Pipeline (8 page)

Four
or five Spanish tiled steps led down to the entrance of Jeri's Bar and Grill.
Refined wasn't the right word, but Jeri's wasn't what I had expected. Jim Beam
tasted the same poured out of a brown paper bag or delivered in Waterford
crystal. Jeri's seemed to pay quite a lot of attention to that intangible thing
called ambiance. The minute I entered, I was met by an exquisite woman in her
mid-forties —the kind anyone would like to see at the end of a rough day. She
wore more makeup than I personally liked, but some things could be overlooked
if other incentives were strong enough. I had always been attracted to taller
than average women, and Jeri, who was barely half a head shorter than my own
five-ten frame, certainly filled the bill.

"Hello,"
the woman said warmly in a husky voice. "I'm Jeri. Tell me what can I do
for you today, sugar."

The
greeting left itself open to a number of possible interpretations, and I
wondered what Jeri's response would have been if she knew what was in my mind.

"I'm
supposed to be meeting someone from the Light, darlin'," I finally said
with a smile.

Jeri
wrapped her arm around mine and led me away from the door. "You don't look
like a reporter," she said, walking very closely next to me.

"Photographer."
I smiled.

"Fascinating!"
Jeri drawled. "Perhaps we can arrange for you to take a few pictures of me
sometime. Privately, of course."

"I'm
afraid I don't do portrait photography," I said.

"That's
a pity. I'll bet you're really good at getting people to relax and act
naturally for you," Jeri said, as she squeezed my arm.

Tiffany-style
lamps were hung strategically around the room, casting a stained-glass glow
onto the rich, wood-paneled walls. I noticed that there were a number of
equally attractive women mingling with customers throughout the bar and was
beginning to think a practical joke was being played on me when I saw Stevie at
a candlelit table.

As I
pulled out a chair and sat down, Jeri stood behind me. Placing her hands on my
shoulders, she said, "What can I get you, sweet thing?"

"A
beer. Imported if you have it."

Jeri
massaged my shoulders as she asked Stevie whether she was ready for a refill.

Stevie
leaned across the table after Jeri left. "Nice stuff, huh," she said.

I
turned to watch Jeri walk away. "Not bad."

"They're
all like her in here. Service with a smile."

"College
students?" I asked.

"More
like prostitutes," Stevie said over her glass. "But they can actually
carry on an intelligent conversation about current events, and nothing ever
goes on between the customers and the greeters."

"That's
hard to believe. They're very attractive women," I observed.

"Therein
lies the problem," Stevie grinned. "They're not women."

I
had no idea what my expression must have looked like, but whatever it was
seemed to make Stevie's day.

"No
shit," I said, looking around again.

Jeri
returned with our drinks, and after setting them down, she rested a slender,
well-manicured hand on my shoulder again. Whatever thoughts I might have been
harboring about Jeri earlier were now completely flushed from my mind. That was
what I got for lusting after another woman even if it was only in my mind. I
had obviously been living alone too damn long and needed to take up dating
again...soon.

After
Jeri walked away, I said, "Hope that made your day, Stevie. That why you
invited me to join you today?"

"It
reminded me of that club we went to in Hamburg where all the women were
transsexuals, but it's the first one I've seen around here," Stevie said.

"How'd
you find this place?" I asked, still incredulous.

"The
guys from the Light come here sometimes after work," she said. "In
fact, they were here today. I thought you'd enjoy Jeri's and called you after
they all left."

"Was
Kyle here?"

"Yeah."
Stevie chuckled. "Seems that once upon a time he almost had an intimate
moment with one of the 'girls.'"

"Well,
if they fooled a man, then I don't feel too bad about my reaction." I
laughed as I took a drink.

"Your
name came up," Stevie said.

"Oh,
really."

"We
were discussing overseas work, and when he found out I had been to Africa and
Central America, he asked if I'd ever worked with you."

"And..."
I prompted, leaning forward onto my elbows.

"And
I told him you were a great journalist and the best lay I'd ever had." She
shrugged.

"You
what?" I choked out.

Throwing
her head back, Stevie laughed. "Just kidding, Jo, except for the great
journalist part." After a pause, she said, "Well, the other part is
true, too, but I figured he probably didn't need to know that."

"Thank
you," I said, relieved. "His opinion of me is bad enough without
adding fuel to the fire."

"I'll
tell you the truth, Jo," Stevie said, "I don't think I'm going to
find out anything useful for you. It's like your son has lockjaw when it comes
to talking about whatever he's working on. I've tried buddy-buddy and had him
pretty much three sheets to the wind this afternoon and couldn't get jack out
of him except about his girlfriend."

"Yeah."
I sighed. "I think you're right. Maybe he's decided to dump the
story."

"I
know you'll disagree, but there isn't a story anywhere worth getting shot
over."

"Neither
of us used to think that way." I smiled.

"Well,
maybe your son is smarter than we were."

Chapter
Ten

TWO
LONG WEEKS had crawled by, and Stevie hadn't been able to find out anything
about the story Kyle had been working on at the time he was shot, and I was becoming
convinced it was a dead end. Kyle and Sarita were going about their daily
routines without even a hint of danger around them. I finally decided that it
was time for Stevie to go back to her hideaway cabin when the photographer she
was replacing came back from his vacation. I had gone through the pictures I
had taken in Kyle's apartment a dozen times but still hadn't found anything
useful or been able to decipher his shorthand. Pauli was at a dead end, too,
and as far as I could tell there was nothing more to pursue. Kyle's shooting
had to have been one of those random acts that were always in the news.

I
was relieved to leave San Antonio and get back to my retirement. After all the
assignments I had covered, all the dodged bullets, I couldn't remember doing
anything more draining than the last three weeks in San Antonio. The only thing
I wanted to do was return to the privacy of the ranch, but I felt obliged to
tell Cate that I had come up with nothing.

I
stepped off the elevator on the fifth floor of the Travis Professional Building
in Austin at two-forty and walked toward a glass wall at the end of the hall.
Bradley and Hammond was etched across the glass doors. Just inside was an
oak-paneled reception area where a young woman was seated behind the desk. She
was groomed for the secretarial fast track, and I was decidedly out of place in
my jeans and denim work shirt. I left my sunglasses on as she turned toward me
and smiled.

"Can
I help you, ma'am?"

"Cathryn
Hammond, please," I said as I glanced around the office. Cate must have decorated
this part of the office herself, I thought. It was tastefully done and as
understated as she was.

"Do
you have an appointment?"

"Just
tell her that Joanna Carlisle is here."

The
woman picked up the phone and punched in a few numbers and waited. "Ms.
Hammond? I'm sorry to disturb you. There's a lady here to see you. She doesn't
have an appointment." She waited a moment and nodded as if the other party
could see her. "She says her name is Joanna Carlisle." More nods and
a glance at me. "Yes, ma'am. I'll tell her." She placed the receiver
back in its cradle and smiled again. "Ms. Hammond asked that you wait a
few minutes, Ms. Carlisle. She's just finishing up with another client."

I
sat down on a couch at the opposite side of the reception room, rummaging
through a few magazines on a glass coffee table. Fifteen minutes had passed
when I heard Cate's voice. She accompanied her client into the reception area
and stopped at the desk. She was wearing a fitted gray linen suit with a subtle
white pinstriping. The collar of a white silk blouse was turned neatly over the
collar of the suit jacket.

"Peggy,
make an appointment for Mr. Douglas some time late next week." She turned
to the client and placed a hand on his arm. Smiling, she said, "I don't
think you have anything to worry about, Richard, but I'll know more after I've
had a chance to check a few things."

"Thanks,
Cate. This really takes a load off my mind."

They
shook hands and good old Richard departed.

Cate
turned toward me. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Jo. Please, come
in." To Peggy, she said, "Hold my calls for about thirty
minutes."

"You
have another appointment in fifteen minutes, Ms. Hammond," the woman said,
leafing through an appointment book.

"Just
get them something to drink and apologize for me," Cate instructed. She
moved down the hallway and stopped next to an open door. I entered the room,
and she followed, closing the door behind her. "Coffee?" she asked as
she walked to her desk.

"No,
thanks," I answered. I sat down in a leather chair across from her and
removed my sunglasses.

"Pauli
and I have looked into every angle we could think of in San Antonio, but there
just is no story there, Cate. Kyle might have been involved in something else,
or the kid who shot him could have mistaken him for someone else."

"I
see. Are you going to continue looking into it?"

"I'm
on my way back to the ranch," I replied, shaking my head.

"He
might still be in danger, Jo."

"He
might or might not be." I shrugged. "But there isn't anything more I
can do, Cate. I still don't know squat about what he's working on, and I can't
spend forever tailing him, hoping to get a break."

"So
you're just going to walk away?"

Now
she was beginning to piss me off. None of this had been my idea to begin with,
and her tone of voice made me feel like some kid who'd been called to the
principal's office.

"Well,
what would you like me to do?" I asked. "If you think this is so
fucking easy then share some of your brilliant insights with me."

"You're
the one who's supposed to have all the fabulous connections. Can't they do
something?"

"They've
already done everything they can. Look, I feel bad about leaving him to figure
all this out by himself, okay, but that's what growing up is all about."

"Even
if it gets him killed."

"Goddamn
it, Cate. Do you want me to sleep in my car outside his apartment every night
and guard him? He's a man. Let him be one, for Christ's sake."

She
rose from her chair and glared at me. "I'm doing what any responsible
parent should do when she finds out her child might be in danger. And you
should, too, Joanna."

"In
this case I think you're expecting too much."

"You're
right, Jo. I used to expect you to be a parent and a partner, but you couldn't
deal with that either."

Her
words stung, and I felt blood rushing to my face as I stood to face her.
"Don't throw that shit in my face! I can't change the past, okay."

"That
still doesn't solve Kyle's problem."

"You
asked me to help him, and I gave it my best shot. There's nothing to be
found."

"Then
maybe you should go back to the ranch and crawl into whatever hole you've dug
for yourself. Forget you ever knew Kyle or me."

"I
never knew him," I said through clenched teeth, "and I'm beginning to
think I never knew you either."

Our
discussion had degenerated into something much more personal. Years of built-up
resentment and guilt had finally bubbled their way to the surface. We had had
dozens of similar arguments during our years together, and our life had been
either very good or very bad. Never anything in between. When we loved, we
loved passionately. When we fought, we fought just as passionately.

"You
weren't home long enough to know either one of us. Your idea of family
responsibility was to leave for weeks or months at a time, come home and catch
a fast night or two in bed, and then go back to whatever the hell you were
doing without the slightest thought about whether we needed you or not."

"I
don't remember having to work very hard to get you into bed, babe," I said
with a sarcastic edge.

"I
was your partner, Jo! I had to hope you remembered that between visits."

"Fuck
you, Cate," I spat, pointing my finger at her. "You knew damn well
what I did for a living when we met. I provided for you and Kyle every way I
knew how."