The Green Line (20 page)

David had made her laugh. He seemed like the only person who could bring her out of her intense locomotion. But even he was only successful for brief periods. Something always pulled her back, pushing her to regain focus, to keep her eye on the goal. And now, on top of work, she had murders and drugs and dirty cops on the brain.

She watched
The Today Show
and read the
Tribune
, taking time to review the Friday section to see who was playing at the Green Mill. She and David had loved going there to see all the different bands. She watched
Oprah
, then put on some music. Finally, by ten thirty, she figured she needed to get into the office.

Abby was showering, singing along with Sheryl Crow, who was blasting from the bedroom, when she heard a faint buzz. She stopped singing and heard it again. She turned off the water, wrapped up in a towel, and ran over to her bedroom window to look out into the courtyard. A young guy was standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the gate. It was that kid again. She heard the buzzer again. He was ringing her unit, pacing in front of the gate, and clapping his hands together. She could see his breath. It was about fifteen degrees outside. She watched, not sure what to do. He looked around and then grabbed the gate and started shaking it, like a monkey in a cage. He began screaming, “Hey Abby. Get out here. Where are you? I gotta see you!” She hid behind the curtain. Who the hell was that guy?

She grabbed the phone by her bed and went back to the window. There was a flashing light. Through the trees she could see a man handcuffing the boy. He stuck the kid in the back of his car—a plain blue car with a blue flashing strobe light stuck near the edge of the roof, just over the driver’s door. Abby quickly searched through the pile of unfolded laundry on the floor for some underwear, grabbed her glasses from beside her bed, and peeked out the window. Mrs. Tanor was walking over to talk to the man. Of course. Mrs. Tanor had probably been watching from her window too, frightened and worried by the repeat visitor. Mrs. Tanor and the officer were now on the other side of the front gate and the trees blocked Abby’s view. She got down on her knees so she could see what was happening. She should get down there. She dropped the phone, fumbled for a T-shirt and pants, and took another look out the window before heading for the first floor. Mrs. Tanor and the officer came through the gate into the courtyard.

She saw that hair. He looked up at Abby’s window. She gasped and hid behind her curtain. She sat, dumbstruck, staring into space with her hand clutching her open mouth. A sickness welled up in her belly. She saw her digital camera on the dresser, grabbed it, and crawled back to the window. From behind the curtain, she zoomed in on his face and took the shot. She then watched as the man shook Mrs. Tanor’s hand and left.

Mrs. Tanor walked back to her apartment and paused to look up at Abby’s window. Abby ducked out of sight. Mrs. Tanor looked baffled. She was shaking her head as she went inside. Abby felt like she had done something wrong. She couldn’t imagine what.

MARCUS
arrived twenty minutes later. He had on his gang-look, though it no longer fazed her. Abby had called him as soon as Mrs. Tanor went inside and he had told her to stay put. She hadn’t moved an inch since she dropped the phone.

He was just inside the front door when Abby shoved the camera at him. “I know this guy. His name is Trip.” She started up the stairs. The kitchen and living room were on the second floor. She kept going up. “Let’s put it up on the computer so you can see it better. I’ve got an office in the spare bedroom.” They headed up to the third floor and began downloading the pictures. Within a minute, Abby had the image on the big screen.

“I’m telling you, that’s him.” The picture was now as big as the screen.

Marcus stared at the photo. “So tell me how you know him.”

“Two weeks ago I went to a wedding at the Drake. It was that Saturday before I met you. I met him at the bar in the lobby. He bought me a drink. He was friendly, a bit forward. He said he was a businessman.”

“What kind of business?”

“Didn’t say. I don’t remember. He didn’t tell me much. He wanted me to leave with him. He said his name was Trip.” Should she add that she might have even slept with him, but couldn’t remember? “That’s him. I’m sure of it. In fact, I just saw him again on Monday. He was walking into the courthouse as I was walking out.”

“Did you speak with him?”

“No. He didn’t see me. But Mrs. Tanor just talked to him. Come here.” Abby jumped up from the computer and pulled Marcus down the hall and into her bedroom. “Look out my window. I have a good view of the courtyard. Maybe we should go ask Mrs. Tanor what he said.”

“Wait.”

“What? She talked to him!” Abby began toward the door and Marcus grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Abby, wait. This kid has been coming to your house. This same kid may have planted drugs at Quick Mart. The man that came here and arrested him found you at the Drake.”

“So? What do you think?”

He released her arm and went to the edge of the bed and sat as if to work it out first. “I think I know who it is.”

“Who?”

“A couple of weeks back, he was pointed out to me by some kids as a dirty cop. Someone to avoid.”

“Why would he be after me? What’s going on?” She paced the room, fell against the wall, and slid to the floor. “He didn’t seem like a cop.”

Marcus crouched in front of Abby and put his hand on her head, now resting on her knees. “Abby, that was the Saturday night before we met, right?”

“Yes.”

“You called Officer Reilly on that Friday night with a description of a man leaving Reggie’s.”

Abby finished his thought. “A white guy. Light hair.” And then it came to her. “He’s a blond, white guy.” She clamped her own mouth, afraid of the revelation. “So, maybe this is the man I saw coming out of Reggie’s?”

“All right, let’s just think about this.” Marcus began pacing the room.

“Do you think he’s after me?”

“Well, hold on.” He went to the window then and searched the courtyard. As if for answers. “If this is the man you saw coming out of Reggie’s, and he showed up at the Drake after you called in that ID—”

“Was he going to kill me?”

“Maybe he just wanted to see if you would even recognize him, see if he had anything to worry about.”

“Well, obviously I didn’t. But here he is. So what does it mean?”

“It means I need to find out who this guy is and what he’s up to. I’d rather not go to Mrs. Tanor. I’d like to see what she says to you about all of this. Let’s not let her know about me or any of this if possible.”

“Why?”

Marcus didn’t answer right away.

“She’d be in danger?”

Marcus’s eyes met Abby’s, but then he looked away.

“What?”

“Abby, it’s just that, in my experience, if a cop is dirty...,”

“He’s dangerous.”

Marcus crouched down in front of her again. “Now, don’t look so panicked.” He patted her knees, stood, and offered her his hands to help her stand. She took them. He led her out of the bedroom and back into the hall. “Let’s just see what Mrs. Tanor says to you. Without me here confusing things. Let her make contact. She does that right?”

“Well, she certainly has a thousand times before. And she’s been disturbed by this boy showing up here. She thinks I’m at work right now. I would guess that she will be stopping by tonight to tell me all about it.”

“Okay, then.”

Abby stopped walking. She felt frozen.

Marcus pulled her in for a hug and she buried her head in his big leather coat.

“I’m here, Abby. And this cop, I should be able to figure out who he is pretty quickly. If he just arrested that kid, then within the hour I should be able to look up the booking records and get a name for the kid and the officer. He doesn’t know anything about me or my investigation. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Abby pulled back and looked up at Marcus. “But if this is the guy from Reggie’s, then I’ve had drinks with a murderer. And he knows where I live, and…,” She wanted to say the rest but it stuck in her throat.

Marcus stopped her. “Okay, okay. We’re going to figure this out, Abby.” And then a smile emerged. “You’ve got one bad-ass cop on your side,” he offered with a nudge. Abby smiled and took a deep breath. “You are pretty beefy, aren’t you?” she offered with a faint smile, grabbing his biceps. They both chuckled. He was massive and he really did make her feel safe.

“Now where’s that camera?”

Abby headed back into the spare and Marcus followed. He pulled the storage disc from its side. “I’m going to take this, okay?”

Abby nodded in agreement.

They walked back into the hall to go downstairs and Marcus paused, looking up at the slotted steps above him. “Hey, what’s this?”

“Those go to our roof deck.”

“Our?”

“My. I mean my roof deck.”

“Wow, nice place.”

“Yeah.” She didn’t see the point of sharing all the details. “I think I’m going to sell it, though.” She didn’t think she could continue living here with all the memories. “And those stairs are terrifying. They’re so steep and really scary when you’re on the roof and you want to come down. It’s just like climbing a ladder—not exactly the best when you’re trying to carry food up and down to barbeque.” Actually, she and David used to love the climb up to the roof. It felt like they were going up to their tree house. And they would sit up there and look down at everyone on Clark Street and make up stories about their lives and what they were doing and laugh. When the Cubs were playing they would sit up there and listen to the roar of the fans in the bleachers.

He continued down the steps. “Still, pretty cool to have a roof deck.”

“Yeah,” she agreed without much conviction.

“Abby, I’m going to check the records and meet with Duvane about all of it.”

They were back on the first floor at the door. Abby grabbed for the door but stopped. “Well, what now? How do I go to work and act like everything’s okay?”

“Why aren’t you at work, anyway?”

“It’s been a long week. I took the morning off. But I was getting ready to leave when all this happened.”

“So maybe you should go.”

“Are you kidding me? A dirty cop—a murderer according to you—just showed up at my house. He knows where I live. I can’t go to work.”

“Abby, I’d rather you go to work. What kind of security do you have anyway?”

“The gate is impossible to climb, you need a key for that, and I’ve got an alarm system.”

“Good.” He put on his hat.

As soon as she said it, she knew she had to tell him. “Marcus.”

“What?”

“I drank with him. I danced with him, I….” She looked away. “I kissed him.”

Marcus took a seat on the back of the sofa, like he knew there was more.

“I got so drunk at that wedding. I saw my ex-boyfriend, I was depressed, this guy was so flirtatious and good-looking, and—”

“And?”

She was practically whispering. “I can’t remember.” She looked up at him. “I know we were together for most of the evening. I remember leaning against him outside. We were in front of the hotel. But it’s just a flash. I woke up in the morning here. Alone.” She wondered if it was really necessary to add that she was naked. Maybe she had just drunkenly stripped down and crawled into bed.

“Do you think he might have been here with you?”

She winced at the thought. “I don’t know. There was no sign of him when I woke. But he’s never called me. Jesus. Marcus, I don’t do things like that. I don’t bring strangers home and sleep with them. I just….” She didn’t finish. Her hands now covered her face.

He stood and took her by the shoulders and made her look at him. “Abby, I’m not judging you.”

She took a breath. “But he never called. I kind of assumed that maybe I did. Like some one night stand. And maybe that’s why I’ve never heard from him.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you rejected him and that’s why he’s never called. Here’s what I’m thinking. This guy Trip wanted to see if you’d recognize him when he went to the Drake. You didn’t. You’re an attractive woman. You had a good time together. If he was going to hurt you, it would have already happened. Sounds like he had the opportunity.”

Abby held out Marcus’s gloves. This wasn’t helping either of them. “Have you figured out anything since we last spoke? You didn’t call me after you left Monday. I guess you didn’t get into Quick Mart?”

“Actually, I did. The key was there, just as you said. But there weren’t any tapes.”

“Damn.”

“I did find out who bought the building, though. It’s a company called Weber Properties.”

“Does that mean anything to you?”

“Not yet, but I looked up its property records. It has several buildings in the south and west area of the city. It’s not a corporation, so my check of the secretary of state filings came up empty. I haven’t been able to find out anymore yet, other than the fact that six of its ten current properties were bought at auction. There’s an office address. I was going to check into that today, but I think I better worry about this guy first. Listen Abby, I want that alarm on at all times. And change the code.”