Fly With Fire (28 page)

So many places to focus at
once. Discipline upon discipline. “Free your mind to find your center. Let go
of fear to achieve balance.” The awkward position of her body and the
discordant sound made her step unsteady. Mo felt the wire wobble and saw that
it was not secured to a platform but held by Trollie the clown. He smiled his
strange smile with his red rimmed eyes looking into hers. She felt something
poke into her back. Gram was on the wire behind her. She pushed her along with
an umbrella tip as Mo tried to control the bow. The violin strings began to
pull as if glued to the bow. They stretched as she drew and hung loose when she
slid it back, still sticking to the bow. She held the bow out and the strings
remained stuck. Trollie whipped the wire he held but she managed to ride it
like a wave and suddenly the violin was wrested from her in a violent gust of
wind. She turned to find Gram’s umbrella hooked to the wire. Gram had
disappeared. She managed to grab the umbrella and was suddenly on the ground by
herself, in the back yard. But she was grown up now and rain poured down on
her. She looked down at her little girl’s leotard and slippers. A chill went
through her. She held the umbrella away from her. “Find your center,” Gram’s
voice was a distant echo. She pointed the tip of the umbrella toward her chest
and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and pressed it between her breasts.

She flew through the air, the
sensation of the wind all around her. Her eyes closed, she could only feel the
movement. When she opened them she soared over the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier.
The lights blinked as she soared and passed the lights on top of the buildings.
Higher and higher she went until she felt a shard of fear enter her. She closed
her eyes and touched the place the umbrella had left a bruise. She was suddenly
on a trapeze and saw Zack waiting on the platform. He held out his hand and the
fear was gone.

Mo slowly opened her eyes and
felt an ache over her entire body. She could see the daylight around the edges
of the blinds. She closed her eyes and hoped for a return to sleep but the
memory of the strange dream intruded. How much of what she remembered was a
dream. How much had been real. She turned and looked at the empty place beside
her. The indentation on the pillow next to hers was still warm when she put her
hand on it. She touched the mattress and felt his warmth there too. Her mind
separated the fragments of memory into clear images. The images she pieced
together into coherent recollection. Zack. She smelled coffee. Its aroma seemed
to soothe even the tormented muscles. She couldn’t remember when she’d last had
sore muscles like this but the sensation of them was suddenly delicious. They
had loved again in the night. A tender exchange of each other’s caresses. A
gentle release yet no less intense than their first coupling. She yawned and
smiled as she stretched her body thinking of all the ways they’d touched each
other.

Mo went into the bathroom to
freshen up. She felt a sharp ache and stood with her back to the mirror and
twisted to see the bruise at the base of her spine. She recalled the jab of the
gun. “Oh shit.” She ran her large tooth comb through her hair. She thought she
looked a little pale but figured it could be the poor lighting. She remembered
her sick stomach and felt a ravenous pang.

“What’s for breakfast?” she
asked as she walked out of the bedroom.

“I hope you’re hungry. Just
so happens I picked up some bagels and lox at the store yesterday. I must be
clairvoyant.” It was her favorite breakfast. Zack set a cup of coffee in front
of Mo. He slid a quart of milk next to it and kissed her forehead. Then he
turned her barstool and pressed deeply against her lips. “You need to start off
with some food today.” He went back around the island.

“There you go, telling me
what I need again.” Mo smiled and poured some milk into her coffee. She
wondered if he had gotten the lox with other company in mind.

Zack pulled the bagels out of
the toaster. “You didn’t seem to disagree with me about what you needed last
night.”

“Was that last night? I feel
like I’ve been asleep for days.” She took a sip. He made good coffee and she
didn’t know why that surprised her.

“Just last night.” He looked
at her with a knowing little smile.

“Now you think you know all
about what I need?” Her shy smile belied the confident tone. She did feel shy.
She’d never responded sexually to someone like she had him. She even felt a
little embarrassment thinking of the complete abandonment he’d inspired.

He pushed a whole grain bagel
at her. “Food. For one thing. I know you can eat so don’t be shy about it now.”
The lox and cream cheese looked yummy and she took a big bite. Zack ate his
mentally smiling at her childlike enjoyment. He hated to infuse a bleak reality
in to their first morning as lovers. “We have to go over to the precinct this
morning. You’ll have to make your statement. There were plenty of witnesses to
corroborate. It shouldn’t take long. Are you feeling up to it?” Zack set down
his coffee. He looked at her as if unsure he could trust her protestations of
being perfectly able to make her statement.

“Funny just some random guy.
Needed a fix? What drives people to do something like that? I want to get it
over with and forget about it.” She spun on the chair looking around his
apartment.

“Mo, it may not be so easy to
forget. On top of…well, everything else. There’s no shame in seeing someone.
Someone who can help.”

“Help? Help with what? I’m
fine. I’ll be fine as soon as this statement thing is over.” She seemed to pull
into herself a little and Zack hoped her resistance to the idea of some
counseling didn’t mean she’d try to push him away and deal with everything
alone. He figured that had been her mode of coping for a long time. Clamp down
and put everything into work. In that moment he saw how close that was to his
own coping mechanism. He decided to lighten up.

“So are you heading up to
Montreal? I can take you to the airport after the statement. You probably want
to stop at the hotel.” Zack watched her brow furrow ever so slightly. Her face
seemed to go blank.

“I think I’ll just stick
around and practice. I’m afraid I pissed the security people off yesterday by
walking out of the airport. Roddy’s going to ream me out too.” But that’s not
what was really on her mind. They had had their fun and back on earth none of
her options felt very enticing. Greendale. Montreal. Her hotel room.
 Yeah, being the good guy he was he’d see she got to where she needed to
go. But the fact was he had quit and wasn’t going back with her.

“I wish you hadn’t run out on
those guys. They can’t do their job if you don’t cooperate.” He cleared her
plate and put the dishes in the sink. “And look at what happened. I’m not
saying it’s your fault, about the robbery. I called Roddy. You know he’d gone
to meet his wife in New York. I was able to catch him before he got on a plane
back to Chicago. He was almost hysterical not knowing where you were. The
security people got your bag off the plane. It’s in your room. You shouldn’t
just blow them off like that. They have a job to do. No one knew where you
were.”

And she wouldn’t be here. “I
called them. I owe them an apology,” she said with contrition. There would have
been no them last night, she thought. Mo felt her defenses tighten. “Please
don’t lecture me. Not right now.” Her voice was still hoarse. She sounded a
little cranky. She’d let herself go with a man for the first time in her life.
Really let herself go. Now here she was circling the wagons because she knew it
was just a night. She suddenly felt so unhappy and didn’t understand why.
Couldn’t she just be grateful for the phenomenal sex and move on? What did she
need from him? Nothing he could give her. Nothing she could return. They might
as well be from different planets. Like that book said.

He sensed the tension and
knew he’d made a mistake in lecturing her. He watched her fidget with her
coffee cup and sensed her anxiety. Was she nervous about the statement? Uncomfortable
with him after last night? Was she looking for an out? Zack thought of what
she’d been through. He took a chance, expressing what had been on his mind
since awakening. “I’m sorry, it’s done now. Everything’s okay. Know what I
think, if you’re still willing to listen to me?” His heart speeded up a bit as
she eyed him warily. “Mo, you deserve a break. I’m still on leave and you don’t
have to be at work until Friday. I know it’s not the Paris of North America,
but we could have a lot of fun. Why don’t we both take a break? Stay here. With
me. I’ll show you more of the city. I’ll see if I can get tickets to the
Tutankhamen but I can’t guarantee it. I’ll have you back on Friday. We can
knock around the city or we can just relax on the beach. What do you say?”

“I’d say you Chicagoans know
how to make a girl an offer she can’t refuse.” Mo smiled brightly and held out
her cup.

“The guys not talking, tight
as a fucking clam but we’re running his prints. Labs backed up but hopefully
we’ll have him ID’ed by this afternoon.

“Skank’s lucky to be behind
bars. Merle just let me know the essentials. I’m going to be busy all week, but
I’ll be around.” Zack eyed Mo who waited across the room.

“She did real well. Something
to look at. How’d you come to be at the gas station? You told the uniforms you
were waiting for her outside. She told them she was in a cab.” Merle Gleason
raised a brow and glanced over to Mo who waited patiently looking at wanted
posters.

“Keep your eyes off.”

“Better eyes than hands.”

“Those too.” Zack chuckled.
“Uh, we had a little misunderstanding. She left in a cab. I followed; saw the
cab at the gas station. Balls knocking that off. Mayor’s house right down the
street. Crowded area. Maybe a hard luck night with the pockets and got
desperate.” Zack steeled himself against the recollection.

“She’s lucky. Lucky you
followed. So what’s the deal? You and her? She was at your condo? ” Merle
avoided the glance at her. His urge to really check her out suppressed by
Zack’s warning look.

“I don’t know, Merle, and I’m
not asking questions.” Zack reached out to shake Merle’s hand. “Let me know
anything I or she needs to know but other than that…”

“Buddy, I’m not bothering you
even if Larson himself orders it. Seen the paper?” Merle held up the Sun Times.

“Shit.” Zack saw the picture
of Mo and himself getting into his car at the gas station. It was front page
news. “Thought we got away in time.”

“More publicity for the show.
With her around who needs a publicist?” Merle held out the paper.

Zack pushed it back with a
furtive glance at Mo. “I think we’ll try to avoid the newsstands today. 
Later.”

“I told you to keep an eye on
that girl! What the hell was she doing at that gas station? You trying to make a
name for yourself, Burnham? You know how many calls we’ve gotten on this?” The
mayor’s voice was so loud in the phone Zack had to hold it away from his ear.

“Sir, I’m on the job. She’s
safe. No I’m not trying to make a name for myself. I don’t want a desk job, I’m
on leave. She’s right here. In my car. She just gave her statement. No, she
doesn’t want to go back to Greendale. She wants to see the Tutankhamen but it’s
sold out… Today, tomorrow… How? Okay. I’ll check the ticket office in an hour.”

“Since you’ve got fans in
high places, we’re getting in.” Zack smiled as he clamped his phone onto its
charger.

“Must be because he knows
you.” Mo looked at Zack with a sidelong glance. She seemed more at ease now
that the statement was over.

“If it was up to Tyler I’d
wind up in the tomb.” Zack decided to park at his condo. It was a short walk to
the museum and they could always catch a cab.

“I get the feeling there’s
more than meets the eye with you and Tyler.” She didn’t push it, just gazed at
him with a questioning look. “Sorry, maybe it’s about Ray…I didn’t mean to…”

“I was engaged to his
daughter. He didn’t approve. We broke up and we’ve, Tyler and me, have had a
contentious relationship since. I didn’t really have to see him much until the
investigation. Chicago’s like a small town in a lot of ways. We’re from the
same neighborhood and each neighborhood is like a small town. I don’t know why
he pulled me in to the head office but there I was. I don’t know why he was mad
when I broke up with Patricia when I knew he was against it from the start. He
didn’t want his daughter to marry a cop. Sometimes people’s motives don’t make
sense to anyone but them. You learn that being a cop, along with a lot of other
things. You need to stop in the apartment?”

Mo shook her head and they
started headed toward the street. She was silently amazed that he had revealed
so much considering his usual reticence. She decided not to push it. Maybe he
gave more information about himself spontaneously if he wasn’t questioned.

George Travers stood in the
doorway of the Veteran’s Museum holding up the Sun Times. He peeked over the
edge and did a double take. He lowered the paper and opened his mouth to say
something. Zack stopped him with a shake of his head. George nodded assent with
a wink. He went back to his paper but lowered it to watch the couple as they
turned the corner.

The cool breeze mitigated
what would have been a hot early September day. It wouldn’t be long before the
days got a cooler, Zack thought. “You comfortable?”