As promised, she and Toby arranged to take Madame Zhou to dinner one evening, and she enjoyed the time spent with both of them.
After Toby and Reightman had seen Zhou Li safely inside Green Dragon, they stood on the sidewalk on Capital Street while Reightman brought him up to speed on the current state of the investigation, and told him she had pretty much resigned herself to the idea it was, for all intent and purpose, over.
Toby was disappointed, but understood. “Maybe it’s for the best. I know it’s hard to accept that you may never find the man who shot at me and killed Detective Jackson, but maybe that’s just the way it is.”
“I know. I just have a feeling there’s a clue I’m missing.” She leaned against the side of her car and looked across the street at the Time Out Spa. “To tell you the truth, I’ll probably always feel that way, but maybe I’m just going to have to accept it.”
“If you think of something I can do, let me know. You know I’ll help any way I can, Detective.”
“I know, and I appreciate it.” She considered possible next steps, and then shrugged. “I’m going to start consolidating all the information in the files, so at least I’ll have everything organized if I should ever need to refer to it again. I suppose the file will sit, covered in dust, until it becomes one more unsolved mystery on the corner of an aging Detective’s desk.”
“I still have a file of pictures and a set of photocopied pages of the ledger book. I think you have the originals in custody, but I’ll pull them together for you when I finish packing my office. Frankly, I’d rather have them out of my life. I know it sounds harsh, but I just want to move on.”
“Thanks, Toby. I don’t blame you at all for feeling that way, especially since you have a new person in your life. I keep forgetting to ask, but what’s this mystery man’s name? I feel silly referring to him as ‘your special someone’ or the ‘the new man’.”
Reightman noted the more than fond expression on Toby’s face as he said the name; “Bill. Bill Jones. He’s kind of a geeky – just like you’d expect with that name, but he’s a hot geek, complete with retro glasses and a smokin’ hot body.”
“Kind of like a sexy university boy who studies engineering by day and let’s his secret self out at night?”
Toby considered her description, amused to be having this conversation with her. “No, he’s too old for that fantasy. He’s about thirty-two I think, and he’s more the shy, but personable, college professor type, who everyone has crushes on during class and imagines nude while he lectures about some boring topic.”
“Oh! I had one of those professors back in the day! Everyone was always finding an excuse to drop by his office to get extra help with their assignments.”
Toby grinned. “You better believe I’d be one of the students standing in line outside Bill’s office door waiting for my private one-on-one! I’d be willing to pay extra for the private tutoring, and I know just how I’d pay that Bill!”
“Okay, that’s enough of that, Toby! I get the idea. You’re going to make this old lady blush. I’ll have that image in my head forever, but it should help me remember his first name. All I’ll have to do is imagine you paying the bill. The last name should be easy. My new partner’s name is Jones as well, although he’s a Vince, not a Bill. At my age, any little reminders are very helpful.”
“Yeah, you are practically a geriatric, Detective Melba,” Toby joked. “Before long, I’ll be visiting you in a nursing home somewhere.”
“As long as you promise to sneak me in all kinds of forbidden treats, I won’t bust your ass for referring to me as Detective Melba.”
“You know you like it!”
“Maybe I do, but you don’t use it very often anymore. Maybe you should make more effort.”
“I will.” His mind went back to the things still to be packed in the office. “About those files – I’ll get everything together and give you a call so I can officially hand them over and get them out of the way.”
Reightman pushed herself off the car. “Thanks. Just let me know when you have them ready and I’ll drop by to pick them up.” As she opened her car door, she thought of something else she wanted to ask. “Toby, have you seen Mitchell lately?”
Toby’s eyes flicked away and when he answered, Reightman thought she detected a trace of disappointment on his face before he forced some false cheer into his voice. “Yeah. We occasionally go to the shooting range. He’s been real insistent I keep up my skills. But other than that, we don’t see each other as much as I thought we would. He’s spending a lot of time with the new man in his life and that’s good. I’m happy for him.”
“Thanks for the update. That’s more than I knew, and I’m happy things are working out for him in that department. I’m glad we all went to dinner tonight and I think we should do this more often so we keep in touch. I’ve really missed seeing you and I miss Madame Zhou as well. I always enjoy her stories, and her very interesting observations about people and events. She always manages to work in some piece of advice, whether you want it or not.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. She’s always offering a helpful hint or making a point about something or other. The thing is, she’s usually right on the money. I really like her and I’m very thankful she agreed to help me out – that time you arrested me.” He grinned to let her know he didn’t mean anything by the comment. “She’s a big part of why things have turned out as well as they have, and I’m very fortunate to have her in my life.”
“We’ve both been fortunate in that regard, Toby. Now, I’d better get on home so I can drag myself out of bed and get into work tomorrow.”
He’d noticed the weary disenchantment in Reightman’s voice every time she mentioned work. “Are things bad, Detective Melba?”
Reightman shrugged. “It pays the bills, which is something. But, I’ll admit I’m not as content or invested as I used to be. The last several weeks have opened my eyes to a lot of things, especially things having to do with human nature. I suspect what’s bothering me now has always been there, but I didn’t see what was right in front of my face.” She gave a rueful laugh. “Just listen to me! Now I do sound like a bitter old woman in a nursing home.”
“No, you don’t, and I understand exactly what you mean. My eyes have been opened too. You know, I used to dream about having a place like the Time Out Spa. Soon, it won’t be anything but a piece of my past. I thought I’d be devastated if I ever had to close it down, and I am sad it’s come to that. But in a way, I’m relieved.”
“Yes, I’m sure in some ways it is a relief.” After a moment’s more reflection, Reightman gave herself a mental shake. “Listen to us! We need to focus on making the future better instead of dwelling on the negative things which have happened.”
“You’re right! Thanks for giving me a dose of your ancient wisdom,” he teased as she eased herself into the car.
Soon, he was on his way upstairs to his apartment and she was driving home to hers, both of them thinking of how much had happened over the past few months.
It was a day or two before Toby was finally able to focus on the last set of drawers in his office filing cabinet. He’d stepped in to help out the spa manager of one of the local high-end hotels who found herself with a facility of convention attendees and two staff members trying to recover from the flu that was going around town. She’d even approached him about coming to work for her full time. He’d declined, but had assured her he was happy to fill in anytime she needed some extra help.
Toby gave Bill the rundown on his day when they caught up by phone. Bill was out of town on a job, and they tried to touch base every day – sometimes more than once – and Toby was still amazed that this man had entered his life at exact moment he’d needed something good to happen. There were times when he admitted they’d moved very fast, and he was almost obsessed with the idea of their relationship. But he told himself he deserved a chance at happiness after the last several months, and
put it out of his mind.
Tonight, Bill gave him some news he didn’t care for, and Toby was working hard to get past his disappointment. “I can’t believe it will be three more days before we get to spend time together,” Toby told him, trying not to let his frustration show. “And, I can’t believe you’ll be totally unavailable even by phone.”
“I know, Toby.” John Brown’s voice sounded as sad as Toby felt. “But sometimes jobs come up and there’s just no way around it.” John had accepted a little clean-up mission from an out-of-state client. He thought he could handle the client’s problem sooner, but he’d built in the extra time, just in case he ran into unforeseen obstacles. He knew he couldn’t indulge himself in maintaining daily contact with Toby while taking care of business. It just wouldn’t feel right to let the job bleed into his personal life, especially since he knew how important it was to keep that part of his life off of Toby’s radar. Besides, their time together was better spent on other things. “Why don’t we plan to go up to the cabin next weekend, Toby? I’ll make up for having to be away and out of touch for the next few days. I promise.”
“And how, exactly, are you planning to make up for leaving me alone, all by my poor lonely, incredibly horny self?”
“I have a few ideas….”
“Yeah? Maybe you’d better share those with me right now. But first, let me get a little more comfortable.”
John Brown thought that was an excellent idea and lay back on the hotel bed. He was as creative as he knew how to be and spent the next thirty minutes explaining in very vivid detail exactly what he was planning to do to – and with – Toby to make amends for his absence. He was getting good at this love stuff.
By the end of the next day, Toby finished packing his office, except for the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet – the drawer which contained copies of the ledger book and photos. He pulled them from the drawer, firmly resolved not to look through any of the materials. He held them in his hands for a minute, tempted to revisit them one more time, but told himself to just let go of the past and focus on the future. Feeling nothing but relief, he shoved them into a large envelope and sealed the top. He picked up his phone to let Detective Reightman know they were ready whenever she had the time to drop by and get them.
“Thanks for pulling these things together, Toby. You have to be relieved you’ll never have to see them again.”
“You better believe it! Just knowing they’re on the way out of here makes me feel better. It doesn’t change what happened in the past, and some of it I wouldn’t want to change. But, I think….I think it’s okay to focus on the future, and Bill.”
“I can tell just by the way you say his name that he’s very special.”
“He is. He really surprised me – coming into my life just when I thought things were about as bad as they could be. And he’s smart and nice and…well, you’ve already heard me go on about how sexy I think he is. There’s something about him that just makes me tingly all over. Or maybe it’s the glasses, and the tattoo, or maybe it’s the unexpectedness of the combo. Whatever it is, he just does it for me.”
“Yes, you’ve gone on and on about your sexy, geeky man but you never told me he has a tattoo. Is it some elaborate design on his chest or back?”
“No, it’s just a little one, a name or something, on the back of his shoulder. But it gives him a little edge.”
“So, you like the bad boy vibe, huh?”
Toby blushed and shook his head. “I don’t think he’s much of a bad boy, except maybe in the sack. I think he’s more of a homebody with his cabin in the woods. We really have a great time up there, and it's like our own little world. I don’t think there’s anybody within a few miles of the place. I’m meeting him up there again this weekend.” Toby looked off into the distance and then glanced back toward her. “Sometimes, I think I might be moving too fast, but when I’m with him, it doesn’t seem to be moving fast enough.”
Melba saw the longing on his face, and what might be the beginning of something much stronger. She wondered if he was moving too fast, and if he’d really completed his grieving for Geri Guzman. She was also concerned that if something were to happen to bring this relationship crashing down while he was miles away from people who cared about him and could support him through a difficult patch, he might not be equipped to handle it by himself. Someone might need to get to him fast – and she figured that someone might as well be her. “Toby, I want to say something, but, I’m not sure it’s my place.”
Toby pushed back the lock of hair that had fallen into his face and gave a very exasperated sigh. “After everything we’ve been through, I think you can say just about anything you want. I know you only have my best interest in mind, Detective Melba. Go ahead and say it. I promise I won’t react, or over react, as the case may be – too badly.”
She decided it was okay to interfere, just a little. She was probably spending too much time with Zhou Li. “Okay, if you say so. This might sound silly, but I kind of look at you as a younger brother. And, you’re right; I only want the best for you. I’m happy you have a new person in your life. But, I am worried. I’m not going to butt in, unless you ask me to, but I’m uncomfortable knowing you‘re miles from here without anyone knowing how to get to you if something…”
He stopped her before she could go further. “I get it, Detective Melba.” He gave her a hint of a pout, and folded his arms across his chest, reminding her of the boy in the picture she’d seen the first night she’d entered the Time Out Spa. For just a moment, he looked very young again. “How about this? If something goes wrong and I have some kind of crisis, you’ll be the first person I call. I do, however, expect you to let me cry on your shoulder before you get to say I told you so. Deal?”
She chuckled in relief, glad he hadn’t taken offense. “Yes, it’s a deal, as long as you promise to return the favor for me if I ever need it. And one more thing – tell me how to get to this cabin in the woods in case I need to come rescue you.”
Toby rolled his eyes. “You are like a big sister – bossy and everything! Okay, I’ll draw you a map.”
Later, as she was getting ready to leave, he took her by the hand. “Thanks, Detective Melba. I think you’re being a tad over protective, but I guess I should be used to everyone thinking I need the extra help. Truthfully, I did need it a while back. Thank God that’s over! Now, get out of here so I can finish closing this place down. I’ll talk to you when I get back and hopefully, not before.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
John Brown crossed the state line on his way to the cabin He’d stopped for lunch a couple of hours ago and enjoyed a delicious pulled pork sandwich, with all the fixings. He’s savored the different flavor combinations while he read the local newspaper, paying special attention to the story about the shocking death of a well know State Representative. She’d been found dead in her home, from suicide, apparently. John Brown smiled as he folded up the paper and left it on the table for the next patron to read. He paid his bill, leaving a good-sized tip for his waitress and climbed back in his SUV.
About twelve miles from the cabin, he stopped at the grocery store and picked up a few things for the weekend, whistling as he shopped the aisles. He picked up a couple of steaks and a few bottles of decent wine and was soon pulling into the gravel drive of the cabin. He carried in the groceries and then went back to unload the rest of the things in his vehicle. He fixed a quick dinner and then poured a little brandy into a mason jar and went out onto the deck to enjoy the cool evening. He pulled out his phone and called Toby. “Hey, Toby,” he greeted his man when he answered. “I have good news! I was able to finish up the job and stopped at the cabin instead of going on home. Do you think you can get away a day early and join me? I’ll make it worth your while.”
The silence on the phone lasted so long John Brown checked to see if he still had a connection. Sometimes service was spotty up here. “Toby, are you there?”
“S
orry, Bill,” Toby’s voice came over the phone. “I just dropped something. I’m here.”
“So, do you think you can get away? I’m anxious to see you.” John Brown was startled by the longing in his own voice.
“I’m anxious to see you too – really anxious, if you know what I mean. How about I drive up tomorrow and we can have the extra day together. I might be able to come up with some way for us to fill the time.”
“I can think of some ways to fill the time, too, and maybe a few other things as well.”
“That’s enough of that, mister! I’ll never be able to sleep tonight if you keep talking like that, and I need all the sleep I can get. I need to be rested up for what I have in mind.”
John Brown smiled at the sultry tone in Toby’s voice, and thought he might be getting the hang of things. “Okay, I’ll let you go then – for now.” He suddenly felt the urge to say something he’d never said to anyone since he was a child. It hadn’t gone well then, so he thought it over carefully, wondering if the words he wanted to say were even true, or just a whim of the moment. A part of him wondered if his emotions were real or just part of the role he was playing when they were together. He knew he was fixated on Toby now and fiercely protective of their time together, and it didn’t bother him a bit. After all, Toby was his. Given that, he decided the little words didn’t matter all that much one way or the other. For now, he could imagine they were true, and for John Brown, that was good enough. “Toby,” he said hesitantly, remembering the dismissive way his mother had reacted when he’d said similar words to her many years ago, “I think I ….uh….I….”
“Bill,” Toby interrupted gently before he could stammer out the final words, “you don’t have to say what I think you’re trying to say right now. I don’t want either of us to say it, until we’re both sure, and really mean it.” Toby listened to the silence on the other end, wondering if he’d said the right thing. “Bill, I…”
Hard Job Page 28
