by Julie Ramson
Digs groaned. “Don’t do that!” He cocked a brow at me. “You just did that deliberately, didn’t you?” he accused. And gave an elaborate sigh. “Fish, huh?” He pretended to consider, “Okay, but for the chocolate I also get a kiss. A real kiss.”
“One kiss?” I asked sternly.
“Well.......at least one.” He grinned. “And no Sam for dinner. Just us.”
“Nice, but how do I tell her to come for the day but she can’t stay for dinner? How do you expect me to do that?” I pretended outrage.
“Not my problem, Toots. I have to figure out dinner, you get to figure out how we have it alone. Those are the rules.” He waved a hand airily. “And I get my first kiss tonight.”
“First? What makes you think there will be second?”
“Experience, Toots. Experience.” He picked up the plates. I watched him walk away. John Reilly was gorgeous but Digs was - Digs was something else.
He came back and pulled me up. I expected him to kiss me but he didn’t. He just steered me toward the bedroom. When we got there, he headed for his side of the bed. Still hadn’t kissed me. I eyed him cautiously and got in on my side. As usual, he pulled me in.
“Now.” He said. “Now.” He kissed me, soft and deep and then with much more intensity. Wow. Every time he did that, something fluttered in me. He kissed me again. And again. I was starting to rethink my rules about this guy when he patted my rear end and snuggled in with his chin on my head, his arm around me and said. “Good night, Toots.” He kissed my head one last time. I lay awake for a while thinking about him, about relationships and about sex. About not wanting to get hurt. Took me a while to fall asleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY – EIGHT
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18
I opened my eyes to find Killer nose to nose with me and the noise of the shower running. I narrowed my eyes at him. “So, what? You need to go out?” He started wagging his whole rear end. Guess I was right.
I got up and threw on jeans and a sweatshirt. Digs was coming out of the bathroom and stopped me. “Good morning, Mag,” he said as he leaned in to kiss me. He kept on moving.
He was an enigma for sure. I did the shower and teeth thing and headed out. He had the coffee going but he and Killer were gone. I sighed. I did want the case over, but I would really miss him. So would Killer.
I poured the coffee and made toast and eggs. The least I could do. He came back in, bring cold air with him. “The temp’s really dropped out there, Toots.” He stopped cold. “Wow! You can make toast! And eggs! Who would have thought.” I hit him with the spatula.
“Smart ass.” I fixed two plates and handed him one. We sat looking at the start of my time line. “I want to see if I can put everyone on the line, what they were doing at each time something happened. I’ve started with 1985.”
Digs chewed and nodded. “That’ll be interesting.”
“Do the Cicero police know the significance of the serpent ring?” I asked.
He looked thoughtful. “Don’t know. I would guess they do but we’ll have to see. We’re all hoping they will let us into Louie’s apartment. Sean was hoping that he’d have the ballistics report on Herbert’s gun and the bullet found with Tony Corelli’s body. That should be in soon.”
“I think everyone expects them to match, don’t you?”
Digs nodded. “I don’t think there’s any question that Herbert robbed Lefty and killed Tony. The question is where the money went.” He took one more gulp of coffee and got up. Leaned over and kissed my head. “Ready?”
I almost dropped my coffee cup. “Do I look ready?” I gave him a mock glare. “I’m in jeans!”
Digs scowled. “I’m sure Brice won’t mind.” He lowered his chin.
Men. Cement in their heads. I wasn’t fixing up for Brice – well, okay, maybe a little - but mainly, I wanted to look good in case Perfect Olivia was there. As I was sure she would be.
“Ten minutes, Digs.” I flew into the bathroom and plugged in the curling iron. I put on the full face, foundation, blush, eyeliner, shadow. This was getting old. I hadn’t worn this much makeup since I was in my high school play. I prefer much less but if I had to face Olivia, I needed to use every weapon available.
I dressed in red and black. My turn for the drama. Black pants, jacket and red sweater. Gold earrings, gold Celtic swirl pendant and gold bracelet. A gold swirl brooch.
We were out the door. “Maggie, I want you to promise me that you will be careful today. We’ll pick up Sam but promise me you’ll keep the door locked and your cell phone handy.”
That was easy. “Absolutely, Digs. I have no desire to meet Whip - or anyone else connected with the mob!”
We got to the police station and went in. Sean met us in the lobby. He looked grim. “Looks like Emily's old boyfriend's gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean?” I was startled.
“Just that. Gone.” Sean started for the elevators. “His assistant says he's on vacation.” His tone was skeptical.
What was this? I made a mental note to ask Emily more about him. We got off on the fourth floor and were directed to a different, smaller conference room. As I suspected, it was Brice and Olivia. No one else. Jimmy and Sean arrived shortly after we did and the meeting started.
Brice spoke first. “I don’t want this new information to leave this room. Not to Emily, not Sam, not anyone else.” He looked at each of us in turn. We all nodded.
Olivia then spoke. As always, she tended to speak mainly to Digs. “I have done some research,” she started. I studied her as she spoke. She had on a soft gold sweater and chocolate pants and jacket. She wore a stunning amber necklace and earrings and, as usual, not a hair out of place or a smudge in her makeup. I sighed.
“Whip is Mario Veni, a known mobster. He is Vito’s “protection.” When he attacked Maggie – and went to see John Reilly last August - it was probably at Vito’s request. Remember, that was Vito’s father who was robbed and the mob is big on respect - and revenge.” She watched Digs.
So far, nothing we hadn’t already known.
Brice added, “We didn’t know about his visit to John Reilly. Why didn’t John call the police when Whip talked to him?” He looked at me. “Maggie?”
“He said he didn’t know anything. That’s what he told Whip. He didn’t know his uncle and Tony Corelli robbed Lefty and he didn’t know his uncle killed Tony - if he did. He also told us he didn’t want to get involved if it was a mob hit. He was scared.” Brice raised his eyebrows.
“I know.” I sighed. “I don't know if I believe him either. Especially later, after his aunt was murdered! You'd think he'd want some justice for her.”
Digs spoke. “I watched John when he told us about it. I can't decide if he does know anything or not. On the one hand, I don’t blame him for not wanting to draw the mob’s attention to himself. On the other, it's all very pat.”
“Lily Hastings wasn't really his aunt,” Olivia objected sharply. “I don't buy this. He should have called us.”
Digs finally looked at her. “Why, Olivia? With what? A partly overheard conversation? I agree that he could have called the police but I can see why he didn't. Why get involved with the mob if you don't have to?” Digs sounded annoyed. Olivia looked startled.
“I meant – that doesn't work, Hank. He suspected something and he had an obligation to call the police.” she said. Her tone had sharpened.
Digs shrugged in an irritated way. I watched Brice watching them. Of course, Brice had been Olivia’s boss during her whatever it was with Digs so he knew the background. He brought the conversation back to point.
“Yes, I wish he had called the police too.” He then looked around the room. “We are all still trying to find Whip. Looks like he might have gone underground. Sean, Jimmy, Olivia and I will work with you two on following this up. Digs, if you would, we'd like you to continue in this as well.”
He turned to me. “Maggie,” he smiled. “Maggie, you have taken enough blows in this case! And I
don’t think you really want to see him again?”
I smiled. I liked Brice. He was a straight shooter and a nice guy. Plus, those dark brown eyes! I rubbed my leg and thought about it. “You’re right. I don’t ever want to see him again. I’ll stay out of that part!” I smiled back at him.
“Great.” Brice held my eyes.
Digs rolled his. Olivia narrowed hers.
Jimmy and Sean stayed seated as Digs and I got ready to leave. “I’ll pick you up to go to Cicero in about an hour, Digs,” Sean said, looking at some notes Olivia had made on Whip. Digs nodded and we left.
On the way home, we stopped and got Sam. She was all in pink, which looked great on her. “Hi Guys,” she said as she hopped in the car. “We’re going to work on the timeline?” she asked.
“You and I are. Digs and Sean and Jimmy are off to Cicero to snoop around Louie’s room - the one where he was killed - and follow up on some possible mob involvement.” I turned to look at her. “They’ll tour a crime scene and you and I will stay warm and eat homemade cookies!” I grinned.
“Not all of them!” Digs pretended to growl at me.
“You made cookies?” Sam sounded shocked. Digs started laughing.
“No, you idiot, Mrs. O’Brien’s cookies!”
“Thank God. For a moment I thought I was losing my hearing. Or my mind. But sure, for homemade cookies - made by someone else - I can be bribed.” She was laughing, too.
Digs gave an elaborate sigh. “Sam, Sam, do you think I would be upset about someone eating all the cookies if Maggie had made them?” I punched his arm.
“For that remark, Mister, we will eat all of them. Think about that while you are in Cicero!”
He just grinned. We got home and he did the usual apartment check before we went in. He gave me a kiss, then grabbed a few cookies and left, laughing. I got out a plate of cookies for us. Killer watched me hopefully. Finally, I gave in and gave him one. He continued to stare at me.
“Okay, Mr. Sad Eyes. We can go out.” I rolled my eyes.
Killer raced to the door, tail going a mile a minute. “How come you know all the words for food and all the words for going out when we are inside the apartment and forget them all - even your name - once we hit the outdoors?” He just shrugged and grinned at me.
“Do you think you should go out, Maggie?” Sam was concerned. We had told her about Whip’s attack on me and his visit to John.
“Killer’s going out. I’m sticking to the inside of the building.” I didn’t want to take any chances either. When Killer and I got back, I brought Sam up to date. I told her about John and that Digs and I had gone to see him at Northwestern. She was interested in his comments about the Hasting family and the mob. I knew Brice had said to tell no one, but Sam was part of my office. She needed to know.
“Do you think John’s involved?” she asked.
“I don't know. He baffles me. And there are a lot of questions about him. And his relationship with Lily and with Emily.”
“Yeah, it was clear he and Emily aren't friends. Maybe she's jealous because Lily was very good to him.” Sam hesitated and then said, “What did he mean that Emily got depressed after her mother’s death?”
“I'm not sure. Maybe some teenage rebellion, reaction to losing both parents. Probably nothing unusual for a kid who had just found her mother dead and maybe even not unusual for a teenager. She’s had a bunch of hard knocks in her life.”
When I told her that Whip seemed to have disappeared, Sam got very concerned.
“I don’t like this, Maggie,” she said. “The mob is scary.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
Fortified with cookies and coffee, we started on the historical part of the timeline and got the papers together. We listed the 1985 events. The robbery, the mob war, the disappearance of Tony Corelli - murder? - and the 1990 car accident of Herbert. We put a question mark at the word ‘accident.’
Then we moved to now. We started with the August finding of the wooden box with skeletal remains and put the name Tony Corelli next to it. We noted the money found in it and the ring with the serpent. We also noted the bulled and put a note that it may match Herbert Hastings’ gun. We added Whip’s attack on me and his visit to John in August sometime after the box was found.
We next listed the December 2 murder of Emily, the December 2 or 3 murder of Louie Bacci and the trashing of their homes. We listed Emily’s retention of me, the call to her that same night from someone wanting ‘it’ and the attack on me in Lily ’s house.
“Wait,” said Sam. She studied the list. “I think we need to list these again and put everyone’s whereabouts when they occurred. The list alone doesn’t help much.” She had a point. So we started over. Many times we didn’t know where everyone was but we listed the locations of the persons we did know about.
After a while, I stopped and sighed. “The other hole in this is where Vito and this Whip were. We have no idea where to put them on this. We both stared at the list.
“True.” Sam said. “But we can keep going with everyone else.” She put her chin on her hand. Sam wandered out for more cookies. “You’re getting more cookies?” I laughed. “You eat your weight in food and never gain an ounce.”
“Clean living,” she grinned. I rolled my eyes and we both cracked up. Uh huh. Maybe in her next life.
My cell phone rang. I answered and heard Emily at the other end. “Hi, Maggie. I was just wondering if you had learned anything else.”
I hesitated. “Not really, Emily.” Sam raised her eyebrows. “Sam and I are trying to put together a time line but we aren’t having much success.”
“Maybe I could help,” she offered shyly.
I thought about that. “Yeah, maybe you could. Want to come over and see what you can add to this?” I shrugged at Sam.
“I can come now, if that’s okay.”
“Sure, come on over. We’ll see what we can figure out.”
I hung up and looked at Sam. “She seemed lonely,” I said defensively. Sam just smiled.
I sat thinking for a moment. “Sam, humor me on this but let’s not tell Emily that Digs and I went to see John again. And definitely not about the mob or Whip - or me or anything. Please?”
Sam considered this. “I agree. Interesting that all of us want to protect Emily. Certainly Jimmy does, but you and I, Sean, Digs - we all do. She brings out the protective in people.”
“She does,” I answered wryly. “In my next life I am going to be a woman people want to take care of......instead of a woman people want to bash over the head or shoot!”
Sam snorted. “Uh huh. You would let someone take care of you for about five minutes, then take charge. It’s your nature, girl.”
We picked up some of the papers and waited until we heard the knock on the door. I got up and let Emily in.
“Man, it’s ugly out there!” She took off layers of clothing and stacked them on the couch with Sam’s. She came over and I poured her some coffee. She added her usual boatload of sugar and cream and sat down with us.
“What do you have?” She started picking up the papers.
“We’re stumped.” Sam made a face. “The mob might be tied in somehow but we don’t know how to put them on the timeline.” She glanced at me.
“The mob?” Emily asked. “Oh, you believe Uncle Herbert stole the money all those years ago and now they want it back?”
“Maybe. If so, it would explain a lot.” Sam said. She pointed to the time line. “Looks like things picked up after those two kids found the skeleton and the money in that box last summer.”
Emily nodded slowly. “It does. I still can’t believe that Uncle Herbert would rob someone, much less kill someone. That’s not the man I remember.”
“You were a teenager,” Sam said gently. “Teenagers aren’t known for their accurate perception of adults,” she added teasingly.
Emily laughed and shrugged. “True. And I was having my own problems then.”
Neither
Sam nor I picked up on that. It had to be a painful memory. Instead, we showed her the most recent entries. She filled in where she had been when Lily was killed and said she had been in her apartment when I was attacked. She got her threatening call that night and moved over to Lily’s the next day.
“I don’t know when I’ll move back into my own apartment.” she said wistfully. “Every time I suggest it, Jimmy tells me to stay where I am. At least until this case is closed. If it is ever closed!” She closed her eyes and sighed.
She and Sam chatted a bit about their childhoods. Sam had grown up in a noisy Italian family. Her two older brothers had kept the place hopping and Sam had been no easy kid either! She soon had Emily laughing at their antics and how her mother claimed she could put a specific incident with one of her kids to every gray hair on her head.
“My house was much quieter.” Emily said. “Being an only child, there just wasn’t as much noise. My parents were quiet as well. They totally focused on me. That made it doubly strange after they were gone.” She seemed to be looking inward. “I never even had a dog.” she said. She looked at Killer and sighed.
“Well,” Sam said briskly, “enough for today.” She got up and came around to give me a hug. “We’d love to stay - no, please don’t insist!” She shot me a coy look, then winked at Emily. “Maggie has a hot date with Digs tonight. I can tell. She has very carefully not invited us to stay for dinner......and from the gleam I have noticed in Digs’ eyes lately......I think there’s a romantic dinner of steak, potatoes and Creme de la Maggie for dessert tonight!”
Emily giggled. “Digs is a cutie, isn’t he?”
I glared at Sam. “It’s not steak and Creme de la Maggie!” My lips were twitching though. “It’s fish.”
Sam roared with laughter. “And we’ll expect full details tomorrow, won’t we Emily?” She started layering up and handed Emily her things. “No details, no more help, right Emily?” Emily just smiled.
Sam continued chattering with Emily as they left. I locked the door behind them. Sam had such a gift for relaxing people and for charming them. I envied her that. I tend to be the more........direct type, I guess. And that’s being generous.
