The Finishing School

41

ON THE PLANE Melanie sat alone while Dan and Bridget sat together several rows behind her, a result of the fact that two different government agencies had purchased their tickets. This was fine with Melanie, since she was still fuming at Dan. But she was desperate for an update on what had happened at Screen last night and whether her plan to get Esposito talking about Carmen Reyes had worked. When the Fasten Seat Belt sign was turned off, she’d swallow her pride and go ask them.

They beat her to the punch. Surprisingly, given that it was the beginning of holiday travel season, the seat next to Melanie was empty. The minute the sign went off, Bridget appeared and dropped down beside her.

“Hey,” she said cheerfully.

“Hey,” Melanie replied flatly. She wasn’t in a terrific mood, and she found Bridget annoying at the best of times.

“Dan sent me to fill you in on developments in the case.”

Gee, thanks a lot. Couldn’t talk to me yourself? But, she should remember, she was the one who’d told him to shove off.

“Great. I really want to hear how it went at Screen last night, but speak quietly.” Melanie leaned closer to Bridget, who was wearing perfume and an uncharacteristic amount of makeup. She looked alarmingly pretty, in fact.

“Trev had a major breakthrough,” Bridget said.

“He found out about Carmen?” Melanie asked eagerly.

“No, even better. They asked him to mule tomorrow’s shipment.”

“Are you serious? In his stomach?”

“I mean, we won’t let it get to that point, but yeah. Is that the best, or what? We never thought we’d get so lucky. Oh, and just so you feel okay about things, there was no sign of trouble from Expo whatsoever. They went for it hook, line, and sinker.”

“I don’t get it. Did Trevor even ask about Carmen? I mean, how did the idea of him muling come up?”

“There was an interception last night over Expo’s phone that-”

“Shhh!” Melanie said, looking around.

“Oh, right.” Bridget lowered her voice. “It’s Expo talking to this guy Bud LNU.”

“LNU” was cop talk for “Last Name Unknown,” pronounced “La-NOO” when spoken aloud. Melanie’s first week on the job, she’d been assigned several unrelated cases with subjects known only by first names, and she’d assumed the Lnus were some depraved Vietnamese crime family who, unbeknownst to her, had come to dominate New York City’s underworld. The senior prosecutor who enlightened her had a good laugh at her expense.

“Trevor told us about this Bud guy. An associate of Expo’s, right?” Melanie asked.

“Yeah. We thought he was a lieutenant, and maybe he is. But Expo seems to be taking a lot of cues from him. Who knows, maybe Bud’s really the one pulling the strings.”

“So what did they say?” Get to the point! she felt like screaming.

“Dan has the line sheet. You can read the call. Check out the part where Expo goes ‘anybody listening can suck my dick.’ I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants.”

“No, what did they say about Carmen? That was the whole idea, remember? To see if we could get them talking about what happened to her?”

“Oh. Hmm. Well, they didn’t say much about Carmen. I mean, it wasn’t clear to me from this call that these guys had anything to do with her disappearance at all. Anyway, about the drug case, the plan is for Trev to fly down this afternoon with one of the bodyguards. We’re gonna be all over it with surveillance. Ray-Ray and another guy on the flight. Tons of guys in the airports. You, me, and Dan and some backup from the locals at the El San Juan Hotel.”

Melanie gave up on asking about Carmen. She’d read the call, and maybe that would tell her something. But Bridget was useless, so Melanie might as well focus on worrying about the other vulnerable young witness.

“Listen, Bridget, I’m not convinced this is a smart idea. No matter how much surveillance we do, how can we protect Trevor sufficiently? He’ll still be out of our sight a lot of the time, in their custody.”

“Lieutenant Albano already gave the green light. This is the biggest break in the case so far.”

The flight attendant pulled a wheeled metal cart up to Melanie’s row, braking it with her foot.

“Something to drink?” she asked Bridget.

“Oh, I’m seated a few rows back. I’ll go back to my seat.”

“Coffee, please,” Melanie said.

“Hey, do you have, like, a mirror or a compact or something?” Bridget asked.

“Yes, but it’s under my seat. I can’t reach it now,” said Melanie. The flight attendant was in the process of pouring hot coffee into a cup on Melanie’s open tray table.

“How’s my friend doing?” Bridget said, pointing to a big pimple on her chin. “My zit had to come to Puerto Rico, too. Doesn’t that always happen just when you’re trying to impress a guy? Is it really bad?”

“No, it’s fine,” Melanie lied. Actually, it was pretty bad, now that she mentioned it. The foundation makeup Bridget had caked onto it only made it more obvious. And then, because she couldn’t resist, even though she knew the answer, Melanie asked, “So which guy are you trying to impress?”

“Dan!” Bridget practically squealed. “Isn’t he hot? I have a total crush on him. I think he likes me, too. We went out for beers last night.”

Melanie had to swallow very carefully to avoid choking on her coffee. “Really? Did you have fun?”

“Oh, yeah, big time! I mean, nothing sexual or anything. Not yet. I want him to look at me like a potential long-term relationship, so no hootchy-kootchy on the first date.”

“It was a date?”

“Well, it was him, me, and Ray-Ray. But then Ray left and Dan stayed, so yeah, it turned into, like, a date.”

“And he seemed interested?’

“I think so. I know he’s definitely looking. See, me and Dan come from the same background. Families on the job and whatnot, so we know a lot of people in common. Dan’s cousin Brian, who he’s close to, is a fireman with my brother-in-law Nick, and our dads are, like, the same generation in the PD. Anyways, so I know Dan’s been wanting to settle down for years, ever since Diane Fields dumped him, that evil bitch. In the whole time he had, like, one serious thing. It was pretty recent, actually, but it didn’t work out.”

“Oh. Why not?”

“I heard the woman was married, although it surprises me Dan would get involved in a situation like that.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I’m interested in him, so I ask around.”

Melanie knew she should stop, but she just couldn’t. “So did Dan act interested in you?”

“He was playing it cool, but I’m pretty sure he was. And then I had my cards read by this old hippie chick who hangs out in the pub, and right in front of Dan she goes, my future husband is someone I’d been drinking with that night. Is that amazing or what? I think it’s a sign.”

“Maybe she meant Ray-Ray.”

“Ick! No way would I ever marry a Chinese guy.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not racist or anything. I mean, Bruce Lee was hot. Even Jackie Chan is hot. Well, sort of. I’m into the martial-arts thing. But Ray-Ray? He’s way too short.”

“He’s taller than you.”

“Nope, I’m sticking with my own kind and marrying a big Irish hunk. Dan’s the one for me. Whether he knows it yet or not. But listen, I better get back to my seat and catch the stewardess before she passes me by. The coffee smells good.”

“Okay.”

After Bridget left, Melanie stared out the plastic window at the bright, empty sky. Mere minutes earlier she’d been fairly confident her relationship with Dan was over, and all for the best. So why did she feel this devastated at the thought of him with someone else?

Amazing what a little competition’ll do for your perspective.