“Sure. Just give me a minute.”
“I’ll be next door.”
Mia packed her notes into her oversized leather shoulder bag and looked inside for her phone. She listened to several messages, one from her brother Andrew, and one from a friend from the office wanting to know when they could get together for dinner. She saved both to return later.
“Do you mind if we walk?” Beck asked when Mia came into his office.
“Not at all.”
He glanced at her feet as he came around the desk, and Mia smiled.
“It’s the shoes, isn’t it?” She was clearly amused. “You’re wondering how I can walk in them.”
“It crossed my mind.”
“Nothing to it.” She walked ahead of him into the hall. “You just put one foot in front of the other.”
Beck laughed and tapped Garland on the shoulder as he passed by and held up his cell, to let him know he was leaving the building but had his phone. Garland nodded, never missing a beat in his conversation.
“Damn, but it’s hot,” Beck said when they’d walked outside.
“At least we’ll be in the shade most of the way.”
They walked in silence for a moment, then both started to talk at the same time.
“So what did you think-”
“How do you suppose-”
“Go on,” Beck said.
“I was just wondering what you thought of Annie’s assessment of your killer.”
“She said pretty much what you did. That the guy is a control freak, that the whole restraint and rape thing is acting out a fantasy. I didn’t hear anything that surprised me, but I think when we catch this guy, we’ll find him to be pretty much the way she described him.”
“Your mayor didn’t appear to think so.”
“Christina can be a hard-ass sometimes. I think she was looking for more of a portrait than a profile. Plus Dr. McCall may have struck a nerve. I hear her son was a handful when he was younger.”
“Has he straightened out any?”
“He better have. I think he’s got his eye on my sister.”
Beck paused when they reached the corner. “What are you in the mood for?”
“I eat just about everything,” she told him. “Where do you usually go?”
“Lola’s. She has a nice variety, so chances are you’ll find something that suits you.”
“Great. Lola’s it is. Which way?”
“This way.” Beck started to the left, and Mia followed.
Café Lola was a half block away in a centuries-old brick house that had two dining rooms facing Charles Street and a second, smaller room overlooking a narrow courtyard where several tables had been set up.
“Inside where it’s cool, or outside in the shade?” the cheery hostess asked after greeting Beck.
“Cool. Definitely.” Beck turned to Mia. “Unless you’d rather sit out in the courtyard?”
“Inside. Please. If God wanted us to sit out back and sweat our butts off, He wouldn’t have invented air conditioning.”
“A table inside would be fine, Hannah,” Beck told the hostess.
“What’s good here?” Mia asked once they were seated and she’d scanned the menu.
“Any seafood is good. The specials are usually great. Lola buys right off the boats when they come in early in the morning.”
“There really is a Lola?” Mia folded her menu and placed it on the table.
“Right over there in the doorway.” Beck nodded his head slightly to the left, and Mia turned in her seat.
“The woman in the chef’s apron? Tall, thin, white hair?”
“Yes.”
“Not to be obnoxious, but she appears to be, oh, roughly, one hundred years old.”
“Close. She’s ninety-one.”
“Ninety-one! And she’s still running a restaurant?”
“Says she’s not retiring for another four years. And then,” Beck said, grinning, “she’s going on a world cruise.”
“I’m betting she makes it,” Mia said, a touch of awe in her voice.
“Oh, she’ll make it, all right. She still walks down to the docks every day, waits for the boats to come in, looks over the catch, picks out what she wants. The old guys give her first pick. If she’s late, they wait for her. The other restaurants don’t like it, but there’s not much they can do about it.”
The door opened and Mia looked up.
“Isn’t that your sister?” she asked.
Beck turned around.
“Yeah. And speak of the devil…” he muttered.
“The devil?” Mia frowned.
“Hi, Beck.” Vanessa waved and headed in their direction, a dark-haired man following in her wake.
“Hey, Ness. Who’s minding the store?” Beck greeted her, then turned to his sister’s companion and nodded. “Mickey.”
“Cindy came in early today. Hello, Agent…Shields, was it?” Vanessa smiled at Mia.
“Yes. It’s Mia. Nice to see you again.” Mia returned the smile.
“This is Mickey Forbes.” Vanessa introduced Mia to the dark-haired man.
“Good to meet you.” He showed a lot of very white teeth. “I heard the FBI was called in. Working with the chief here on that psycho killer we’ve got running around, right?”
“Ahhh…yeah.”
“So what’s the latest on that?” Mickey leaned toward Beck. “I heard you had a profiler looking over the case. Was that cool or what?”
“Cool. Yes, indeed, it was cool.” Beck nodded slowly.
“So what did she say? You get a bead on this guy?”
“More or less,” Beck told him.
“You have the coolest job, I always tell Ness, boy, if I could only be your brother-”
“There’s always the police academy, Mick,” Beck said.
“Yeah, I think about it, you know? But there’s child support and that sort of thing.” Mick shook his head side to side. “The timing isn’t good.”
“Doesn’t appear to be,” Beck replied. He turned to Vanessa. “I think Hannah has your table ready.”
Vanessa looked over her shoulder. “Oh. Right.” She turned back to Mia and said, “Don’t forget to stop in sometime. I’ll give you a great price on that bag I saw you eyeing in the window.”
“I might do that. Thanks.”
“See you later, Beck. Mia.” Mickey followed Vanessa to their table on the opposite side of the room.
“You don’t care for him much, do you?” Mia asked when they’d gotten out of hearing range.
“No. Didn’t like him before he started going out with my sister, don’t like him any more now that he is.”
“Any particular reason?”
“I think he’s a hothead and a lady’s man. He’s been separated from his wife for less than a year, and he acts as if he was never married. Vanessa needs a guy like him like she needs a hole in her head.” Beck crossed his arm over his chest. “And believe me, that’s the last thing she needs.”
“She seems pretty steady to me, not at all like an airhead.”
“Airhead might be too strong,” he conceded. “Let’s just say she doesn’t have very sound judgment when it comes to men. Her track record isn’t too good.”
“Well, we’ve all made mistakes in that area at one time or another.”
“Two disastrous marriages by the time she was twenty-two is one mistake too many in my book.”
“Two? Ouch.”
“Yeah. Big ouch.”
“Guess you didn’t think much of either of them.”
“I’m sure I wouldn’t have, had I met them.”
“You never met your sister’s husbands?”
“I didn’t even know I had a sister until about two years ago.”
“How could you not know?” Mia frowned as an elderly waiter stopped by their table to take their orders.
“What’s the catch of the day, Jim?” Beck asked.
“Best blue-claws this side of the bay. Lola says she’s ready to steam up a bunch of ’em just for you, Chief.”