Serial Separation (7 page)

“Great, I have
some things to do this afternoon,” she said, adjusting her skirt. She looked
like she was going to say something more, but just smiled.

Paddy nodded his
head. “Tomorrow is just fine then. We’ll see you both when you can make it in
the morning.”

I felt like she
was reading my mind about her beauty and my thoughts about Lisa. I could feel
my face flushing again.

She stood up,
took a step in my direction, and offered her hand. It was warmer to the touch
than I remembered, but there was even more emphasis on the pressure than the
first time. I was also more prepared.

“Nice strong
handshake there, Scott. I like strong men.” She moved to Paddy, doing the same.
“Paddy, thanks for letting me join the team, then first thing tomorrow. Thank
you both for your time today. I think I’m really going to enjoy this more than
I ever imagined,” she said, looking at Paddy, then over her shoulder at me.

Now I felt like
the deer in the headlights. She was out of the office in four easy strides. I
watched her go down the stairs, red hair billowing behind her.

“Well, Scott,
what do you think?”

“She seems like
the total package to me.”

He smiled. “No,
I was talking about your joining the team.”

Chapter 17

“Well, it’s about time you came in
to see us. Where have you been keeping yourself, Mike?”

“Well, when the last task force
ended, I went back to my precinct. However, we’re in operation again
investigating the recent ‘Torso’ murders. How have you been, Maggie?”

“I’m very good, actually. I
recently got engaged,” she said, smiling and waving her ring finger.

“Congratulations . . . very nice.”

“Mike, it’s good to see you . . . what
can I get you?”

“I’ll have a draft. Bring two of
them; I’m expecting someone.”

“Coming right up.”

It was early, so there were not
many patrons in the small pub. He remembered all of the hours they used to
spend here during the last task force. They would come to get away from the
office, many times a discussion over a beer or two, the separation allowing
them to see something they hadn’t recognized.

Now that Scott was going to be on
the task force, he wanted to get updated on how Scott and Lisa had been. He
remembered during the last task force, he’d spent many hours with Scott and was
his mentor. They had many hours to talk about personal things. He even had
Scott over for dinner at his house; his wife and kids enjoyed his company.

Although Scott was quite a bit
younger, he hoped their friendship would continue long after the task force
assignment. He was happy Paddy had consented to let Scott join the team. He
hoped his conversation with Paddy had helped.

His thoughts were interrupted by
Maggie flipping the coasters on the table from about six feet away. It was a
tradition at the Harvard Pub, but it always surprised the first-time customers.

He acknowledged their arrival. “You
haven’t lost your touch.”

“It would be interesting to see if
the skill is something I could use later in life, but I really doubt it.” She
placed two tall mugs on the coasters and added, “It looks like your friend has
arrived.”

Mike looked over to see Scott
headed his way. Mike noticed Maggie staying beside the table; he thought she
was waiting to be introduced again to Scott.

“Hi, Mike.”

“Hello, Scott, I’m glad you could
make it. You might remember Maggie; Maggie this is Scott Tucker.”

“Hello, Maggie. I do remember you.
It’s nice to see you again.”

“Scott, oh, I remember you now . .
. you’re attending Harvard.”

“Hopefully, this is my last year,
but we’ll have to see.”

“Keep it up, and I hope to see you
both again soon.” She was off to take care of other customers.

“Well, Scott, it’s good to be able
to spend some time with you. We’ve got some catching up to do. Do you have any
plans for the holidays?”

“Thanks for the invite. I think I
need to talk to someone. As far as the holidays go, that’s a trick question.
I’m supposed to be with Lisa at her parents’ house for Christmas Eve dinner and
Christmas. Later, Christmas Day, I’m going to go to my parents’ in Maine. Lisa and I have tentative plans to go skiing over New Year’s, but that’s up in the
air with the task force role.”

“Do I sense some reservation about
going to Lisa’s?”

“Mike, you haven’t lost your
touch.”

“Well, maybe we should start there .
. . what’s up?”

“Mike, this might take some time
and I don’t know where to start.”

“Take all the time you need. I
think they’ve got enough beer to keep us going. Scott . . . if I can help at
all, I would be happy to do it. You know that.” Mike noticed Scott’s expression
change.

“I guess the best place to start is
with my last call to Lisa. It ended with us having words.”

“Oh my, that doesn’t sound like the
lovers I remember.”

“You’re right on target again. The
other night I was supposed to call her, but because I told you guys that I knew
the two murdered men, I was late calling her. I’ve since explained the
situation as to why I called late, but now she’s worried that I could be one of
the next victims.”

“You should have told me that you
needed to make the call. I could have arranged for you to have a few minutes.”

“It’s never easy to call her dorm;
if you can get through it takes a few minutes to get her to the phone. Besides,
I felt uncomfortable asking to make a call, and there never seemed to be a
break in the questioning either. I just let it go, but I should have called
her.”

Mike waved his arm, pushing the
issue aside. “I want to get to what you knew about those guys, but right now I
sense that things are not what they used to be with Lisa. Is there anything I
can do?”

“Mike, I think her problem goes
back to the Jimmy Ballou incident. You know how I found her and what Jimmy
looked like he was doing with her. She has been real cool since then, and we
haven’t been intimate since. We get close, but I can tell she’s not with the
program. I just hold her tight and let the need pass.”

Maggie came to the table and
interrupted their conversation. “Maggie, I think we need at least one refill.
Thanks.”

Mike wanted to help him. “I believe
you’re right in what she is feeling. In my opinion, she’s still having trauma
over the ordeal. If you push her, she might say or do something that would
shock you. She does need to get some help. Maybe Paddy could suggest someone to
help her.”

“As far as New Year’s goes, you
should get away with her and tell her what you believe is bothering her. The
task force will survive without you. Don’t let that get in the way of your
relationship. You need to help her realize she needs to get help.”

“Mike . . . thanks for taking the
time to talk with me. I really don’t have anyone else to talk to. I know she’s
fragile; if I bring it up, she might just explode. I know you’re right, and I’m
going to have to discuss it with her.”

Maggie brought their refills.
“Here’s to your help with the task team. Cheers.”

“I know you also want to talk about
the murdered guys, Bob Sullivan, and the hockey league.”

Mike smiled, looking over his mug.
“Before we go there, I want to know how your interview went, more importantly,
what you thought of Mercedes.”

“Maggie, why don’t you bring us a
large order of onion rings?”

She nodded and asked, “Do you want
me to bring another refill with the onion rings, or are you guys okay?”

Mike answered, “Sure, we’re going
to be here a while.”

“Mercedes is quite the package. I
don’t remember ever meeting anyone like her. She’s uncomfortably attractive,
has the longest legs I’ve ever seen, and totally took me by surprise when we
shook hands. She has strong hands, like Killer Kowalski’s, and she knows it.”

“I know I can share this with you; she
makes me feel very defensive. If we were playing hockey, she would be the one
making the moves. I’m not comfortable with her at all, but I guess I will have
to work on it. I felt like I wasn’t thinking correctly in her presence . . . and
I think Paddy noticed it.”

Mike smiled. “I think if you spend
more time with her you’ll get more comfortable. I’ll try to be sensitive to it
and help if I can. She created a similar stir downstairs with the guys.”

“Mike, that reminds me. When I came
in the front door for the meeting, Mercedes was already upstairs, and I caught
Colleen with her skirt at mid-thigh. So, she’s had an impact on more that just
the guys downstairs.”

Mike let out a loud laugh, and we
both looked to see who had noticed. The timing was perfect with Maggie bringing
our order.

“Sounds like you guys are having a
good time over here.” She smiled and turned.

“Scott, what about these guys? What
does your gut tell you?”

“First of all, the league consisted
of almost a hundred guys. We would scrimmage late at night, but on Friday and
Saturday nights the rink was packed for team games. There were guys on
different teams who were a higher caliber than many of us. They were
intimidating on the ice. They threw their weight around, and it forced the rest
of us to keep our heads up. However, when someone would get a good check on
them . . . the house would explode with cheers. These three guys—Paul Maloney,
Tony Sangello, and Bob Sullivan—were all in that category.”

“That is a very interesting
observation. You know we had no idea these guys played in the same hockey
league until you brought it to our attention. It might not be any connection,
but if Bob’s torso is found, it looks like it may be a key connection. Can you
think of any other guys with the same caliber of play?”

“There were only a couple of
others, but I wasn’t in that group. I just did my thing, but watched some of my
teammates go out of their way to catch these guys in a hard check. Sometimes in
practice sessions, guys would come to blows due to hard checking. In practice,
we weren’t supposed to hit anyone, but there were no officials to dish out any
punishment for the action.”

“To answer your question, Jason
Johnston was one of those guys. We called him ‘Tippy’ since he had a very
successful and unique move on the goalie. His close friends called him ‘JJ.’ He
was a well-built black guy, and I remember no one ever picked a fight with
him.”

Mike pulled out a copy of the
article I had given him. “Scott, look at this picture and tell me if anyone
else fits the style you mentioned.”

I looked at the familiar picture
and studied the faces. “There were others, but now that I see the faces again,
none that were the caliber of those four.”

“Scott, I lay you odds that Bob
Sullivan does turn up a victim. What I can’t give you odds on is why they are
being killed.”

Chapter 18

I really enjoyed talking with Mike.
Although we had talked on the phone several times, seeing him in person at the
pub was better than expected. His input was what I needed to hear, to validate
my thoughts about Lisa’s behavior. The trick was how to bring it up without
creating additional problems.

It was eight o’clock, a good time
to reach her at the dorm.

I dialed her number, going through
the usual routine to get her to the phone. There should be a better way, but it
would only be a problem for a few more months.

Finally—“Hello.”

“Hi, Lisa. How are you?”

“Fine. I’m sorry about our last
phone call . . . I guess the holidays have me on edge.”

“It’s okay. We can talk about it
when we’re together. What plans do you want to make?”

“You’re still invited for Christmas
Eve dinner at my parents’ house tomorrow night. Do you still want to come?”

“I’d love to. I’ve missed being
with you.”

“Do you want to drive together or
take two cars?”

“Well, I told my parents I would
see them Christmas Day. So I need my car to get there. I could drive you, if
you don’t need your car?”

“No, I better drive. I don’t know
what plans my parents have, and they might not be able to drive me back. I’m
also not sure if I’m staying any longer than that.”

“What about Christmas Day?”

“We’re supposed to have some snow,
so why don’t you plan to stay overnight. We had talked about your staying
overnight, and the snowstorm might make it hard to drive to Maine. However,
that’s up to you.”

I could feel her mood changing. I
needed to reinforce wanting to be with her. “Lisa, I would like to be with you
on Christmas morning . . . . it’s a special time and . . . well . . . I want to
be with you.”

“Scott, I’m sorry we have been . .
. well . . . not our usual selves. I guess I get the feeling you want to be
somewhere else.”

“Lisa, you are the most special
person in my life. I want to spend my time with you.”

“I’ve been out of sorts lately, and
I think it’s the change of routine. Not having classes every day has thrown me
for a loop. Judy and I . . . well, we talked about how . . . well, I guess that
can wait until I see you. It’s kind of hard to talk on this phone with people
around.”

I almost thought she was going to
give me the opportunity to talk to her about her behavior, but it would have to
wait until we’re together.

“So, what time do you want me at
your parents’?”

“If you get to my parents’ by seven thirty that will give us enough time to have a drink before dinner. By the way, what
have you thought about New Year’s weekend? Judy asked if she should still make
the reservations.”

I wanted to talk with her about
this tomorrow, but I had to let her know something. “I think I can get away, so
why don’t you have her make the plans.”

There was background noise on the
phone, and I wondered if she was still there. “Lisa?”

“Yes, I’m here. I was just thinking
about what you said. It doesn’t seem like you are really interested in getting
away. Why don’t we skip New Year’s and you can do your own thing. I’m sure you
can find something to keep you busy over the holiday weekend.”

“Lisa, it’s not that at all. I
talked with Mike about getting away, and he said I basically could go.”

“That’s nice . . . I’m glad you
don’t need a note from me.”

“Lisa, please. This isn’t my girl
talking. We need to talk about—”

She interrupted. “That’s the point,
Scott, who
is
your girl?”

“Lisa, that’s not fair. You are—” I
never had a chance to finish. All I heard was a click, followed by the dial
tone.