IT WAS NEARLY ONE-THIRTY WHEN MELANIE GAVE in and dialed Dan O’Reilly’s pager number from the phone on her bedside table. She couldn’t handle the anxiety any longer. He called back immediately.
“You’re still awake,” she said, relieved. She got under the covers, pressing the receiver to her ear in the darkness. It felt good to lie down.
“Melanie?”
“Yes.”
“I almost didn’t return the beep. I didn’t recognize the number. We need a beeper code, you know.” His voice was low and husky. She wondered if he’d been sleeping or if that was just how he always sounded late at night.
“Beeper code? Isn’t that for drug dealers?” she asked.
“Nah, it’s for anybody who uses pagers a lot. That way you can beep me to any number and I’ll know it’s you. This is your home phone, right?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not sleeping? Because your lights are out.”
“I’m in bed, but I couldn’t sleep. How do you know my lights are out?”
“Really? You’re lying in bed right now, while we’re talking?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh.”
“But I couldn’t sleep. Listen, I beeped you because I’m scared.”
“Where’s your husband?”
“Mmm, traveling.”
A flirtatious note crept into her voice despite her best intentions. Lying in the dark, overwrought, terrified, she was too weak to fight it. Talking to him made her feel so much better. She curled and uncurled her toes under the blanket.
“He left you all alone?” Dan said. “A very foolish man.”
Her heart raced, in an exciting way this time. She should hang up. But what the heck, they were just talking, right? What harm could it do?
“Yeah, well, anyway, I’m by myself. I got scared of Slice coming after me. I figured I’d call so you could tell me I shouldn’t worry.”
“You shouldn’t worry.”
“Why shouldn’t I worry? I have good reason to, don’t I?”
“Because I’m sitting right out here in front of your house, watching the door.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously. I dropped you off before and never left. Think I’m gonna take a chance on you ending up looking like Jed Benson?”
“You’re really in front of my building?”
“Yes, ma’am, and the service entrance is visible from here, too. So nobody can get in without me seeing.”
“You’ve been sitting there all this time? You’re crazy!” It moved her deeply, that he would spend his own time watching out for her like that.
“What’s the big deal? Sitting up all night in my car is what I do for a living. Besides, after what happened tonight, this is probably the best spot to catch the bad guy.”
She laughed breathlessly. “Oh, thanks a lot! You’ll give me nightmares.”
“I don’t wanna give you nightmares. Only sweet dreams. Hey, think you’ll dream about me?” His voice as he asked the question was endearingly nervous, as if he feared he’d gone too far. He had gone too far, and it surprised her. Could he really be interested in her like that? Wow. But if he was, she really shouldn’t lead him on.
“Dream about you? We only met this morning,” she said.
“Huh, that’s right! We only met this morning. It’s funny, I feel like I’ve known you for a long time. Do you feel that, too?”
“Well, it’s been a long day. So in a way, it has been a long time.” She yawned, exhaustion catching up to her. “Listen, I should get to sleep.”
“Don’t hang up. We can just talk until you fall asleep.”
“What, and leave my phone off the hook? I can’t do that.” What if Steve called and couldn’t get through? Hah, it would serve him right! But really, how would she explain it? Didn’t she have enough problems?
“You really know how to shut a guy down, you know that?” Dan said. But she could hear a smile in his voice.
“Good night, Agent O’Reilly,” she said, unable to resist smiling herself.
“Wait, don’t go,” he said. “What’s your favorite number?”
“Um, I don’t know. Seven? Why?”
“Lucky seven. I like that, too. So that’s our code. If you feel scared, you beep me, put a seven in, and I’ll rush up there and rescue you, okay?”
“Okay. So are you really gonna sit there all night?”
“I was planning to.”
“Didn’t we agree we would go to Otisville first thing, so we’d have time to interview Delvis Diaz before Rosario ’s grand-jury testimony?”
“Yeah, so? I was gonna pick you up at your office at eight. But I’ll just pick you up here instead.”
“But then you won’t get any sleep. You won’t even have a chance to shower.”
“You’re a very high-maintenance girl. Expect a guy to sit up protecting you all night and still find time to shower and shave and show up looking fresh as a daisy.”
She giggled. “I have high standards. We’ll have to see if you measure up.”
“Okay, then. I guess once it’s light, I better head home for some grooming.”
“Seriously, you should go home. I’m fine, really. I feel better now that we talked.” Now, why did she say that? She didn’t want him to leave. She felt so much safer knowing he was out there. But she had to put a stop to this. Every second they talked was drawing them closer, and she felt it.
“I feel better, too,” he was saying. “It’s good. Talking to you, I mean.”
“So you’ll go home?”
“I’ll hang out till I’m sure it’s safe. Then I’ll go clean up and pick you up at your office at eight. Me and Randall, okay?”
“Okay.” They were both silent for a moment. She didn’t want to hang up any more than he did, but she’d make herself do it. “Hey,” she said.
“What?”
“Thank you. Really.”
“Don’t mention it. Sweet dreams.”
She hung up, smiling again. But then the smile faded as she wondered what the hell she was getting herself into with him.
19
“HELLO? HELLO? WHO’S THERE?” MELANIE HAD said.
Sophie Cho opened her mouth to answer, but no words came. Before she even realized it, her finger moved to the button and clicked off the phone. She couldn’t do it. She’d decided she would, but when the moment came, she just couldn’t.
She sat on the glossy hardwood floor and looked around her completely empty apartment. Her furniture was gone, taken away by the moving truck that afternoon. The problem seemed too big, so she’d pretty much made up her mind to run away from it. It was the only solution she could think of. Eventually it would come out, what she’d done, but she was a minor enough player in this drama that she had to think the police wouldn’t bother pursuing her. So long as she went far enough away and left no forwarding address.
The possibility of anyone other than the police coming after her never entered her mind.
But even as she put her escape plan into action, she wavered. She was not an adventurous person. The thought of leaving behind everything she knew and starting over in some new, foreign place held not the slightest whiff of romance for her. It seemed horrible, in fact, like being sentenced to exile. When she really thought about it, was staying here and facing prison really any worse?
Such thoughts made her consider the possibility of confessing to Melanie. Surely Melanie, who knew her so well, could argue for leniency on her behalf. After all, who could have imagined such severe consequences flowing from one small, unorthodox bit of architecture? Sophie herself had never imagined it, let alone intended it. All she had tried to do was please a client. And yes, admittedly, she had filed false documents at his behest. Which was wrong. And certainly a breach of professional ethics. But anyone who knew Jed Benson would understand. Because he wasn’t just any client-he was a particularly persuasive and persistent one.