Strange Neighbors (17 page)

   Gwyneth poked her head around the kitchen corner. "What's goin' on?"

   "It's that friggin' ghost. He messed up the phone lines on us, just because I couldn't talk to him right away."

   "Well, that's no good, honey. You need to talk to him. Ask him nicely what he wants and tell him we'll help him if he puts the phone lines back the way they were."

   Chad backed off. "Listen to your kiss-ass cousin, Morgaine. She knows how to respect her elders."

   "You're not my elder. I'm thirty and you're frozen somewhere in your twenties—going on twelve." Morgaine crossed her arms. "Besides, elders are wise and you're just a wiseass. I can't help you. I don't know anything more than you know already."

   "Go talk to baseball-boy. Ask him if he hired that private dick. I want to know what's happening on my case."

   "Fuckin' A… Okay, I'll ask."

"Are you sure you want to do this, Merry?"

Roz put her hand on Merry's shoulder, slowing her

determined march toward the paparazzo's apartment in Dorchester.

   "I have to. First of all, what she did was just plain mean, and second, I want to know where she came up with my birth name."

   Roz shrugged. "I'll admit it's a hell of a coincidence. Did you tell Jason what you're planning to do?"

   "No, he has enough to think about."

   "He might have even more to think about if he knew you were in this neighborhood. I don't have a good feeling about this place."

   Merry glanced around her. The street was lined with three-story tenements in various stages of disrepair. Chain-link fences surrounded most of the yards. Graffiti decorated the boarded-up, broken windows on one house that seemed to be abandoned. When Merry saw a small face in an upstairs window peering down at her, she shivered. What a place to raise children.

   "Look, I was attacked in one of the nicest areas of the city. It can happen anywhere."

   Roz glanced all around. "I almost feel sorry for the woman, living in a place like this."

   Merry glared at her best friend. "You didn't say what I thought you just said. Did you?"

   "No. You misheard me. I said, the woman's a bitch."

   "Good. Now, harden your heart or something. We're coming up to her house."

   Merry glanced at the paper on which Roz had scrawled the woman's address. A dilapidated grayish blue house with grayish white trim stood behind the obligatory chain-link fence. A gate ran across it and was padlocked. "Damnation! We came all this way and we can't even get to the front door? Isn't that illegal?"

   Roz shrugged. "It might be against some fire code or something. Maybe she gets her mail at a post office box and never has visitors."

   Merry faced the gate with her hands on her hips. "Well, she's getting visitors today."

   "What are you thinking? You're not going to climb over that fence are you?"

   "No. The gate. It's smoother on top."

   "Holy crap, Merry. Are you nuts? What if she shoots you for trespassing?"

   "I'm not going home without talking to her." Merry fitted her boot between the grates and boosted herself as high as she could by straightening her arms and locking them. Then she swung one leg over. Now straddling the fence, she paused.

   "What's wrong?"

   "Nothing."

   "Then why are you stopping?"

   "I'm stuck."

   "You're what?" Roz examined Merry's clothing. "I don't see anything caught on the fence."

   "It's not that. Either I'm going to break a wrist or perform a female castration on myself."

   "Holy mother… Well, you got yourself into this. Think of something to get yourself out."

   "This is a very delicate operation. Let's see, I could…" She shifted one hand quickly so she didn't twist her wrist on the dismount. Then she swung the other leg up behind her and braced that knee at the top. At last, she sprang away from the gate and landed on the concrete walkway on the other side. "There!"

   "Very impressive." Roz crossed her arms and stayed where she was.

   "Now you try it."

   "Hell no! I might want to have children someday."

   "If I can do it…."

   Roz gestured to her own body with both hands. "In case you hadn't noticed, I weigh a little more than you. I don't think I could support my weight on my hands like you did."

   Merry tipped her head. "Of course you can. Just lock your elbows."

   "Yeah, and break my wrists. Look, Merry, I love you and everything, but I can't do this."

   "But you were going to be my witness. I can't do this without you." Merry knew she was whining, but didn't care. Whatever it took. She had to confront this woman.

   "Look, I'm sorry. Maybe I can witness your conversation from here. Just refuse to go inside. That might not be a bad idea, anyway. You wouldn't want to give her access to her gun."

   "What makes you think she has a gun?"

   At that moment, the front door opened and revealed a tall, fit man with brown hair askew. "Can I help you?" he asked.

   "Oh, uh… Is this where Lila Crum lives?" Merry asked.

   The man eyed both of them with suspicion and crossed his arms. "What business do you have with Lila?"

   "It's personal," Merry said, as she trotted up the steps.

   A female voice from inside the house called out,

"Kevin, who are you talking to?"

   The man continued staring at Merry and said, "She isn't feeling very well right now."

   "This won't take long. Can you ask her to come to the door?"

   "For fuck's sake, Kevin!" the voice yelled. "I asked who you're talking to."

   Merry yelled around him. "Look, I just want to talk to you for a minute."

   "Go away," yelled the voice. "I don't want to hear about your religion or anything else you're selling."

   The guy at the door didn't appear to like being ordered around. His lips thinned as he glanced back into the house. "They're not selling anything, Lila. Get out here and talk to them." He left Merry there with the door open and strolled out of view.

   Merry turned to Roz and shrugged as if to say, What do I do now?

   Roz shook her head vehemently, so Merry waited on the doorstep.

   Before long the guy reappeared wearing a jacket and called back over his shoulder, "I'm going, Lila. You're welcome for last night."

   "Wait!" the woman yelled.

   The guy rolled his eyes and waited next to Merry. She just had to ask, "Are you her boyfriend?"

   "No. I'm her bartender." He called back into the house, "I have to get home. I need to change and get to work so the fun can begin all over again."

   "You do this for all your customers?"

   "Nope. I've never done this before and probably won't do it again."

   The woman, presumably the very rumpled Lila Crum, stumbled to the door. She pushed her scraggly brown hair off her face and blinked a couple of times as if to clear her vision. "Sorry, Kevin. What did you say about last night?"

   "I said you're welcome."

   "For taking me home, or…"

   "Or what?"

   "Did anything else happen?"

   He looked exasperated. "You don't remember anything, do you? If you mean did I take advantage of you, the answer is no. I helped you to your bedroom and tucked you in. Look. You're still wearing your clothes."

   She looked down at her wrinkled brown shirt and black jeans and nodded. "So where did you sleep?"

   "On your couch."

   "Oh. Well, uh—thanks."

   "Yeah, like I said, you're welcome." Then he charged down the stairs and halted on the walkway. "Shit," he muttered. "Lila, will you unlock this damn gate?"

   "Oh, sure." She disappeared into the house and returned with a set of keys. As she handed the key ring to Kevin, she finally turned her attention to Merry. "How the hell did you get in?"

   "I had to climb over the gate. You might want to leave it unlocked. A person could get hurt that way."

   Her eyes narrowed. "You're trespassing. That means I can shoot you."

   "I wouldn't if I were you. See that woman there?" She pointed to Roz. "She's a very talented lawyer and my best friend. I doubt you'd want her to witness my murder."

   Kevin had unlocked the gate, but Roz wisely stayed on the other side.

"Well, maybe I'll just shoot you both."

   He rushed back up the stairs and wedged himself between Merry and the homicidal reporter. "You're not shooting anybody, Lila."

   Lila peered around him. "Who are you, anyway?"

   "You don't recognize me? You took my picture… and you printed it in the newspaper."

   Kevin stepped away and Lila eyed her curiously. "Oh! You're Allison," she finally said, smiling as if they were long lost friends.

   "That's debatable." Merry crossed her arms. "First of all, how did you come up with that name?"

   "What do you mean, 'come up with' it? I do my research. I don't invent the facts. I just report them."

   Merry laughed, then quickly cleared her throat. "Let me say this differently. How did you research my name?"

   "I talked to some guy hanging around outside your building. Long black hair… black eyes… black clothes… kind of pale."

   Merry recognized the description of Sly, but that only confused her more. Lila continued, so she must not have felt the need to protect her source.

   "I figured you two were related since he had the same last name. Flores, isn't it?"

   Merry took a step back. "Is it?"

   Lila nodded. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure he said his name was Sylvestro Flores. I have it written down somewhere."

   Merry was so stunned she almost forgot what she had originally wanted to confront her about. Almost. "So, where do you get off trying to ruin other people's love lives? Are you so miserable that you want everyone else to be miserable too? Jason Falco is a decent, honorable

man, and you had no business—"

Lila laughed. "Oh, for fuck's sake. You can't be serious."

"I'm as serious as a gas attack."

   Kevin chuckled. "Uh, I think that's supposed to be 'serious as a heart attack'."

   "Oh." Merry felt the blush rising from her neck to her face.

   Lila laughed hysterically. When she could speak again, she said. "Look, don't bother lecturing me. I have first amendment rights and I can print whatever the hell I observe and I saw him cheat on you with my own eyes."

   "Bullshit," Merry yelled. "He wasn't cheating. You were at that bachelor auction and you knew he was obligated to take that woman out. And the other woman you saw was just a fan who happened to recognize him as he was out getting some fresh air. It's because of people like you that he has to avoid being seen in public."

   Lila leaned against her house. "Oh, isn't that sweet. You decided to stand by your man."

   Merry wanted to jump the woman right there and scratch her eyes out. She took a step forward and Kevin jammed his body in front of her again.

   Roz came rushing up the walkway, shouting, "Don't touch her, Merry. So far, you're okay and all we needed to do is warn the woman."

   "Warn me? About what?"

   Roz straightened to her legal-eagle pose. "Leave Merry and Falco alone, or I'll slap you with a lawsuit for libel."

   "Why is she calling you Merry?"

"Because that's my name, doofus."

   Kevin shifted uncomfortably. "Look, I don't like the possibility of getting in the middle of a cat fight. If you've said what you came to say, you should go, now."

   Roz nodded. "I agree. Let's go, Merry. She's been warned."

   Merry hesitated long enough to give the bitch the evil eye. "Fine," she said between clenched teeth. "But I'll be watching you." She pointed at Lila as she joined Roz.

   Lila's eyes lit up as though she enjoyed the challenge. "Oh, you do that."

"Come on, Morgaine. You've been stalling all week. I know you don't like interacting with the nosy bitch, but I'll be right there with you. If she gives you any trouble, I'll trip her and you can enjoy watching her fall ass over teakettle down the stairs."

   Morgaine tittered. "Chad, all I can say is I'm glad you're on my side. Okay, let's go." She tossed her book onto the coffee table and wrapped a black shawl around her shoulders.

   "Sorry about the draft."

   She shrugged. "You can't help it. I understand."

   "Do you mind taking the stairs? It's only one flight, and the elevator's kind of a pain in the ass for me."

   "Sure. No problem. I wish I could just go to the penthouse directly, but his aunt made it clear that we're not to bother him." She opened the door and hesitated a moment before she closed it. "Are you out?"

   "Out and hovering over the stairs. You realize you wouldn't have hurt me even if you had slammed it on

my foot, right?"

"Oh, that's right. Well, pardon me for being courteous."

"I was just busting your chops. Let's do this thing."

   Morgaine descended gracefully down the steps to the second floor.

   Chad really liked Morgaine. He couldn't figure out why she didn't try to date more. She's certainly pretty enough by anyone's standards—in a gothy way, but still… I guess her need to stay close to the telephone cramps her style. It was a shame Dottie made them curtail their noisy phone calls. That was part of the fun. Now they'd lost customers and didn't know what they'd do to make ends meet.