by E. R. FALLON
Dino chuckled. “You have my word.”
They took her car to his place. She felt a little buzzed, and he had asked her if she was okay to drive, but she insisted she’d be fine. She was more sober than he seemed. She didn’t want him to have to give her a ride home after they went to his place, and she also didn’t want an excuse not to leave his place soon. Dino sat in the passenger seat and played around with the radio buttons. Rebecca was a fast driver, and she could tell it made him nervous. She took her eyes off the road briefly and looked at his hand on the button.
“Decide already, won’t you?”
Dino turned the radio off. “Nothing good on anyway.”
“Maybe you didn’t give it enough time.”
“Do you mind the silence?”
“Why, you don’t plan on talking?”
“No, just silence in general.”
“Sure, it’s a welcome change.”
“Because most people can’t shut up, right?”
“Yeah, they can’t. I like the quiet most of the time. Where do I make a right?” she asked as they approached a red light.
Dino sat up and pointed at the intersection ahead. “Up there.”
“Got it,” she said. “Have you lived in this neighborhood for a long time? How long have you lived in Newark?”
“I’ve lived in this neighborhood for a few years. I’ve lived in Newark my whole life.”
“Right, I remember you said that. So many people today seem to move all over, and it’s like they can forget who they really are if they aren’t careful.”
“Yeah, they forget where they came from.”
“Do you have any siblings? I have a sister. She’s younger, and married with two kids. Do I make another left up here?”
“Yeah, one block up. There, that’s it. I had a brother. Bobby. He died seven years ago.”
“I’m sorry, Dino.”
“It’s all right. He was a junkie, used to steal cars.”
“That must’ve been really hard.”
“Yeah, it was. I can’t tell you how many times Terry picked Bobby up for me and brought him to my place to help him get clean. But he never stayed clean for long. I can’t believe I’m telling you all of this. I’ve never told anyone any of this, except for Terry, of course.”
“You and Terry are close.”
“Partners always are. The three of us will be close some day, I’m sure. And I don’t really have any other friends, unless you can count ex-wives as friends.”
Rebecca laughed. “No, I don’t think ex-wives count. How many times have you been married?”
“Twice married. Engaged once, too, but it never led to marriage.”
“Wow.”
“It’s that bad, huh?”
“These days? Maybe not. I’ve never been married, and I don’t know much about marriage.”
“Here it is,” Dino said, pointing to his right. “Not much, but it’s home.”
It was a long block filled with older brownstones and newer apartment buildings.
“It’s nice,” Rebecca said as she flicked on her turn signal and pulled over to the side. She had to double-park. “Where do I find a space?”
Dino chuckled. “You don’t. Not yet anyway. We just wait until one opens up.”
A car beeped behind them.
“Like he doesn’t have enough room to get past me?” Rebecca said in frustration, throwing her hands up in the air.
“Someone’s pulling out ahead,” Dino said.
Rebecca revved the engine and pulled into the space. They stepped out of the car and she locked the doors using a remote.
“You better have good beer,” she said in jest. “This really has been a fun night. Think it’ll snow?”
“I’m having a great time myself, but unfortunately, all I have is Pabst in my fridge, I’m afraid. And maybe it will snow. I hope it doesn’t. Not for a while anyway. We don’t need more snow, although I do think it keeps crime down — there are less people on the street when it snows.”
She closed her coat.
She glanced at the intercom as they went into the building. “Hey, your wife’s name is still next to yours,” she said. She didn’t know how she felt about seeing that there.
“I know, I’ve been nagging them about it for months,” he replied. “They still haven’t removed it.”
The inside of the building smelled of cigarettes, which made Rebecca sneeze. Dino told her that even though the building was supposed to be smoke-free, the old timers who had lived in the building since before he was born didn’t feel that the particular law pertained to them.
“I’ve thought about arresting them, but then we’d have to turn the county lock-up into a nursing home,” Dino said.
She shook her head at his joke and followed him up the four flights of stairs to his apartment. “Good exercise,” she remarked.
“It’s about the most I get these days.”
“You should come running with me some time, on the weekends.”
“How many miles do you run?”
“Between six and ten.”
“Wow.”
“That’s a lot, huh?”
He nodded. “I think that could kill me.”
“Nah, it’s good for you. And you know what? When I’m chasing perps, no one’s ever outrun me, not even some eighteen-year-old kid.”
They reached his apartment door, which she saw had an old potpourri wreath hanging on it. She sniffed it — it had no scent left. She assumed that his ex-wife had placed it there and he simply hadn’t taken it down after their divorce. She raised her eyebrows, but didn’t comment on it. Inside his apartment the heat must have been turned up to eighty degrees.
“What’s with the heat?” she said.
“It’s always too hot in the winter and too cold in the summer.” Dino tossed his coat on the couch and turned on a table lamp.
The apartment was very neat.
“Do you do all the cleaning yourself?” she asked him. She removed her coat and put it next to his on the couch.
“Yep. Even when I was married, I was the one who did it all,” he said. “I can also cook.”
“That’s surprising, and refreshing. Then why do you have frozen pizzas?” She wanted to see if she could catch him off guard.
He smiled at her. “Just because I can cook that doesn’t mean that, with work, I have the time to.”
Dino turned the TV on to the local news station and then headed for the kitchen. She followed him and watched him open the fridge. The Never Mind the Bollocks magnet on the fridge door surprised her in a good way.
“I’m thinking about getting a cat,” he said.
“You’re lonely here?”
“Yeah, something like that. Beer or orange juice?”
“Got any vodka?” she asked.
“What do I look like, the White Horse Tavern?”
She chuckled. “Speaking of which, do you get into the city much?”
“Manhattan?” Dino shook his head. “I’ve been there a couple of times with my latest ex before she was an ex.” He handed her a beer.
“Tell me about them.”
“All of them?”
“Yeah. I want to hear this.”
“Okay. Carol, the most recent wife, well you know she was a nurse. Lucy, my first wife, she was a paralegal, studying to be a lawyer. She was smart, read a lot. Left me for an investment banker. And Jessica, Jessie, she wasn’t a wife, but she came before Lucy. She was the one I was engaged to but never married. Jessie is what you might call a proprietor. She manages her family’s bar.”
“Which bar?”
“Malone’s, in Marks Hill.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Oh, you will soon. From time to time we get called to go there.”
“Really, homicide calls?”
Dino nodded. “Jessie’s family’s connected to the mob, not the Italian one, the Irish one. And yeah, from time to time we get a stiff. I’m convinced they run an i
llegal gambling joint out of the basement.”
“And you don’t call vice?”
Dino shrugged. “Sure, they’ve come a few times. The Malone family’s been there for decades, and they’re politically connected. They’re Newark’s equivalent of the Kennedys, only on a much smaller scale.”
“And you almost married one.”
Dino chuckled and drank his beer. “But Jessie was different. She never wanted any part of that world. She got tricked into it, believe me.”
“It sounds like you still have feelings for her.”
“Nah. That was a long time ago. Want to sit down?” Dino said. “It’s hard to date someone who doesn’t understand being a cop.”
“That’s why I’m single,” Rebecca said with a smile.
He moved aside their coats, and they sat on the couch but not too close together. Her cell phone rang, but she ignored it. They watched the end of the evening news program in silence, including the segment about the breaking developments in the case of the boy found in a box, and a brief interview with Captain Peters. Rebecca peered over at Dino and saw his eyelids fluttering. She took out her cell phone and looked at the screen. It was getting late. When she hadn’t answered her phone, her sister, Shana, had texted to see how she was. They hadn’t spoken in a while. She would get back to her later.
“It’s getting late,” she muttered as her eyes started to close too. “You forgot about the pizza you promised.”
“I know, sorry. We can just rest for a moment and then we’ll cook,” Dino murmured. He sat up and set his beer down on the carpeted floor and then shut his eyes.
Rebecca set her beer down on the floor next to his. “What happened to your coffee table?” she asked. There was an empty space where one should have been.
“My ex-wife took it. I haven’t had the time to get a new one,” Dino said quietly, his eyes still closed.
“She didn’t want any of the other furniture?”
“Not really. She said she wanted to start clean. Clean. Can you believe that? Like our marriage was something dirty.”
Rebecca leaned back into the couch. Her head felt light from the alcohol. “Sometimes I don’t understand women,” she said.
Dino smiled with his eyes closed. He put his arm around her. She was attracted to him, but was uncertain what to do about it. She didn’t want to cause problems at work. Then after a while she rested her head on his chest. His body felt strong and warm.
After a moment, he touched her arm and she opened her eyes.
“Rebecca?” He stared at her.
She looked up at him. “Yeah?”
“We fell asleep.”
“I know.”
“Is that okay with you?”
She sat up and kissed him. “It’s fine with me.”
He smiled and seemed surprised.
“You know what?” she said.
“What?”
“I’ve never kissed a cop before.”
“Neither have I.”
Dino returned the kiss, harder than she’d expected. She reached over and unbuttoned his shirt. He removed it, but kept on his white undershirt. She pulled off her sweater.
“Got any more beer?” she asked.
“Do you plan on us getting drunk tonight?” He smiled.
She chuckled. “No, but I’m all out of beer and would appreciate another.” She released him from her embrace.
“Anything for you, sweetheart, anything.” He rose from the couch.
“Hey, watch the sweetheart.”
“What do I call you then?”
“Rebecca.”
“Even while we’re, you know . . .”
She nodded. “And I’ll promise not to call you cupcakes.”
“Gee, thanks.” Dino laughed.
He returned with two more beers and handed her one.
“Maybe we should try not to get too smashed,” he said. “I wouldn’t want this to be, you know . . .”
“A one-night stand?”
He nodded.
“You mean, it’s going to be something more than that, Cooper?”
“Yes, I would like to think so.”
“I’ll think about it. Now get over here.”
She stood up and pulled him close, nearly knocking the beer out of his hand in the process.
“I want to see if you’re as good with this as you are with that wit of yours,” she said.
She grabbed him by the waist of his jeans and kissed him on the lips. She removed her bra and he glanced at her chest. Rebecca touched his face.
“I’m up here, Cooper,” she said.
He laughed and put his arms around her naked waist. “God, you’re beautiful.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
She gestured for him to climb next to her on the couch.
“There’s not much room, is there?” he said as he sat down.
She took that to mean that Dino and his ex hadn’t ever made love on the couch. “Don’t you have a bed?”
He shook his head. “A futon. Actually, my ex took the bed.”
Rebecca laughed. “Come closer,” she said.
He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. He sat up to remove his undershirt, and tossed it to the floor. She ran her hands over his bare chest. The feeling of his warm, taut skin under her fingers caused her to shiver, and she couldn’t remember a man who had ever caused her to shudder like that. She took off her jeans and he did the same. He kissed her one more time before flicking off the lamp on the table next to the couch.
“Rebecca,” he whispered. “I have to tell you something.”
She stopped kissing his face. “What?”
“My brother, he didn’t just die, he was murdered.”
“How?” She stroked his face with the back of her hand.
“We never caught the guy who did it. He went to Malone’s one night and was dead the next day. They found him on the sidewalk outside. That’s why me and Jessie split up.”
“I’m so sorry, Dino.” Rebecca held him tightly.
He placed his hand to the small of her back, and she felt him breathing in deeply against her.
Chapter Twelve
Terry knew that Tulia was still up when he saw a light on through the curtain of the living-room window. She was probably reading or watching television. Jimmy was probably home by now, too, and would be upstairs in his room. He’d like to see Jimmy, ask him how his day went, and maybe Jimmy would be a bit more responsive.
Terry shivered in his thin jacket, wishing he’d grabbed something warmer before he stormed out of the house. He wasn’t feeling man enough to go crawling back into the house now, he knew that.
He reached into the deep pockets of his jacket and he felt his car keys. His car was parked in a street space in front of his house. He could leave again and Tulia wouldn’t know he’d been close by. He got in and started the engine.
The Super 8 Motel off Highway 86 was not far from the overpass where the homeless people lived, and Terry pushed seventy the entire way there. After all, he was a detective. If he got pulled over by a patrol car, he’d whip out his badge, and then he’d be on his way. That was the way things were.
He turned on the radio and found a station playing stuff he remembered from when he was a kid. Smokey Robinson crooned about the tracks of his tears. He smiled ever so slightly as he remembered that he had sung that song to Tulia at their wedding on the beach. He had been quite drunk, and her not so much, but she still thought it was both romantic and hilarious. Something had changed. Perhaps it was another guy. With her blue eyes, shapely legs, and full lips, Tulia was gorgeous. She was also very smart and somewhat conservative. He’d always figured guys before him had been too afraid to ask her out.
Terry’s father had been the one to introduce them. Tulia’s dad worked as a filing clerk for him. His old man had always spoken highly of the young Tulia, and one day had finally gotten Terry to agree to go on a date with her. Back then, Terry was just starting out on the police fo
rce, and Tulia had just finished high school. Terry was young and hot-blooded, and he wanted someone with large breasts and long legs in a miniskirt. He didn’t want to date Tulia.
On their first date, Tulia wore glasses that exaggerated her large eyes. He could barely see her figure inside the baggy dress she was wearing. But surprisingly, they’d hit it off.
She had a better sense of humor than he would have imagined, and she was strong and sexy in her own way.
Terry spied the motel up ahead just off the highway. He exited and pulled into the parking lot. He looked at the rundown units with suspicion. Would they have clean sheets?
Going to motels was a new thing for him. He’d been faithful to Tulia throughout their entire marriage. But he’d been tempted to stray. Women had slipped him their numbers at Dermot’s plenty of times. Even a DA’s assistant had asked him out for a drink after court once, which he had declined. He wondered, alone in the dimly lit parking lot of the Super 8 Motel, if he should have said yes to those women.
Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” came on and he turned off the radio. Tulia loved that song. He checked his phone for messages before he shut off the engine. There weren’t any.
The guy at the front desk had a clean-shaven face as smooth as a baby’s bottom. He appeared to be not much older than Jimmy. He watched Terry with indifference as he swiped his credit card and handed him a pen to sign the receipt.
“You’re in room twelve.” He slid the key across the counter toward Terry. “Check out’s at eleven o’clock. If you stay any later than that, we’ll have to charge you for the day, sorry.”
Terry nodded as he picked up the key. “Thanks. Say, is there any place to grab something to eat around here?”
“Like a diner?”
“Yeah.”
The young guy shook his head. “But there’s a vending machine to the left of the last room, room forty,” he said.
Terry thanked him again even though the guy hadn’t really been that helpful, and then he headed out the door. He walked fast because it was cold out, and he just wanted to get inside his warm room, take off his suit and slip under the bedcovers. He didn’t go to the vending machine although his stomach was growling. He figured he’d rise early and get a big breakfast tomorrow morning. There was a pancake house somewhere off Highway 86, but he hadn’t been there in years.
