“I know. Get some rest. I’m sorry I freaked.”
“I understand. You get some rest-”
“Night, Jackie.”
The phone clicked off before she could reply. Jackie held the phone for a long moment before setting it back in its stand. No point in sleeping now. Her nerves were sufficiently frazzled. A shower and a pot of coffee were in order so she could go over the case notes for the task-force meeting later in the day and maybe figure out how in hell to get Nick Anderson to come in to talk.
If there was any doubt over Laurel’s annoyance, Jackie found herself driving into headquarters by herself. She decided to make peace by stopping at Annabelle’s and getting Laurel’s favorite custard-filled, chocolate-covered doughnut. Jackie got her usual chocolate croissant and latte with two extra shots.
She found Laurel at her desk going over the case file. “I brought you a doughnut.”
Laurel took the bag and peeked inside. “Yum! Thanks.”
“Any more ghostly visits?”
“Nope,” she said. “I gave the card back to Hauser this morning.”
Jackie nodded. “Okay. I’ll be extra careful, Laur. I mean it.”
Laurel looked up at her and smiled. “I know. You better. I know you can’t bail on a case, Jackie. I’m sorry I mentioned it. The whole thing stressed me out.”
“You’ve never been wrong with this shit before. I’ll keep my guard up.” She meant it, too. Laurel’s intuitions and spiritual connections had never panned out false. The FBI hadn’t hired her without cause, so Jackie knew better than to just brush it off. If Laurel said shit was going to hit the fan, they were due for something.
“Thank you,” Laurel said. She took out the doughnut and sank her teeth into it. “Mmmm. Perfect. Think you can get Nick to come in today?”
Jackie sat down in her chair. “I will. Somehow. I wonder if Shelby has told him she spilled the beans yet?”
“Think that will help? He’ll probably be pissed.” She waved Jackie off, the half-eaten doughnut in her hand. “No, not pissed. More like mildly annoyed. I don’t think that man gets pissed.”
“I don’t think he cares enough anymore to get pissed about anything,” Jackie said.
“No, he cares. I think he cares a lot actually. Remember what Shelby said though. You’re dealing with a man who believes he has lost already.”
Jackie sipped at her coffee. “After a century of this shit, I think I would, too.”
“You’d have gotten yourself killed by now,” Laurel stated.
“Is that a compliment or an insult?”
She laughed. “Both.”
Jackie took out her phone and looked up Nick’s number. “Might as well get this over with now.”
“Have fun with that,” Laurel said.
She stuck out her tongue while the phone rang.
“Good morning, Agent Rutledge. How can I help you this morning?” The dark timbre of his voice was smooth and calm.
No need for pleasantries. “You can help me by coming in this afternoon to talk to our task force about this case and what we’re actually up against.”
The silence lasted so long Jackie thought the connection had been lost.
“You spoke with Shelby last night.”
“Yes, and, fortunately for us, she was far more forthcoming than you’ve been, Mr. Anderson.” Jackie forced her tone to remain neutral. “We need the story, Nick. We need to know everything that’s going on. We need to know exactly how we can confront this… thing.”
His sigh whispered in her ear. “You don’t know what you’re getting into, Agent Rutledge. Even if you do, it won’t help.”
Jackie bit her lip and shook her fist at the phone. She took a deep breath. “Just let us do our jobs. We need your help as much you need ours, Nick. Help us get this guy.”
Again he was silent. “What time is this meeting?”
Yes! Thank God. “Two PM today at our headquarters. You know-”
“I know where it is,” he said. “I want to talk with you beforehand first.”
“We’re talking now, Mr. Anderson.”
“No. In person, away from the office.”
Jackie hesitated. “Why?”
“I want to show you something so you will more fully understand everything before I say anything to the rest of your agents.”
Jackie didn’t like the sound of that. Laurel, who had been listening intently, picked up her ringing phone.
“Is that really necessary, Nick? You can’t just do that here?”
“No,” he said. “How about we meet for lunch? It won’t take very long.”
Jackie rolled her eyes. This wasn’t going to go her way. “Fine. Where and when?”
“Do you know Ernesto’s? Italian place out by-”
“No, but I’ll find it. What time?”
“Noon will work?”
“Yeah. Noon is fine. I’ll see you there.” Jackie clicked off and thrust the phone back into her pocket.
Laurel still spoke on her phone. “Really?” She giggled like a young girl. “That sounds like fun. I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle before.” She laughed then, covering her eyes with her free hand. “No, no. That’s just fine. I’ll see you there. Thank you.”
Laurel closed the phone with a sheepish grin, and Jackie watched in disbelief as her cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. “Holy shit. You’re blushing again?”
“Shut up!” Laurel snapped back, even more embarrassed. “I’m meeting Shelby for lunch. She wants to show me something. She agreed to come to the meeting.”
“What?” Jackie wondered, already suspicious. She trusted Shelby about as far as she could throw her, and considering the woman could probably kick her ass, that was not very far.
“She didn’t say,” Laurel answered cryptically. “Just that only I would be able to understand.”
“Yeah, right. I have a pretty good idea what she wants to show you.”
“Jealous?”
“Hardly,” Jackie said a little more quickly than she would have liked. “I don’t trust her. I wonder if those two were together? Nick just asked to show me something as well.”
“She wants to help us, Jackie.”
“I don’t like this, whatever it is. Maybe we should all meet together.”
Laurel laughed. “You are jealous.” She stood up and kissed Jackie on the cheek. “It’s so cute.”
Jackie didn’t quite know how to respond. “You better call me as soon as you’re done. I want to know what she has to say.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“I mean it, damnit.” It was sad. She almost did feel like a mother at the moment. “Seriously. You need to be careful with her.”
“And you don’t?”
“I can handle the Nicks of the world,” she said. “Shelby Fontaine is a whole other animal.”
“Jackie, I don’t think there are any other Nicks of the world.”
“You know what I mean. Watch yourself is all I’m saying. I’m still not convinced they aren’t trying to put us off the trail somehow.”
Laurel’s grin faded to a gentle smile. “Don’t worry, I will. I think you can trust them.”
“And we both know where I stand on that,” she snapped back. “I’m going to let Belgerman know what we’re doing just in case some shit goes down we’re not expecting.”
“Quit being paranoid.”
Jackie got up, pointing a finger at Laurel. “It’s my job.”
Her voice followed Jackie down the corridor. “And you do it so well.”
Chapter 25
Ernesto’s was a quaint little restaurant tucked into the middle of a row of 1920s brick storefronts. One of those local eateries that had likely been in the neighborhood for forty or fifty years, where the owners knew 90 percent of the people who came in to eat. Not the sort of place one would expect a wealthy, blood-drinking PI to frequent, but, then, what was expected from them? Jackie stared in through the front glass window for a moment, seeing only her tousle-haired reflection. Rain pattered on the awning overhead and dripped behind her onto the sidewalk. The dull, gray backdrop matched her complexion all too well. She had looked better.
And I am worried about this because? She shook her head and stepped into cool darkness, surrounded immediately by the soft sounds of Italian opera. Old black-and-white photos from Italy and Sicily decorated the walls, and pristine white tablecloths dotted the landscape before her. It was not so neighborhood as Jackie had suspected. It was more the romantic-dinner-for-two kind of eatery. For a moment, she pondered spinning on her heel and walking back to her car.