Fool Me Twice

56

It’s Rita,” Molly said.

Jesse picked up the call.

“They made bail,” Rita said.

“So they’ll be getting out?”

“As soon as possible. Can I ask a dumb question?”

“Will it be a hard dumb question?”

“He’s strange, isn’t he?”

“Why would you say that?”

“He was surprisingly evasive. I told him we’d need access to his financial records. Also we’d need to interview the officials at state who refused to speak with him.”

“And?”

“Maybe it’s just me, but he seemed peeved.”

Jesse didn’t say anything.

“It’s probably just me. In any event, they’re getting out. He ponied up bail for the three of them. I’ve made an appointment with him for tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ve got my associate and my investigator swarming all over it. We’ll see what they uncover.”

Jesse didn’t say anything.

“I’ve got goose bumps, Jesse,” Rita said.

“Goose bumps?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I’m hoping it’s not because someone’s walking on my grave,” she said.

—

You ever been to Daisy’s,” Jesse said.

He pulled his cruiser into traffic and headed west. Courtney was sitting beside him.

“What’s Daisy’s?”

“Only the finest diner in all the land.”

“Yeah, right,” Courtney said.

“You’ll see.”

They were silent until Jesse pulled into Daisy’s lot and parked.

“Voilà,” he said.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because it’s time for lunch.”

“What if I don’t want lunch?”

“You don’t really have a choice.”

She looked at Jesse.

He got out of the cruiser. After a moment, Courtney got out as well. They went inside.

Daisy showed them to a booth and offered them menus, but Jesse waved her off.

“Two turkey burgers with cheese, sweet-potato fries, and at least one vanilla shake. Courtney, this is Daisy. Daisy, Courtney.”

“Hi, Courtney,” Daisy said.

“Hi.”

“You gonna join the big guy and accessorize your burger with one of my famous shakes, guaranteed to clog your arteries and do serious damage to your heart?”

Courtney smiled.

“Does it come in chocolate?”

“Does the Pope wear a cassock,” Daisy said.

“Chocolate.”

Daisy smiled at them.

“Two health-food specials,” she called out to the chef.

Then she walked away.

Courtney looked around.

“This is okay,” she said.

“Surprising you haven’t been here before.”

“My parents would never come to a place like this.”

“Why not?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

She scanned the crowded restaurant.

“Is Daisy a friend of yours?”

“She is. I was the first one in line on the day she opened.”

“Really?”

“Yep. She’s been clogging my arteries for nearly five years now.”

“I still don’t know why you’re taking me to lunch,” she said.

“Everybody’s gotta eat lunch. Particularly if they’re performing physical labor.”

Daisy returned with the burgers and shakes.

“If need be,” she said, “I can have EMTs here within minutes.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Jesse said.

He topped his burger with ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, and hot sauce. Courtney stared at him, wide-eyed.

“You’re going to eat that,” she said.

Jesse smiled and took a huge bite. He chewed it contentedly.

“You just going to stare at yours,” he said between bites.

She gingerly put some ketchup on her burger and took a bite. Then she took another.

“This is pretty good,” she said.

“Best turkey burger in Massachusetts.”

They ate in silence for a while.

“Are you watching the playoffs,” Jesse said.

“What playoffs?”

“The baseball playoffs.”

“Ugh.”

“You mean you don’t like baseball?”

“I don’t like sports.”

“What do you like?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know what you like?”

After a few moments, Courtney said, “I like to read.”

“Read as in books?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“What do I like to read?”

“Yes.”

“I like Margaret Mead.”

Jesse didn’t say anything.

“I like Coming of Age in Samoa. I mean, she was real young and she left home and went to live in a wild place and studied all kinds of different people. I think that’s so cool.”

“Which part?”

“All of it. She was awesome.”

They finished their lunches and pushed their plates away.

“Good,” Jesse asked.

“Really good,” Courtney said.

Afterward, they climbed back into the cruiser and headed for the station.

Jesse stopped only once to ticket an illegally parked Mercedes. Then he got back in the cruiser.

“I love to nail a Mercedes,” he said.

“Why?”

“The parking ticket is a great equalizer. Rich or poor, you gotta pay it.”

“My mom says poor people don’t drive Mercedes.”

“Not usually, no.”

“So it’s a rich person who just got the ticket?”

“More than likely, yeah. Rich people hate having to pay tickets.”

She thought about that for a while.

Jesse dropped her off at the station. She got out of the cruiser, then looked back at him through the open window.

“You gonna tell me why?”

“Why we had lunch?”

“Yes.”

“We’re going to be spending some time together over the next few months, and I thought it would benefit us both if we explored our human sides.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, I’m the police chief and you’re a detainee. Technically we’re on opposite sides of the law. But if we get to know each other, we might think of ourselves more as people and less as antagonists.”

Courtney was quiet.

“Understanding each other will make both of us less defensive and more receptive to the other’s ideas and opinions.”

“You’re a funny guy, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told. See you next week.”

She watched as he drove away.