Robert B. Parker’s Fallout

Thirty-Three

Jesse decided that the best thing to do, so as not to get the chattering class in Paradise — it was a bigger party than Republicans and Democrats combined — chattering about Nellie Shofner’s relationship with the PPD, was for them to meet at Molly’s for coffee the next morning.

Jesse. Molly. Nellie.

“We could have done this at the office,” Molly said, “unless you were afraid the rest of our department would have thought they missed the memo on Take Your Daughter to Work Day.”

Jesse said, “I am going to point out again that you’re not as funny as you think you are.”

“Am too,” Molly said.

Jesse asked her to play nice with Nellie today and Molly said she’d try her hardest.

“Do more than try. Or else.”

“Not for nothing, Chief,” Molly said, Jesse hearing the smile in her voice over the phone, “but that or-else shit may work with other people. But not me.”

When they were all there Jesse had coffee. Molly decided to have tea after Nellie asked for some. If Molly had any idea that Jesse and Nellie had spent the previous night together, or how many nights they were spending together, she didn’t let on. But she probably knew. Jesse sometimes couldn’t figure out how Molly Crane knew all the things she knew about him.

But she did.

They sat in the living room. Molly’s laptop was open on the coffee table. When she told Nellie what she’d seen last night, the comment on Ainsley’s page there and gone, Nellie said, “Pepsquad1234, right?”

“You saw the same one?”

Jesse could see how hard Molly was trying not to look, or act, surprised.

“I’ve seen it pop up a couple times before,” she said. “Once on Scott Ford’s page. Once on the Loes kid’s page. Promises to keep.”

“Then disappear?” Molly asked her.

Nellie nodded.

“Why put it up and then take it right down?” Jesse said.

“We’ll be sure to ask Pepsquad when we find him,” Molly said. “Or her.”

“We need to find out what promise,” Jesse said.

“We,” Molly said. “Like the Three Musketeers?”

She was smiling at Jesse over her cup, but it was the kind of smile you got when you were the one being trolled.

“Technically,” Nellie said, “there were four, if you count D’Artagnan.”

“You did study for the final!” Molly said, but at least she put out her fist and let Nellie bump it after she did.

Nellie ate some of the biscotti Molly had put out for them.

“Why isn’t Suit here?” Nellie asked Jesse. “Shouldn’t he be the fourth Musketeer?”

“I want him in the game. But I’m still easing him into it. Right now, I feel as if Nellie is more dialed in to these kids than we are, just because she was working on that piece about Jack.”

“Working with you guys doesn’t mean I’ll compromise my standards,” Nellie said. “But for now we have the same goal, which means getting the story right, whatever it takes.”

Jesse went into the kitchen, poured himself another cup of coffee. Molly had made a pot.

When he came back he said, “Even when I was just starting out with the cops in L.A., we knew which reporters we could trust. And knew it cut both ways. The reporters knew which guys on the street had the best intel.” He shrugged. “It’s all as old as both jobs.”

Molly grinned. “Says the guy who has mostly no-commented his way through life.”

“I’ve evolved,” Jesse said.

“Apparently so,” Molly said.

“What happened to playing nice?”

“This is playing nice.”

Jesse wondered if they sounded as much like an old married couple to Nellie as they did to his own ears.

“Be nice to know who Pepsquad is,” Jesse said. “But I have this feeling it will be about as easy as these ghost scam numbers Healy and I are chasing with Charlie.”

“It can be done,” Nellie said. “But it ain’t easy.”

“I know this cop,” Molly said, “who’s always saying that if this shit were easy, everybody would do it.”

“Gee,” Nellie said, “I never heard that one.”

She smiled at Molly. Molly smiled back.

More progress.

“I think the best thing for us, going forward, is for Nellie to keep working the kids,” Jesse said. “Starting with girlfriends. Mols, maybe you could talk to some teachers today. We haven’t talked to any of Jack’s teachers yet. There wasn’t a star jock I ever knew who didn’t need a little boost from at least one of his teachers.”

“What about Suit?” Molly said.

“I want him to get with Ford and Loes, the two hotheads. Maybe individually, then the two of them together. Eventually we’ll make another run at the coach, just not yet. But there has to be a good reason why he met up with them in Marshport.”

Nellie stood. “Can’t say it hasn’t been fun. But I gotta get to my real job.”

Jesse said that he was going to hang with Molly here before they both went to the office, he had some other police matters to discuss with her.

“Oooh,” Nellie said. “Po-lice matters.”

“Talk later,” Jesse said.

Nellie was about to walk out the door when she turned around.

“Thanks for the tea, Aunt Molly,” she said, and then was through the door and closing it behind her before Molly could come up with a good comeback.

“What are you smiling at?” Molly said to Jesse.

“She got you good there.”

She asked if he wanted more coffee.

“I’m good,” he said.

“What’s this police business?”

“I lied,” he said. “I just wanted to ask how Michael’s doing.”

“Doing the South Ocean Leg, I believe it’s called.”

“You talk to him?”

“Next week,” she said. “I’m updating our seafaring cellular plan.”

She grabbed the mugs off the table. Jesse picked up the plate with the biscotti on it. He wasn’t much for biscotti, not even to dunk in his coffee. It always tasted like stale cake to him. And wasn’t a damn Dunkin’ donut, all anybody needed in the morning.

When Molly turned back from rinsing the mugs, she threw her chin out at Jesse.

“What?”

“What what?” he said.

“You’ve got that look.”

“Do not.”

“I didn’t tell you which look.”

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

“It’s the look where you think you’re me, knowing things about me the way I always know them about you,” she said. “Well, you don’t.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Okay.”

“You okay?”

“Even better than that,” Molly said. “And look at me, I’ve practically got a new partner.”

“Ish.”

Molly asked what Jesse had planned for his own day. He told her he was going to talk to a man about funny money.

“Just not ha-ha funny, I’ll bet.”

“Not even close,” he said.

She walked him to the door. As he was walking down her front walk he looked over his shoulder.

“Have a nice day, Aunt Molly,” he said.

Then he was running toward the car as she yelled something after him about how far she wanted to get her foot up him.

Or something along those lines.