QUEENIE BABY: On Assignment (24 page)

I heard Woody's voice above the den. "I was waiting for you to show up," he yelled and came from behind the bar. "You and your friends." He seemed a little peeved. I hoped he was joking.

"As soon as a crazy guy in a cape starts breakin' bad like Yoda, I should've known he was somehow related to you."

"He's not related to me," I said. "I just work for him. And he was defending Carol."

Woody held up his hand. "I know that's what everybody that saw it said and that's why I didn't call the police. But come on Diana. First you're in here with your crazy granddaddy and karaoke Carol over there makin' a scene," Carol didn't even try to defend herself. She just took another gulp of her drink. "Then last night you're in here breakin' up some poor slob's marriage, and now this guy with a cape. What gives?" he asked.

"I've had a bad week. That's all," I said glumly.
 

Everyone nodded their heads. Yep, definitely a bad week. "Need another drink?" he asked, taking pity on me.

"You still want me to play next Friday?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure," he said grabbing my empty glass. "Never a dull moment with you around."

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WE SPENT THE next hour debating what to do and waiting to hear from Charles or David. I switched to water and persuaded Carol to do like-wise. The consensus was that if there was no word from Charles by noon tomorrow, then Ed would go to the police. Marcie was, of course, opposed to this plan, but Ed was firm for once. There was no other choice. If Charles called, Ed would tell him to name his price to return the data and leave David behind when he left town. Mark had volunteered to take the money and retrieve the data and David. I wasn't happy at all about that.

"This guy is a psychopath," I said again. "He spent ten years in prison. He wouldn't hesitate to kill someone if he had to. It's too dangerous. If you can't call the police, can you hire some professionals?" I asked.

"I'm working on that," Mark said. "My friends overseas recommended some people here, but we have to find out where this is going down first."

Ed's phone rang. We all held our breath while he talked. He spoke softly and I only caught a few words. I heard ‘how much’ and ‘when.’ Ed hung up the phone. "They're on their way to Miami according to Charles. He wants half a million for the data," he turned to Marcie, "but he has no intention of leaving David behind. He says he needs a partner he can trust and David fits the bill," Ed said in disgust.
 

Marcie buried her face in her hands. "I was so afraid of this," she wept. Ed went on to give us the details, which included Mark heading down to Miami to make the exchange on Monday.

"That doesn't give me much time to get extra help in place," Mark said ruefully. "And why drag me all the way to Miami? Why not do the deal here?"

"I think he wants to get down there and make sure the data isn't worth more to someone else. You need to get down there early tomorrow," Ed said. "We'll keep working on David from our end. Maybe Marcie can get him on the phone again."

Mark and I had no time alone. Mark had to get back to the boat and grab what he could to make a six a.m. flight out of Reagan National. We scooped up Max and the limo dropped everyone off at their respective places. He left me with a firm kiss on the lips and a promise to call me when he landed in Miami.
 

I hardly slept that night. I woke to Max sleeping soundly on my chest, and, for once, I didn't make him get down. We had been through a lot yesterday. After a cup of coffee and long walk with Max, I took a shower and thought about calling Rick. I wanted to hold up my end of the deal. I had promised Mark exclusivity and I had meant it. I rehearsed what I was going to say over and over and even picked up the phone a couple of times. I chickened out and played my guitar for most of the afternoon. I even lingered over the new song I wrote.
 

Late in the afternoon, Mark finally called. “I can’t get the image of you lying naked on the couch out of my head,” he said without preamble.

“So stop trying and get back here so we can pick up where we left off,” I replied.

He laughed. “I wish it was that easy,” he said with a sigh. “I’m supposed to meet Charles at nine-thirty tomorrow morning with the five hundred thousand.”

“Where are you meeting?” I asked. The whole thing sounded dangerous.

“At the airport,” he said. “It seems that Charles hasn’t made any friends by trying to up the price on the data. David called Marcie this afternoon all upset because some thugs were after them. Looks like Charles reneged on his original deal in favor of Ed’s half million. Doesn’t sound like his first customer is someone you want to cross.”

Complete James Bond drama, I thought. “This just goes from bad to worse,” I said.

“Yeah, but at least we’ll get the data file back and I have a shot at getting David to stay as well. I’m pretty sure Charles is planning on jumping on a plane as soon as I hand him the money. According to Marcie, David is having second thoughts about joining him. I’m hoping to wrap this up tomorrow morning and be on the next plane back.”

“I’ll be waiting on your couch,” I said, adding wickedly, “naked.”
 

We flirted and chatted a few more minutes before hanging up. Now was the time, I told myself, to call Rick. Get it done. Rip the Band-Aid off. I found his number in my phone, but stopped before pushing the button. Why was I hesitant? I was completely falling for Mark. We had a lot in common. He represented the future. Rick was the past. Even the new and improved Rick was still part of the past. I needed to close that door soundly and turn the lock. I eyed my phone. But why did I have this urge to keep the door cracked? Just slightly ajar. In case things didn’t work out with Mark? No, if there wasn’t a Mark I would still be unsure about Rick. Sure, I would probably be experiencing a lot less sexual frustration right now, but I doubt I would be any more ready to settle down with Rick.
 

A text saved me from having to make the call. It was from my stepmother’s phone, but I doubted it was from her.

Anne: Send more jerky
 

Me: Is that you Granddaddy?

Anne: Yes and send more jerky

Me: What are you doing with Anne’s phone?

Anne: She thinks I’m playing games. But I’m trying to get beer and jerky.

Me: I can’t help you. Text Dan.

Anne: Diana, were you the one that brought him jerky?

Oops! I didn’t respond. Granddaddy was going to have to deal with that one. It was such a beautiful day, that I decided to walk down to one of my favorite little restaurants near the waterfront with outdoor seating. I took my laptop and worked on my website while listening to music. I surfed for some new guitar tabs and checked-in on Facebook. In general I cyber-goofed for a couple of hours, drank iced tea, and ate a salad for dinner. I was just getting ready to shut down my computer when my phone rang.
 

It was Rick. “Hey, how are you?” I said easily.

“Where are you?” he asked. His voice sounded thick. I heard loud music in the background.

“I’m sitting at a restaurant eating dinner,” I said. “How about you?” Again trying to keep it light.

“Alone?” he asked bluntly.

That got my fur up. “Yes, but that’s not your concern. You’re taking the ‘long view,' remember?” I said.

“Yep, that’s not workin’ for me right now,” he said.

“Well, I’m sorry, but it’s working just fine for me,” I said. His voice sounded really weird. “Are you drunk?” I asked.

“Probably,” he said. A boat horn sounded loudly in the distance. I heard the sound a second later through the phone.
 

Oh, no. “Are you in Annapolis?” I asked.
 

Hesitation on the other end. “Yep.”

“Where?” I asked with dread.

“Sitting on your front porch waiting for you,” he said.

“You drove drunk over here from Dover?” I asked incredulously.

“No, I brought you a bottle of Jack and an Alicia Keys CD. When you weren’t here I waited awhile and then started imagining all sorts of things. I took a few sips of Jack and put in the CD. Now the bottle’s empty and I’m sittin’ on your front step and that fuckin’ CD is stuck!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, presumably in the direction of his truck. The phone must have slipped from his fingers. I could hear Alicia Keys blaring in the background.
 

“Go turn the CD off and find someplace to throw the bottle away. My neighbor’s going to call the police on you,” I said waving my hand to the waitress to get the check.

“Nope. She said she wasn’t callin’ the police because they’d put her back in the funny farm. She’s going to shoot me instead as soon as she can get her gun loaded,” he said with a drunken laugh.

“What!” I shrieked. Holy moly! Mrs. Kester was definitely off her rocker. I was running back up the street trying to keep the phone to my ear and hold onto my laptop. “Turn the music off at least,” I shouted into the phone.

“Can’t—I told you,” he slurred, “It’s stuck and it’s full blast. It just keeps playing that fuckin’ song over and over again. I rolled up the windows, but I can still hear it. It’s like I’m dead and this is Hell,” he fumed.

I stuffed the phone back in my purse and picked up the pace. One block over and I could clearly hear Alicia Keys singing
Fallin
’. The thumping through the closed windows of the truck was impressive. I rounded the corner and saw Rick sprawled out on my front porch holding his hands to his ears.
 

“It’s not loud enough that you have to hold your ears,” I said giving him a kick.
 

He sat up and gave me a drunken smile. “It is when you’ve heard it thirty times. You just get prettier every time I see you, you know that?” he said like a little boy.
 

Rick was a charming drunk. I remembered that from the few times it had happened in high school. He also got real friendly. “Come here and give me some sugar,” he said doing a fair imitation of Granddaddy trying to make time with the nurses at the hospital.
 

He made a grab for me and caught me around the knees. I fell forward, managing to drop my laptop into the bushes instead of the concrete. “Let me go, Rick,” I said. Alicia Keys blared in the background.
 

“I keep on fallin’ in and outta love with you, Diana,” he said softly. This might have been romantic if he hadn’t been drunk and we weren’t sprawled out on the front steps in broad daylight.
 

“Let’s go up to my condo,” I said still trying to wiggle out of his grasp.

“Now you’re talking,” he murmured against my lips. The song started again.
 

Mrs. Kester’s front window suddenly swung open. Jesus, I had forgotten about the gun. She leaned out the window and screamed, “Couldn’t get my gun loaded, but this should cool you two alley cats off!”
 

A blast of spray from a garden hose hit me square in the face. I held up my hands and tried to turn away. She leaned out the window and started in on Rick. He howled with laughter. She kept screaming, “This will cool you off, you nasty drunk!”
 

We were both drenched when Mrs. Kester finally turned off the hose and slammed her window shut. The song continued to play. I think Rick was right. I must have died and I was doing time in Hell. He looked up at me and said, “I can see your nipples through your shirt.”

“Thanks for noticing,” I said and dug for my keys. Step one, get the drunk off the porch. Step two, get changed. Step three, blow up the truck to stop the music.

It was almost dark by the time I got through all the steps. Instead of blowing up the truck I unhooked the battery. I figured if the song kept going after that then we really were in Hell. Rick was shirtless and sprawled out asleep on my bed. It had taken quite an effort to get him up the stairs and reasonably dry before dumping him on my bed. It also took quite a bit of effort to keep from being dragged into the bed, even in his current inebriated state. I had changed into a comfy sweat suit and confirmed that my laptop was still functioning. After checking my phone, I found I had missed a call from Mark.
 

“Hey, I miss you,” he said in a tone that made me smile. “I have a meeting scheduled tonight with those private security people I told you about, so I guess I’ll just give you a call after the meeting tomorrow morning.” I could hear the tiredness in his voice. “Can’t wait to see you again,” he said, adding, “naked or otherwise. Okay, bye.” I smiled at the phone for a few seconds like a school girl getting her first call from a boy and then I breathed a sigh of relief. No need to complicate things any more than they already were.
 

Max was curled up in his doggy bed, oblivious to my dilemma.
 

I made myself a snack and stared mindlessly at the TV for an hour. I heard Rick get up, go to the bathroom and then fall back into my bed. Apparently, I would be sleeping on the coach tonight. Tomorrow morning my plan was to get Rick up and out the door first thing while working in a speech about how I didn’t see a future for us. It was all in the past as far as I was concerned.
 

A lot to do for a Monday morning.

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I JOLTED AWAKE. My mind was fuzzy from staying up too late watching TV and listening to Rick snore in the other room. It was after nine. I had to get to work. And get Rick out of here. And break up with him. And pray that nothing bad happened to Mark during the exchange. And also make sure Mark didn’t call in the middle of it all. I hate Mondays!

Rick was up and in the shower when I ran into the bedroom and started digging through my closet. I heard the water turn off just as I was pulling on fresh underwear. It wouldn’t set the right breaking-things-off-with-you tone if he came in and I was bottomless. I was just buttoning my shirt when he emerged from the bathroom. He looked fresh and rested with a towel wrapped loosely around his hips. Water drops still clung to his chest. I had to shake myself not to stare. This was too much temptation.