“What do you mean, what’s up?”
“C’mon. Don’t even act all innocent. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. Besides, she was the first person you thought to call after that guy jumped in front of the trolley and you needed someone to come get me. What’s the deal with you two?”
“Nothing. Nothing’s the deal-”
“Yeah, right. You so stink at lying. Besides, whenever people say
‘nothing,’ it’s always something, but they’re just afraid of admitting it.”
“I’m not afraid of admitting anything-”
“So what’s up then?”
Perhaps a slightly different approach. “All right. I can’t tell you how she feels about me, but I enjoy working with her, I respect her, I wouldn’t mind getting to know her a little better-”
“You think about her all the time, when you’re alone with her, you feel more alive than any other time in your life, whenever she talks to you, your pulse races and-”
“OK, OK. That’s enough. So, maybe it might be something, but it’s not really anything.”
We chose a path leading back to the parking lot. “Well, are you seeing her? And don’t be, like, ‘We’ve been working together a lot lately,’ or something, because that’s totally different. Besides, she already tried that on me.”
“What? You talked to her about this? You didn’t really, did you?
You’re just saying that, right?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” she said evasively. “But that’s not the point.
Now I’m talking to you, and you’re avoiding my question.”
Part of me wished that Lien-hua were here so I could make sure we were on the same page with anything I said. On the other hand, I was glad she wasn’t hearing any of this. “Tessa, maybe we could discuss this later?” She paused and turned so that she was directly facing me. “Naw.
Now’s good.”
Since Christie’s death, Tessa and I had never really talked about the idea of me dating again. And since my relationship with Lien-hua hadn’t progressed to the point where it seemed like an issue, I’d never brought it up.
“So,” Tessa persisted. “Are you seeing her? And please don’t say
‘sort of.’ Like you’re ‘sort of’ seeing her.”
“What’s wrong with saying ‘sort of’?”
“It’s a cop-out. Very lame. For people who are afraid to commit.”
“Oh.”
“Well?”
“Well, it’s like this, Tessa… you see… it’s… it’s complicated.”
“It’s complicated?” She slung her hands to her hips. “A question that requires a yes or no answer is too complicated for you, Dr.
Bowers? Are you seeing Agent Jiang: yes or no?”
Just then my phone rang, and Tessa stared at my pocket. “You have got to be kidding me. You dialed that yourself, somehow, didn’t you? Pressed a redial button or something?”
“I’m good,” I said. “But I’m not that good.”
I checked to see who it was. Lien-hua.
“So, who is it?” Tessa peeked at my phone’s screen. “Oh, you can’t be serious.”
“I think I need to take this, OK?”
Tessa folded her arms, cocked her head in a teenage way, and glared.
“Hi, Lien-hua.” As I spoke, I kept the phone cradled close to my ear so Tessa couldn’t listen in.
“Pat, we need you back at the station.”
“What’s up?”
“The suspect won’t talk to the police, but asked to talk to me.
By name.” I knew Tessa was good at overhearing conversations so I stepped away and lowered my voice. As far as I could remember, no one had mentioned Lien-hua’s name while we were in the suspect’s presence at the warehouse. “How did he know who you are?”
“We’re not sure. Margaret’s talking with his lawyers now.
Ralph’s meeting with her in a few minutes. They want you here by noon.”
“Well, I can’t be there by then. I need to…” I could see Tessa straining to listen in. I rephrased what I was about to say just in case she heard me. “I need to take care of a few things. I can’t get there until one at the earliest.”
“OK. I’ll call you if I find out more.”
“OK. See ya soon.”
As I hung up, Tessa asked suspiciously, “What was all that about?”
The case had just become a little more complex, but I couldn’t get into all of it with Tessa. “I’m afraid this investigation is going to eat up some of my time today. I won’t be able to leave until tomorrow afternoon at least.”
Her eyebrows awoke. “But I thought we were staying until Friday, right?”
“That was the plan.” Before you tackle that conversation, finish up this one. “Anyway, where were we? Oh yes. I was just about to make you promise not to talk to Agent Jiang about all this are-we-seeing-each-other stuff.”
“No, you were just about to tell me if you’re seeing her. But I’ll make you a promise if you give me a straight answer.”
I collected my thoughts. “Tessa, listen, how about this: if Agent Jiang and I ever decide to move from something that’s nothing to anything that might be more than sort of something, I’ll let you know.”
“You didn’t think I followed that, but I did.”
“I believe you. Now, promise.” “I promise.”
“You promise what?”
She sighed, took a deep breath, and said, “I promise not to tell Agent Jiang how much you like her and how badly you want to start seeing her. How’s that?”
I rubbed my forehead as a cab pulled up and a tall, lean gentle-man unfolded himself from the backseat. He handed some bills to the driver and turned to face us.
Dr. Calvin Werjonic had arrived.
66
Calvin couldn’t have chosen a more unusual outfit for visiting San Diego. He was wrapped in a wafer-thin London Fog trench coat-
I’d rarely seen him wear anything else-and he wore a crumpled fedora even though they’d gone out of style forty years ago.
“Patrick, my boy!” Considering all the long talks and late nights we’d shared together over the years, a handshake didn’t seem like enough to me, but I knew Calvin wasn’t a hugger. He pumped my hand warmly. “So good to see you. And this must be the lovely Tessa Ellis?”
“Hello.”
“Patrick has told me all about you.”
“I’ll bet. He didn’t tell me so much about you, but I read about you in his two books.”
“Hmm… I fell asleep reading those sections.”
“Those were the only parts that kept me awake.”
“Eh-hem.” I handed him his coffee. “You look good, Calvin.”
“Your stepfather is a very poor liar, Tessa.”
“Well, that’s OK. I make up for it.”
“Tell me about it,” I said.
Calvin took in a deep drink of San Diego air and then gave me a quick once-over. “So Patrick, you look as fit as ever. Still doing those press-ups?”
“We call them push-ups in the states. But usually for me, it’s pull-ups.”
“Ah yes, of course.” He lifted his coffee to his lips, took a sip. I watched for a reaction. “What do you think of that coffee?
Nice, huh?”
“A bit tart for my taste, I’m afraid.” He took off the lid, poured the coffee onto the sidewalk, and dropped the cup into a nearby trash can. “Come along, then.” He started walking up the trail at a brisk clip.
Tessa saw the look on my face as I stared at the tragic coffee stain on the sidewalk. “Don’t cry, Patrick. It’d embarrass me.”
“Come, come,” said Calvin, who was already twenty meters ahead of us. “I don’t have all day.”
Calvin and I took a few minutes to catch up on each other’s lives, and then Tessa quizzed him about some of his cases. She wanted as many details as she could get as long as he stayed away from mentioning blood or dead bodies. Then he took some time to ask her about the best website for downloading ring tones, what this week’s hottest YouTube videos were, and how many friends she had listed on her Facebook page.
After about fifteen minutes, I asked Tessa if she wouldn’t mind if Calvin and I discussed some cases that involved lots of blood and shootings. Immediately she offered to wait for us up ahead at the SDAI Museum of the Living Artist, and after she was gone, Calvin said softly, “Smart girl, that one.”