Boyfriend from Hell (Saturn's Daughters) (16 page)

I wasn’t entirely certain I wanted to leave my place behind, but I guess I just decided her kid having a roof over its head was more important than my neuroses.

She stared at me in astonishment. I understood the reaction. I was pretty astounded myself.

“You really mean that?” she asked. “You’re not just saying that because you feel sorry for me or you want to get rid of me or because there are monsters under the bed or something?”

She didn’t know how close she’d hit home. “Feel free to look under the bed. Check the mirrors, too,” I advised, figuring I’d play it safe before uprooting my life. “I’ll be taking the furniture if I can find a truck, but the dust bunnies are all yours.”

She glanced around my tiny kitchen/living room combo. “It’s bigger than my place,” she whispered uncertainly. “I can’t give you a deposit.”

“Go look at the bedroom. There’s only one,” I warned. “You got me out of bed, so the place is a mess. It’s not the Hilton.”

I finished my coffee while she was taking my advice and checking the bathroom and bedroom. I didn’t hear any shrieks at the mirrors. Milo sauntered out, looked at me cross-eyed, and checked his food bowl.

I had an uneasy feeling that I’d stopped keeping my head down and my mouth shut. Max’s death had shaken something loose inside me.

Or maybe now that I had hair and legs, I wanted
to show off. Idly wondering how long I’d have to live in the Zone to add two or three sizes to my bust, I abruptly realized something terrible—I’d grown hair after Max died and legs after
killing a rapist
. Something similar had happened with Sarah, after she killed her abusive husband. . . .

That was just too creepy for words.

That Seattle idea was more attractive by the minute. Pity I had no money.

Moving to the Zone wasn’t any smarter, really, but I wanted to do it, which might have been even weirder than growing legs overnight.

Andre’s notion that only people who belonged in the Zone stayed in the Zone came back to bite me. After I’d found the job with Andre, I had never attempted to look for a better place to work. Even when I’d known working at Chesty’s was way below my skill level, I hadn’t asked elsewhere. I’d been in Baltimore for two years. I knew my way around now. I could find better. I just didn’t want to, it seemed.

After spending a lifetime traveling the country, I had found a home in an industrial waste zone. I was seriously damaged. Which was Andre’s point.

But now that the caffeine was kicking in, my mind was perking up. I checked out the front window. The Escalade was still out there.

Jane was looking considerably more chipper when she emerged from exploring my limited territory. Apparently Max hadn’t decided to leer at
her
.

“Your bathroom mirror is damaged,” she told me cheerfully. “But your plumbing is better than mine. If
you’re really sure you want to do this, I have a friend with a truck who can help you move,” she said with the first excitement I’d seen her express. “Have you looked at the place you’re considering?”

I didn’t even know where Andre’s vacancy was. I didn’t know of any apartments along Edgewater Street, and he’d said it was just outside the Zone. I supposed being closer to work would save me time. And Andre’s nagging.

Since it didn’t look like I was making it to class, anyway, I dug my cell phone out of my messenger bag. I checked to see who had called earlier, but it was an anonymous number. I dialed Discreet Detection and Cora answered on the first ring.

“Girl, you gotta tell me what happened last night! Rumors are flying every which way.”

“If I make up a really good story, will you find out if there are any vacant apartments down that way for me? Andre’s been nagging, and I’ve found a good renter for mine.”

Cora hooted. “That man’s on the make. Watch out, girl. He owns a place just at the end of the street, one block up from the harbor, behind the storage depot. Nice place, too. Make him give you a good deal.”

Curiosity, my besetting sin. A
nice
place?

Before I could decide if I really wanted to do this, the doorbell rang. Jane looked at me questioningly, and I shrugged. Hanging up on Cora, I sauntered over to the peephole and checked out the newcomer.
Crap, Schwartz
. Maybe my new abode would be the county jail.

I unfastened the door and let him in. “Just in time to be interviewed by the
Baltimore Edition,
” I warned him. “Need caffeine?”

“No, thank you.” He glanced at Jane, who was hastily gathering her notebook and pen, even though she probably didn’t recognize her prey. He was wearing his tie today, and a long-sleeved blue shirt. Very official and quite yummy.

I was definitely horny. Authority figures are usually not my cuppa, and cops were on my shit list.

“Jane Claremont, Detective Schwartz. If you’re taking me to jail, Jane would like to have my apartment.” I checked my refrigerator for something Studly Doright might drink. “I’ve got tomato juice.” I wouldn’t try to guess how old. Max had liked an occasional Bloody Mary.

“Water is fine. Good to meet you, Miss Claremont.” But Schwartz wasn’t looking at Jane. His gaze had fastened on me. On my untethered breasts, to be precise.

Now that I was taller, he finally noticed I was female? Or had he been put off by my limp?

“I need to ask a few more questions to clarify my report,” he said, dragging out his notebook.

“I don’t think I’m any clearer on what happened this morning than I was last night,” I informed him, presenting him with a bottle of water. I was getting more careful about stocking the pure stuff.

“Friend of yours?” He glanced at Jane with suspicion.

He was warning me, but I had nothing to hide and Jane needed the story.

“She’s good,” I assured him.

Miraculously, he took me at my word instead of snarling, the reaction I usually got from cops.

“Diane said the perp attacked her when she went out for a smoke,” he continued. “She fought him, but he held his arm against her throat. Then you arrived and struck him, apparently with the tire iron.” He looked up for me to confirm his statement.

“Sounds right to me, although he was covering her mouth by the time I arrived. She was trying to scream. I almost didn’t go look. That’s a scary alley back there.” I didn’t mention I’d grabbed the tire iron out of a fear the Dumpster was screaming.

He scowled. “You could have gone back inside for help.”

“And he could have strangled Diane while I tried to get someone’s attention.” I glared back. I think my newly perfect hair had infected my brain. I shouldn’t have been arguing with an officer of the law. I
knew
better.

Jane was discreetly scribbling, but Schwartz ignored her. Everything we said aloud was in the police report, available to the public. Jane couldn’t read our scowls.

He returned to reading his notes. “So, he knocked you out, and the next thing you remember is waking up to find him sprawled in the alley, dead.”

I hadn’t said that. He raised his baby blues to pin me into silence. Ah, maybe he
did
realize there was a reporter in the room, and he was planting his own version of the story. So who was he protecting, me, the Zone, or himself from the laughter of his fellow cops?

“More or less,” I agreed cautiously. “Does the guy have a family?”

“Not on record. He was just out on bond after a minor sex offense.”

“A government official arrested for a sex offense, and he’s still got a job?” I asked in disbelief. “Who did he pay off for that and what does it have to do with the Zone?” My suspicion-ometer cranked up. Maybe Andre was right to be paranoid.

Schwartz shook his head at me. He’d revealed as much as he’d intended.

“We don’t know why he was down there.” He tucked his notebook back in his shirt pocket.

The creep had been down there for me. Someone had sent a sex offender after
me
. Someone in government? Who wanted boxes
?
They didn’t have enough boxes of their own?

Schwartz had come down here to feed me the story that would go into official reports, not to ask questions. How was I supposed to take that?

With relief, for now. I didn’t need any more media haunting my hall. Which returned me to the task at hand. I gestured for the good detective to follow me to the front room. Jane tagged along. Still astounded that I was feeling no pain, I pointed out the Escalade in the parking lot. “One of yours?”

He looked at me in disbelief. “You’re kidding, right? The budget’s so tight even the chief is driving a Mustang. Cadillacs aren’t in the picture.” He took another look, frowned, and began prowling my living room, looking at light fixtures and electric outlets. “I
changed my mind. Want to fix me a cup of joe before I head out?”

Jane and I looked at each other. I caught on first. He was looking for bugs! Shaken, I played along with his act. “Sure, take it black?”

He didn’t answer, so I rattled around in the kitchen. I turned on my MP3 speakers and added background music. Those bastards in the SUV were
listening
to me?

They’d heard me talking about moving to the Zone. Crap.

Jane started to speak, but I waved her quiet. “Cora says the vacancy’s been filled,” I told her, shaking my head to indicate it hadn’t. “Maybe you ought to move in here. I just need a place to sleep and the couch is comfortable. I can study down at the bar. With two of us paying rent, we’ll be able to get ahead.”

Her eyes widened but watching Schwartz crawling around behind my furniture, she played along. “Really? You wouldn’t mind? That’s fantastic! Thank you so much!”

She was kind of overdoing the enthusiasm but if anyone was listening, they wouldn’t catch that. Schwartz straightened and pointed at a device hidden in the outlet behind my couch. He began examining the overhead lights and found another in the burned-out socket of the kitchen light.

“I have an old sleeper bed I can give you,” he said, as if he were part of the conversation. “I’d feel a lot better if you both had company. The world isn’t safe anymore.”

It wouldn’t be safe for those creeps in the Escalade if I took a tire iron to their heads. But Schwartz had taken my weapon. He glared at me as if he knew what I was thinking. Maybe I could wish for legs that didn’t need shaving while I killed the eavesdropping creeps.

Oh, holy crappola.
I’d wished for stronger legs last night when I was beating off the swamp monster.

So not helpful. I sighed and finished my coffee and tried not to remember what I had been thinking before Max combusted. “Gotta study, friends. I appreciate the support and all. Might take you up on that sleeper, Schwartz. If you have any more questions, give me a call.”

He jotted a note and passed it over.
I’ll check out the license plates. Don’t touch the bugs yet.

I signaled agreement with a salute. The instant he left, I grabbed Milo by the scruff and added him to my bag. We needed to get the heck out of Dodge. Jane and I were going exploring for a new place to crash.

I
sent Jane out to make a show of driving away, then had her circle back behind the block. Pulling on a rain slicker with a hood to conceal my easily identifiable messenger bag, I carried out a bag of trash, heaved it in the garbage, and kept on going, as if I were any of a dozen tenants scurrying for the bus stop. Maybe my new height and lack of limp would add further camouflage.

She picked me up at the corner, and we wheeled away, hopefully without anyone following.

“What was all that about?” she demanded as soon as we were out of sight of the tenement.

“Absolutely no idea.” I threw back the stifling hood and directed her to the donut shop, where I sprang for an assortment. Sugar was definitely required to feed the adrenaline rush. “I asked you about the men showing up in the Zone. If those aren’t reporters stalking me, I have no clue who they are or who is bugging my apartment.”

“Rich people,” she said through a mouthful of jelly cream. “Not us.”

Yeah, I was getting that impression. The only rich people I knew of were Max’s family. Why would they be spying on me?

I didn’t even bother questioning how they’d got into my place to bug it. The super had a key. They had money to stuff his pockets. Voilà. I’d never been concerned about lack of security because I never thought myself interesting enough to be a target of thieves, much less spies. The times, they were a’changing.

“That seals it,” I said. “I’m finding a new place. When you move in, we’ll make a show of having some guys over to childproof all the sockets. You can wonder about the strange little devices and yank them out.”

She nodded warily. “Okay, but how will you move without anyone knowing where you’re moving to?”

“I’ll work on it.” I tore viciously at an apple fritter. I really wanted answers, but I had a gut feeling that I was the one who had to supply them.
Me,
the bonehead who wished for legs and miraculously got them, but didn’t know how. I just couldn’t comprehend events
not covered in books. My legal mind preferred orderly explanations.