Hard Eight

alone part. It’s okay when everything’s going normal, but sometimes you wish there was another adult in the house.”

“You’re afraid of Soder,” I said.

“He’s a terrible person.”

“You should tell me what’s going on. I could help.” At least I hoped I could help.

“I need to think,” Dotty said. “I appreciate your offer, but I need to think.”

“I’ll stop around tomorrow morning to make sure you’re okay,” I said. “Maybe we can straighten this out tomorrow.”

**********************

LULA AND I were halfway to Trenton before either of us spoke.

“Life just gets weirder and weirder,” Lula finally said.

That pretty much summed it up as far as I was concerned. I suppose I’d made progress. I’d spoken to Evelyn. I knew she was safe for now. And I knew she wasn’t all that far away. Dotty had been gone less than an hour.

Soder was bothersome, but I could understand his actions. He was a jerk, but he was also a distraught dad. Most likely Dotty was negotiating some sort of truce between Soder and Evelyn.

What I couldn’t understand was Jeanne Ellen. The fact that Jeanne Ellen was still doing surveillance bothered me. The surveillance seemed pointless now that Dotty knew about Jeanne Ellen. So why was Jeanne Ellen sitting across from Dotty’s house when we left? It was possible that Jeanne Ellen was exerting pressure in the form of harassment. Make Dotty’s life unpleasant and try to get her to cave. There was another possibility that felt pretty far out but had to be considered. Protection. Jeanne Ellen was sitting out there like the Queen’s Guard. Maybe Jeanne Ellen was guarding the link to Evelyn and Annie. This led to a bunch of questions I couldn’t answer. Such as, who was Jeanne Ellen guarding Dotty from? Abruzzi?

“You gonna show up at nine?” Lula asked when I pulled to a stop in front of the bonds office.

“I guess so. How about you?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

I stopped at the store on the way home and picked up a few groceries. By the time I reached my apartment it was dinnertime and the building was filled with cooking smells. Minestrone soup simmering behind Mrs. Karwatt’s door. Burritos from the other end of the hall.

I approached my door with my key in my hand, and I froze. If Abruzzi could get into my locked car, he could get into my locked apartment. I needed to be careful. I put the key in the lock. I turned the key. I opened the door. I stood in the hall with the door open for a moment, taking in the feel of my apartment. Listening to the silence. Reassured by my heartbeat and the fact that a pack of wild dogs didn’t rush out to devour me. I crossed the threshold, left my front door wide open, and walked through the rooms, carefully opening drawers and closet doors. No surprises, thank God. Still, my stomach felt icky. I was having a hard time pushing Abruzzi’s threat out of my head.

“Knock, knock,” a voice called from the open doorway.

Kloughn.

“I was in the neighborhood,” he said, “so I thought I’d say hello. I have some Chinese food with me, too. I got it for myself, but I got too much. I thought you might want some. But you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to. But then if you want to eat it, that would be great. I didn’t know if you liked Chinese food. Or if you liked to eat alone. Or…”

I grabbed Kloughn and pulled him into my apartment.

**********************

“WHAT’S THIS?” VINNIE said when I showed up with Kloughn.

“Albert Kloughn,” I told him, “attorney at law.”

“And?”

“He brought me supper, so I invited him along.”