*******
Back home, Isabella collapses on her couch. She feels like she has dodged a most terrible bullet. She sits and just watches the light play on the blinds in a way she never did before. She’s mesmerized by how beautiful it looks and wonders why she never sat and just looked at it before. She feels renewed from her doctor experience and has never before felt such a sense of fearlessness about things. I’m going to stop worrying about what people think and just go for it! she says to herself. As they say, life is too short! Jumping up, she gets her phone and purposely dials the detective. I don’t care what he thinks! I’m going to tell him about Karen Black!
The detective’s phone rings several times before he finally picks up. The delay gives Isabella a chance to sense those old feelings of doubt and insecurity, but she forces herself to hold firm and feels rewarded by hearing his voice.
“Detective Sterling.”
“Hello, Detective. This is Isabella. You know the one from the mystery dinner.”
“Yes. Hello, Isabella. What a pleasure to hear from you! I was just thinking about you as a matter of fact.” She wonders if he was thinking about her while he was folding clothes in his bedroom down in San Juan Capistrano.
“What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to see if I could meet with you about the Black family murder. I think I may have some information you might be interested in.” The statement leaves her nearly breathless with anticipation for his response. She hopes for a favorable answer from him.
“Of course we can meet. Would you like to come down to the station? Oh, I’m sorry; I remember that you aren’t a fan of police stations. OK, how about The Gypsy Den Café?”
“Sure! That would be perfect. Isn’t that a bit far for you though?”
“Of course not! I have to see someone later this evening, so that would work out for me. How about 7:30? Will that work for you?”
Isabella’s heart sinks after hearing about his “seeing someone” later. She is sure it is another woman. A strong pulse of jealously rises up inside of her, tightening up in her throat.
“Yes, that’s great. I’ll see you then.”
“Good. Can’t wait to hear what you have.”
She hangs up the phone and feels deflated. Normally, she’d be amped up after talking to him on the phone. Now she feels weighted down by what she fears is someone else in his life. She pulls herself off the couch and begins to change her clothes. She knows she has to be perfect in every way to capture his attention. She decides to wear the most low-cut blouse she has. I’m going to rock these babies for as long as I have them. Who knows what will happen after my next ultrasound?
She puts on her makeup and can see her hand shaking ever so slightly. Fixing her hair in the mirror, she sees a woman who is worried. Someone who feels she is in the fight of her life. Such an irony, she thinks, after dealing with the fear of her mammogram earlier in the day. She thought that was the end of things; now she has another battle on her hands—the battle to win the detective.
Chapter Nineteen
Isabella arrives earlier than expected at The Gypsy Den. It is 7:00 as she sits down at a small table for two, adorned with a funky, 70’s-style candle. She stares out the window, hoping to get a good view of him when he arrives. The waiter comes over and asks Isabella if she’d like anything to drink.
“Yes, can I get a Chardonnay?”
“Sure. Are you waiting for someone or is it just one tonight?”
“No, I mean yes; I’m waiting for someone. He should be here shortly.”
“No problem. I’ll get your wine and some water. Anything else for now?”
“No. That will be fine.” The waiter goes to get her wine and leaves her staring out the window at the beautiful courtyard. Twinkling white lights illuminate the patio and pedestrian walkway giving it a European feel. She’s always loved this area. Couples walk by, arm in arm, looking lovingly into each other’s eyes. She hopes that could be her someday. She and her detective out on a date. Finally.
“Here’s your wine and some water. Is there anything else I can get you for now?”
“No thanks. That’s it for now.”
Except for the undying, total and passionate love of her detective.
Taking a sip of wine, she looks out the window and sees a man walking towards the restaurant. Her heart quickens as he gets nearer, but then slows back down when he turns and meets another woman. They kiss. Seeing this, Isabella’s face drops.
“Why the long face?” a familiar voice asks. She turns and there is her detective standing by her table looking oh-so-handsome.
“Oh, you startled me!”
“Can I join you?”
“Of course! Sit down. I was in another world. I’m sorry.”
Sterling sits down and for a moment they look at each other, neither of them speaking. Isabella has a thousand things going on in her mind.
“So you’re other half finally made it I see,” the waiter says. “What can I get you? Something to drink maybe?”
“Sure. I’ll have whatever she’s having.”
“A Chardonnay coming right up. Anything else or shall we take it slow tonight?”
Sterling and Isabella try to suppress their laughter but the comment hits them both the same way. Broad smiles and laughter erupt and the waiter is caught off guard.
“Yes, yes. We’re going to take is slow tonight. Thank you for asking,” Sterling says. “I think we’ll nurse the wine for a while.” The waiter leaves and they both laugh again, quieter this time. Isabella feels relieved by the laughter. It lets out a few hours of pent-up anxiety that seems to vanish into the air. The waiter brings the wine and they both toast. Isabella says nothing, waiting for Sterling to offer something up.
“To your health,” he toasts.
“And yours as well,” she returns. They both take a sip of their wine and briefly look out the window.
“I like this place. It has so much character. Have you been here before?” Sterling asks.
“I come here with my friends from work sometimes. Don’t the lamps and shelves of 1960s-era vases remind you of something you’d buy at a yard sale?”
“I do feel like I’m in a time warp. Like I’m on the set of Mad Men.”
“Speaking of Mad Men, has anyone ever told you that you look like Don Draper?”
“Yeah, I get that sometimes. He’s such a jerk to the women on the show that I don’t exactly take it as a good thing.”
“Well, he is good looking. You can’t deny that,” Isabella says.
He’s about to say something back, but is interrupted by their waiter, ready to take their order.
After the waiter leaves, he says to Isabella, “So what did you want to talk to me about tonight? You seemed pretty insistent on the phone.”
“Well, it’s about the murder at the mystery dinner. I know you can’t talk to me about it, but I found out some interesting things that you might find useful.” She pauses to get his reaction and gather her thoughts. She can’t help but notice that he is doing his best not to stare at her breasts. Good, she thinks.
“Go ahead,” he says smiling, “I’m all ears.” And all eyes, she thinks.
“Well, a few days ago I was at South Coast Plaza. I went back to a store there, Mizzoni, where I had recently bought a dress. While I was talking to the salesgirl, the sister-in-law of the murder victim came in and wanted to buy some shoes. The salesgirl knew her and introduced us right way. The sister remembered me from that night and was very friendly and nice. We spoke for quite a while about clothes and girl stuff until the salesgirl asked us if we’d like to go for a drink. She was just getting off her shift and felt like going out. I begged out, thinking that they really wanted to be together but were being polite by asking me. When I tried to bow out, they both insisted I come along. The sister said it would be fun. We went to Wolfgang Puck’s just a few stores down and spent over two hours talking about all sorts of things,” she says, practically out of breath.
/>
“You say the sister-in-law was OK with you being along?”
“Yes, I felt that she was pretty sincere. It’s like she really enjoyed the whole female camaraderie of the thing. She kept saying we should do this more often.”
“So is that what you wanted to tell me?”
“No, not entirely. I just wanted to set the scene so you wouldn’t think I was out of my mind.”
Sterling smiles and takes a sip of his wine. He tells her, “Continue, please. You have my full attention.”
“After we had been at the restaurant for an hour or so and were working on our second glass of wine, she really started opening up about her sister. I had been asking her questions about Karen and she was gladly answering everything I posed. She told me about how bad their marriage was and how much of a womanizer he was. He was apparently having affairs and travelled a lot! Seems like he went to Las Vegas almost once a month under the guise of business meetings and conventions. Karen seemed to know better. He treated Karen badly in public many times. They were members of many charitable organizations in the county. A quick search of the web led me to all sorts of newspaper articles about how bad he was with her. Karen was so hurt and angry over the things he was doing, but couldn’t find a way to stop it without impacting the flow of money and their lifestyle. Several times during dinner, the sister-in-law mentioned how happy she was that he was dead. I asked her if she thought Karen felt the same way and the sister replied that she had every reason to. I’ve read that many times the chief suspect is the spouse in these cases, but I never really believed it. Now I think she may be the chief suspect. I wanted to try and think of some clever way to ask the sister if they had planned anything or just what did happen, but she kept insisting that she didn’t know anything about who killed him. It sounded so fake to me. I have a strong feeling that they must have done it. Both of them. I wished I could have gotten some more details out of her but after the second glass of wine, her conversation skills went downhill. After that, she mostly complained about men in general and how crazy things had been since the murder. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think the wife is the one you should be focusing on.”
Sterling is quiet and takes a long sip of Chardonnay. “That’s quite a bit of information, Isabella. You’ve indeed gotten close to the family involved in this murder. First and foremost I want you to know, that as a policeman, I don’t think you should be getting involved in things like this. It may sound trite but we’re trained to deal with these kinds of situations and the last thing I want is something bad to happen to you. Now that I’ve said that, I don’t think anybody is going to tell you what to do. Let alone me. From the little I know of you, when you get your teeth into something, you don’t let go. Now tell me, do you believe, in your heart, what the sister said?”
“Well, yes, I do,” Isabella answers.
“I say this because as a policeman, we hear all sorts of stories and for all sorts of reasons. Maybe her sister is trying to protect Karen?”
“I don’t think so. I think wine is the best truth serum sometimes. I’ve found that when someone gets a few drinks in them, all bets are off and everyone’s guard comes down. I could sense she was being honest.”
“OK, I just want you to be aware of the possibility. I see it all the time.”
Isabella feels that she’s on thin ice with her ideas and her conclusions. She can sense that he’s good at what he does and is trying to let her down easily without hurting her feelings.
“Isabella, I’m going to tell you something that I shouldn’t and you have to promise me you won’t tell anyone.” Her ears perk up and she’s caught off guard with his statement.
“We’re following the same theory. We think that the wife, Karen Black, had something, everything to do with her husband’s murder. I can’t give you all the details but let’s just say we’re putting many things together that all point to her guilt. I think you’ve been pretty savvy to put all this together and come to that conclusion.”
“I knew it!” Isabella says. “Do you have enough to arrest her?”
“Easy, easy Isabella. We’re working on it but there’s no arrest imminent. I wish I could tell you more but that’s enough. I shouldn’t have told you that much.”
She reaches across the table, takes his hand, and smiling says, “Thank you for sharing that with me. It means more than you know.”
He smiles back and then exhibiting a rare moment of unsureness, he changes the subject asking her if she’d like some dessert.
“Why, ah, sure, that would be nice,” she says, puzzled at his shyness. His face is a bit red and she sees that he’s uncomfortable with the closeness. Their waiter returns and takes their orders of coffee and one piece of shared cheesecake.
“So tell me, did you grow up around here?” he asks.
“Yes, I was born in Tustin and went to high school there. I’ve lived in Orange County all my life. I’m a native. That’s pretty rare. How about you?”
“I was born in LA County, lived in Hermosa Beach as a child. My parents moved us down to Corona Del Mar when I was little and I spent my childhood and teen years there.”
“Did you go to college here?”
“I joined the service after high school and spent four years in the Marines. When I got out, I joined the Laguna Beach PD where I worked my way up to detective. Not very exotic, but I’ve got no complaints.”
“Have you ever been married?” she asks.
“Me? No way,” he answers with a chuckle. “Honestly, I don’t know who’d have me. I’ve got some pretty weird hours and the job’s not so family friendly.”
“Maybe if you found the right girl who that knew going in? Maybe that could work out.”
“I don’t know if they exist.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” she says, as the waiter returns at the absolute wrong time to bring the check. Sterling takes the check and despite Isabella’s protestations, pays for their dinner.
“This is my treat, Isabella.”
“But I asked you out.”
“It’s not very often I get a chance to have dinner with a beautiful woman. I’ve got to make sure she’d want to have a reason to go out again.”
Now, Isabella is blushing and is stuck for words.
Sterling stands and puts his napkin on the table.
“This has been wonderful. I just wish I could stay longer. I’m afraid I’ve got to go,” he says looking at his watch.
“You said you have to meet someone tonight?”
“Yes, a young woman.”
“Oh,” Isabella says.
“We found a body this morning on the beach. A young woman. I’ve got to meet with the coroner at the morgue and take a look. Not exactly what I’d like to be doing tonight.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I had no idea,” she answers with a mix of immense relief that he’s seeing a dead young woman but also feeling horrible about what happened to the poor thing.
“Don’t worry. It comes with the job.” Holding out his hand to shake, he says, “Thank you again. I really had a great time. You have to promise me we’ll go out again when I don’t have to end it this way.”
“I do. I mean, yes I will. Please be careful, Detective,” she says, as if he is going off to do battle with some enemy.
“Please call me Don.”
“Please be careful, Don,” she says and feels a shiver come over her. He turns and leaves, while she sits back down to take it all in.
Chapter Twenty
The following morning, Isabella walks to work feeling like she’s floating on a cloud. She repeats the words he said, “I’ve been thinking about you, too,” over and over again. This is good, really good. Don’t blow it, Isabella! she tells herself.
She is unusually helpful to the jurors as she points out where they need to go and asks the newspaper hawker, “Isn’t it a beautiful day?”
She sees the coffee cart. Well, it’s time to face Joshua again. I can’t keep dodging him. She s
tands in line, waiting to order her latte.
As Joshua is brewing it, he says, “I really had a good time at the golf course the other day.”
“Yeah. You and Nicole looked like you were having a lot of fun together.”
“Isabella,” he says with trepidation, “I don’t know how to say this.”
“Go ahead. I won’t bite.”
“It’s just that I was wondering if it would be okay if I asked Nicole out sometime.”
“Just the two of you?” She teases him, “Without me?” I’ll make him feel a little guilty. After all, we did have that pretty hot night at his apartment before his roommate interrupted us.
“I like you a lot, Isabella. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I like you a lot, too. But go ahead, ask her out. I’m sure she’d say, ‘Yes’. Besides, you two make such a cute couple.”
“Would you two hurry it along,” the customer in back of Isabella complains. “I’m supposed to be in court at 9:00.”
“Sorry,” Joshua says to the man.
He tells Isabella, “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay. I’ll tell Nicole what you said.”
*******
“Well, it looks like it might be time to start putting together your hope chest, Nicole,” she says, sitting next to her friend at the reference desk.
“Huh?”
“Joshua likes you. He really likes you,” she mimics Sally Field’s best-actress-acceptance-speech at The Oscars.
“Why do you say that?”
“He just asked my permission if he could ask you out.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Would you be mad at me if I did?”
“No. You two have my blessing. I think he’s the perfect guy for you.”
“Phew! That’s a relief.”
Isabella tells her friend about her dinner the night before with the detective.
Nicole says, “It sounds like he wants you as much as you want him.”
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