the door to 2C and said, “Open up! Police!”
Both men stood back, as if they expected Daniel to blast through the door with a sawed-off shotgun.
“Daniel! He’s hurt!” Helen said.
“No,” Margery said. She held Helen’s arm tightly so she could not bolt toward Daniel’s apartment. “Stay here. Stay calm until we know what’s going on.”
Daniel’s door opened, and the two FDLE agents went inside. Helen wasn’t sure how long they were in there, but eventually they came back out with Daniel. His hands were cuffed behind him. The agents handed him over to the two police officers. Daniel looked heartbreakingly handsome in black leather.
“Daniel!” Helen cried.
“Awkk,” Pete the parrot said, and danced gleefully on Peggy’s shoulder. Helen remembered that he’d bitten Daniel.
“Shut up, bird brain,” Peggy said.
“What are you doing with that boy?” Margery demanded.
“Sorry, ma’am, he’s under arrest,” one police officer said. “He’s being charged with theft by deception.”
“There must be some mistake,” Helen said.
“No, ma’am. No mistake. He’s being arrested for cheating widows and poor people.”
“He’s innocent. Daniel, let me go with you,” Helen said.
“No! Stay here and call my lawyer,” Daniel said. “His name is Steinway, on Oakland Park.”
“Oh, shit,” Margery said.
“Steinway,” Daniel repeated. “Like the piano. Tell him they’re booking me at the Broward County Jail. Don’t come down there, Helen, please.”
“Come on,” the police officers said. Doors slammed, tires squealed, and Daniel was gone. The last thing Helen noticed was how dumpy the police officers looked next to the superbly muscled Daniel.
Helen remembered that night in flashes. The FDLE agents had a search warrant for Daniel’s apartment. They left hours later, carrying out box after box.
Peggy called Steinway the lawyer.
Margery took Helen back to her own place and installed her in the purple recliner, wrapped in a blanket. Helen started shivering uncontrollably, and Margery made her hot chocolate and chicken soup. Helen took a sip of each.
“There must be some mistake,” she kept repeating.
“I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding,” Peggy soothed. But Margery stayed silent, and Helen noticed.
“Why did you say what you did when Daniel yelled out that lawyer’s name?” Helen asked her landlady.
“Do you really want to know?” Margery asked.
“Yes. No matter how bad it is, I want to know.”
“Steinway represents every successful crook in town. Retain him and you might as well announce you’re guilty. Except Steinway has a remarkable record for helping the guilty go free.”
“Oh, shit,” Helen said.
“I could be wrong,” Margery said.
“I feel like such a fool,” Helen said. “What if Daniel really did cheat widows and poor people? That’s disgusting.” Then the tears started, and she couldn’t stop them. “God punished me for wanting to hop into bed with a man I barely knew.”
“Rubbish,” Margery said. “Do you think God runs a dating service? She has more important things to do.”
“You’re right,” Helen said. “I sound like my mother.”
“God forbid,” Margery said.
Helen laughed, then blew her nose. “I wish the cops could have arrested him tomorrow night,” she said, and all three women laughed until their sides ached as much as Helen’s heart.
Peggy and Margery walked Helen back to her room and helped her undress. She was fine, until she stripped off her top and saw that incredible cantilevered bra. Then Helen started crying again. Margery wrapped her in a robe and rocked her like a child.
“Maybe it’s a case of mistaken identity,” Helen said, sniffling.
“Maybe we’ll know more when we read tomorrow’s paper,” Peggy said.
Helen thought she’d never fall asleep, but she did, almost immediately. It was a restless, phantom-ridden sleep, haunted by old sorrows. She knew she’d been a fool, and her dreams told her so, until she didn’t want to hear it anymore. But she could not escape. She slept on. Only when Helen heard the doors of the newspaper delivery van slam shut at five-ten the next morning did she awake.
Helen rummaged in her purse for change to buy a paper. She had to know what Daniel had done. “He cheated widows and poor people,” the police said. But how? She thought guiltily of her ride on Daniel’s brand-new Harley. Where did he get the money for that?
When Helen opened her door, Margery was stepping outside. She was wearing her purple chenille robe and red sponge curlers.
“Going for a paper?” she whispered.
Helen nodded.
“I’ll go with you,” Margery said.
Helen bought the paper but did not open it. They walked back to Margery’s. Her landlady poured coffee for them both, then put on her reading glasses. They were ready for the worst. The story was on page 2B: “Police Arrest Man Accused of Fire Safety Scam.”
Margery read the story outloud, “Daniel Dayson, 42—”
“He’s my age?” Helen said. “I thought he was younger.”
“Me, too,” Margery said. She cleared her throat and started reading again from the top:
“Daniel Dayson, 42, has been charged with cheating at least thirty Florida restaurants and food-related businesses with a fire-equipment repair scam.
“Anne Watts, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said Dayson allegedly bilked restaurant owners of more than sixty thousand dollars. The FDLE spokeswoman said Dayson would ‘go into restaurants, show false ID, and claim to be from the fire marshal’s office. Dayson would say he was there to inspect the restaurant’s kitchen hood systems and portable fire extinguishers.’ ”
“The uniform,” Helen said. “Daniel wore that tailored blue uniform with the official-looking red patches.”
Margery adjusted her glasses and started reading again.
“Dayson would claim that the restaurant’s equipment was not working properly and was in violation of the fire code. ‘It was quite a scam,’ Watts said. ‘Apparently, Dayson would tell the restaurants they would have to shut down until the equipment was fixed. This could cost them thousands of dollars in lost business while they contracted with repair people or ordered the proper equipment. Dayson would offer to fix the equipment himself, for cash. Grateful restaurant owners would give Dayson several thousand dollars in cash for repairs that they did not need. Needless to say, he fixed nothing.’
“FDLE investigators said Dayson was also wanted in Georgia, Alabama, and Texas for the same scam. ‘The investigation is ongoing,’ Watts said. ‘Anyone with information on this case should call . . .’ ”
Margery threw the paper down. “I can’t believe I made fudge for him,” she said.
I can’t believe I wanted to go to bed with him, Helen thought.
She picked up the paper and looked at Daniel’s mug shot. Some people look guilty in mug shots. Others look angry, evil, or bleary-eyed. But Daniel looked surprised. Perhaps he thought he could charm his way out of this, too. Even in the harsh light, he was handsome.
At seven a.m., Peggy arrived without Pete to discuss the Daniel disaster. Helen thought she looked naked with no parrot on her shoulder.
At eight, Cal pounded on Margery’s door. “Turn on the TV if you ladies want to see your boyfriend,” he said. “I always knew he was a crook.”
Margery slammed the door on Cal’s gloating face, but she flipped on the TV. The women did not see Daniel, but his victims. A Hispanic couple was telling a reporter in halting English that they gave Daniel three thousand
