of joy at the very least.”