For the First Time

by Stephanie Doyle

  “Any creeps?”

  “Nope. The place is creep-free.”

  “Were you a Secret Service agent or something?”

  JoJo laughed at the idea. As she’d once told Mark, she and authority didn’t get along all that well.

  “No. But I’ve had some training. I know how to protect someone, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “I’m not worried. Mark is. They were two stupid notes that didn’t even say anything superthreatening. I would be worried if they were, like, ‘I’m going to chop off your daughter’s hands.’ Mom and I used to get crap mail like that all the time before we started having all fan mail sent to my agent for review.”

  “Ouch.” JoJo joined Sophie on the couch. “I agree, they are vague. Why do you think you got them?”

  Sophie didn’t respond, and JoJo could see the girl had the sense to know that letters like those weren’t common. Letters that had to be placed in her mailbox, which meant the person knew where Sophie lived.

  “Hey, maybe they’re from Maestro Romnasky. Maybe he’s finally gone over the deep end and these notes are his warnings to me. The next one will say, ‘Not right, yes? Too slow, yes?’ Then we’ll nail him.”

  JoJo understood Sophie was making a joke, but it wasn’t really that funny. Not after the way JoJo had seen him treat her during the three-hour rehearsal.

  “Is he always that way?”

  “No. Today was a good day. Hey, I’m going to get something to eat before Nancy shows up, do you want anything?”

  “No, thanks.”

  Nancy the tutor. JoJo knew to expect the woman because that was next on Sophie’s rather rigorous schedule. Given all the practicing and performing she’d done today, no wonder she was hungry.

  The doorbell rang and JoJo stood. “You make your snack. I’ll let her in.”

  JoJo opened the door and offered a polite smile to the woman on the other side. Immediately, she could see the woman’s eyes widen as she took in JoJo’s appearance. It wasn’t even one of her more shocking outfits. JoJo was wearing a simple black T-shirt over black jeans, but the shirt was cut in jagged strips at the top and her neck was exposed.

  “Hi. I’m Nancy. I’m here to see Sophie.”

  “Sure, come on in.” JoJo stood back.

  The woman hesitated. “Are you a friend of Sophie’s?”

  “Not really. I work for Mark.”

  “Oh, you’re his new detective. You’re not what I expected.”

  JoJo raised an eyebrow. “Exactly what were you expecting?”

  The woman was clearly uncomfortable with the question. She had an expression similar to someone who’d just asked a woman with a large belly when the baby was due, and learned it was just a lot of fat.

  “Uh…I guess…”

  JoJo decided to let her off the hook. “Don’t sweat it. I know my look is…unconventional.”

  Nancy crossed the threshold and headed straight for Sophie, as if the girl might offer some protection.

  JoJo couldn’t decide if Nancy was cowardly or merely timid.

  “So, what are you doing here with Sophie? Are you and Mark having dinner again?”

  JoJo shoved the door and waited to hear it shut before she answered. “No, I’m here to watch over Sophie.”

  “Oh, well, I’m here now. I’m sure it’s okay to leave.”

  This woman was definitely not a fan of JoJo’s. She was trying to be so polite about it, too. Smiling the whole time while she waited anxiously for JoJo to head out the door. Definitely leaning toward the cowardly.

  “Thanks, but I’ll wait for Mark. We’ve got things to discuss. Work things. You understand?”

  “Sure. Of course. You’re his new employee. There must be many things. I’m fascinated by what you do. It must be so much more exciting than my job.”

  “I don’t know about that. We do a lot of sitting around and watching. So why tutoring? Why not work in a school?”

  “If I could, I would, but jobs are scarce in this area and I prefer this to substituting. Lucky for me, Sophie tumbled into my lap right when I needed a job.”

  “Lucky Sophie.”

  Nancy turned to the girl, who had dumped a heap of peanut butter onto white bread. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll use the powder room and then we can begin.”

  As Nancy made her way down the hall, JoJo watched her in the same way she watched everyone. With suspicion. The woman found the bathroom and JoJo waited until she heard the door close before wandering over to Sophie.

  “I think your tutor is afraid of me.”

  “I know, right? It’s like she’s never seen anyone with tattoos before. You probably get this reaction a lot. I mean, they are intended to make you look kind of badass.”

  “Kind of badass?”

  “Seriously badass.”

  “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

  Sophie snorted. “Let’s just say I don’t see you and Nancy being buds. She’s okay and everything, but she’s always going on about what a proper lady should do and telling me to sit straight and stuff like that. She reminds me of my grandmother.”

  “Well, if she warns you not to get tattoos you should listen to her.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes,” JoJo admitted. “They hurt like hell!”

  Sophie laughed and JoJo joined her. As far as assignments went, this one was turning out pretty good. The kid was fun to hang out with.

  Since JoJo would be able to hear everything Nancy and Sophie discussed, there was no need for the bug anymore. Patting the girl on the back in a friendly gesture, she removed the tiny device from her hood, feeling grateful it hadn’t rained that day.

  *

  MARK FROWNED AT his smartphone as if it was to blame for the lack of information. He’d given the note to Ben, who was having an expert in extracting data from innocuous things like paper stock take a look at it. The scientist had come back with nothing. No prints, nothing unique about the paper or the ink. All standard office supplies. The only thing he did know was that the font was Times New Roman, point 12.

  Swell.

  He opened the door to his apartment to be greeted by a smell that almost made him groan with lust.

  What the heck was that? Was that actual cooking? It certainly wasn’t anything Sophie could make.

  “Lucy, I’m home.”

  He could hear Sophie say, “He always does that and it’s so lame, but I can’t make him stop.”

  His apartment was filled with women. Sophie and Nancy sat at the kitchen island with their heads together, working on a geometry proof. JoJo was bouncing around in the kitchen with an apron thrown over her all-black attire.

  Goth meets Martha Stewart. There was a pitch for a reality TV show somewhere in that.

  He realized she had every burner on his stove lit.

  That was certainly a first.

  “Hi, Mark,” Nancy said, giving him a small wave and one of her sweet smiles. The woman really was nice and very pretty, in a quiet sort of way. It might be a good thing for JoJo to live in Nancy’s orbit for a while and see how most women looked and behaved. How women should look and behave.

  Not like Witchgang Puck in his kitchen.

  “Nancy,” he replied. “How’s the kid doing? She learning anything with all this activity going on?”

  “Yes, she is. She’s doing very well. It seems all the pan rattling and pot stirring hasn’t disturbed her.”

  JoJo stopped stirring and gave Nancy a look that suggested she didn’t give a rat’s ass about pan rattling.

  “I got bored so I decided to show you both what real cooking is with one of the dishes I know. I save the carbonara for people who are truly special to me. Considering the kid doesn’t have a problem performing onstage in front of thousands, I didn’t think a little pan rattling would stunt her learning.”

  “Oh, no, of course not,” Nancy responded. “I didn’t mean that. I cook, too, so I know how fun it can be. Many dishes. I also bake. Cookies. Mark, I c
an make you and Sophie a batch of my favorite chocolate chip sometime.”

  “Sure. Sounds great.” A woman in his kitchen cooking, another woman who wanted to make him cookies. All things considered, this was not a shabby end to his day.

  “Okay,” Sophie said, looking at Nancy. “I can’t get to the end of this problem.” Sophie lifted her thumb to her mouth and Nancy slapped Sophie’s hand down.

  “Sophie, I’ve told you, you shouldn’t do that. It’s such a nasty habit.”

  “I know, I know. The maestro is always on my case, too. I need to stop.”

  Nancy reached into her Mary Poppins bag, which always seemed to hold any textbook or supply a teacher required, and pulled out a bottle of clear nail polish.

  “Use this. Put it on and anytime you bite your nail it will taste horrible. That will eventually break the habit.”

  Sophie took the bottle. “You sure?”

  “Absolutely, I have another at home. I try to discourage bad habits in my students. My thinking is that once you allow one bad habit in your life, you’re making room for others. You need to stop them before they can take hold.”

  “Thanks, Nancy,” Mark said as he looked over JoJo’s shoulder. “She needed a trick like that— What the heck is all this?”

  “Mushroom risotto, lemon chicken and a watercress-and-pine-nut salad with raspberry balsamic vinaigrette. Unlike you, I can be honest and tell you the dressing is store-bought.”

  “For the record, I voted against the pine nuts but she said they add texture,” Sophie interjected.

  Mark leaned toward JoJo’s ear. “You went grocery shopping?”

  She turned to look at him, which made her lips incredibly close. Lips that were full and biteable. If he were a man interested in nibbling on her lower lip. Which he wasn’t.

  “Had it delivered. Trust me, I had eyes and ears on all day.”

  He gave a slight nod to acknowledge that she hadn’t broken her promise. Until he knew where this threat was coming from he had to err on the side of paranoid.

  “Sophie, that’s our time for today. I should be going.”

  “You’re welcome to stay for dinner,” Mark said. “I assume there is enough for four.”

  “Absolutely,” JoJo said, focusing on the risotto.

  “Oh…I couldn’t,” Nancy said. “That’s so nice that you asked, though.”

  “I would hate to have been sitting here smelling that good cooking and not get to eat it.”

  Nancy smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. “It does smell good. I would stay, but I actually have a date. A blind date.”

  Mark thought about her Match.com profile. Maybe she wasn’t comfortable with online dating, even though it was the modern way of meeting people. Whatever the case was, it was a good thing she wasn’t putting all her hopes on him. That was a lost cause.

  “Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” she said pulling her satchel over her shoulder. “Maybe another time. For dinner?”

  “Maybe,” Mark said, deliberately being vague. Nancy was the kind of woman he wanted to be more interested in. But he wasn’t feeling it, though he should probably try to. If he was going to pick a different type of woman to pursue, he might have to compromise on certain things.

  Like desire.

  While the idea of dating Nancy when she was still working with Sophie seemed off-limits, maybe as they got toward the end of the semester in a couple of weeks, he would ask her out. If Sophie was comfortable with the idea.

  Do dinner. A movie. See what it might be like to be with a woman who wasn’t a game player.

  Nancy beamed at him. “Okay. Then. Good. Uh, Mark, can you walk me to the door? There is something I would like to discuss with you.”

  Mark followed her just outside the apartment door. “I think I’m paid up, aren’t I?”

  She blushed. “Oh, yes, we’re good with that.”

  “Sophie is doing okay, gradewise?”

  “Yes, she’s quite intelligent. History isn’t her favorite, but she’s very adept in math, which is typical given her musical talent.”

  “Great.”

  “I’m curious why JoJo has to attend Sophie’s tutoring sessions. While it really was fine to have her cooking, it is easier to work without the distraction. I don’t know if this is a permanent situation, or if it has something to with my work, or—”

  “No, definitely not. This isn’t about you at all. It’s also not permanent.” Mark was reluctant to share any of the details. Still, he could appreciate how odd the change must seem when she’d been tutoring Sophie for weeks without any supervision.

  “I’m working a case. There’s the potential for trouble. JoJo is a precaution I’m taking until it’s over.”

  “I see. Okay, now I have to ask, is there any potential trouble I should be worried about?”

  It was a fair question. He’d all but told her that Sophie might be in danger. But he couldn’t see how Nancy might be affected. “No, nothing to be worried about. Like I said, JoJo is a precaution.”

  “A precaution and a pretty good cook, it seems.”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t tasted her food yet. I’m withholding judgment.”

  She smiled at his teasing. “I assume this means she’ll be accompanying us to Chicago in two weeks.”

  Chicago. Mark had almost forgotten about it. The orchestra was touring, playing a three-night stint in Chicago after opening at the Kimmel. He’d asked Nancy to travel with them to keep Sophie’s schooling consistent. If things weren’t resolved by then, it looked like he was booking another ticket.

  Thinking about it now, he wasn’t sure whether leaving the area was a good thing or a bad thing. Assuming the person behind the notes wouldn’t know Sophie’s touring plans. On the one hand, separation might deter them from following through on the threat. On the other hand, it might delay Mark learning who was behind this.

  He could only take it one day at a time.

  The notes didn’t offer up any clues, and this particular case was going nowhere fast.

  “We’ll see,” he said. “It depends on how things work out.”

  “Of course. Anyway, I wanted to let you know I’m excited about the trip. I’ve never been to Chicago.”

  “Really? It’s a great city. I’ll make sure you have plenty of time to sightsee.”

  She tucked more of her hair behind her ear. “Looking forward to it. Good night.”

  “Yeah, and good luck again on that date. Who knows, he might be Prince Charming.”

  “With my luck, he’ll be another frog. I’m not the greatest…with men. But thanks. See you tomorrow.”

  “Yep.”

  Mark watched her walk away. She wore a long jean skirt with a thick wool sweater and a bulky pair of shoes. An outfit not designed to be enticing or sexy in any way. Which it shouldn’t be, considering she was coming to his place to work. He wondered if she would wear the same type of outfit on a date.

  Some women tried to impress, others were more of a take-me-as-I-am type. Mark respected both. But he imagined what she might wear on a date with him, and his mind instantly pictured Holly Hobbie. Holly Hobbie was not a turn-on for him.

  He was still thinking about it when he stepped into the kitchen, where JoJo was plating the food. She wasn’t dressed for any kind of date in her all-black getup. Now that the apron was gone, he could see how the torn T-shirt stretched over her tiny frame and showcased her pert breasts.

  “Dinner is served.”

  Mark noticed there were only two plates at the island. “What, you’re not eating?”

  “I picked while I was cooking. Trust me, it’s fabulous and you will be bowing at my feet when you see me tomorrow. Just know that flowers or tears of joy aren’t necessary.”

  “But you’re not staying.” For some reason the idea bothered him.

  “Nope. Got plans.”

  “A date?”

  She paused and her expression was the same as when she called him out for checking ou
t her legs. The woman in front of him transformed from a fun and outgoing creature to a cornered animal.

  A cornered animal ready to attack.

  “No, not a date,” she said slowly. “I’m looking at apartments, remember?”

  “Oh, that’s right. I forgot.”

  “Yeah, I’m even looking at something in this building but I’m afraid it’ll be outside the budget.”

  JoJo in his office. JoJo in his apartment watching his daughter. JoJo living a couple of floors away. JoJo in a shirt that forced him to only look at her face so he wouldn’t think about those breasts and how they might fit into his hands.

  Not good. Not good.

  “More than likely. I hear they ask for your firstborn as a deposit on the rentals.”

  “Alas, me without any offspring to sacrifice. Okay, I’m out. Eat well and when you do…think of me fondly.”

  JoJo breezed out and Mark felt his apartment become more subdued. As if all the lights had suddenly been dimmed. Which was ridiculous. He was going to have to get a grip on his thoughts.

  “You know, if you want you can ask her out.”

  “Huh?”

  “Nancy,” Sophie explained. “She’s obviously into you. And she’s nice. I know she’s my tutor, but only for the rest of the school year. In three months, she’ll just be a nice lady who thinks you’re cute.”

  This was interesting. This was an actual personal conversation with his daughter. He wasn’t sure he exactly liked it, but he also felt he should do anything to keep it going. “You think I should date?”

  “Well, sure. You’re a guy—you can’t stay single forever. If you’re thinking of waiting until I go to college, that’s stupid. Mom dated and I was fine.”

  “You like Nancy?”

  “She’s okay. I’m not sure she’s your type, though.”

  “So now I have a type?”

  Sophie tilted her head and studied him for a minute. “Yeah, I think I’m figuring you out. I don’t think Nancy would be right. I don’t know if she could stand up to you when you need it. But that’s what dating is all about, isn’t it? Getting to know each other, seeing if you’re attracted and compatible.”

  “Yep. That’s usually the basic point.”

  For everyone but him. Getting to know someone had never been a priority for Mark. In fact, he couldn’t even really say he had dated anyone besides Helen. Dating implied conversation, intimacy.