Some Like It Hot (19 page)
Authors: K.J. Larsen
The hostess gave us a table by the window. It was where I confronted Tierney the other day. Before beefy-boy slung me over his shoulder and hauled me away like a sack of potatoes.
Good times
.
“Can I start you with something to drink?”
I nodded to Savino, and he selected a bottle of California red from the wine list.
I said, “And would you tell Tierney that Cat would like to speak with him?”
“Cat?”
“Thank you. He’s expecting me.”
Kyle Tierney appeared shortly with a limited French private reserve label and three glasses. He’d soon regret the upgrade.
“We can take care of this in my office,” he said.
“This is fine. I prefer witnesses.”
He shrugged. “As you wish.”
“Kyle Tierney, this is Chance Savino from the FBI.”
Chance flashed his badge.
Tierney’s ice blue eyes didn’t flicker.
I pulled a napkin from my purse, unwrapped it, and placed Marilyn’s diamond earrings on the table. His pupils got big. I thought he was going to kiss me. He kissed the diamonds instead.
He cradled the ice in his hands. “How did you find them?”
An image flashed in my head. Mitchell’s honking huge Adams apple. And me rolling up the Philip Marlowe coat sleeves.
“Billy helped me,” I said.
“For Godsake, Cat, I didn’t kill your friend.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“You know?”
“My bad.”
“Was that an apology?”
“It’s almost enough to make me feel bad for what I’m going to say next.”
“Which is?”
“I kept my word, Kyle. I brought you the earrings. Now I need them back.”
“You’re not serious.”
“I’m returning them to Marilyn’s estate.”
“Why?”
I shrugged. “Cuz it’s the right thing to do.”
I placed my recorder on the table with the conversation my gold cigarette lighter caught in Tierney’s car. I pushed
play
.
I said, “This is you kidnapping us. And admitting your part in the
Some Like It Hot
diamond theft.”
Tierney cut the air with his hand. “I’ve heard enough.”
I stopped the tape.
He sneered. “And you couldn’t come here and talk to me without your FBI boyfriend behind you?”
Savino’s voice was ice. “No one speaks for Cat, Mr. Tierney. I’m here for Cristina McTigue.”
“Does Crissy know you’re speaking for her?”
“No. I’m here to inform you that I intend to ask the FBI and the San Francisco County authorities to put Cristina on their watch list. If you hunt her down or threaten her, the FBI’s Chicago office will be notified. If she’s harmed in any way, if she’s hit by a bus or chokes on a peanut butter sandwich, I’ll know. I’ll hand this tape over to the prosecutor and charges will be brought against you. You will go to prison. Do you understand?”
He shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Cat is arranging transportation for Cristina and her daughter to return home to California. They’ll leave in the next few days.”
Tierney swallowed a smile. “Maybe a little sooner than that.”
We followed his gaze out the window. A black Lexus sedan rolled to the curb. It had been washed and spit-shined since I saw it in front of the Marco Polo Hotel.
Cristina climbed out and danced around to the curb.
He stood saying, “Excuse me.”
Savino held out a hand saying, “The studio is sending out a courier for the diamonds tomorrow.”
Kyle pulled the earrings from his pocket and dropped them in Savino’s hand. He gave a crooked smile.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
Tierney walked outside and Cristina ran to him and threw her arms around him. He held her a long moment and said something in her ear that made her laugh. Then he let her go. She stood on her toes and kissed his mouth.
Halah sat in the car jamming to the radio. Close to her pepper spray. She gave Tierney a thumbs-up.
“Awesomity!” her lips said.
Cristina scooted over to say good bye to her friends. I gulped my wine, squeezed my eyes shut, and opened them again. I hadn’t imagined it.
“Did you see that,” I demanded. “
Unbelievable.”
Savino shrugged and looked at his menu. “What’s good?”
“Order for me.” I scooted outside and joined Tierney on the sidewalk.
“You gave her your car,” I said incredulously.
“It’s a long walk to California.”
“So why was she afraid of you?”
“Mitchell is dead. I did four years in an eight by twelve box cuz she got greedy. She figured I’d want payback.”
“You were never going to hurt her.”
“No. I wanted my share of the money. I figured she was living high all these years.”
“And then you heard she was staying at the Marco Polo.”
“That’s when I decided she still had the earrings.”
“You sent your meatheads after her.”
“They were supposed to bring her back to the bar. I wanted to talk to her.” He smiled. “And I wanted the earrings.”
I winced. “I’ll talk to my Uncle Joey about the meatheads. He knows how to make charges disappear.”
He nodded. “Most appreciated.”
Tierney was watching Cristina say good bye to her friends. She waved like Marilyn. She had the diva thing down. With or without the moola.
I said, “I’m sorry about pouring the whiskey on your head. And the whole thinking you killed Billy thing.”
Tierney nodded slowly. “That was a hundred dollar bottle.”
“You’re still a schmuck.”
He laughed.
“So are you going to tell me what really happened that night?”
“I met Mitchell before the heist. I liked him. He could make things disappear. But that night he was different. Nervous. I watched him make the switch. I said, ‘Put both pair on the table.’ I pulled my gun for a little encouragement. I wasn’t going to knock him off or anything.”
“What happened?”
“Crissy jumped me and grabbed the gun. It went off. We heard the cops.”
“She ran to save herself.”
He shook his head. “I told her to hide in the cupboard.” He smiled—like Max had—and his eyes glazed over. “She’s—”
“A human pretzel.” I rolled my eyes. “I get it already.”
Cristina hugged her friends and pranced around to the driver door. She blew Tierney a kiss.
“Love you,” she mouthed and slid behind the wheel.
His ice-blue eyes thawed around the edges.
I didn’t get it. Men dissolve to mush around Cristina. And she throws them under the bus. They buy her cars. They fall down dead. They go to the big house.
“Why didn’t you tell the cops the truth?” I said.
“And face more charges? Fraud? Extortion? Burglary? I would have served more years in this state if they could have opened up that landslide than going down for this one charge.”
The black Lexus sedan pulled from the curb and merged with traffic. He watched it drive away.
“And,” he smiled softly, “I suppose I was in love with her.”
“Really? Wow.”
I turned around and glanced through the pub window. The cobalt blues held my eyes. My heart drummed in my chest.
“Good night, Kyle. I think my date is eating my supper.”
I strolled to the door, stopped short, and wheeled back around.
“So you never would have chased Cristina to California anyway.”
“No.”
“And all that posturing back there. Savino flashing his FBI credentials. Me blackmailing you with the tape I made in the car. It was all for nothing?”
He shrugged.
I fixed my gaze like Bogie. I said, “But I was convincing, wasn’t I? Even a little scary.”
Kyle Tierney walked over and opened the door for me. The frost all melted from his eyes.
“You were…cute.”
I slipped back to the table, and Chance poured my wine.
I stared at the glass. “Can you believe that? After all she put him through, I think he’s still in love with her.”
“Probably.”
“I had Tierney figured out all wrong. That’s a pricey car. He just
gave
it to her. He’s letting her go. That could be the greatest love of all.”
Savino sipped his wine. “The Lexus has a tracking system, babe. By giving her the car, he knows
exactly
where she is. Always.”
My eyes widened. “Ohhh. Duh.”
The waiter brought our salads and crunchy loaf of sourdough bread.
“Maybe she’s in love with him. I mean Cristina’s a pain in the ass and Tierney’s a schmuck. It could be destiny.” I popped a tomato in my mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “Who knows? After all these years, they may find a happy ending.”
The bartender brought a bottle of champagne to the table. He popped the cork, and the bubbles danced in our glasses. It was a Dom Pérignon. The good stuff.
“From Tierney?” I asked.
“From the gentleman,” the bartender said with a nod toward Chance.
Oops. “I’m sorry. I thought—”
“It’s okay, DeLucky.” Chance smiled.
I closed my eyes and willed myself to slow down. It had been a tough week. I realized I was racing inside, still chasing ghosts and bandits.
I opened my eyes and looked at the bottle in the ice bucket. That was a chunky bit of change on a G-man’s budget.
For an awful moment, I wondered if I’d forgotten something. Savino’s birthday? Our four month anniversary? Chance seemed better at those things than me. I suspected there was a glitch in my genes.
I held the champagne to my face and let the bubbles tickle my nose.
“What’s the occasion?”
He touched his glass to mine. “You are.” He expelled an unsteady breath. “I could have lost you today, DeLucky.”
The bubbles tickled my throat and a deep sense of happiness warmed me. I scooted my chair nearer, and we looked out the window and watched Bridgeport go by.
Savino leaned close and murmured something in my ear.
I smiled up at him. “What?”
He filled my glass again and watched me swallow every last sparkle of happiness before answering.
“Mom and Dad are coming next week.”
I choked on a bubble. “Nooo!”
“They want to meet you. And your parents.”
“I’m an orphan,” I gasped.
Savino laughed. “Our mothers spoke this morning. We’re on for dinner. Your mama’s choosing a restaurant.”
I groaned. “She’s never known a vegan. She’ll make reservations at a steak house.”
“Your priest is joining us.”
A strangled sound came from my mouth. I grabbed his glass and slugged down his champagne.
He laughed, enjoying this too much. “You’ll be fine. It’s just one night.”
“From hell.” I seized his collar and my voice squeaked. “You gotta call it off, Savino. Papa will try to get you to sign the Family Bible. Mama’s bringing Father Timothy to book the church.”
He put a finger to my lips. “Sshhh. Our parents aren’t here.”
He had a point.
He said, “I’m working on our own happy ending.”
We finished the evening with cheesecake and a glass of Pernod. We drove home in Savino’s big 1959 Eldorado boat car. Mrs. Pickins’ binoculars followed us walking hand in hand to the door. He leaned down, and I put my hands on his face. He lightly touched his lips to mine.
I pulled him inside. “Mmm. Let’s go to bed.”
His eyes softened. “There’s something I want you to wear tonight.”
He pulled a box from under his coat. It was silver with hot pink ribbons and a bow.
I shook the box. It was light as air.
“Mmm. Lingerie,” I said.
“Put it on. Surprise me.”
I took the box into the bedroom. I stripped and pulled off the ribbon. There was a lot of tissue. And more tissue. And finally, there sparkled Marilyn’s diamond earrings.
I slipped the earrings on my ears and looked in the mirror. I thought they made my boobs look bigger. I shook my hair down and walked into the living room.
Savino’s voice was thick. “They take my breath away.”
He wasn’t looking at the diamonds.
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