April dialed the phone in the kitchen and waited a long time. Then she dialed again. He could hear her hang up. She came out of the kitchen shaking her head.
'What's going on?'
'I'm making dinner,' she said, a little distracted. 'I was in Chinatown all afternoon. I couldn't help shopping.'
'But how'd you know I'd be here?'
April gave him a look. 'Where else would you be?'
'I could be out on a homicide, could be anywhere.' He pulled at his mustache, trying to figure her out. Why hadn't she just let him know she was coming so he could have been happy and anticipated the pleasure of seeing her, trying out her cooking. 'I broke the case.'
'That's great,' she said.
'Yeah, I got Schlomo's killer.'
'Who was it?'
'Another Israeli. Get this, the victim's wife received her husband's private parts by Federal Express this morning. Guess there wasn't any problem with customs. Scared her so much she told Tel Aviv police she and her husband's partner had been having an affair for some time. When she decided to break it off and go back to her husband, the partner made good on his threat that the next time she saw the gonif's dick it would be in a box.'
'Wow.' April still looked distracted.
'This guy was in trouble over there a number of times dating back to his army days, so they were eager for us to keep him. Guess where he was?'
'Do I have to?'
'He was doing business in his office as usual, selling the diamonds he'd stolen without the slightest fear of getting caught.' Mike laughed. It was constantly amazing to him how people did the stupidest things and thought they could get away with it.
April started unpacking her shopping bags. 'Well, you had a better day than I did. All I did was check out a lot of people who had new babies, none of which was the one we're looking for. Bugged the Popescus some more, didn't get anywhere with them. And I went shopping.' She took two jars of nasty-looking stuff with Chinese labels out of the bag; then came garlic, ginger, scallions, and something that looked like green beans but were way too long.
Mike recognized cucumbers and dried mushrooms but couldn't identify some leafy things or the black bulbs in a plastic bag. A bottle of mushroom soy sauce emerged from its wrapping in a Chinese newspaper.
'I needed a break,' she said.
'Hmmm . . . This cooking and break thing is new with you. What am I supposed to do, hang around here just in case you decide to come over on the spur of the moment?'
She gave him a mischievous smile. He leaned against the counter close to her, trying to be cool and not grab her again. 'What are these black things?'
'Fresh water chestnuts. We're lucky. You don't see them every day.' She finished unpacking the bags, finally taking out a whole roast duck. This she left on the counter. 'Want to fool around?' she asked, touching the buckle on his belt.
The invitation threw Mike off balance again. He hadn't wanted to rush her and be corrected again. He took a teasing tone. 'Right now? Don't you want to call your mother, hear more about my day, tell me about yours?'
'No.' April put her arm around him and drew him back into the living room and sat on the sofa. She checked her watch, then took off her sweater. Under it she was wearing a lacy bra he hadn't seen before. 'I've been here five minutes. You want to fool around now?'
'You sure we've been civilized long enough,
' Mike teased, finally on solid ground.
An hour later April was still drunk with love. Gone was the gun at her waist; gone was her heavy shoulder bag with all its necessary supplies like her second gun, notebooks, beeper, Mace, flashlight, rubber gloves, tissues, breath freshener, plastic bags, wallet, and keys; gone were her sweater, jacket, tights, and boots. Without all the paraphernalia of life as she knew it, weighing down her every breath, both her soul and body felt light. She felt as light as a leaf, as light as a butterfly perched on a flower. She felt like a bee, a honey-seeker in her lover's thrall. The curtains were open in the living room, and from where she lay in Mike's arms April could see the skyline of Manhattan. They were so high up, and there was no building in front of them; even if the lights in the apartment had been on, no one could have seen them. Mike's lips caressed her arms and her fingers, distracting her. He was a lover whose enthusiasm did not diminish when the main event was over.
he murmured.
'Mmmmm.'
'Is that a yes or a no?' He nibbled on an earlobe.
April said.
She didn't want to say she loved him.
,' he murmured. With a finger he traced the curve from her shoulder to her ear. He lifted the hair from her neck and blew gently. '
he asked, nudging her with his chin.
Did she love him? What kind of question was that? How many people did she cook for? 'Maybe,' she teased. She shifted in his arms, turning over, grazing his stomach with her lips. Then she slid off the sofa, stood up, and stretched. Never had she spent so much time without any clothes on.
'Come back.'
'Uh-uh, I've got to get going.' She reached for his shirt and put it on without buttoning it.
'Going where,
'I have to clear a few things up.'
'I thought you were making dinner.'
'I'm making dinner; then I'm going home.'
'That's a really bad idea.'
'Bad or good, I've been putting it off too long. I have to do it.' She moved into the kitchen, washed her hands, then carefully washed the vegetables. When Mike came in she was examining his knife collection.
'Pathetic,' she remarked, testing the bigger of the two blades with an index finger. 'How am I going to hack the duck with this?'
'Why do you have to hack it?' Mike put his arms around her. She was wearing only her panties under his shirt.
he said again, patting her bottom.
'Hacked duck has to be hacked; any idiot knows that. Never bother a woman holding a knife.' She opened a cabinet, found a frying pan, examined it for dust, rinsed it anyway. 'Can you peel the water ches-nuts, garlic, and ginger, and shred the scallions and cucumber?' She was all business as she opened the jar of hoisin sauce. 'I like a man who's useful in the kitchen.'
'Uh, I can be useful in the kitchen.' He patted her bottom again.
'We did that already,' she said. With one stroke of the poor-quality knife April split the breastbone of the duck, then pressed down on it with both hands, cracking the rib cage and loosening the meat. He watched her for a minute, then set about the task she'd given him. Even though he didn't have much in the way of equipment, and two very poor knives, he knew his way around the kitchen. In twenty minutes she'd finished making the crispy hacked duck with five flavors and the Buddha's delight with pan-fried noodles. At quarter of eleven they sat down at the table by the window with the view to eat the feast off unmatched plates.
