others gathering for the next meeting of the night, which she'd heard was a Narcotics Anonymous group that had recently started congregating at St. Patrick's. Everyone was cordial, the two sets of troubled mingling as the room handoff occurred.
Searching in her purse to find her car keys, she—
Slammed into a wall of a man.
“Oh, I'm so sorry!” She looked up, way up, into a pair of lion's eyes.
“I, er...”
“Easy, there.” The man steadied her and gave her a small, gentle smile. His hair was as spectacular as that yellow stare, all different kinds of colors that flowed onto his huge shoulders. “You okay?”
“Ah...” She'd seen him before, not only out in the hallway but also at ZeroSum, and had marveled at his unreal looks, thinking maybe he was a model. And naturally, part of her worried that he knew what she did for a living, but he never seemed awkward with her or skeevy in the slightest.
Besides, if he was attending NA, he had some demons of his own to confront.
“Ma'am? Hello?”
“Oh...God, sorry. Yes, I'm fine—I just really need to watch where I'm going.”
With a smile back to him, she ducked into the stairwell, headed up to the cathedral's first floor and left through those big double doors in front. Out on the street, she hustled past the rows of cars that were parallel-parked and wished she'd gotten a better spot. Her Camry was down quite a way, and she was biting on her molars from the cold by the time she jumped in and started the ritual of getting the engine to turn over.
“Come on...come on...”
Finally she got a wheeze and a vroom and then she was doing an illegal U-turn over the double yellow line that ran down the middle of the street.
Caught up in her own head, she failed to notice the pair of headlights that slipped into her wake... and stayed there.
CHAPTER 9
As Jim parked his truck a half a block from the Commodore, he thought, Yup, he could see Vin having a crib there. The outside of the building was stark, nothing but glass bezel set into thin steel girders, but that was what would give each of the condos such incredible views. And just from what he could see of the lobby from the street, the inside was pure decadence, all flood-lit, bloodred marble, with a flower arrangement the size of a fire truck smack in the middle of the space. Also made sense that Blue Dress would live in a place like this.
Shit, he should have suggested just he and diPietro go out somewhere together to eat: With what had happened the night before still so vivid, being in the same enclosed space with that woman was not the brightest idea. And then, hello, there was the complication of his having to save her fucking boyfriend from eternal damnation.
Killing the engine, he rubbed his face and for some reason thought of Dog, who he'd left at home all curled up on the messy bed. The little guy had been out like a light, his thin flank rising and falling, his full belly a ball his little legs had to splay around.
How in the hell had he managed to pick up a pet?
Putting his keys into his leather jacket, he left the truck and went across the street. As he pushed his way into the lobby, what had looked lush from the street was magnificent up close, but there was going to be no loitering to admire the place. The instant he walked in, the guard behind the desk looked up with a frown.
“Good evening—are you Mr. Heron?” The guy was fiftyish and dressed in a black uniform, his eyes neither slow nor stupid. Chances were good he was armed and knew how to handle what he was packing.
Jim had to approve. “Yeah, I am.”
“May I see some identification, please?”
Jim got out his wallet and flipped it open to the New York State driver's license he'd bought about three days after he'd arrived in Caldwell.
“Thank you. I'll call Mr. diPietro.” The guard was two seconds on the phone, and then he swept his arm toward the elevators. “Go right up, sir.”
“Thanks.”
The ride to the
Searching in her purse to find her car keys, she—
Slammed into a wall of a man.
“Oh, I'm so sorry!” She looked up, way up, into a pair of lion's eyes.
“I, er...”
“Easy, there.” The man steadied her and gave her a small, gentle smile. His hair was as spectacular as that yellow stare, all different kinds of colors that flowed onto his huge shoulders. “You okay?”
“Ah...” She'd seen him before, not only out in the hallway but also at ZeroSum, and had marveled at his unreal looks, thinking maybe he was a model. And naturally, part of her worried that he knew what she did for a living, but he never seemed awkward with her or skeevy in the slightest.
Besides, if he was attending NA, he had some demons of his own to confront.
“Ma'am? Hello?”
“Oh...God, sorry. Yes, I'm fine—I just really need to watch where I'm going.”
With a smile back to him, she ducked into the stairwell, headed up to the cathedral's first floor and left through those big double doors in front. Out on the street, she hustled past the rows of cars that were parallel-parked and wished she'd gotten a better spot. Her Camry was down quite a way, and she was biting on her molars from the cold by the time she jumped in and started the ritual of getting the engine to turn over.
“Come on...come on...”
Finally she got a wheeze and a vroom and then she was doing an illegal U-turn over the double yellow line that ran down the middle of the street.
Caught up in her own head, she failed to notice the pair of headlights that slipped into her wake... and stayed there.
CHAPTER 9
As Jim parked his truck a half a block from the Commodore, he thought, Yup, he could see Vin having a crib there. The outside of the building was stark, nothing but glass bezel set into thin steel girders, but that was what would give each of the condos such incredible views. And just from what he could see of the lobby from the street, the inside was pure decadence, all flood-lit, bloodred marble, with a flower arrangement the size of a fire truck smack in the middle of the space. Also made sense that Blue Dress would live in a place like this.
Shit, he should have suggested just he and diPietro go out somewhere together to eat: With what had happened the night before still so vivid, being in the same enclosed space with that woman was not the brightest idea. And then, hello, there was the complication of his having to save her fucking boyfriend from eternal damnation.
Killing the engine, he rubbed his face and for some reason thought of Dog, who he'd left at home all curled up on the messy bed. The little guy had been out like a light, his thin flank rising and falling, his full belly a ball his little legs had to splay around.
How in the hell had he managed to pick up a pet?
Putting his keys into his leather jacket, he left the truck and went across the street. As he pushed his way into the lobby, what had looked lush from the street was magnificent up close, but there was going to be no loitering to admire the place. The instant he walked in, the guard behind the desk looked up with a frown.
“Good evening—are you Mr. Heron?” The guy was fiftyish and dressed in a black uniform, his eyes neither slow nor stupid. Chances were good he was armed and knew how to handle what he was packing.
Jim had to approve. “Yeah, I am.”
“May I see some identification, please?”
Jim got out his wallet and flipped it open to the New York State driver's license he'd bought about three days after he'd arrived in Caldwell.
“Thank you. I'll call Mr. diPietro.” The guard was two seconds on the phone, and then he swept his arm toward the elevators. “Go right up, sir.”
“Thanks.”
The ride to the
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