“Maybe we just majored in the wrong stuff in college,” Sunny suggested with a smile. “We should have gone out for something more practical, like being a vet.”
Kristi laughed. “I don’t think my allergies would let me do that. And maybe it’s more dangerous than you think. A vet got killed in Portsmouth last week! My mom used to bring our dog to him, and do you know what? The cops came yesterday, asking questions. I guess they must be getting desperate if they thought my mom could tell them anything.”
Sunny kept her voice light. “What was it like? Were they all, ‘Where were you on the night of the twenty-third?’”
She did her best cop voice, and Kristi laughed again. “You know, you’re pretty close. They did ask where Mom had been, but as it turns out, she was home with me all evening. She was supposed to go out, but then she didn’t.”
The girl looked a little embarrassed. “It’s the first time I ever saw it happen. Mom opened a bottle of wine
—
and finished it. I had to put her to bed. She was out like a light”
Sunny returned to
the office feeling a little bit lighter and definitely more stylish. Her stylishness factor declined considerably when she saw Jane sitting behind her desk. The office furniture might be on the beaten-up side and the computer was definitely last generation, but Jane looked high-fashion and perfectly groomed in spite of missing out on her weekly beauty fix.
“I’m back,” Sunny announced as she opened the door. “Please tell me that Ollie didn’t stop by.”
“
Nobody
stopped by,” Jane told her. “The phone didn’t ring. This was the quietest hour and change I’ve spent in I don’t know how long.”
“I’m surprised,” Sunny said with a grin. “With you in the window, I’d have expected our foot traffic to go up a couple of hundred percent.”
Jane gave her a skeptical look. “When you start spreading it that thick, I know you’re setting me up for bad news.”
Sunny shrugged. “It looks as if Trumbull isn’t playing head games. The police did talk with the Venables family, and Kristi did indeed give her mom an alibi.”
Jane slumped in the desk chair, her hands clasped together way too tight. “That means he’ll be coming after me again. I guess the only thing that’s slowing him down is that he can’t put me in Portsmouth at the time of the murder.”
“Maybe that’s because you weren’t,” Sunny pointed out. “Your car—”
“Do you know that he’s had people out at Sal DiGillio’s checking the repair records on my BMW?” Jane interrupted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he got his hands on the tire, trying to prove that I gave myself a flat to create an alibi.” She shook her head. “This guy is relentless, Sunny. Sooner or later, he’ll find something he can twist into a reason to bring me back to that station again, and Tobe won’t be able to stop him.”
She shuddered. “And even if Trumbull doesn’t succeed, I still have Dani and Olek busily trying to ruin my life. It’s as if everywhere I look, I’ve got someone coming after me.” Jane got out of the chair. “I have to talk to Tobe.”
Sunny watched her friend go out the door.
She seems to be seeing a lot of Tobe lately.
*
Business picked up
after Jane left. Sunny spent the afternoon looking at e-mails, answering the phone, and booking several B&B reservations. The shadows were getting pretty long outside when the phone rang and she found Will on the other end. “I’m just on a break,” he said quickly. “Would you like to grab a bite this evening? There’s a new place that’s supposed to be like a New York restaurant.”
“Sure,” Sunny replied. Since it was a school night, they set an early date. Sunny finished her work, closed up the place, and went home to check in with her dad.
Mike was delighted that she was going out. “I can make myself soup and a sandwich,” he assured her. “Have a good time.”
Sunny put on a nicer sweater than the one she’d worn to work, a soft wool number in a purplish tweed. Then she put on some makeup and waited for Will.
The place he was talking about turned out to be up in outlet-land, which should have been a warning. When they got there, Sunny realized it had formerly been a burger place that failed. Now it had a new sign,
HOLLBECK’S NEW YORK DELI
.
Oh yeah,
she thought wryly,
very New York.
The interior hadn’t changed very much from the joint’s burger-slinging days, a lot of white tile and stainless steel with very bright lights. It was also pretty loud, even though the weeknight diners didn’t crowd the place.
A waitress gave them a menu that would have looked more at home in a diner. But there were deli foods that Sunny remembered from her time in New York. “I’ll have the brisket platter,” she decided. Will went with corned beef and cabbage. When the food arrived, Sunny found that her brisket had been cooked in tomato sauce—not necessarily bad, but definitely not New York style. On the other hand, the beer—Sam Adams—was decent, and cold.
Will took a long pull from his bottle. “I’m worried about Jane and this Phillips guy,” he abruptly said.
Sunny tilted her head, a little taken aback by the dinner conversation. “You put them together.”
Will winced at her response. “I put them together professionally. But they seem to be hanging out a lot. Ben Semple saw them in a café, acting awfully friendly.”
“Well, friendships have been known to come out of professional connections,” Sunny pointed out. “They did know each other years ago. They could be catching up from old times.”
“Uh-huh.” Will took a forkful of corned beef. From the look on his face, Sunny would have thought it was rancid.
“And Jane has been under a lot of stress. It’s not surprising she might lean a little on the guy who’s helping her out.”
Will nodded, conceding the point, but he still looked discontented. “Yeah, but—”
“You know, Will, it’s nice to be invited to this real New York experience.” Sunny gestured toward the glaring lights and the loud, echoing noise in the restaurant. “But if you’re going to take me out and then whine about Jane going around with some other guy, you’ve got another think coming. This isn’t high school. We’re adults now—supposedly.”
She looked him in the face. He swallowed hard, showing a little embarrassment and a lot of shame.
“It’s not that,” he began and made a jerky gesture with his hand. “Okay. It probably is a little of that. I’m worried that they’re getting a little . . . distracted from what they need to be doing.”
“You mean, they’re pissing Trumbull off instead of persuading him to look for other suspects?” Sunny said.
Will nodded.
“Well, he certainly did his best to dispose of Christine Venables and her family.” She told him about her interrogation and the information that the detectives had dropped.
“I thought they might have been playing me, making up a story to get Jane rattled,” she went on. “But it looks as if the information was legit. I talked to Christine’s alibi.” She gave him a quick recap of her undercover haircut.
Will frowned, toying with his fork. Sunny thought he was going to lecture her about butting into Trumbull’s case. Instead, he said, “What they told you could have been only half true. Phillips should definitely check out the husband.”
Sunny nodded. “I expect he’s doing that.”
“As for the daughter, well, that’s what we call an unreliable alibi,” Will went on slowly. “The girl is out of work, depending on her mom for a place to live, and you say she has a medical condition covered by her parents’ insurance?”
“That’s right,” Sunny said.
“So she’s really dependent. Kristi may have given her mother an alibi because she doesn’t want to upset the family applecart. Or if she’s aware of Christine’s relationship with Martin Rigsdale, maybe she’s trying to avoid a scandal.”
“So you’re saying the alibi isn’t as strong as it sounds?”
“Yeah.” Will speared another slice of corned beef as if he were hunting it rather than eating it. “That’s the kind of question a district attorney would consider, trying to decide if he had a strong enough case to bring to court.”
“From Trumbull’s point of view, it looks as if Jane is guilty until she proves herself innocent.”
Will nodded in agreement. “Like it or not, she’s a strong suspect. Most murders happen over love or money. Martin humiliated Jane in one and was pestering her about the other. It’s a two-fer. No wonder Trumbull likes it.”
He dipped his corned beef in a dollop of mustard, brought it to his mouth, and chewed, looking unhappy as he swallowed. “That’s why Phillips really has to be on his game.”
“No distractions.” Sunny had some of her brisket. All of a sudden, it seemed pretty tasteless.
Somehow, they struggled through the rest of the meal on small talk. As a dating experience, Sunny would not list it among her top ten.
As they headed out for Will’s pickup, he turned to her. “I’m sorry if I said anything stupid. I like you, Sunny, and I enjoy being with you. I don’t want our time together to be a drag.”
“You had things on your mind, and so did I,” she said. “It’s not a big deal—if we don’t let it be.”
He smiled. “You’ve got a good way of putting things.”
They got into the pickup, and Sunny’s phone rang. It was Jane, her voice very shaky. “Could you come over—now? I’ve got a bit of a situation here.”
“On the way,” Sunny replied. Jane cut the connection before Sunny could ask any questions.
She turned to Will, who had his cop face on.
“That was Jane,” Sunny said. “I hate to ask this, but can you give me a lift to her place?”
“She’s in trouble?” Will asked.
“I don’t know,” Sunny had to admit.
“Well, we’ll both find out.” Will started up the truck and headed for Jane’s house.
Jane answered the door wearing one of her veterinarian’s smocks. “Oh, thank God, Sunny.”
She broke off when she realized Will was standing there, too. “Why—” Jane began.
“We were out catching a bite to eat,” Sunny said, “And we came right over when your call came through.”
“If I’d known that, I’d never have bothered you.” Jane took Sunny by the arm, lowering her voice. “I don’t know how we’ll do it with Will around, but I need you to talk some sense into Tobe. He wants to go to the police.”
“He’s here?” Sunny said.
Jane sighed and led her to the kitchen. Will trailed behind, looking a bit wary.
Tobe Phillips sat at the kitchen counter, holding a bag of frozen corn to his face. He took it away, wincing, and shifted to a new section. In the process, he revealed an ominous swelling below his left eye and a cut on his cheek. Jane quickly put down a tray with a pair of medical gloves, a tube of antiseptic ointment, and a small bandage. She moved the frost-covered bag away from Tobe’s face and examined his eye.
“What happened?” Will asked.
“Don’t tell him,” Jane begged.
“Of course I’m going to tell him,” Tobe replied. “I still have to report this to the police.”
“This is a police matter?” Will’s voice went flat.
“For the Portsmouth police,” Tobe explained. “A case of assault.”
Will glanced from Tobe to Jane, looking baffled. “You assaulted him, and now you’re trying to treat him?”
Is that even kosher for a vet to do?
Sunny wondered as Jane whirled around, stung.
“You think I did this to him?” Her voice was way too loud. Jane took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was quiet and professional. “I’m just trying to make sure he’s all right.” She turned to look into Tobe’s eyes. “Okay. Your pupils are the same size. I don’t think we have to worry about a concussion. You didn’t vomit or lose any memory.”
“I might wish I could forget it,” Tobe said. “It was embarrassing. The guy didn’t even knock me out—he just landed me on my butt.”
“Who did it and where?” Will’s cop persona was definitely taking over.
“This big guy,” Tobe replied. “And it happened in Portsmouth. Jane called me, pretty concerned about the way the police were taking this case. I took her out to dinner, and we discussed things.”
From the look on Will’s face, all of a sudden his corned beef wasn’t agreeing with him.
“I was walking Jane back to her car,” Tobe continued, “when I noticed someone following us, a big guy. When I asked him what he was doing, he sort of blinked, like he wasn’t sure what to do. But he made up his mind damn quick. He punched me out and then walked away.”
“It was Olek,” Jane whispered to Sunny. “I guess Dani told him to keep an eye on me,”
Remembering how Olek had to call in when he found himself being followed, Sunny suspected the big guy was better at following orders than thinking on his feet. Confronted by Tobe and lacking instructions, Olek had done the best he could think of—knocking Tobe down and getting out of there. Simple but efficient in its way.
Unfortunately, Will had overheard. “Olek?” he repeated. “Dani? You mean Olek Linko and Danilo Shostak, the Ukrainian mobsters?”
“I, uh . . .” Jane wilted under Will’s interrogation. “I guess so.”
“How do you know them?” Will demanded.
“Who is this Olek character?” Tobe said at the same time.
As Jane stumbled through the story, Will pinned Sunny in place with a glare. “I see you left a few facts out when you told me about these guys.”
Tobe’s face was so pale, his incipient shiner stood out like a blotch on his face. “Ukrainian gangsters? Stolen money? And you didn’t even mention it?”
“It’s something we don’t want to bring attention to.” Sunny tried to explain why.
“I don’t know if I can just sweep this under the rug,” Tobe said. “I’m an officer of the court.”
“And I’m an officer of the law,” Will added savagely. “You realize that if Martin stole from them, these guys could have killed him? Look what this Olek guy did to Tobe with one shot.” He gave the lawyer a condescending smile. “I don’t suppose you’re used to that kind of rough-and-tumble.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Sunny warned Will. “He’d have planted you on the pavement, too. If you want to go up against Olek, I’d suggest hitting him with a truck first. But I don’t think they killed Martin.”
“Why?” Will ground the word out. “Because they told you nicely?”
“Because they’re still looking for the money,” Sunny answered.
Will scowled. “So they say.” He turned to Jane. “In the meantime, they’re trying to extort the same amount from you? Did it occur to you that they’re just trying to double their money? They’re gangsters, after all.”
“If you’d excuse my saying so, I think you’re wrong,” Tobe said slowly, putting the frozen bag back on his face. “From what you’ve told me of his history, this Danilo fellow seems to be allergic to trouble. But a murder connected to his operation would bring attention in spades. In my experience—and I have dealt with some organized crime types—if he was guilty, he’d have gotten out of town. If not, there has to be a reason for taking the risk—and that has to be the missing money.”
“Fine, fine,” Will almost snarled. “So the money is still in play. What are we going to do about these guys?”
Now it was Tobe’s turn to go poker-faced—not easy, with vegetables covering half of it. “I think I’m going to play the attorney-client privilege card.” He gave Will a hard look with his good eye. “As you said, these guys are gangsters. Can you guarantee Jane and Sunny’s safety if you go after them?”