The Finishing School

28

AFTER A QUICK SEARCH failed to turn up anybody else from their team, Melanie and Dan decided to hop the next six out. She left a message on her sister’s cell saying she was safe and another for Bridget telling her to come back to the pub where they’d met earlier once she’d completed the buy.

“We had a deal,” Dan said as they settled into a booth at the pub twenty minutes later. He glared at her, so angry his breathing was rapid. “That was way out of line, what you did back there. You put yourself in danger, and other people, too. Prosecutors shouldn’t work undercover. They don’t know what the fuck they’re doing, so they don’t take basic precautions. Like a wire and a backup team and a prearranged signal for when things go south.”

He paused for breath.

“You done?” she asked.

“No, I’m just getting started.”

“Oh, come on, Dan, I wasn’t looking to work undercover, and you know it. Bernadette ordered me to go to the club to monitor Trevor. It was just chance that I met Esposito. Once he told me he had drugs in that room, what was I supposed to do? Ignore the lead? This is an urgent matter. Am I the only one who remembers that Carmen Reyes is still missing?”

“Esposito lied. There were no drugs in that room. I checked it out before you ever went in there.”

“Fine, he lied. How was I supposed to know?”

“Any idiot could see the guy was just trying to get into your pants. You’re not taking any more risks like that. I won’t allow it.”

“What are you talking about? You take risks every day.”

“That’s my fucking job. It’s what I’m trained for. You’re a lawyer, not a cop.”

“Hey, I can handle myself, all right? You have no business telling me what to do.”

“Yeah? Whose fault is that?” he snapped back, eyes blazing.

A young waitress dressed in black pants and a white shirt came over and swiped at their table desultorily with a damp rag. “Menus or just drinkin’?” she asked.

Melanie stared at Dan, taken aback by his last comment, but he deliberately avoided her gaze. After a moment she gave up.

“I missed dinner,” she said, sighing. “I could eat something.”

“Yeah, okay. Me, too.”

The waitress left them menus. Melanie studied hers for a second, then peeked over the top of it, watching him as he perused his. Whose fault was it that they weren’t together? He seemed to be implying it was hers. A pang of longing swelled her chest, making it hard to breathe. Even when they argued, being around him felt so right. This thing between them didn’t want to die, and maybe she shouldn’t let it. Life was too short. Weren’t they wasting time, being apart?

He looked up and caught her staring. “What?”

“Shouldn’t we talk?”

“About what?”

“You know. You and me. Us. Before.”

“What’s there to say?” he demanded angrily.

“I don’t know. Never mind.”

Her heart sank. It must’ve showed on her face, because Dan’s expression softened noticeably.

The waitress came back. Dan ordered a cheeseburger and a beer, Melanie a club sandwich and a diet Coke, though she’d completely lost her appetite. Her stomach hurt, in fact.

“Hey, look,” Dan said after the waitress left, “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

She didn’t say anything.

“All right, you wanna talk about us? Fine. The way I see it, I laid my cards on the table from day one. I told you how I felt. And you said you didn’t have room for me in your life. So I took you at your word and walked away. End of story.”

“I never said that,” she protested.

“You’re right. You actually said something much worse. You said you didn’t have room to fall in love, which told me you weren’t. In love with me, I mean. August twenty-seventh of this year. See, I even remember the date. Not too often a person gets kicked in the chest like that.”

Their eyes held, and so much meaning passed between them that Melanie could’ve sworn her whole life flashed before her eyes. The past and the future all wrapped up in one glance. She imagined herself much older, married to Dan, with grown sons who looked like him. Without fully intending to, she slid closer to him until their knees touched under the table. Dan’s legs were as solid and powerful as tree trunks.

“You still with your husband?” he asked quietly, holding her gaze.

“No. That’s over.”

As they stared at each other, Bridget Mulqueen suddenly materialized at the end of their table. Her squeaky voice shattered the moment as effectively as a car alarm on a moonlit night.

“Hey, you guys! You’ll never guess what happened. We almost did a controlled buy of fricking aspirin!”

Bridget smacked herself on the forehead comically with her open hand as she slid into the booth next to Dan. Trevor Leonard appeared and just stood there looking awkward. Melanie patted the seat beside her, and he sat down.

“Didja lose the buy money?” Dan asked, frowning.

“Naw, dude, I know what X looks like,” Trevor said proudly. “I put a stop to it before Detective Mulqueen handed over the dough. Can’t scam a scammer.”

“I knew it was fake, too!” Bridget protested.

The waitress set down their drinks. Bridget picked up Dan’s beer and took a big gulp, then realized what she’d done. “Oh, jeez, I’m sorry,” she said.

“It’s okay,” Dan said.

“I was just really parched. I didn’t think. I’m sorry.” Bridget seemed on the verge of tears.

“Hey, kiddo, no big deal,” Dan said, patting Bridget’s leg. “Keep it. There’s more where that came from. Want something to eat? You look like you could use it.”

“Okay, sure.”

Bridget gazed at Dan a bit too adoringly for Melanie’s comfort. Though she knew Dan was simply acting like a decent human being, Melanie felt a sharp twinge of jealousy. This was getting out of hand. She’d better calm herself down and chill out about this guy. They had a case to do. A missing girl to find. She couldn’t afford to get all distracted with emotions. Emotions were bad for your concentration.

“Yeah, you guys should both order something,” Melanie made herself say. “But no alcohol, Trevor. Since you’re underage, drinking is a violation of your bail conditions.”

“Fill us in on what happened,” Dan said. “What were you doing negotiating for ecstasy anyway? You were supposed to buy heroin so we could test it against the decks from Whitney’s apartment.”

“Well, we were trying to get to Expo’s people,” Bridget said. “Looking for the two bodyguards. Trevor recognized the big black guy, see, so we approached him. We told him we wanted to score heroin, but he steered us to the Russian guy, who said he only had ecstasy. So we said okay, figuring we start with ecstasy and work our way up, right? The guy asks for the money up front, but I didn’t give it.” She hesitated, struggling over what to say next, but honesty won out. “I mean, okay, I might’ve given it to’m, but Trevor, like, shakes his head not to. Then the guy brings back some blue tablets, and Trevor scrapes at ’em and goes, ‘This shit is counterfeit.’”

“Oldest trick in the book,” Trevor said. “They take fucking Excedrin, put a coating on it, and mark it like X. I tried pulling that once myself to make some extra cash, but for all the work you gotta do to pull the scam, it’s not even worth it.”

“But still, I think we made some headway, right, Trev?” Bridget said.

“Yeah, ’cause afterward we catch up with the black dude, and I go, ‘Yo, your boy tried to rip me.’ And he goes, ‘Hakuna matata, it’s a little hot in here right now, son, but I’ll catch you on the rebound.’”

“What did he mean by that?” Melanie asked.

“You know, no worries, like he’d do me solid next time. Make it right. Hook me up with some mad H,” Trevor said.

“No, what I’m asking is, what did he mean by ‘it’s hot’?”

It was a question Melanie already knew the answer to. Anybody in law enforcement or with even a passing knowledge of the street knew what “hot” meant.

“That just means there’s cops around,” Trevor replied, his tone implying she was slow.

“Exactly,” Melanie said.

“What are you saying? That Esposito’s guys knew we were there working undercover?” Bridget asked.

“Well…” Melanie raised her eyebrows meaningfully and looked around the table at each of them. “They knew something.”