“Greenberg,” he said in his professional voice. I knew he knew it was me since my cell number would have appeared on his screen. I was surprised when he reacted so distantly, but then I didn’t know where I’d reached him and who else was around.
“I have something for you,” I said, trying to be as cryptic as possible.
“Okay. I’ll be in touch.” And with that he hung up.
Okay, it must have been a really bad time for him to be that short. Maybe he and the nurse were just finishing a family evening.
I drove the short distance to my house. I could tell from the cars in the driveway that Peter and Gabby were home. No doubt Gabby had told him about teatime, and I’d probably hear some reprimand from him for talking about the shower.
I was sitting in the driveway, thinking about which door I should go in, when my cell phone rang. I didn’t even look at the caller ID. I knew it was Barry.
“Molly Pink,” I said in my version of a professional voice.
“Not funny,” he said. “I told you I’d call you.”
“Oh no, did I cause a problem?” I said in feigned distress.
“No,” he said offering no more explanation. “I’m on my way. What door should I come to?”
“The Eagles have landed,” I said in a vain attempt to be funny, “so we should keep it on the down low.”
He said he’d meet me at the den door.
I went in through the kitchen, feeling there was no reason to sneak into my own house whether the eagles had landed or not. I was still glad that the kitchen was empty and even gladder when I heard the sound of a television and saw the door to their room closed. I really wasn’t up for being treated like an intruder. There was the clatter of claws on the wood floor as Cosmo, Felix, Mr. Kitty, and Cat Woman came across the house to greet me. I gave them a round of treats and promised them some outside time when Barry left.
He was waiting by the den door when I opened it. “You can relax. They’re out of the way for now.” I glanced toward the living room. “But I can’t predict what they’ll do.” I pointed at the door that led to the master suite.
The animals rushed in with us, and I closed the door, letting out a sigh of relief.
He went directly into my room, but he didn’t sit. “Okay, let’s have it,” he said, holding out his hand.
“What do you mean?” I said, confused.
“You said you had something for me. It’s Adele’s video that is supposed to show the drone zeroing in on Sloan, right?”
I was stunned. I’d forgotten about the video once I knew she’d deleted it. What was I going to do? Stall, hoping he’d forget.
“Before we get to that, I want to ask you why I can’t be the one to call when I have something to tell you.” I stood in front of him with my arms crossed. “It’s because you have to be the one to call all the shots, isn’t it?”
“And here we go again,” he said in a singsong voice. He let out a tired sigh and crossed his arms. He was out of his suit and tie uniform and wearing jeans that were soft and pale from washing, with a blue pocket T-shirt. Even though he was in his fifties, he could carry off jeans without them having the “dad” look. When we had dated, he’d kept fit using weights. I assumed he still did, especially now that he had Carol. I started to picture the two of them, side by side at the stove, but pushed away the image.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You don’t know where you’re reaching me. I could be in a car with a partner, or off duty with …” He seemed uneasy. “I could be with Carol.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t want any of them to hear my phone calls.”
“In other words, just like I said, you want to be in control.”
“But I am the one in charge. I’m the detective and you’re my helper,” he said. “Now how about that video?”
“About that,” I said, “there’s a little problem.” I paused and took a breath, realizing my stall tactic hadn’t worked. “Adele deleted it. But I’m telling you it really did show the drone going after Sloan.”
Barry laughed and looked around at the assorted animals. “Really? That’s right up there with ‘the dog ate my homework.’”
I cringed, my worst fears having come to fruition. “It is not,” I said defiantly. “The video really did exist.”
“Even if it did, it’s gone now. It’s all good and well for you to give your opinion, but I’d need something to back it up in order to pursue it.”
“Did you ever think about where all those seafood shells came from?” I said, trying to change the subject.
“That’s what you called me about?”
“We never discussed it, so I thought you might have overlooked that detail,” I said.
Barry leveled his gaze at me. “You can’t be serious. Of course I checked it out.”
“Are you going to share what you found out?” I asked.
When he hesitated, I jumped in. “Never mind. I’ll figure it out for myself,” I said. “I have resources. I’ve been making friends with the people who live in the cul-de-sac.”
“So then you know the Yanas?”
“The who? I asked.
“The Yanas,” he repeated. “They own the Seafood Cooker. It’s in a strip mall on Ventura. Everything is served in plastic bags, and they dump the contents on the table.”
“It sounds like you’ve been there,” I said.
He seemed uncomfortable. “We’re not here to talk about my restaurant visits.”
“But you have been there, haven’t you?” And the rest of my question was with who?—but I kept that part to myself.
He blew out his breath. “Yes, I’ve eaten there, but that’s not the point. The Yanas said they knew nothing about anything and that the shells and residue from their restaurant go into a dumpster behind the restaurant that anyone has access to.” He seemed to be considering something. “When I asked if I could look around their yard, they refused. I had to leave it at that. I didn’t have enough to get a search warrant for them or any of the others on Starlight Court.
“They have all said that they had nothing to do with the drone attack, and I don’t have anything to prove otherwise. I should correct that. I didn’t speak to the people who live in the house on the end since they’re on a cruise and weren’t there when it happened.”
He let his arms unfold. “That’s why I brought you in. I figured they wouldn’t see you as a threat and might drop something useful.”
“So which was it? Were you with your partner or your nurse?
“You’re not much of a detective if you have to ask,” he said. “I’ll give you a clue. Check out the clothes and footwear.” He stuck out his foot, clad in a sneaker.
“Okay, so it was the nurse.”
“Her name is Carol,” Barry said. He’d leveled his gaze at me again. “If I didn’t know that you’re practically married to Mason already, I’d think you were jealous.”
“Of course not. I’m glad you’ve found someone who fits in with your lifestyle.” I didn’t mean to, but there was an edge in my voice.
“You still haven’t gotten over that I left you at a restaurant once,” he said.
“You left in the middle of meals more than once. I never knew if you’d be around for dessert.” I couldn’t believe that I’d gone back to this old argument. There were others things too. A trip to Hawaii he had planned without discussing it with me. But why was I bringing any of this up, even if only in my mind?
There was a flash of emotion in his dark eyes, and he looked around the room. “I guess I hoped that when I was here with you, I made up for the times when I wasn’t.” The moment of heat disappeared behind his professional demeanor. “I think we got off the subject. The owners of the seafood place live in the fourth house from Holiday House. Their name is Yana. See what you can do.”
“You actually gave me an assignment,” I said.
He shrugged. “I guess I did.”
He was getting ready to leave. I turned abruptly a
nd almost lost my balance. He grabbed my elbow to steady me, then let go without a hint of whether he’d had any reaction. It bugged me how he could just shut off his feelings.
Felix, Cosmo, Princess, and I walked Barry out into the yard. The dogs rushed off in the darkness to do their thing. Barry lingered for a moment, watching them. He seemed almost wistful as he stared out at the yard, and I imagined he was remembering times we’d spent there together. But when he turned back to me, he was all business again. “I’ll be in touch. Remember, that’s I’ll be in touch.”
* * *
It was almost midnight when Mason called. “Sorry for calling so late,” he said. Despite the hour, his voice sounded animated. He’d gone back to Kansas on Monday.
“The plans are coming together. I arranged for the time off,” I said, and I could almost hear him smile.
“It’ll be so much nicer when you’re here with me. We’ll fly back to Topeka together on Tuesday.”
“The She La La’s tour ends this week, and Samuel will be home to take care of my animals,” I said.
Mason noticed that my voice sounded a little warbly. “It’ll be okay,” he said in a reassuring tone. “I promise we’ll have some fun too. You know I’m not an all-work kind of guy. I’ve already staked out some places to go, but the company is more important than the place.”
“I agree,” I said.
“I’ve been thinking that we could do this pro bono work for a few years. Hopefully we’ll help a bunch of people get their lives back. Then,” he said with a dramatic flourish, “it could be just you and me, off to see the world.”
I didn’t know what to say. It was so much a reminder that we were talking about more than a week.
“Are you still there?” he asked after a moment. “I’d hate to be making my offer to dead air.”
“I’m here,” I said. “Now you’ve given me even more to process. I have a lot going on here. There’s the event at the bookstore, and I sort of got involved in trying to find out who was behind the drone drop. You know me—I hate to leave anything hanging. I heard all the neighbors denied having anything to do with it, and there’s no way to prove who’s lying.” I told him my theory that it might have been something different, that Sloan might have been the target, and maybe it wasn’t an accident after all.
“Is it just a hunch, or do you have any backup?” he asked. I mentioned Adele’s video and what had happened to it.
“Leave it to The Adele to mess things up. But it might have just looked like the drone was after the woman who died. This could be one of those times when the obvious answer is the correct one. Someone created a nuisance, implying they’d do something again when she had the place up and running. Those rentals make it or break it based on reviews. The neighbors are all probably stonewalling the cops, and the only evidence is some stinking garbage since they don’t seem to be able to track down the drone. The cops will realize they have nothing and put it on the back burner.”
I didn’t know what to say, and I heard him chuckle. “But I guess you’re not putting it on the back burner.”
“Right,” I said.
“That’s why I want you working with me. You never give up,” he said.
“Neither do you.”
“I guess that makes us made for each other,” he said with a chuckle.
Chapter Twenty
I wasn’t sure who would show up for the Hookers’ social crocheting on Wednesday. Rhoda was already at the table when I entered the yarn department. Not that I was surprised. She was the most dependable of the group. Her skeins of yarn were already on the table, and her hook was moving. Sheila caught up with me and pulled out a chair. She worked almost next door, making it easy for her to come by.
“I’m glad I can depend on you two,” I said. “I need to have as many finished scarves as possible to use as samples for the event.”
“I’ve finished with the first skein,” Rhoda said, holding up her work done in a royal blue. She looked over the skein of pale blue mohair and the one of a delft blue with a nubby texture she’d chosen for the project. “Any suggestions on which one I should go with next?” she asked.
“Have you thought about switching the mohair skein for one in orange?” I asked. “The contrast would be striking.”
I had just gone over to the bins of yarn to see what I could find when I sensed someone walk in behind me. I looked up, hoping it was another Hooker, but it was Ms. Mayonnaise from the book club. I’d wanted to talk to her since I’d realized she lived in Starlight Court. The idea of remembering a name by associating it with something had really backfired. I had no problem remembering the something, but her name kept eluding me. The worst part was that she spent a lot of time at the bookstore.
She always seemed neatly dressed, but on the blah side.
She glanced at the table with interest. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Anastasia,” I said, remembering her name a little too abruptly, yet again. To cover myself, I rushed to add something to it. “I guess you’ve never been in the bookstore around this time.” I gestured toward the table just as Dinah and CeeCee arrived. “This is the crochet group, the Tarzana Hookers.”
She laughed at the name, which was the usual reaction. “You’re right, I’m usually here earlier or later.” She turned to the crocheters at the table. “This place is my home away from home. I love to read and it’s nice to have some place to go now that I’m retired. It used to be rush home from work to make dinner.” She shrugged. “But my kids are on their own now, and my husband has decided that frozen meals are just the right portion for him. I overcooked his once, so now he insists on doing it himself. It leaves me with a lot of time to do what I want.” The way she sighed at the end made me think she wasn’t so happy about all the freedom. She looked over the yarn on the table. “What are you making?”
“They’re called Serendipity scarves,” Rhoda said.
“They’re for an upcoming event we’re having on Saturday,” I said. “We’re going to have kits to make these scarves. The crochet skills are very basic, and we’ll have experts on hand to teach anyone to crochet who’s interested. Tell your friends.”
Her face lit up. “I will.”
She seemed ready to leave, and I vowed not to let her get away this time. I got up and stood next to her. “What did your kids think about seeing you on the news?” I asked. The rest of the group had started talking among themselves and weren’t paying any attention to our conversation.
“You saw me, then?” she said, and I nodded. “That reporter nabbed me before I could get away. I didn’t want to say anything about anything, but she’s relentless. She wanted to know if I had any idea who was behind the drone. Then she asked how we felt about that woman turning the house into a short-term rental.” She shook her head with dismay, then leaned closer and dropped her voice. “We live in the house next door. My husband is livid about what that woman’s doing, and it’s all I hear about from him. Caleb tried to organize the neighbors to do something, but nobody wanted to get involved.” She let out a sigh. “I didn’t realize what a fussbudget he was until he retired and he was home all the time. I’m so relieved when he goes over to his friend’s garage. He has a workshop set up, and they make models or something.”
I swallowed and got ready to ask the big question. “What about that business with the drone?”
She looked horrified. “I’m sure whoever did it didn’t intend to hurt that woman. My husband said he thought someone was trying to give her a taste of what might happen when she had guests.”
“You probably know the other neighbors. Do you think one of them was behind it?” I asked.
“Probably, but I don’t know which one. The police asked the same question.”
“And what did you tell the police?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I said I didn’t know anything.” She paused for a moment, as if considering her words. “I wasn’t going to say anything about the neighbors, well, unless I ab
solutely knew they sent the drone. But everyone was upset. Bitsy—she and Darwin live in the house next to mine—creates all the holiday parties and events for the cul-de-sac. They’re just for the neighbors and some invited guests. She’s sure Ms. Wintergarten will offer the events to the renters. Bitsy might have gone a little over the top in the kind of sleazy people she imagined renting the rooms, but really, none of us know what kind of people that young woman will rent to. The O’Malleys’ house is right across from ‘Holiday House,’ as she calls it. They travel a lot and are worried that the renters will do things like treat their front yard like a park. It doesn’t help that Ms. Wintergarten has refused to even talk to any of us.”
For a moment she looked wistful. “We moved in when the houses on Starlight Court were all new. All the families had kids. We all did PTA together, and the whole cul-de-sac celebrated the kids’ birthdays. We still know the neighbors, but not in the same way.” She stopped and laughed nervously. “I didn’t mean to go on so.”
It seemed she was going to stop, so I threw out a question. “Didn’t I hear the Yanas own a restaurant?”
Anastasia leaned closer and dropped her voice. “I heard that they tried to make a deal with Ms. Wintergarten. They wanted her to leave an advertisement with coupons for their seafood place in the rooms. My husband said the Yanas tried to sell her on it being the neighborly thing to do, but it didn’t work.”
She looked around the table. “Maybe I’ll stay and watch. This could be something for me.”
I’d barely had a chance to introduce her when her husband showed up. He was a tall, dull-looking guy and seemed impatient as he came up to the table. She started to explain who we were, but he just waved for her to leave.
“I’m going to come to your event,” she said as she left. I heard him ask her in a grumbly tone what event she was talking about.
“What a pain,” Rhoda said. “Thank heavens my Hal is nothing like that.”
Dinah hung back with me while I did my usual clean-up. “What were you two talking about?” she asked.
One for the Hooks Page 16
