Out of Eden (23 page)

Shy barked, announcing someone’s approach.

Kylie turned, relaxing when she saw Jack. “Look!” she said, springing to her feet. “Shy found my glasses. It proves I was here.”

“Never doubted you on that score, hon.”

She frowned. “You didn’t find any evidence of foul play.”

He shook his head.

“I knew it. Just my luck those families—”

He cut her off with a raised hand. “I want you to consider something.”

She folded her arms. “What?”

“This town is obsessed with
Omertà
. Folks have memorized dialogue, scenes. They spout the slang, read related books. Maybe you walked in on an over-the-top role-playing game.”

“Are you
kidding?
”

“Just consider the possibility. Remember the stink over those kids who went overboard with Dungeons & Dragons?”

Who could forget? Five boys from Jack and Spenser’s sophomore class. Fantasy role-playing gone amok. A boy had died. One of Eden’s biggest scandals. Kylie massaged her temples. “But they threatened to kill me. They chased me. At least one did.”

“Maybe they just wanted to scare you. An innocent bystander sucked into their game.”

She hated that Jack’s scenario sounded more plausible than hers. And in truth, a similar thought had crossed her mind, as well—two obsessed locals
pretending
to be wiseguys. Dang.

“What would two East Coast mobsters be doing in a provincial Midwestern town?” Jack asked reasonably.

Looking to shake down a finook
was the obvious answer. It was also far-fetched. The stuff movies and TV shows are made of. She must’ve looked as miserable as she felt because Jack pulled her into his arms and held her tight. He kissed the top of her head. He stroked her hair. It was an intimate, protective embrace. He didn’t believe her, but he was giving her the benefit of the doubt. Genuine kindness, not mollifying.

“Here’s something else to consider,” he said, still holding her close. “If a wiseguy wanted you dead, you’d be dead. Trust me on this, Kylie.”

His somber tone sent a chill down her spine. Clearly his observation was linked to experience. Logic told her he was right.
But it had seemed so real.

“Come on.” He guided her up the hill, whistled for Shy to follow.

Kylie shoved on her bent frames. Even though the world cleared, her brain felt fuzzy. Had she mistaken fantasy for reality? “Where are we going?”

“To buy you a cell phone.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“W
HAT DO YOU MEAN
you can’t find him?”

“He wasn’t at the hardware store. The shoe store’s locked tight and we searched his house. He’s not here, Chickie.”

Carmine resisted the urge to hurl the phone against the putrid green wall. Seeking calm, he looked past Dixie, who was sitting in a nearby chair tapping away at her laptop, and focused on the white clouds floating outside his private room’s window. Aversi had promised to release him from the hospital by day’s end given there were no complications. Carmine had things to do, mistakes to rectify. He couldn’t afford any cardio flare-ups. “Maybe he’s food shopping. Maybe he’s visiting his wife’s grave. It
is
Sunday.”

“Thought about the cemetery,” said Mario. “We found the headstone for Mona Martin, but no sign of Uncle Tommy.”

“You mean Travis,” said Carmine. “You’re looking for Travis Martin, you
jamook
. And he doesn’t look
exactly
as we remember him.” Carmine had never seen the end result of the plastic surgery. None of boys had. But surely family would recognize family. As for Buddah, he’d never met Tommy in person, but he’d seen pictures. “I heard they couldn’t fix his nose. You’re looking for an olive-skinned man with a crooked nose.”

“Yeah. I know.”

Carmine heard the heat in his nephew’s voice. That kid had the most unpredictable temper in the family. Carmine was in no mood. “Put Buddah on the horn.”

A second later, his even-keeled consigliere spoke. “Yeah, boss.”

“Between the e-mail Tommy sent to the Vespas about Olivia’s death and the info we got from the e-mails that McGraw broad sent to Dixie, we know my brother has been living in Eden as Travis Martin for the last fucking seven years.”

“Rest easy, Chickie. If he’s here, we’ll find him.”

“He’s there.”

“I don’t know how he stood it.”

“Stood what?”

“Living in this hayseed town. I tried to buy a cup of espresso.
Forgettaboutit
.”

Carmine couldn’t imagine being cut off from the food and people he loved. Paradise in the Heartland must have been Hell on Earth for his brother. It was beyond time to end his misery. “Find him. But don’t make fuckin’ spectacles of yourself while you look. Be discreet. Blend.”

“Consider us smoke.”

Carmine hung up and glanced over at Dixie. Worried sick, she’d refused to leave him last night, so he’d had one of the boys bring over the computer to keep her occupied. Instead of yapping his ear off, she’d focused on her Web site and played games. Mostly she’d been content. Just now she looked white as a sheet. His heart tha-dumped. “What?”

She licked her glossed lips, looked at the screen, at him. “You ain’t gonna believe the e-mail I just got from that shoe store owner in Eden.”

K
YLIE REGRETTED TYPING
the e-mail as soon as she hit Send. Pushing away from her great-grandfather’s desk, she stood and paced circles around the tiny office in McGraw’s Shoe Shoppe. She had to let this morning’s saga go. Jack had her mostly talked into the possibility of the role-playing scenario. She had to admit, it made more sense than mobsters in Eden. Relatively calm, she’d asked him to drop her at McGraw’s after their shopping excursion. In addition to a cell phone, she’d purchased a new pair of glasses—trendy black rectangular frames accented with bright flowers. Jack had called them cute. Kylie thought them daring. They also cleared up her blurry vision, important when attending to details. She had a lot to accomplish before the grand opening. Jack had needed to return to the station house to follow up on his sister’s case.

Their goodbye kiss still sizzled through her body.
“Call me if you need me,”
he’d said. She’d dialed him on the spot, only her need was rooted in desire, not an emergency. After another heated kiss, he’d left, and after locking the front door, she’d beelined for her office. If she didn’t occupy her mind, she’d obsess on her future with Jack or her wacky, scary morning.

After firing up her computer, she’d scanned orders. Her gaze fixed on
Bada-Bling!
and…
bada boom
, all she could think about was her maybe, crazy run-in with mobsters.

Needing to vent, she’d called Faye on her new cell, only her friend was in the midst of a personal crisis. Her dad, a widower who’d relocated to Florida, had been in a car wreck and was going to be laid up for weeks.

“I’m abandoning Stan at our busiest time,” she’d said, “but he’ll survive. Not so sure about Dad. What if it’s more serious than he’s letting on? You know him—an independent bastard. I have to fly down to Orlando. I’m making it as easy as I can on Stan, pulling the kids out of school and taking them with me—”

“I’m sure Stan understands,” Kylie had interrupted, hoping to calm her frantic friend.

“Actually, it’s for the best. I think some time apart might help. I’m sorry I’m going to miss your grand opening, Kylie,” she said, skating over her husband woes, “but—”

“I love you, Faye. Go. Be safe. Give your dad a hug for me and call with an update when you can.”

“Okay. Thanks. Love you back. Have fun with Jack.”

Things were wonky with Stan and Faye, and now Faye’s dad was in trouble. Kylie was glad the news of her goon sighting hadn’t yet reached her friend. Like Faye needed another worry. Although maybe she’d assume, like everyone else, that it was just another ploy by Kylie to shake things up.

Feeling absurdly isolated, she’d clicked on a new e-mail from Dixie, who mentioned she was making a special pair of shoes just for Kylie as a thank-you for being her first and best customer. Kylie hit Reply, expressing her appreciation, then found herself typing:
You’ll never guess what happened to me this morning!

Now Dixie, along with everyone in Eden, was going to think she was one shoe short of a pair. They were business associates who’d traded a couple of chatty e-mails, not friends. Yet Kylie had relayed her tale as though she’d been talking to Faye. Jeesh. It seemed she really needed someone to believe her. If only Travis had been around.

Instead, she was alone. No one to talk to. No one to rely on if she ran into trouble. Like facing down hooligans intent on robbing the store or fitting her with cement shoes.

Yikes.

Suffering an attack of the heebie-jeebies, Kylie zipped out of the office, checking the locks of the back and front door. No matter who those guys were, they’d still chased her and she was currently vulnerable. It was the first time in her life that she didn’t feel safe in Eden. Surely the feeling would pass, but until then she was on pins and needles.
Not
the kind of excitement she’d been looking for. She imagined Jack in New York City, where things like this happened all the time and young women didn’t stay alone anywhere without a lock on the door.

She thought about her cozy trailer in the woods, beyond screaming distance from any of her neighbors. No wonder Jack had been so intent on security lighting and double locks. Even if he didn’t believe Eden had been invaded by true gangsters, he worried about those prowling the world with bad intent in their hearts.

He didn’t want her hurt.

For a moment, Kylie wished back her boring, secure existence, where she’d laughed off such concerns.

Then she circled back to the cluttered, blah-boring office and realized there were some changes she didn’t wish back, like Jack in her bed, the renovations to the store and knowing Travis Martin. She should’ve asked Travis to renovate this part of the store, as well. It would have meant him sticking around a little longer. She’d been disappointed not to find him painting or fiddling with a fixture when she’d entered McGraw’s. Except he’d accomplished everything she’d asked for and more. His work was done. As for the grand reopening, all she had to do was haul out her merchandise and arrange new displays. For the first time ever, she wished she had help. It had been more interesting to share the workday with someone else.

She remembered then that Travis still needed to come by to pick up his check. When he did, she could always approach him about additional work. Feeling a little better, Kylie returned to the desk in search of her spare personal checkbook. When she opened the top drawer she spied a bulky envelope marked
Kylie
.

She didn’t recognize the writing. Curious, she pulled out the contents and gaped. A bundle of one hundred dollar bills, a handwritten letter and a computer printout for a flight reservation. “What the hey?”

She ruffled through the bills, guesstimating four or five thousand dollars. She glanced at the flight confirmation. A round-trip ticket to Hong Kong! Heart pounding, she read the letter.

Dear Kylie,

By the time you read this, I’ll be on a plane, flying toward my own dream destination. You inspired me. I’ve decided to shake things up by living the life I was born to lead. It’s possible you may hear some ugly truths in the future about my past. Please know, I am a good person at heart, though not nearly as pure as you. I worry that you will never experience your dream trip for varied reasons, always putting business or other people’s needs ahead of your own. For that reason I am gifting you with a nonrefundable round-trip ticket to Hong Kong and some spending money to use at will. Trust me, I can afford it.

I know the new and imaginative McGraw’s Shoe Shoppe will be a hit, and I suspect you’ll find much love and joy with Jack. Embrace your passion, Kylie, your dreams. Life’s too short. Your friend, Travis

Kylie read the letter twice. She stared at the money, at the flight confirmation. Conflicting emotions stormed her heart and mind. Confusion. Curiosity. Elation. Sadness. “Who are you, Travis Martin?”

The phone rang. The landline. Jack would’ve called her new cell. Switching into business mode, she snatched up the receiver, answering automatically. “McGraw’s Shoe Shoppe.”

“You mean McGraw’s Shoe
Store
. And why are you there on a Sunday? Your grandma and I have been trying to reach you for the past two hours. We told you we’d call you today. Did you forget?”

Kylie cringed at the sound of her mom’s hurt tone. “I’m sorry. It’s been a crazy day. I lost track of the time. So you’re in Anchorage now, right? Is it beautiful? What’s the temperature? Are you and Grandma taking any excursions?”

“We missed our excursion. I didn’t want to go anywhere until I heard your voice. Your grandma said you hired Travis Martin to do some renovations and now it sounds like you changed the name of the store. You blew off work to get your hair done and now you’re working on your day off. What’s going on with you, Kylie?”

She wanted to tell her mom about what she’d witnessed this morning, but then the woman would worry.

She wanted to gush that she’d had her first orgasm with a man, but that was too intimate. Sex wasn’t something she ever talked about with her mom. Plus, she wasn’t ready for Spenser to know about Jack, and surely her mom or grandma would find a way to let him know.

If she went into detail about the extensive renovations, they might freak and return home early, thinking she’d flipped her lid. Besides, maybe they’d love the new look at first sight.

She glanced at the ticket to Hong Kong and the stack of money, and imagined her mom stressing over her only daughter, Kylie, wandering around Asia without a chaperone. Not that Kylie was definitely going. She still couldn’t believe Travis’s generosity.

“I confess I made a few changes, Mom. Chalk it up to a birthday crisis. But mostly everything’s status quo,” she lied. “Same ol’, same ol’.”

J
ACK WAITED ON THE SIDE
of the station house while Shy trotted in circles looking for a prime spot to whiz. “Hurry up, girl.” Even though work waited, he refused to go in without her. The way his day was going, someone would steal her away or, worse, she’d run into the street and get hit by a car.

Still dressed in yesterday’s clothes, Jack surveyed Main Street and the moderate traffic. Even though the Apple Festival got busier as the week went on, a few early birds were flocking in. By this time Wednesday, he wouldn’t recognize half of the people in town. He wouldn’t know their backgrounds or personalities or what crimes they were capable of. An ordinary day in NYC on a much smaller scale. In one day, he’d gone from relaxed to alert. He hadn’t anticipated reconnecting with his old self this swiftly—a blessing and a curse.

Shy squatted and Jack looked in the direction of McGraw’s Shoe Shoppe. He wasn’t crazy about leaving Kylie alone. He wasn’t thrilled that his sister and niece were out of his sight. Today all of the women in his life had been threatened in some way. Looking at both incidents logically, through the eyes of a cop, he’d been able to put things in perspective.

The physical evidence combined with his brother-in-law’s shady behavior suggested the vandalism at Jessie’s house had been directed at Frank.

The lack of evidence and the improbability of a mob hit in Eden, suggested Kylie had been the victim of a prank. She’d been rattling a lot of chains lately. Maybe someone had rattled back.

Regardless, even if neither woman was at honest risk, both had been traumatized. Jack had spent the morning vacillating between pissed and concerned. So much for numb. This is how he should have felt—times ten—when they’d found Connie Valachi with a bullet in the back of her head and her tongue cut out. Instead of taking that mob hit in stride, he should have been furious. When they’d broken the news to her family, he should have empathized. But he’d shut down. His partner had called it a coping mechanism.

Jack didn’t want to cope. He wanted to serve and protect. He wanted to feel.

This moment he felt like an exposed wire. Alive and volatile.