Authors: Frances Randon
“I don’t have experience with
security. Not really. I took some courses…worked some stuff part time at the
McCormick, downtown and…” Zack sputtered doubtfully.
“What to know? You keep my
performers safe. Zack, when Ling killer is caught, and that job of Greendale
police, it will be routine security. We can’t expect arena security guards to
protect big show. We need professional. Somebody smart; you hire top people and
figure it out. I have the confidence. Most important you have trust of
everybody. Most important thing is trust.”
“I wish it were that easy.
Not that I’m ungrateful, but there’s other issues to think about.” Zack was
getting tired and the offer set his mind awhirl.
“You don’t want to stop being
police? Roddy clipped the cigar, saw Zack’s distressed look and set it aside.
It was clear he’d had enough for one day.
“Roddy. You know that Mo and
I are… well, involved.” He set his glass aside. The brandy was making him
sleepy. He’d not taken pain medication and was feeling it.
“I see you are happy
together. Mo happy. Happy than ever.” Roddy smoothed a mustache. “I see no
problem.”
“We haven’t known each other
very long. She might find it presumptuous if I said yes. I wouldn’t blame her.
She might feel uncomfortable if I was around all the time. I’m interested but
Mo and me, we need more time. I can’t say yes now. Plus I have this arm to deal
with. Al Simpson’s doing his best on the murder. I’ll be staying with Mo while
your show is still here. She’ll be safe. The boys do fine when she cooperates.
I can’t say what’s going to happen in two weeks and by God, Roddy; I don’t
think I can stand to think about it.” Zack grunted and blew out a breath. The
healing clavicle was starting to feel like being run through with a steel
shank. “I’m sorry; I’m going to have to go back to the room. Look, Roddy, can
you hold off mentioning this to Mo?”
“We let performers know when
new arrangements are…settled. She do not need to know now. Let me take you. You
think later. When you ready to consider proposal you let me know. No need to
hurry, we wait for you. ” Roddy rolled Zack out of the office thinking of the
glow in Mo’s face and the sparkle in her eyes when she’d arrived at the
coliseum early that afternoon. He looked forward to the new security
arrangement very much indeed.
“Oh no you don’t.” Mo dodged
Zack’s hand. “A few hours of sleep might make you think you feel better but I
think we’d better take a break. She had rushed back to her room without taking
off her makeup. She held a washcloth in her hand. “It’ll take half an hour to
get this crap of my face, anyway. I didn’t shower. I thought I’d take a bath.
You are going to rest tonight or I’ll hurt your other arm.”
“I kinda like the devil in
you, come here.” He tried to slide his good arm around her waist.
“Back off, I mean it.” She
pushed him away laughing.
He settled on the bed giving her
a ‘poor me’ look. She snorted a laugh and went into the bathroom. He was tired.
Desire struggled with exhaustion and pain. He didn’t want to miss any time he
could have with her. With Roddy’s proposal he’d had to begin to think about the
future, which was what he’d been trying to avoid. What he really wanted to do
what get in that huge tub with Mo and not think about anything but her
delicious responses. He looked at his bandages with derision. Then turned his
head toward the bathroom as he heard her singing. A contented grin eased as
thoughts came crashing in. He would have to heal and have physical therapy for
weeks. Roddy had sent a packet over explaining the proposal in writing. The
salary was something he’d never even dreamed of. Even more than they’d paid him
for the time he’d been Mo’s impromptu bodyguard. They were even offering to
cover the time staying with her now. Roddy had thought of every enticement. The
benefits were marvelous. Better than CPD. And they offered to hire a physical
therapist for the duration of his recuperation. He’d never heard of such a
thing. He would be an executive. A traveling hands on security executive with a
salary that blew his mind. Did they want him that badly, or was this all about
keeping Mo happy. Was Roddy trying to buy him for Mo? No, he was being
ridiculous.
Trust was a big deal for
them. As with cops, lives depended on it. Roddy sized people up the same way he
did. He had to be ruthless in making judgments about who he brought into the
show. The company took applications and did interviews but no one worked the
show without Roddy’s approval. He’d stashed the packet in his bag. He needed
more time. What if at the end of the run Mo didn’t want him around on a
permanent basis? He wasn’t going to create an awkward situation for her.
Their brief time had been
mild friendship turned to fiery passion punctuated by extreme trauma. So much
had happened in such a short time. Was her need for him a reaction to all that
had happened? Hard to believe a woman of such strength and confidence would
need to cling to him out of fear. Yet anyone would be grasping at comfort and
security under the circumstances. He closed his eyes and listened to her hum
and sing. The sound of her splashing washed a vibrant joy over him that transcended
arousal. The tension in his chest told him he could never live without her.
That’s stupid he told
himself. What, if ultimately, she didn’t want him. He would have to live with
it. He wouldn’t take the job he told himself. That would put too much pressure
on her. Better to deal with things at the end of the run. But the possibilities
the offer had opened up were just too much. Roddy had presented a way he could
be with Mo. He knew Mo giving up her career was not an option. He didn’t want
it to be. It was who she was as much as he had thought being a cop was who he
was. But he had long felt being a homicide detective had been pulling him down
into the abyss of a grim world view.
Now he realized it had been
the case even before Ray or the death of his parents. Even before he’d become a
detective. It colored everything no matter how hard he tried to find the good.
It was a necessary job and there were a thousand men and women who’d love to
have his job and many of them were deserving. He knew he wasn’t going back even
if he didn’t accept Roddy’s offer. But wasn’t it worth a shot? If it didn’t
work out he could be replaced much more easily than Mo. If Roddy understood
from the beginning that he wouldn’t stay if it compromised Mo in any way, why
not take the job? Why not bet on himself and Mo instead of against them. He
would take the job if she wanted him to at the end of the run. He would risk
anything to be with her. The next few days Zack’s outlook on life hummed with
the joy of loving Mo and contemplating the future in a way he never had before.
Mo hummed in a good mood
feeling invigorated by her continued triumph with the show and the sense of
completeness Zack brought to her life. There was something about him these last
few days. A new exuberance. While still recovering he had certainly translated
that exuberance into their lovemaking. He had taken her in and out of her
costume after the show. Now she relaxed in the bath once more while Zack
ordered them a late dinner.
Maybe Monday, when she had
the day off, she’d take Zack out to dinner if he was up to it. He must be a
little bored with the hotel and coliseum. Even if they just went over to Mr.
Whitney’s restaurant at least it would be a change of scene. If he felt really
good he might want to check out his condo, get some more clothes. Dino had gone
by the condo and run a few things over, which had been a great help to Zack.
They owed Dino a few favors. She looked forward to when Deb would be able to do
Sundays now that she had another interest in her life. Now she had to consider
Zack’s needs as well as her own.
She had shoved angst about
the future deep down once more repeating to herself: we’ll find a way, we’ll
find a way. She had never been one to throw caution to the wind. But now she
managed to compartmentalize the doubt into a little box hidden deep inside
where only in her dreams it swelled and threatened to burst apart. She squeezed
water from her hair then wrapped it in a towel. No more hanky panky tonight,
I’ve got to be more strict! She smiled to herself. He needs to rest. They were
a bad influence on each other. Well, maybe just a little nightcap. Even wounded
he never got enough. Tsk, tsk! I’ll do all the work. Then they’d rest, she
promised herself. She rolled her tongue along her upper lip and grinned at
herself in the mirror. She massaged fragrant lotion on her skin and stepped
into her bathrobe smiling at the remembrance of her and Zack in his shower and
the things he did with soap. She recalled them washing sand off each other and
how he’d found what he called her pearl and proceeded to dive for that pearl
with his tongue.
He has given me a dirty mind.
Since when do I think about sex all the time? Since I met the dirtiest minded
sweetheart of a man I’ve ever known. With him she had been able to express
herself sexually, sensually, in ways she didn’t know she had in her. He was a
sensual demanding lover but playful and giving. So giving. She could be serious
or silly with him. She had found a playful side of sex she didn’t know existed.
She had found a passion she didn’t think she could ever live without again.
Pulling the towel from her head she casually glanced through the window toward
the lights of the city. Then she saw it. A dark figure in a dark mask. Watching
her.
Zack’s gun pointed toward the
window as he looked up and all around. The windows didn’t open in the bathroom
and there was no terrace. There was a small ledge with decorative ironwork
rails that left just a few inches between the rail and the glass. An arrangement
commonly known as a ‘Juliet’. Zack looked for ropes attached to it while he
barked into his phone at the security people. He had whisked Mo out and cleared
the room upon hearing her scream. “Dammit,” he swore under his breath. If there
had been any doubt that someone was still after Mo, it had evaporated.
Les Moore burst from the
elevator accompanied by a man Zack and Mo had not seen before. There tended to
be some rotation with ‘the boys’ on duty. Les had brought in a few more to ease
the stress of 24/7 security. Even he had begun to doubt its necessity. Until
now. He wasn’t particularly crazy about the job. But at least he liked the
people. “Hagman and Alonzo are on their way to the roof. Vince Smith has locked
down the building. His people are all over. Security monitors have seen
nothing. Greendale police are on their way.” Les looked through the bathroom
window. “Had to come from the roof. You didn’t see anything?”
“Mo screamed and I was in
here in seconds. He was gone, just like that.”
“Just like at your condo.”
Les kept looking up out the window.
“My condo?” Zack still held
his gun with his good hand. He had put the safety back on but he squeezed the
handle tightly. “You’ll have to enlighten me.” He said seriously. Les told Zack
what happened at the condo. His breath came fast as his anger mounted. She
didn’t tell him.
“Smith found nothing on the
roof. No sign of anything off the sixteenth floor. I’m going down to the
basement and up the stairs to the roof. Gary will stay here. I need to
know how someone was able to get onto that Juliet. Had to be from the roof. And
they had to use the stairwell and get through a steel door electronically
locked.” Les ran a hand through high and tight curly black hair.
“Chicago law says any building
over three stories must not have automatically locking doors accessing the
stairwell. Any doors accessing the roof must be an emergency exit. It must open
from the inside and outside.” Zack said as they walked out of the bedroom. He
was tired but enervated by this newest shock.
“Greendale too. But this
hotel has a feature that bypasses the rule about the roof doors. They are
emergency exits. But they’re bolted on both sides unless the alarm system is
activated. Then they unlock automatically. So this peep didn’t get on the roof
from that exit unless he somehow got the code. But security would have been
alerted if that were the case. Guy’s found a way onto that roof. Your elevator
has a bypass as well. Your key card is the only way to access this room. The
keycard system can be over ridden by punching a code into that box in the
elevator. The emergency exit into the hall works the same, and once opened
automatically stays unlocked until it’s recoded.”
Zack nodded taking in the
information. “I’m going with you, don’t argue.” They were the sitting room.
Gary Lao stood arms crossed near the elevator. He had the severe look of a Foo
dog standing guard. Mo was curled on the sofa in her bathrobe, eyes large with
shock. Zack’s heart pounded at the sight of her. She reached out her hand to
his wrist. He yanked it away. “I’m going downstairs with Les,” he said, casting
Mo an angry look.
Mo shrunk back from the harsh
tone looking hurt. Zack stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button for the
basement. His eyes were drawn in an angry bead on hers. She opened her small
mouth in puzzlement and tilted her head watching him as the doors closed.
Down in the basement Zack and
Les checked the elevator shafts and headed up the stairwell of the west wing of
the hotel. Zack hated that he was already winded by the fifth floor but he
refused to grab an elevator when Les suggested it. He shook his head at how
much his injuries had taken out of him. They ran into Vince’s people on the
sixteenth floor. Janet Ben-Ghury introduced Ward McGovern. They had cleared the
floor. The rooms on the sixteenth floor were accessible by the lobby elevators
but only one of the elevators went to the presidential suite. It wasn’t
accessible from the rest of the floor. The roof. They went back into the
stairwell and after Ben-Ghury punched in the code, out onto the roof. It was
after midnight. The sound of a plane coming in for a landing was deafening. You
couldn’t hear them at all inside the hotel. They searched the roof and looked
down to the sixteenth at Mo’s bathroom window. Nothing. No ropes, grappling
hooks, nothing. Since Les had filled Zack in on the details surrounding the
incident at his condo he was aware of the similarity to that incident. He also
knew no prints or other evidence had been gleaned from the rope found at his
down stairs neighbor’s.