Dirty Work (Rapid Reads)

by Reed Farrel Coleman

  Gulliver asked, “What hospital is this?”

  “Wilton General,” Rabbi answered.

  “You had an accident,” Nina said, pulling a chair up to his bed.

  “Yeah, with a Chinese-food delivery man. How is he?”

  Nina smiled that smile at him. The smile that tore at his heart. “They treated him for some cuts and released him.”

  Rabbi asked, “What happened?”

  As Gulliver answered, he kept a careful eye on Nina. “I was following a man after my van blew up.”

  “What’d he look like?” Ahmed wanted to know.

  “White, forty maybe, about six feet tall, two hundred pounds. Light brown hair going gray. He wasn’t in the best of shape.”

  There was panic in Nina’s eyes. She fought very hard not to let it show. She sat perfectly still and steady. Gulliver knew there was something she wasn’t telling him. He just couldn’t figure out what it could be.

  “You think he was the guy that lit up your van?” Ahmed asked.

  “Maybe. It didn’t blow up all by itself. My guess is, he shoved a gas-soaked rag in the fill hole and put a match to it. I saw that guy through the smoke. He took off running when he spotted me.”

  “About the van,” Rabbi said. “It’s a total loss. There’s a Wilton cop outside to talk to you about it. What are you going to tell him?”

  “Forget that!” Nina barked at them. She took Gulliver’s hand in hers. “Let Gullie be for now.”

  “No,” he said. “It’s fine. I’d rather get this over with. Rabbi, you’d better stay here as my lawyer.”

  “Whatever you want.”

  Now the panic in Nina was spreading. Her hand was shaking.

  Gulliver winked at her. He said, “Don’t worry, Nina. I won’t mention Anka to the cop.”

  His words didn’t make Nina’s hand stop shaking. But he didn’t press her about it.

  The officer entered the room soon after Ahmed and Nina had left. He was maybe fifty. He had a big belly and a sneer on his face. Gulliver knew his type. The type of cop who resented Keisha for being a woman and for being black. He had probably retired at low rank from the NYPD. But he couldn’t stay away from the job. So he’d joined a small police department. In Wilton, he could be a big fish in a very small pond.

  “I’m Sergeant O’Toole of the Wilton Police, Mr. Dowd. Who is this gentleman?” The cop nodded at Rabbi.

  Gulliver said, “Steven Mandel, attorney-at-law…my attorney-at-law.”

  That made O’Toole curious. “A lawyer. Do you feel you need a lawyer, Mr. Dowd?”

  “He also happens to be my best friend, Sergeant. In any case, he’s here and I want him to stay.”

  “That’s your choice,” said a displeased O’Toole. “When you were brought to this hospital, you had a 9mm SIG Sauer on you.”

  “And the permit to carry it,” Gulliver was quick to say. “I’m a licensed PI.”

  “Yeah,” the sergeant said, “I noticed that too. So what are you investigating in Wilton?”

  “Who says I’m investigating anything? I stopped to have a cup of coffee on Main Street.”

  O’Toole didn’t believe a word of it. “And you just happened to meet up with a blind kid dressed in a Bloomfield Prep uniform?”

  “I was alone in the coffee shop. When the kid walked in, I asked him if he’d like to sit with me. My looks put some people off. With the kid being blind and all, I figured he was safe. We were having a pleasant breakfast when we heard a boom.”

  “That was your van exploding, Mr. Dowd. Correct?”

  “Too bad, but yes. It was my van.”

  “Do you know who might’ve wanted to blow up your van or do you harm?” O’Toole asked.

  Gulliver went on the offensive. “Do you think someone did it on purpose? Do you have any evidence that it was arson?”

  “Well, no. We’re still combing over the scene. But vans don’t just go blowing themselves up,” said the cop.

  “I don’t know anything about that, Sergeant. All I know is that I have to go through my insurance and have another custom-built van made for me.”

  O’Toole didn’t quit. “All right, then maybe you can explain why you didn’t stay with your van or call the police. You wound up several blocks away, where you got hit by the delivery guy.”

  “There wasn’t anything I could do about my van. What can I say? I’m a sucker for the smell of good Chinese food.”

  O’Toole looked very unhappy. But Gulliver was in a hospital bed. He had his lawyer at his bedside. There really wasn’t much the sergeant could do. “Are you kidding me with that answer or what?” he asked.

  Gulliver knew it was time to stop. “I’m tired, Sergeant O’Toole. If you wouldn’t mind, I think I’m done answering questions for now.”

  O’Toole was a stubborn bastard. He looked about ready to ask another question anyway. But Rabbi shook his head and said, “You heard my client, Sergeant. He’s cooperated with you. Now, unless you have proof there was an act of arson or that my client committed a crime, please leave.”

  “Have it your way. But when your client gets out of here, I expect his first stop to be at the police station. We need to take his statement about today’s events. Got it?”

  “Loud and clear,” Rabbi announced.

  O’Toole didn’t bother with goodbyes. He just turned and left. The sneer on his face was bigger now.

  When Rabbi was sure the cop was gone, he spoke. “Gullie, who’s Anka, and what the hell are you really doing here?”

  “Rabbi, are you asking me as my friend or as my lawyer?”

  “Both.”

  “My answer to my friend is that I cannot tell you,” Gulliver said. “The answers are private and between me and my client. My answer to my lawyer is that Anka is Nina’s daughter. She’s gone missing. I’m investigating her disappearance.”

  Gulliver ached to tell Rabbi the whole truth. He wanted to say that he was Anka’s father. Something deep inside him told him not to. He had told Vespucci only because he had to. Before he told anyone else, he had to find her. He had to meet her and talk it over with her. Then he could tell Rabbi. After that, maybe the rest of the world.

  Rabbi was shocked. “Nina has a kid? Amazing. I never figured her as the kind of woman who wanted kids.”

  “Yeah,” Gulliver said. “Pretty surprised myself. I’ve had a few surprises of my own recently. Now do me a favor and get a doctor so I can get the hell out of here.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Gulliver knew he shouldn’t do it. But he knew he had to. So when the doctor released him from the hospital, he accepted Nina’s offer to take him home with her.

  He knew it was playing with fire. It was more than playing with fire. It was sticking his hand into a furnace. But it was a risk worth taking. Gulliver needed to know why she was so frightened. He also needed to know what she was holding back.

  Nina’s apartment was in Chelsea. It was just north of where Black and Blue Steaks was located. She had amazing views of the Hudson River, New Jersey and Lower Manhattan. The apartment was beautiful. The furnishings were works of art. They were one of a kind. Everything in the place was just so. From carpet to ceiling it was perfect. Nina always had had a taste for expensive and pretty things.

  They hadn’t talked much in the car on the ride down from Wilton. Gulliver didn’t know Nina’s reason for being quiet. He only knew his own. He had a crippling headache. The kind that made dying seem like a good option. It also made crawling into Nina’s bed to sleep it off seem like a wise thing to do. He needed to fall down the well of sleep. He didn’t care where the well was or how deep.

  He opened his eyes. His headache was gone. Nina wasn’t. She was asleep next to him. There was a dim light in the room. It was bright enough to let him see that Nina was naked. His heart raced at the sight of her. The warmth of her body next to his made him half-crazy.

  As fumbling and awkward as their lovemaking had been back in high school, Gulliver had enjoyed every s
econd of it. He had loved the afterglow of it even more. He would stay awake long after she had drifted off and watch her sleep. It was as if he couldn’t believe how lucky he was. He’d wanted to be like a sponge. He’d wanted to soak in every second of their time together. Here they were again, older and wounded. But it was no less exciting for Gulliver. He watched her for a while. Then he quietly got out of bed to make his way to the bathroom.

  Nina was awake when he got back.

  “I thought you were trying to sneak away,” she whispered.

  “Nature called.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Much better.”

  She swung her bare legs over the side of the bed. “Come here, Gullie.”

  He hesitated. Not for long. He realized it was silly to fight it. He had wanted this for too long to let anything get in the way. He stepped toward her. Nina leaned forward and covered Gulliver’s lips with her own. They kissed for what felt like forever. For Gulliver, it wasn’t nearly long enough. Gulliver didn’t stop her when Nina began to undress him.

  Two hours went by like a snap. Nina was asleep again. Gulliver lay next to her, watching her. At some point he also gave in to sleep. But his was a restless sleep. His mind was busy putting together puzzle pieces from half-forgotten dreams. He dreamed of the flaming van and the man he had chased. He thought he almost had a name to put to the man’s face. He never quite got it. Gulliver’s mind wouldn’t stay in one place. It jumped to the talk he’d had with Nina in the restaurant. Pictures of Colorado flashed in his mind. Joey Vespucci’s words rang in his ears. Finally, he relaxed into sleep.

  The next time he opened his eyes, the light in the room came from the morning sun. Nina was not alongside him. The bedroom still smelled of her. He called out to her. She did not answer. She must have gone out, Gulliver thought. He didn’t worry about it. He just lay there, remembering the magic of how they had been together seventeen years ago. He thought about the magic of last night. Things had been much less awkward than in high school. The afterglow was no less warm. He hadn’t felt so much like a whole person in a very long time. Gulliver had told himself he’d come here to question Nina. To find out why she was so scared. To find out what she wasn’t telling him. Yet, in his heart, he knew he had gotten what he’d really come for.

  In the shower, Gulliver happily let the water pour over him. He needed to find Anka more than ever. Maybe they could be a real family. He had been afraid to hope for it. After last night, he couldn’t stop himself from hoping. Then it hit him in the gut like a cannonball. It took his breath away. All the hope he’d been feeling washed down the drain with the soap and water.

  Gulliver called Ahmed and asked him to pick him up around the corner. He didn’t wait in the apartment. He didn’t want to see Nina yet. He threw on his clothes and got out of there as fast as he could. His clothes still stank. They smelled of the smoke from the van fire. They smelled of sweat. None of that mattered now. He thought he had the key to finding Anka. But he needed to get back to his place to do a little research.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Gulliver Dowd was not a big fan of prayer. It was hard to pray to a God who had played such cruel tricks on him and Keisha. Still, he had prayed hard that he was wrong now. But he wasn’t wrong. He had pretty much known that from the moment the idea hit him in the shower. At least God was consistent. This was His cruelest trick of all.

  The Internet could be an ugly place. But it was also a PI’s best friend. It hadn’t taken Gulliver more than ten minutes to track down Nina’s aunt in Colorado. And she was very willing to talk to Gulliver. She said Nina had spoken of him often while staying with her all those years ago. Gulliver had interviewed many people in his years as a PI. He knew that most people loved to talk if you just let them. Gulliver acted as if he was looking for Nina.

  “I haven’t seen her in many years,” he lied. “We didn’t end on a good note. I want to get past that.”

  The aunt chatted on. Gulliver mostly just listened to her talk.

  “I hear Nina had a baby girl,” he said.

  “Anka’s her name. Cutest baby ever.” The aunt was full of pride. “She comes out here every summer to visit me. I’m more like her grandmother than a great-aunt. Her birthday’s coming up next month.”

  “Really?”

  “November first. I never miss it. I call her and send a card with some money.”

  “One of our old friends I talked to said Anka was born prematurely,” Gulliver lied again. He knew that once you started lying, it got easier.

  The aunt laughed. “Oh no, Mr. Dowd. Your friend got that all wrong. The baby was weeks late. They were about to induce Nina when she went into labor. Funny thing is, she barely even showed until the last month. Young girls are like that sometimes.”

  “Oh, I see. Is it true that Nina is a lawyer?”

  There were a few seconds of silence. Then she said, “I’m afraid not. She owns a fancy restaurant back in New York. She was doing real well in school. Then the baby came. She also had a full-time job. Nina just couldn’t keep up. She went back east a little over a year after she came out here.”

  “But not to her family on Long Island?”

  “No,” the aunt said. “My sister would have taken her back in a second. But my brother-in-law was a real ass. He shut out her and the baby. To this day they don’t have anything to do with her.”

  Gulliver backtracked. “You said Anka comes to visit you every summer.”

  “Yeah, every summer.”

  “Pardon me for being nosy. But your voice changed when you said that. Did something happen? Was she sick or something?”

  “Nothing like that,” the aunt said quickly. “No, some man kept pestering her.”

  “Did you go to the police?”

  “I wanted to. Anka made me promise not to. I let it go. But I did tell Nina about it. A mother has a right to know these things.”

  They talked a little more. Gulliver stayed away from touchy subjects. He didn’t want to make the aunt wary.

  “Please do me a favor,” Gulliver said before hanging up. “Please don’t tell Nina I called. When I get in touch with her, I want it to be a big surprise.”

  The aunt liked that idea. “You have my word. Nina could use some old friends. I didn’t much care for the friends she made after she left here.”

  Gulliver’s next call was to Joey Vespucci. One of those friends Nina had made after she left Colorado.

  “Hey, little man,” Vespucci said when he picked up the phone. A smile was in his voice. “How you doing?”

  “Good, Joey.”

  “You know what? Nina ain’t called me yet to thank me for letting her off the hook.”

  “That’s because I haven’t told her yet. I wanted to get this thing with her daughter wrapped up first.”

  Joey was curious. “You know where the girl is?”

  “Not exactly. I have a pretty good idea of who she’s with and how to find her.”

  “Is there going to be any trouble? You need some extra muscle?” Joey offered.

  “No thanks. I don’t think it’ll be any trouble at all,” Gulliver said. “There is one thing that I wanted to ask you, Joey.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Was Nina a hooker when you met her?”

  “You didn’t ask Nina?”

  “The time didn’t seem right,” Gulliver answered. “Was she a hooker?”

  “Not exactly. She was an escort. Very high-class girl.”

  “So what you’re telling me, Joey, is that she was a high-priced hooker.”

  “That’s about it. Let’s just say I acquired the business. And I saw that Nina had other talents. She was made for better things. I taught her the business. She ran my clubs for me for many years. I guess I always had kind of a soft spot for her. That’s why I made the deal to lend her the cash for the steakhouse. In return, all she had to do was front the clubs.”

  “Are you okay talking about this on the telephone?” Gulliver asked. />
  “Don’t worry,” Joey said. “The line is safe. Thanks for asking. Most people would be too selfish to ask.”

  “Just one more question. Was Nina ever arrested when she worked for you, or when she worked as an escort?”

  “A couple of times. Nothing serious. My lawyers always got her out of it.”

  Gulliver was numb when he hung up the phone. He was sick that Nina had played him for a fool. But mostly he hated her for the way she played him.

  But he’d taken the job. And he never quit on a job. Never.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The next day the air around the coffee shop in Wilton still smelled a little like burnt van. Gulliver thought maybe the smell was in his head. Ahmed said no. He smelled it too. At least the van had been towed away. Gulliver wasn’t there about the van. He was there to take the next-to-last step in finding Anka. He and Ahmed had already stopped at the Wilton Academy to talk to Henry. Henry was the security guard who’d seen the older man and Anka at the coffee shop in town. It had cost Gulliver another hundred dollars. It was money well spent. Gulliver had asked Henry if he could remember the date he’d seen them. He’d answered immediately.

  “Absolutely. September eighteenth. It’s my mom’s birthday. I’d just ordered her flowers from the shop down the street,” he said.

  Gulliver had one more question. “Did you see cash on Anka’s table when you came into the coffee shop?”

  “That’s a weird question, Mr. Dowd.”

  Gulliver handed the security guard another twenty-dollar bill. “Humor me. Try to remember.”

  Henry squeezed his eyes shut. He whispered to himself loudly enough for Gulliver and Ahmed to hear. “I walked into the coffee shop and said hello to Judy the waitress. I turned to my left. I noticed the girl sitting at the only dirty table in the place. She was holding a gift-wrapped box. There was a shopping bag on the floor next to her. A seat was pushed back from the table. There were dirty dishes on the table in front of the girl and…” Henry opened his eyes and said, “No. There was no cash on the table. I hope that helps you.”