by Lori Avocato
I looked over to see him standing oh-so-nonchalantly Jaggerlike with a cue stick at his side. “Hmm?” Solid? Was he telling me I was hot and solid? (Please, God!)
He looked at the pool table. “Solid.”
Solid-colored balls. Duh. What on earth made me think that Jagger had complimented me?
I took a cue stick in my hands then noticed the square of blue chalk sitting on the end of the table. Uncle Walt sometimes watched pool on television, and I’d joined him on more than one occasion. Being a quick study, I stopped, picked up the chalk and rubbed it on the end of the cue stick as I’d seen the pros do many times.
Jagger raised one eyebrow.
Buzz Lightyear got off his stool and walked over, more than likely thinking he was going to see some spectacular shot, and ER Dano looked at me and then turned back to his drink.
But I could see his reflection in the mirror-and he could see me.
Great. An audience, and me not exactly a pool hustler.
I shut my eyes for a second to picture the pros’ hands when they shot. Even if I didn’t get any ball in, I’d at least look good.
I set the chalk down, leaned over, placed my fingers in position and aimed the white ball at a lovely shade of green ball that was near the corner pocket, realizing I had no idea how to hit it. Just give me this first one, Saint T, I prayed in my head and before I knew it, I’d hit the white ball, it sailed down the felt concourse and hit the lovely shade of green ball directly into the side pocket!
I looked up at Jagger. No expression.
Ha! That, in and of itself, meant I did well-I believed that and was sticking to it. Slowly I stepped back and leaned against the wall, hoping I looked hot or sexy or at least not stupid.
“Still your turn,” Jagger muttered.
Damn. “No kidding. I was taking a break.” With that I looked over the table, found a darling red ball near another pocket-and landed that sucker right in!
After one more I missed, and Jagger took over, sinking five balls in a row.
Well, at least I’d lose with my dignity still intact, since he didn’t cream me right off the bat. Actually, I played on, holding my own, all the while praying and visualizing the pros.
“Good job, Sherlock,” Jagger said right after I sank the eight ball-after all my solid ones.
Of course, Jagger only had one left, so I didn’t cream him by any sense of the word, but I did beat him.
I beat Jagger!
“Thanks,” I said, smiling. Couldn’t help it. Maybe it was more of a cocky grin, but beginner’s luck had given me a gift tonight.
Suddenly ER Dano was standing right next to me. “Five bucks.” He looked directly at me.
I swallowed. “Five bucks for the winner?” Geez, that sounded so stupid. By the look on Jagger’s face and his head shakings, he thought so too. But Dano remained stone-faced. “Oh. Okay,” I said. “But, you know, I should get some points spotted to me since I’ve already played a game.”
“How you figure that out, Nightingale?”
Did Jagger just flinch?
This was getting to be more and more fun!
I walked toward the bar, took the last few sips of my Cosmo and turned back. “I mean, kicking Jagger’s butt took some energy out of me. Not sure if I have enough left to kick yours.”
Jagger really glared at me now.
Lilla and Buzz gasped behind me.
And ER Dano gave me a delicious smile.
Suddenly I felt as if I had a phone cord wrapped around my neck-and it was tightening.
Seven
“Okay, so it was beginner’s luck with you,” I said to Jagger after ER Dano kicked my butt-three times. Fifteen bucks. I owed him fifteen bucks.
Jagger pretended as if he didn’t care as he took my arm-make that grabbed my arm-and pulled me toward the back of the bar and out the emergency door. No alarm sounded, and I’m sure he knew it wouldn’t. Out in the alleyway, he turned toward me.
“I could give a shit about pool, Pauline. We need to talk about the case, since we haven’t had a chance to yet.”
I’ll just bet you don’t give a shit-since you lost! I thought.
“Okay, what the hell are we doing out here?” I asked. “What? You want some pool playing tips from a pro?” I started to laugh, and he gave me a look.
Oops.
Silenced me right up.
“What did you find in the files before Payne was…before Payne came in?” he asked.
“How’d you know I even found anything?”
At first he looked at me as if I were nuts. Maybe I was, for asking him that question, when Jagger seemed to know all. Or maybe not.
“Payne wouldn’t have tried to kill you for no good reason.”
Hmm. That was probably true. If he had simply caught me there and wasn’t worried, he wouldn’t have pulled a knife. After all, that would have blown his scam. A knife. Eeks.
My knees weakened.
I leaned forward.
Then steadied myself on…Jagger’s chest.
“I was nearly killed,” I mumbled.
His finger touched just beneath my chin, lifted my head a bit until we met eye to eye, and before I could contemplate what kind of outfits souls wore up in heaven, Jagger’s lips were on mine.
Well, not exactly on mine, but over, inside and…yum.
He pulled me closer, and I let him. Strong arms held me so tight, I could barely breathe, but knew-just knew-that if he held me tighter, I’d be in Nirvana. Very gently he ran a finger around my face, encircling me with his touch.
After a few moans (mine) and a few sensual animal sounds (his), I reached my hands up to run my fingers through his hair.
Jagger eased to the side enough that his lips touched near my ear. “I don’t know what I’d do if…”
As his words trailed off (no way could I fully comprehend anything in this position), I ran my hands down his neck, around his shoulders and just leaned into him.
If there was safety in numbers, I felt very safe with this one.
He ran his hands along my spine, sending warm sensations throughout my body. If I’d had to walk, I would have melted into a puddle of desire. Slowly his hands ran across my shoulders, arms and settled on my breasts. With the very gentle touch, I sighed and wished my clothes would melt into a puddle.
Jagger’s lips continued to explore mine, his tongue touching my mouth. We both sighed and held tighter.
Before I could run my hand across his chest, he was holding me at arm’s length and looking oh-so-very Jaggerlike. “We need to get working more on this case, Sherlock.”
Suddenly my safe, sensual little harbor of love was interrupted by the question, Did Jagger mean he couldn’t live without me cause I was fantastic and he was madly in love with me-or did he mean that I was a decent partner?
“Yeah,” I said, pulled back and ran my hands down my clothing as if taking out any Jagger-induced wrinkles-as if that could erase what I felt right now. “Yeah, we do.” I swallowed, hoping that would bring me back to reality.
Reality? Reality that Jagger and I were coworkers and nothing more? Or that we really had feelings for each other, but couldn’t pursue that avenue or it’d ruin our partnership? In my book, love was thicker than a paycheck. But then again, there was so much about Jagger that I didn’t know at this point, I had to tell myself that we were merely coworkers and that people’s lives might depend on us working platonically.
That was what I tried to convince myself of, but in reality, I sensed there was something more. Something Jagger was keeping to himself (surprise, surprise). Something, maybe, from a past relationship-because he certainly reigned in his feelings with me.
With us.
“So? What did you find before Payne came in?” he asked again-thank goodness, because I didn’t like where I was going in my head. “I assume he came in and found you.”
“Yeah. He came in, all right.” I proceeded to tell Jagger about the files that I found, which convinced m
e that Payne Sterling was a criminal-but an empty feeling nagged at me all the while.
Jagger took a step back.
A step back physically…and a step back from my heart.
After Jagger’s kiss and our discussion of the case-which still had us stymied at square one-I made it back home in record time. Had to, or I’d have stalked Jagger for the rest of the night. Funny thing was, I had no idea where he lived and often thought the guy just “disappeared” into thin air when not around.
Made him so damn mysterious.
The living room was quiet when I opened the door, and I figured Goldie and Miles were out. It was a bit too early for anyone to be asleep, so I called Spanky, who came running like an obedient dog-now that Jagger wasn’t with me.
I bent down and rubbed Spank’s tummy. “Hey, buddy. How you been?”
After a few more rubs, I let him out and got myself a glass of warm milk. I stuck a pat of butter in it and watched it slowly melt. This was Stella Sokol’s old remedy for us kids when we couldn’t sleep. Of course she’d die if she knew Jagger’s kiss was what I envisioned was going to keep me awake like a gallon of caffeine would.
Then again, there was that time she changed all my undies to thongs while I was away on a case.
Maybe I misjudged my mother.
I laughed and took a sip of the concoction, all the while ignoring the gazillion cholesterol grams that floated before my eyes.
Spanky was taking his good old time, so I went to the phone to see if anyone had called. The red light blinked three times, so I pushed play.
“Pauline? Pauline Sokol?”
I rolled my eyes at my mother’s voice. She always talked to the machine as if it were alive. Make that as if it were me.
“Pauline, this is your mother. I want you to come for dinner tomorrow night. Be here at six sharp. Bring the boys. You know what I mean. The homosexual men.”
I groaned and let Spanky back in. “She’s going to drive me insane, Spanks.” He looked as if he agreed. He knew her very well. “Guess there’s no trying to get out of it though.”
Spanky nodded.
I waited for the second message. “Pauline Sokol, this is Nancy at Banker’s Holding Company-”
“Damn!” I poked at the delete button, silencing Nancy. No point in hearing her remind me that my car payment was due. Past due. I’d send it in tomorrow. I would!
I looked at Spanky. Not sure if dogs even had eyebrows, but he seemed to raise one in disbelief. “Shut up. I will send it in. I’ll postdate a check and get paid soon.” This should be a fast case, with Payne already dead.
Spanky gave me a “yeah sure” look and walked away. The little creature of habit knew when it was bedtime, and I figured he was headed upstairs. I started to turn and the last message began in a garbled, almost robotic voice. Reminded me of the device patients who had suffered cancer of the larynx used.
“Two plus two equals four. Then if four plus four equals eight, what does that mean, Pauline? What does eight mean for you? For your life, Sokol? Wanna find out?” Sick laughter filled my kitchen. I dropped my glass of milk, the contents splashing across Miles’s immaculate white kitchen floor. “Get the hell out of TLC.”
That last part came out so clearly, so threatening, so menacing, that I gasped.
“Do you have to listen to that again?” I asked Jagger as Goldie and Miles both made little sounds of shock.
“I’m guessing you didn’t call me over here to chat, Sherlock. Just listening for clues.” He gave a sympathetic look to Goldie and Miles, who were huddled at the kitchen table, both holding my hand. Same one. “Maybe you guys want to wait in the living room?” he asked.
I had to smile at that thoughtful suggestion. Jagger was such a dichotomy of personalities, but I loved that he cared about my dearest friends in the world.
“We’re fine,” Miles said, tightening his hold.
“I’m gonna take this to Shatley and have his boys analyze it.” Jagger lifted the tape out of the recorder and all I could say was, “Glad we have the old-fashioned kind of machine instead of the tapeless one.”
Everyone looked at me.
No one smiled.
Amazingly enough, I slept a few hours that night. Of course, knowing Jagger was sleeping on our couch downstairs had something to do with it.
He really did represent safety for me.
When my alarm went off, I got up, not in the mood to lounge around, although I always thought the best feeling in the world was waking up and staying in bed while still in that glorious restful state.
I couldn’t even pretend last night was restful.
Who the hell was that on the tape? Who knew my number? What did the damn riddle mean? And, more important, why me?
After showering and dressing in my blue scrubs-which I hated but thought today was a day I should wear them, for some strange reason-I headed downstairs, inhaling maple syrup and coffee aromas coming from the kitchen.
I pushed open the kitchen door. Jagger sat at the counter, reading the newspaper. Spanky was nestled at his feet, with traces of maple syrup on his whiskers, and Miles and Goldie ate solemnly at the table.
I wanted to hug both of them. No, all three…four of them.
“Hey, why so gloomy?”
“Suga?” Goldie squealed.
“Okay, I know why, but stop it, you two. What a great breakfast,” I said, taking my teacup and putting water in it. The decaffeinated green tea bag was already in it. A dish, with aluminum foil covering it, sat at my place, and I turned to Jagger. “Thanks. Breakfast smells great.”
He merely nodded. We all ate in silence and then Goldie and Miles kissed my cheeks simultaneously (and held me way too long, as if they knew this was my last day on earth).
I said a quick prayer that my darling roomies were not clairvoyant.
“Stop following me around, Jagger,” I said close to his ear so no one else in the employee lounge would hear.
Buzz Lightyear sat at the ready, with a newspaper in hand but not reading. Two other EMTs watched the Today show and darling ER Dano sat in the corner by himself, drinking steaming coffee. Damn, he made it look so delicious.
Jagger said nothing but took a step away from me. He’d been following me all morning since we left the condo, as if the threatening phone caller, whom I nicknamed “Robotman,” was right on my tail.
Usually having Jagger so close would be fun. Sexy. Sensual. Pheromonally intoxicating.
But today he annoyed me.
That, in all reality, was because I was on edge-but didn’t want him to know it. When he was so protective, I interpreted that as him fearing for me. I didn’t much like Jagger being afraid for anyone or anything.
“Four five six, we have a possible Eight ninety-two at 24 Chester Drive,” came over the intercom.
Jagger looked at me, dumped his coffee cup on the nearest table and headed toward the door. Buzz jumped to attention, so I figured he’d be riding with us. Great. That put me in the back. And ER Dano took the last sip of his black coffee, set the mug down and sauntered to the door.
Once outside, ER got into the driver’s seat, although I could tell Buzz was dying to drive. He looked like a puppy wildly wagging his tail in anticipation.
“Get in, the bunch of you!” Dano ordered, cranked the engine, and before Jagger and I had seated ourselves on the bench in the back, we were flying out of the parking lot.
Flying might have been too mild a word.
Suddenly, I think while ER was making a left-hand turn, I found myself sliding toward Jagger. “Oh! Sorry!” I yelled as the siren tended to drown out any sounds in close proximity to the ambulance.
“Hang on.” He pointed at the railing on the wall near me.
I nodded and grabbed the wall handle. “You know what an Eight ninety-two is?”
As soon as the words came out, I shook my head. Jagger knew something about everything.
“Attempted suicide.”
One of my hands flew to my fac
e in shock, and my grip slipped. Dano jammed on the brakes, and before I knew it, I was in Jagger’s lap.
I pulled myself back to a sitting position, inhaled to clear my head and got up-then hurried out the doors without a word.
“Yowza,” Buzz Lightyear said.
Dano grunted at him.
Jagger remained silent, with an indistinguishable look on his face.
And I had to grasp the doorjamb as I watched the young woman in the bed.
She writhed about like a stripper. Had to be only about mid-twenties, dressed in a thin-very thin-white nightie that might as well have been hanging in her closet instead of trying to cover her.
Buzz cleared his throat.
Dano turned to him. “You got this one.”
“She’s nuts,” said a woman who looked as if she might be the patient’s sister, edging into the room.
In spite of the harshness of the comment, I had to agree; although I also thought the patient looked a bit pale. For a second, I figured these three guys could handle this babe and maybe I’d sneak out and get back to TLC to snoop, but then she started grabbing onto the headboard-as if it were a pole.
The three guys took a step forward.
I wasn’t going anywhere.
Buzz asked, “Um, ma’am, can you hear me?”
The girl looked at him with disgust. “Why the hell wouldn’t I be able to?”
“Oh. Good. Great.” Sweat broke out on his forehead and he wiped a finger across it. “So, ma’am, uh,” he looked at the sister.
“Virginia,” her sister said, while ER Dano threw a sheet over the girl.
Buzz nodded. “Ms. Virginia, why are we here today?”
She just about spit the words at him as she kicked at the sheet until it flew off. “I didn’t call you, handsome, but if you wanna f-”
“Virginia!” Her horrified sister said, making the sign of the cross.
I looked around the room. Statues of the Blessed Mother, Jesus and a few others I didn’t recognize-other than they had to be saints-covered the walls. Virginia had to be Catholic. A set of rosary beads hung off the doorknob. Yep. Catholic school too.
Virginia glared at her sister. “So, why the hell are these pseudo docs here, Margaret? You called them…” She started to drift off.
