Strange Neighbors (10 page)

   "How did she wind up thinking you were a P.I.?"

   "I was eavesdropping on the staff in a hospital cafeteria. Sometimes I find celebrity sob stories, which make for interesting copy."

   "Like who's in rehab?"

   "Well, yeah, but that's getting to be a yawn. People don't care about yet another celebrity with a substance abuse problem unless there's an interesting twist to it— like a celebrity kid. So, anyway, I heard this nurse talking to a physical therapist about having just met Jason Falco and she wanted to know where he lived, but the bitch who knows refused to tell her. So I introduced myself. I said I couldn't help overhearing their conversation and that I could find anyone."

   "So she just assumed you were a P.I.? She didn't ask to see your license or anything?"

   "Well, she might have asked, and I might have just kept talking about how good I was and about how no one could hide from me." Lila found something to smile about, at last. "Anyway, I told her I'd follow the other nurse around until I found them together. Then I'd follow him to his home after he dropped her off. She gave me the woman's address and that saved a lot of time. I hid in the bushes, hoping to snap a picture of the couple together." She sighed.

   "No luck, huh?"

   "Not yet. I'll get a picture of whoever gets him in the bachelor auction tonight. It would be fair to assume some jealousy on the nurse's part, don't you think?"

   "Sounds like the makings of a juicy story. So what's wrong?"

   "Unfortunately, I lost my balance and fell out of the bushes. When I landed on something hard, I inadvertently made a noise. The cops came. Someone must have spotted me." She took a long sip of her drink. "I'm losing my touch."

   Kevin gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure it happens to the best of 'em."

   "That's just it. I was the best of them. I thought my job was solid and secure. There's no loyalty anymore. It used to be that if you worked hard, your employer would cut you a break if you had a temporary setback."

   "How temporary are we talking?"

   "I haven't had a good story in a couple of months." She hid her face by resting her forehead on her arm. Don't cry. How humiliating would that be? No one likes a sloppy drunk.

   "Is there anything else going on that might cause you to be fired?"

   She lifted her face and ran her fingers through her hair. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she realized she looked old and tired. "You mean like the bottle of Bacardi I hide in my locked drawer?"

   He nodded. Lila knew Kevin was no fool. He worked in a hotel bar, for God's sakes. How frequently did he see the same faces? Not often. So she imagined a regular customer like herself might stand out. And almost daily attendance might indicate a drinking problem.

   The real problem was she didn't care what anyone thought anymore. She didn't drive, was over twentyone, and as far as she was concerned, it was her Godgiven right to get shit-faced every night if she wanted to. Who was she hurting by it? No one. Well, no one but herself—especially if she couldn't get to that bachelor auction later on.

   "Am I doing you any favors here, Lila?" he asked.

   Fear gripped her. He'd better not try to cut me off! "What are you saying?"

   "I mean, do you need help? I know addiction can be brutal. I don't want to see anything bad happening to you because I didn't have the balls to say something."

   "But… it's not your fault. And if you shut me off, I'll just go to another bar. You can't cut me off all over town." Suddenly a horrible thought occurred to her. What if he could? "Can you?"

   He chuckled. "No, I can't. And I won't cut you off here, either. No one can get you out of this situation but yourself. But without help, it's almost impossible. Just let me know if you want help, okay? I know some good people in AA."

   "Oh." Whew, that was a close one. Lila shook her head. "Nah, I'm good." She took another swig of the sweet, tangy liquid that seemed like her lifeline. "Really, the best help you can give me is to keep your eyes and ears open—for other people's problems. I'm fine. Really. I can always get a picture of Falco and some random female. Then I can make up an angle between that person and his auction sweetie."

   "Or maybe you could include the nurse in your story too and make it like he's three-timing all of them."

   Lila laughed. "Three-timing? I love it. Thanks, Kevin. You just gave me my headline!"

Halloween brings with it strange happenings. So to have a bachelor auction on Halloween night with a full moon…? Now there's an extra crazy idea. Chad knew who would show up. The weirdos. If not paranormal types, then the highest of high-maintenance women, and they'd be more motivated than usual. I smell a supersized disaster. At least trick-or-treating will keep the single mothers at bay. Or some of them with pups may be baying at the moon.

   Jason helped Merry into her coat. As they walked toward the back door where Jason's Corvette waited, a loud crash sounded from the second floor.

   The couple gawked at each other for an undecided second.

   Jason said, "What the hell…?" and the two of them raced up the stairs.

   At the top of the landing, a huge dog lapped up a puddle of water. Slumped beside it was the unconscious body of Dottie Falco.

   "Aunt Dottie!" Jason yelled. The dog jerked his head in their direction, then maneuvered around them and bounded down the stairs. Someone on the other side of the front door opened it and he rushed out.

   Jason shook his aunt until her eyes opened and she groaned.

   Merry said, "Don't move her. She may have hit her head."

   As soon as she'd said that, Dottie struggled to a sitting position, fighting off their help. "I'm all right. Did you see that wolf?"

   Jason glanced at Merry. "Uh, yeah. We saw something like that. It must have been a dog, though. Last I heard, wolves aren't roaming the city."

   "Oh, dear Lord, why does everyone doubt me?" she asked, pulling a handkerchief from the sleeve of her pink cardigan sweater. She dipped a corner into the water and held it to her forehead.

   Merry cleared her throat. "He was drinking out of that puddle."

   "Gaaaa!" Dottie jumped to her feet and backed away.

   "What happened, Aunt Dottie?"

   Merry liked the gentle tone he took with his aunt. Dottie had a flair for drama, but she had actually fainted so it seemed as if a little compassion was warranted.

   "I heard the door open across the hall, so I peeked out the peephole and saw Konrad standing there, stark naked!"

   "Are you sure? I mean, maybe he was wearing a flesh-colored suit and fig leaves for a Halloween party. Where did the dog come from?"

   "It was a wolf, and I don't know. I had a bottle of holy water nearby, because of… well, just in case, all right? So I grabbed it, all set to toss it onto his disgusting nakedness when I opened the door and there was a wolf! Did you say the wolf was drinking the holy water?"

   "Where's Konrad now?" Merry asked.

   Dottie shrugged, then her eyes flew open. "Do you think he sicked that thing on me?" She marched across the hall and banged on Konrad's door. "Open up!" She waited less than three seconds and pounded on the door again.

   "He's probably gone out," Jason said. "We're about to go out too. Will you be all right? Where's Uncle Ralph?"

   "He went to the convenience store for Halloween candy. I told him not to count on any trick-or-treaters, but I suspect he wants it for himself anyway."

   Ralph rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs and glanced up. "Hey, Jason." He jogged up the stairs and stopped suddenly. "Whoa." He stared appreciatively at Merry. "Well, it looks like you're headed out on a hot date. Has my wife been bothering you?"

   "No, not at all." He glanced at his aunt. She stood by quietly. "She just had a little scare. She's all right, though."

   "A scare, huh? What else is new?" Ralph spoke quietly behind his hand. "And she hasn't been right for years."

   "I heard that, Ralph Falco." Dottie folded her arms and scowled.

   "You were supposed to. Here." He thrust a bag of bitesize candy bars toward her. "Eat a few of these. You'll feel better. Now let's go inside and leave the kids to their night on the town." He winked at Jason. "Have fun."

In the parking lot, Jason and Merry exchanged a quick kiss before he entered the function hall by the back door, and Merry walked around to the front. Inside, she couldn't believe the crowd of noisy women all vying for seats close to the stage.

   A runway had been set up so the stage took on a T formation. She imagined the guys being expected to strut their stuff down that runway and back. No wonder Jason dreaded this! She didn't think he was the type to swagger or strut.

   After buying her ticket, which came with a numbered sign shaped like a ping-pong paddle, she tried to find a seat. She held number sixty-nine and smiled, hoping it was an omen of things to come.

   People were still arriving. The press in attendance had good seats right up front. She noticed one woman rush in with a camera and press pass at the last minute. When she elbowed her way past Merry, they made brief eye-contact, and the woman looked away quickly—a little too quickly. Then she pushed her way into the crowd faster.

   What was that about?

   Merry finally spied a seat about four rows back from the end of the runway. She said, "Excuse me" a dozen times as she stepped carefully over the feet of the women already seated in that row. A woman had her large leather Prada bag sitting on the unoccupied chair.

   "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

   The middle-aged woman surrounded by real fur frowned as she appraised Merry from head to toe, then said, "Can't you see that it is?"

   Merry, surprised by the rudeness, didn't apologize and "accidentally" stepped on the foot of the woman as she passed. The woman gasped and displayed marked annoyance as Merry made her way to the aisle on the other side. Okay, so Jason was right about the highmaintenance women at these things.

   At last she settled for a seat three rows from the very back of the crowded hall. Maybe if she stood while waving her sign, she'd be seen. Perhaps she should let the bidding start without her and come in only as other bidders dropped away.

   Glancing around her, she noticed every type of society woman she could have imagined based on the cliché. Welldressed, perfectly groomed examples of the "beautiful people" she had anticipated. She only noticed one woman wearing dark jeans and they were topped by a black cashmere sweater with lots of pearl detail. Her jewelry made her attempt to look casual ridiculous. Merry suspected those were real diamonds decorating her ears, throat, wrists, and hands. Merry's two items of sparkle were cubic zirconia.

   What the heck am I doing here? She felt as if she had walked into a native tribe and was the only outsider. Or more accurately, with her dark coloring, she was the tribal one invading a WASP convention!

   Several uncomfortable minutes passed, which she spent watching women greet each other with air kisses and carry on excited conversations about people she'd never heard of and probably wouldn't like if all that gossip were true.

   Finally, the master of ceremonies walked on stage to everyone's anxious applause. When he reached the microphone, he welcomed the participants and explained the purpose of the benefit. The money was going to an animal hospital. She remembered Jason telling her how much he loved animals and how he didn't know if he should get a pet considering how often he was away during baseball season. Also, certain pets didn't fare well in the city. She had teased him about raising llamas on the little patch of grass they called a yard. How she missed him already!

   A female veterinarian spoke about the amount their last auction had raised and the good use they had made of that money. A shelter in the suburbs had been opened and apparently many of those pets had been adopted.

   Merry wondered about the unlucky ones and what became of them. Were they released back into the wild? This woman seemed too nice to "put them down" as the euphemism goes. What did that mean? They insulted the unadoptable until they slunk away with their tails between their legs?

   She couldn't help thinking about her birth parents any time the word "adoption" was used. She had always assumed they had been young and in love but unable to support a family. What if they had been one of these spoiled socialites who didn't want the bother of raising children? Maybe her birth mother pretended to be on a world cruise for nine months, then hired a personal trainer to get her slim figure back. Doubtful, but it could happen. Ugh. She preferred to think her parents had been a young unmarried couple.

   The show started—at last. The first bachelor was apparently some sort of self-made millionaire with real estate all over Boston. She had never heard of him, but most of the crowd certainly had. Wild applause accompanied his model-like parade down the catwalk. At the end, he took off his jacket, tossed it over his shoulder and winked at the crowd. Oh yeah, he's done this before.

   The bidding began at what the auctioneer called a modest $500.00 and escalated quickly. Crap, did Jason underestimate the deep pockets of these enthusiastic vultures?

   She extracted the money clip from her black noname clutch bag and began to count the bills. The woman next to her gave her a dirty look as if counting one's money in public was about the rudest thing she could do. Tough noogies, nosy woman. She had to know how much bargaining power she had. Only one thousand dollars. The bidding on the first gentleman, a mediocre-looking guy at that, rapidly approached the thousand dollar mark. Crap.