“To study.”
He peeked over her shoulder as she opened the front door and was only slightly relieved to see two girls in the front seat of a new Nissan Altima. They appeared to be a little older than Lauren, maybe seventeen.
He said, “Good-bye,” even though he knew he wouldn’t get an answer and it broke his heart just a little every time it happened.
Patty Levine slid into the booth across from Tony Mazzetti. She was ten minutes late, had just popped half of a Vicodin to ease the throbbing in her lower back, and knew what his first comment would be.
Mazzetti shook his head and said, “Yvonne the Terrible is gonna screw up my whole caseload.”
Patty smiled and said, “Hello, Tony, I’ve been looking forward to our date too.”
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’ve just been wound up about it all day.”
“You’re always wound up.”
He smiled and said, “Yeah, but usually it’s about nothing. I like my assignment, and now that you’re working so close, the squad is great. We all learned to work together with no sergeant around to interfere.”
“Maybe things won’t change. Too much.”
“Are you kidding me? Yvonne completely revamped narcotics. They make half the arrests they did a year ago. She had community policing for two years and those guys griped all the time. You don’t get a nickname without a reason.”
“Your nickname is the King of Homicide.”
“That’s a compliment.”
“You really think other cops would give you a complimentary nickname?”
“You mean that’s a joke?”
She took a moment and sighed. “Tony, to people who don’t know you or haven’t taken the time to get to know the person you are, you come off as a little pompous.”
He took a swig of water from the dirty glass in front of him.
Patty smiled and said, “Hey, what about our rule not to talk work outside the office?”
He looked up at her. “Pompous? Really?”
Seven
Allie Marsh let the music rattle her teeth as the live band on the center stage cranked out Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the older people in the crowd. And tonight it was a crowd. In addition to throngs of students from across the South, there were a lot of nice-looking, clean-cut men who were obviously out of school and a few women too. But not nearly as many.
Immediately Allie noticed that Susan had hooked up with the drummer from the UGA marching band. She must’ve tipped him off to where they were going. She smiled at her friend’s excitement. Cici started talking to a tall black guy who looked like he should play basketball. Karen settled in with two of the Dutch exchange students she had met the night before. As Allie scanned the place to see if her guy was there, Karen pulled her toward the group of young Dutch men.
She made small talk, surprised at how little accent the Dutch boys had. Two of them went to Florida State and one to Tulane, but they all liked to meet at a different city during spring break. This was their third break together.
The best built of the Dutch boys, with his shirt opened way down his chest, said, “We went to New Orleans last year to help out their economy. Too many criminals there. You can’t let down your guard. Know what I mean?”
Allie nodded absently. She liked his wide face and broad shoulders, but he had what her daddy used to call “European teeth.” She never really understood until she attended USM and met a lot of exchange students. It wasn’t the norm, but she picked up on bad teeth very quickly. This guy’s were yellow and had big gaps between each upper tooth. Then his slender, better-dressed friend smiled and said, “Would you care to dance?” When he smiled his bright teeth lit up the room. She took his hand and let him pull her gently onto the crowded dance floor.
She stayed on the floor with him for two songs; then they retreated to a table by themselves. He leaned in close and said, “My name is Yan.”
Allie had to shout in his ear. “Yan?”
“No, with a J, but it’s pronounced ‘Yan.’ “ He had blue eyes and a cute shell necklace tight around his neck. “Wanna have some fun with your new friend Jan?”
“What kind of fun?” She knew to smile at those kinds of offers now.
He held up a small speckled pill.
It was a little differently shaped from and darker than the one she had tried earlier. Allie didn’t want to risk missing her good time tonight and took the pill from his large hand and slipped it onto her tongue.
From the corner of the cavernous room, crammed with people, he watched Allie mingle near the main bar. Then she did the unexpected. He saw his little prize from Mississippi ask other men to dance. The first two appeared to be his age. She was on the prowl and grinding so hard he wondered if she’d scored more X. Then she started to down water. She picked up other people’s bottles and poured it down her throat as if a fire was in her stomach. He knew she had Ecstasy in her system. Half the girls on the floor did, but it was really hitting Allie. Her tight body moved to every beat of the band. Then, when the band took a break, she still bopped to the piped-in rock anthems. Her fire fueled his.
He could sit and watch her all night, but that might draw as much attention as talking directly to her. He knew where they could talk and where inside the giant club he needed to stay away from her.
After a few minutes she ended up with one of the slightly older guys at the bar. He had a hard, almost military look to him with short black hair and an angular face. Something about him said he wasn’t a Navy man, but he still had that kind of look. He knew that look, even had it himself, but he was patient like any predator. He’d wait for her to come to him.
After more than an hour of intermittent surveillance of cute, wild Allie, she seemed to tire of her new boyfriends and noticed him, way at the end of the bar. Her smile grew as she approached with a certain sway in her hips. This was not the quiet little girl he’d met at the beginning of the week.
He said, “Looks like you’re having fun.”
She fanned herself and accepted a bottle of water with a smile and nod. “I can’t believe I’m seeing some of the same guys I met over the weekend. I guess Jacksonville isn’t as big a town as I thought it was.”
“It’s big, but only a few people go to places like this.”
Allie swigged some more water. “I was hoping you’d be here.”
“I was hoping you’d come by.”
“Are you busy later?”
He smiled. He’d snared his little prize. “I hope so.” She tittered at his old joke, and he felt a rush of excitement at his conquest. And now he could imagine the fun they might have later.
John Stallings watched his sister yawn and contained his smile. Her whole life she’d been a night owl, watching TV or reading until early in the morning. She’d never really held a job, hiding behind the need to care for their mother and living in the little house near the St. Johns River. Her mom had gotten the house in the divorce and then inherited some money from her own mother. It was blessing to Stallings that he didn’t have to worry about his mother or sister. Helen was smart, really smart, and could do anything she wanted, but when she returned from her youthful two-year disappearance she never seemed to want to leave the house much. Once his father split and it was just her and his mom, they fed off one another and found a peaceful life in the quiet neighborhood.
Now he wondered if Helen wasn’t seeing how much good she could do in the world if she got out. She had single-handedly saved Maria, and the kids seemed pretty well adjusted to her presence.
Helen said, “It’s a weird situation.”
“Weird how?”
“It’s like I took your place. The kids look to me for day-to-day decisions, and Maria counts on me to keep her on track. I don’t think I’m helping the chances of you and her getting back together.”
