Foolish Me

by Tinnean

  “Just like a woman. Okay, here.” Vince offered her a finger covered in honey, and she began to lick it off. “No, Davies couldn’t fire you, but he could see to it that I got the tape. Davies and Honeycutt both assumed that once I’d seen what was on it, I’d kick you out of the WBIS so fast you’d leave skid marks.”

  “Not to mention seeing I was blackballed?”

  “Yeah. ‘You’ll never work in this town again.’”

  “Because Wills was involved with a whore.” I started shaking and couldn’t stop.

  “You’re not a whore!”

  “Former whore, then.” For a minute I thought I was going to throw up.

  Wills snarled and reached for my hand. “You’re mine, and whatever happened in the past wasn’t your fault and wasn’t your choice. It means nothing to me.”

  I turned my hand so we were palm to palm, twined our fingers and held on tight.

  “Touching.” But there was no mockery in Vincent’s tone. “Stupid assumptions on both their parts.”

  “I don’t understand, sir. With all their poking around in this, how did they never discover you knew Theo?”

  He bared his teeth in a lethal grin. “That’s why Davies does what he does and not what I do.”

  “Uh….”

  “He was never in the field,” Wills murmured to clarify Vince’s statement.

  “Okay, but what about Connor?”

  Vince started to rise from his chair, and Miss Su jumped down. “Thanks for the coffee and the cookie.”

  “Baklava, Vince,” I corrected, pained.

  “Yeah. I see you’re making out your guest list.”

  “You’re on it.”

  “Good. Mind if I bring a guest?”

  “Bring whoever you want. You’re not gonna tell me how you found out about Connor, are you?”

  He just grinned and turned to Wills. “I’ll see you in the morning, Matheson.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And plan on working next weekend. I can’t keep giving you time off.” Vince glanced at the tape.

  “I know what to do with this, Mr. Vincent,” Wills said.

  “I want it gone. Please, Wills.” I didn’t care that my voice cracked, that I was on the verge of falling apart. “I don’t want any reminders of that time!”

  “We’ll get rid of it however you say, babe.” In spite of the fact that his boss was standing only a couple of feet away, Wills put his arms around me, ran a palm up and down my back, and whispered in my ear, “We’ll light a fire in the fireplace and burn the goddamned thing, if that’s what you want.”

  “Not to interrupt, but I’ve got things to do, and I’m sure you do too.”

  We followed him to the foyer. “Good night, sir.”

  “’Night, Vince.”

  “’Night.”

  “Mrrow.”

  He stooped and ran a knuckle under her chin. “Good night to you too, cat.” And he left.

  Wills shut and locked the door.

  “Jesus. What a fucking mess.” I dug my thumbs into my temples. “You knew about my past, Wills, but if he’d threatened to tell your family….” To keep him from doing that, I would have gone to his hotel suite, but not to let him have sex with me in exchange for his silence. I would have killed him as I hadn’t managed to kill Franky, and it wouldn’t have kept me up a single night.

  “It’s no longer an issue.” He had that flat, cold look on his face, and I knew it would have been a toss-up as to which of us killed him first. “I’ll tell you one thing, babe.” The cold look vanished, and I was back in his arms. He rubbed his cheek against my hair. “This Connor character isn’t getting invited to the wedding.”

  “No.” I leaned into him, soaking up the warmth of his embrace.

  “I’ve gotta put my gun away.”

  “I’ll get the table cleaned off.” In the dining room, Miss Su was licking the last of the honey off Vince’s dessert plate. “Naughty puss! You’re gonna make yourself sick.”

  I stood there, staring at the table, at the half-filled coffee cups, the remains of the baklava….

  At the goddamned tape.

  “It’s okay, babe.” Wills had come in without me realizing it. He wasn’t talking about Miss Su getting sick or the condition of the table.

  “How can you say that? You know how easy it is to make copies of VHS tapes.”

  “Do you trust Mr. Vincent?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then trust he’ll take care of it. And so will I. It will be okay.” He picked up the tape and went into his office. I followed him.

  “What are we going to do with it?” I wasn’t going to feel at ease unless I knew it was really gone. “Burning it sounds like a good idea, but we’d never get rid of the smell.”

  “Trust me.” He turned on a gadget I hadn’t seen before, snapped off the plastic guard on the cassette, ripped out the tape, and began feeding it into the machine. It hummed and ratcheted and shredded the tape into tiny bits of black. “I’ll take this with me tomorrow. The WBIS has a very reliable incinerator.”

  “You could have done that without shredding it.”

  “Yeah, but I knew you’d want to see it destroyed.” He dusted off his hands. “Now let’s finish cleaning the dining room. I want to go to bed.”

  “It’s too early to go to sleep.”

  “Who said anything about sleeping?” That half grin. “And if you’re good, maybe you can persuade me to tell you what I’m having engraved in your ring.”

  I was very good, and as I’d suspected, it was something from our song.

  THE NEXT day, while Wills was at work, I found the address of Carnations and Roses and Orchids, Oh My and went to have a little chat with the owner.

  A middle-aged, casually dressed man stood behind the counter. “Good morning. May I help you?”

  “Yes. A friend of mine ordered some flowers from you.” I gave him the order number.

  “Oh, yes. A dozen roses in a sterling silver vase. It’s quite a popular item.” He smiled politely. “I trust he was satisfied?”

  I made a noncommittal sound. “He asked that a card be included. This is the card.” I placed the wrinkled, crushed piece of card stock on the counter.

  “Someone seems to have been annoyed.” He picked it up and read it, and his smile faded. “Well, I…. Many men send flowers by way of apology.”

  “Believe me, I’m aware of that. However, according to my friend, that wasn’t what he asked to have written on the card.”

  “Oh?”

  “No. It was supposed to say ‘Thank you for giving me the…’”

  “‘… the most wonderful year of my life.’ I remember that. I took the order. He sounded so happy….” He glanced down at the card, then closed his eyes. “How much harm was done?”

  “How much do you think?”

  “Dad, I finished that last arrangement. Can I go now?” A girl who looked about sixteen or seventeen came from the back of the shop. There was a whine in her voice and a petulant droop to her lips. She looked from her father to me and scowled. “I’ve got stuff to do. If he wants an arrangement….”

  “No, this gentleman has a complaint. The wrong card was placed in an order of roses.”

  “So? What’s the big deal?”

  Leaving her question unanswered, he turned back to face me. “Is there anything I can do for your friend to make up for this mistake?”

  “Well, the vase needs replacing.”

  “Oh?” He nodded wearily. “Oh, yes, I can imagine. She must have been furious.”

  “She?”

  “Your friend’s lady friend.”

  “Ah. You could say that. Tore the roses to shreds, threw the vase against a wall, broke up with him then and there without waiting for an explanation.”

  The girl turned pale. “Daddy….”

  “Mr. Garofano, I made the last delivery. Jen, you about ready to go?” The young man who’d delivered the roses to me came into the shop. He took in the tablea
u. “’Sup?”

  “This isn’t your concern, Woody. Leave the keys to the van in my office and go.”

  “Okay. Jen—”

  “Will not be going out this evening. Go on home.”

  Woody scowled and shot a look at the girl, but did as his boss ordered him.

  “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that this happened.”

  I shrugged. He was going to be even sorrier. “You’re fortunate I talked my friend out of coming here to confront you himself. To say he was unhappy about this whole thing is an understatement. However, as they say, all’s well that ends well. He’s going to get married.”

  “I’m relieved no lasting damage was done to the relationship.”

  “Yes. A tasteful little ceremony, and while the wedding party won’t be large, the reception will. Corsages will need to be supplied to all the ladies, boutonnières to the gentlemen, floral arrangements for the tables at the reception. Et cetera, et cetera.”

  He met my eyes. “I assume Carnations and Roses and Orchids, Oh My won’t be getting the job. I can’t say I’m surprised.”

  “Daddy?”

  “I’ll talk to you later, Jennifer. Thank you for taking the time to inform me of this mix-up. Please convey my profound regrets to your friend, and if he ever decides to give us a try again, I will personally guarantee there are no problems. I’ll see his credit card gets a refund, and if you’ll wait one second, I’ll get that vase for you.”

  “Daddy?” She gave me a scared glance, all trace of ill temper gone, and hurried after her father. I wondered if she knew something about the wrong card winding up in my roses.

  WILLS WAS home when I got back. He was in his shirtsleeves, and I stared from him to the clock, my stomach in knots. “What’s wrong? That tape?”

  “No. That’s taken care of.”

  “Why are you home so early? That didn’t come out right. Of course I’m happy to see you, but—”

  “There’s something I want to talk to you about, though.”

  My mouth went dry. “Wh-what?”

  “How would you feel about becoming a dad?”

  My jaw dropped, and all I could do was stare at him. “You’re not telling me you’re pregnant! Well, you can’t be. We only stopped using condoms the other day!”

  “Ass. Plus, there’s the fact that I’m a guy, if it hasn’t escaped your notice.” He curled his arm around my neck, tugged me against him, and murmured against my lips, “I want us to have a baby.”

  “Us?” I remembered that moment in the kitchen in Cambridge, when I’d told Jack Matheson that if his son and I wanted a family, we could have one either through adoption or surrogacy. “Are you serious?”

  “As a heart attack, babe.” He stared into my eyes, and a furrow appeared between his brows. “Theo…. Don’t you want children?”

  “I never… I never thought….” I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his neck. “You really want a baby with me?”

  “We’re getting married, yes? Then it follows that babies will come after. So what do you say?”

  “Yes. Oh God, yes!”

  He tipped my chin up, licked his lips, and then brushed them, warm and soft, back and forth against mine. “Come on to bed, babe.”

  AFTERWARD, WE lay wrapped in each other’s arms. “How will we do this?” I asked.

  “Not a clue, babe.” There was a smile in his voice. “But I’m a computer geek. I’ll find out.”

  “Wills, what’s Vince going to say about this?”

  “He was the one who suggested I talk to you about children.”

  “Vince did?”

  “Yeah. It’s been quite a morning.”

  I folded my fingers around his cock and kissed his ear. Children. “Yeah, it has.”

  LATER, OVER dinner, I told Wills about what had happened at Carnations and Roses and Orchids, Oh My.

  “And you think the girl was involved?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It could be,” he agreed. “It’s a juvenile-type prank.”

  “I felt sorry for the owner. He bent over backward trying to make things right, but y’know, he didn’t really seem surprised. Maybe this has happened before. How many customers has he lost because of his daughter?”

  “Not my concern. When I think of how miserable we both were because of the little witch….” The cold, flat look was on his face.

  “It’s over, babe, and not only did he give me a new vase, but he refunded the charge and threw in two dozen roses to boot.” I rubbed his arm, hoping to soothe him. “Let’s forget about it. Now, finish eating, and then we can take a look at those websites your Aunt Charlie told us about. Jericho Terrace sounds good, and so does Villa Lombardi, but there’s this new place, the Terryville Inn….”

  Chapter 23

  I WAS in my office, working on the tax returns for Tim and Cris, when the house phone rang. “Theo Bascopolis, accountant at large. How may I help you?”

  “Theo, it’s Vincent.”

  “Vince? What’s—Wills?” Vince never called during the day, and I felt my insides twist. Since I’d learned what Wills really did, I’d started dreading a call from his boss. “Is he all right?”

  “Yeah, he’s fine.” I sagged in relief. “I sent him to take a nap.”

  “Huh?”

  “He was busy with work.”

  “Oh, got it.” Wills had called early the day before to let me know he was working through the night, and I’d brought him dinner. “So what’s the skinny?”

  “Paul’s in trouble.”

  It was a good thing I was sitting down, or I’d have wound up on my ass, but I still had to swallow a bunch of times before I could speak. “What… what’s wrong?”

  “Spike’s missing, and I’m flying out to deal with it. I need a favor.”

  “Oh, Jesus…. What can I do?”

  “I have a kitten—”

  “You do?” The thought of Vince with a kitten was kind of adorable. I remembered how cute he’d been with Miss Su. “Since when?”

  “Since…. Theo, is that really important?” He sounded impatient, and I felt dumb for letting myself be distracted.

  “No, I guess not. I’m sorry.”

  “Can I leave her with you?”

  “Sure. You want me to come pick her up? Just leave the key—”

  “No!”

  “Geez!” From the way he reacted you’d think I was volunteering to walk into a minefield instead of his home. “You don’t have to be so jumpy!”

  “Look, you know where my condo is.”

  “Sure.” As well as those times I’d worked there with Delilah Carson for a few weeks this past fall, I’d gone to Aspen Reach to oversee it being refurbished… the walls painted, the hardwood floors refinished, and the arrangement of the furniture. I’d had the best time, and I was pretty sure Vince was happy with the results.

  “Meet me there, okay? Wait for me outside the gate.”

  Like I’d be able to get in—there were no guards there who I could charm into opening the gate for me. Which I wouldn’t have done anyway, since I was an engaged man. “I’m leaving right now.”

  “Thanks, Theo. I owe you.”

  “Vince, you don’t owe me a thing. You gave me Wills! And besides, you’re doing this for Paul.” And I knew how much Paul meant to him.

  “I’ll see you in about fifteen minutes.”

  “Okay.” I hung up, got my jacket and keys, and turned to my own kitty. “I’m going to bring a visitor home. Watch the house, okay?”

  “Mrrow.”

  “Good girl.”

  I went down to the garage, got into the Corvair, and backed it out, scraping the driver’s side door again. Stupid narrow driveway.

  Although…. Maybe I should take lessons?

  I’D ONLY just arrived at Aspen Reach when Vince pulled up to the gate, and it swung open. He drove through, and I followed him to his building and parked behind his car.

  “I don’t have much time,” he said as h
e used a keycard through the swipe lock to unlock the door to the lobby.

  “That’s fine. You haven’t heard anything else, have you?”

  “No, but I know someone who knows someone on the CIA set, and I’m going to call him as soon as I get to LA.”

  Spike had been thrilled when he’d gotten that part on the TV show, the friend of a computer geek who hacked into an important lab’s mainframe. We’d all been thrilled along with him. It was his first role following his appearance in the slasher flick slated to open over the Independence Day weekend. Even though the movie hadn’t been released yet, insider word praised Spike’s performance, and the CIA showrunner had been interested enough to give him a screen test.

  Vince headed for the stairs. I’d never known anyone who preferred stairs to the elevator the way he did, but if that was what made him happy….

  “I know you’ll want to talk to Paul, but do me a favor and wait for him to call you. He’s been up for almost twenty-seven hours, and I told him to get some sleep. I’ll have him call you when I get there.”

  I touched his shoulder. “Thanks, Vince.”

  “Don’t make a big deal of it.”

  “Okay. But Vince? Thank you.”

  We climbed up to the third floor, and he took out a key ring with a bunch of keys on it. He inserted one key after another into the six locks on his door. That was new; at least they hadn’t been there last fall. Something else I didn’t understand, but it wasn’t my business, so I didn’t say anything.

  “Come on in.”

  I followed him in and glanced around.

  “I have to say we did a great job on this place.” And I was pretty damn proud of it. “It’s so much less… pink.”

  “Yeah, it is, isn’t it? Pita!”

  “That’s your cat’s name?”

  “It’s temporary. I’m giving her to a friend’s mother for Mother’s Day.” He stuck his pinkies in the corners of his mouth and whistled.

  “That isn’t the way to call a cat!”

  “No?” He laughed as the cat appeared and bounded toward us.