hidden in the house in Houston; not even Frank knew about them. The thought of losing those photos, never seeing them again, made her ribs hurt.
Eve turned on the news at ten. It was the lead story: two people found shot in an office near the Port. The glossy-lipped anchor faked a frown of personal concern. The two bodies have not been conclusively identified.’
Her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID: Frank. She clicked it on.
‘Frank?’
‘They’re going to kill me because of you,’ Frank said. His voice was low, aching. ‘Paul sliced my hand open, You happy?’
‘I didn’t do it.’
‘I told them that. They don’t believe me.’
‘Bucks did it,’ she said.
‘I knew it, that bastard.’
‘He’s got the money.’
‘Can’t you prove he did it?’ Frank said.
‘No.’
‘He’s sticking to me like a horny fan,’ Frank said. ‘I’m calling from the men’s room on the second floor at the club. Hiding in the toilet.’
‘Frank…’she started, then stopped.
‘They gave me a Valium shot; I’m a little fuzzed. I do love you, babe. Even if you did this. I’m having to act, though, like I hate you. Or they’ll kill me dead. I told ’em you’d called me, wanted to meet at the Galleria. So don’t go there. Where are you?’ he asked.
‘It’s better for you if you don’t know. I need to get that money back, Frank. Or prove I didn’t take it.’ She suddenly didn’t feel tough or smart, she simply wanted to be at home in bed with him, watching an old movie, snuggled under the covers.
‘Make a deal with the cops. They’ll protect you.’
‘I’m not doing that.’
‘Eve. Baby. Then come in. Talk with me, with Paul.’
‘If he doesn’t already believe me, I’m dead. Or Bucks will shoot me dead to protect himself before I get two words out.’
‘You stay away, Paul believes even more that you stole it,’ Frank said.
Her anger at Frank boiled suddenly. ‘Your damn skimming. You’re half the reason I’m in this trouble. Why on earth did you take money from the club?’
‘Everybody pinches,’ Frank said. He sounded as mournful as a schoolboy called before a growling teacher. ‘But this guy in LA, he said if I could front the money, he could get me recorded and we could sell the CDs on eBay. Or get me guest backup gigs. I still got a name, Eve. It would have worked. Then I would have fed the money back into the club, no one had to know. I figured you’d help me do it.’
‘Frank. My God.’
‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’ But she heard resolve in his voice. ‘I messed up, so I’m gonna save your ass.’
‘How?’
‘I can find where Bucks put the money,’ he said.
‘Frank, you can’t find your dick most days.’
‘Jesus, you’re good to me. What a sweetheart.’
‘I’m scared. For once, I’m scared, all right?’ Her voice shook. ‘I don’t have a way out of this. I can’t even come home, Frank.’
‘I’ll meet you. Anywhere.’
‘No,’ she said.
‘What, you don’t trust me now?’
She didn’t, but she wanted to trust him so badly her need was a sour taste in her mouth. The fact he’d stolen money and Paul hadn’t beaten him to a pulp… Paul wanted him healthy. To help find her. Frank might be bait.
‘You don’t love me,’ she said. ‘This ends it, doesn’t it?’
‘Sweetheart, I do. But I need you to tell me where you’re at,’ Frank said.
‘Frank…’ she began, then stopped. ‘It’s not a good idea.’
‘You protecting me or yourself?’
‘Both. I’ll call you tomorrow.’
‘Evie,’ he said, and his voice broke slightly. ‘I love you. Whatever happens… I love you.’ Like he expected to see her next in a coffin, to set a rose in her cold, folded hands. She felt a distance begin to widen, a gap between them that hurt her chest.
‘Has anyone… else been looking for me?’ she asked.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I…’ She couldn’t say it. Frank didn’t know about the husband and sons she’d walked away from; at the least she never told him. Port Leo seemed now like a story that had happened in another woman’s life. ‘Never mind. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Good-bye.’
He started to protest but she clicked off the phone.
She believed that, with all his faults and vanities, Frank did love her. But love didn’t bind every heart as tightly. She loved her children, in a way, more as little playmates than as treasured responsibilities, but she had walked away from them. Love was a condition you could get over, and maybe Frank had recovered. Fear could make him leave. She couldn’t trust him. And she couldn’t put him in further danger.
She lay down on the bed. Her Beretta was at her side. Probably by tomorrow Richard Doyle would be identified, and the police would naturally scrutinize his dealings at the bank. She and Doyle had been very careful. But if Houston Police Department brought in the Feds, and Doyle had left any traces in moving money that she didn’t know about, it was probably over. HPD was a smart force, very capable, and of course so were the Feds. She might have to run from the mob and from the FBI. She could try and cut a deal for the Witness program, but she’d known of people who went into WitSec and still got killed.
Her cell phone rang again. No caller ID. She clicked it on.
‘Ms Michaels?’ A man’s voice she didn’t know, low.
She said nothing.
‘Silent treatment, and you don’t even know me yet.’
‘Who is this?’ Eve sat up on the bed.
‘My friends call me Gooch. I met a gentleman tonight named Bucks who is very protective of you. We had to beat him up to get your phone number.’
‘I don’t know you.’
‘Bucks seemed rather desperate to know why I wanted to find you. I got the impression you’d caused him to have a bad day.’
‘What do you care?’
‘I don’t like this Bucks guy at all. He’s got a black eye right now and he doesn’t like me either,’ Gooch said. ‘He’s a common enemy to you and me.’
‘And why do you want to find me?’
‘I can explain,’ Gooch said. ‘Meet me tonight.’
‘I’m not meeting anyone I don’t know…’
‘You know the Pie Shack restaurant over on Kirby?’
She did. Pie Shack was an all-night eatery famous for delectable pies and big-plated breakfasts, an eclectic favorite with the late-night bar crowd, Rice University students, night-shift workers. It was always crowded, presumably safe. If this was a trick and Bucks was planning an ambush, it was hardly a good choice.
‘Go there. To the rear booth. We can talk. Tons of people around, no need to be afraid. Because you sound kind of nervous and upset.’
‘I’m not meeting anyone I don’t know who calls me out of the blue.’
‘James Powell. Bozeman, Montana,’ Gooch said.
She let ten seconds of silence pass, her tongue drying into sand. ‘I don’t know that name and I don’t intend to continue this discussion.’
