Tough Customer

Berry and I tend to freckle.'

He was about to say,

I know. He'd spent one whole night trying to get around to kissing each one of her freckles. But still clueless as to what Caroline had told Berry about him--certainly not that--he said nothing as he followed the two women up a set of back steps and through a door that opened directly into the kitchen.

As soon as they were inside, Caroline said, 'I hope you don't mind coming in through the back, Mr. Hanley. We're informal around here and rarely use the front door.' She sounded a bit breathless, like she had when she first shook hands with him at Mabel's Tearoom. 'Berry, this is Dodge Hanley.'

Berry removed her sunglasses, setting them and her purse on the kitchen table, then reaching across it to shake hands with him. 'Hello.'

He took her hand, touching her flesh for the first time. 'Hi.' For several seconds, that was all he could manage to articulate. Then he muttered, 'Call me Dodge.'

Still using that overly chipper voice, Caroline said, 'How about some iced tea?'

Berry was still staring at him, taking his measure. Absently she said, 'Sounds good.'

He said, 'Fine.'

Caroline suggested they go into the living room and make themselves comfortable while she got the tea ready.

'This way,' Berry said, disappearing through an open doorway.

Dodge shot Caroline a perturbed glance. She whispered, 'Go on. It's fine.'

He followed the younger woman from the kitchen, and when he reached the living area, she got directly to the point. 'Mother tells me that you're a private investigator.'

So, to some extent, Caroline had decided to be truthful. Truth was always helpful when you had to lie. 'That's right.'

'I've never actually met one before.'

'It's not like on TV.'

'How is it different?'

'Well, I've never had to leap off a tall building to avoid being shot, or been trapped by a bad guy in a dark, dead-end alley. Mostly I chase paper, not people.'

She smiled like she didn't know whether or not to believe him. 'You're from Atlanta?'

'I live there now. I work for an attorney. A defense lawyer. The best. Or worst,' he added. 'Depending on which side you're on.'

'He's tough?'

'The toughest. I overheard an assistant DA accuse Derek of sprinkling ground glass over his Cheerios every morning.'

She smiled again, but it quickly inverted into a frown. She went to a wall switch and turned on the overhead fan. 'Mother had professional cleaners come in this morning. I can smell the solution they used. Can you?'

'No. My sense of smell is shot. Too much smoking.'

'I tried it in high school. One cigarette, mind you. But Mother caught me. Those days, I was certain she had superpowers, eyes in the back of her head, amplified hearing. Anyway, she and Daddy had a fit, grounded me for two weeks and, worse, took away my phone for a month. I never lit up again.'

He smiled, but an arrow went through his heart at the mention of 'Daddy.' 'Good. That's good. It's a nasty habit.'

She held his gaze for a long time, then motioned him toward a rocking chair. 'I'm sorry. I'm forgetting my manners today. Have a seat.'

She claimed a corner of the sofa just as Caroline came in with a tray bearing three tall glasses of iced tea. She set the tray on the coffee table.

Berry looked at it and murmured, 'Our wineglasses.'

Dodge took the glass of tea that Caroline passed him. Although there was a sugar bowl and spoons on the tray, Caroline didn't offer him any because she knew that, while he preferred his coffee with two spoonfuls, he drank his tea unsweetened. He wondered if Berry had noticed. She hadn't; she was still staring thoughtfully at the tray.

'What was that, dear?' Caroline asked as she spooned sugar into a glass before handing it to Berry.

Berry took the glass, sipped from it, then seemed to come out of her momentary trance. 'Nothing.'

She looked across at Dodge, who was trying to sit still in the rocker, because each time he moved, the cane seat squeaked. More like groaned.

She returned her glass of tea to the tray, rubbed her hands together to get rid of the condensation, cast a look in Caroline's direction, then addressed him again. 'I'm not sure why Mother retained you.'

'I told you why,' Caroline said. 'Mr. Hanley comes highly recommended.'

'So you said, Mother. You learned of him through a friend of yours in Houston for whom he did some work.' Looking back at him, she said, 'But I don't know what you can do for me. For us.'

'I don't know what I can do, either. But based on what your mother tells me, and on what I saw of that scene at the hospital, there's no question you're in a jam.'

Caroline said, 'Mr. Hanley--'

'Look, stop with the Mr. Hanley, okay?'

Caroline was momentarily silenced by his harsh tone.

If he'd sounded meaner than he'd intended, he was sorry, but her addressing him as Mr. Hanley was annoying the hell out of him. And wasn't it a little ridiculous that she wouldn't use his first name, especially when you took into account--

No, better not to take any of that into account.

'I'm sorry,' Caroline said. 'If you prefer being called by your first name--'

'I insist on it, Caroline.'

'All right, Dodge.'

'I guess that makes me Berry.' Their daughter seemed amused and puzzled over the name debate. She divided a look between them, ending on Caroline. 'You were saying, Mother?'

'I was saying that Dodge has years of experience with criminal investigations. I thought it would be helpful to have someone with his insight and skills on our side.'

'To do what?' Berry asked.

'For starters, to find this asshole who's threatened your life.' He caught himself. 'Sorry for the language.'

Berry made an impatient gesture that implied Forget it.

'I need to find this guy before he carries out his threat to kill you,' he said.

'Isn't that up to the authorities?'

He made a scoffing sound. 'Wild Bill Hickok?'

She smothered a laugh. 'Referring to Deputy Nyland?'

'I like him,' Caroline said staunchly.