The Death Dealer

Page 31

Fear was slipping away like a cast-off shawl. There was so obviously no one but the two of them in the garage.
She almost laughed aloud at herself. But then Tim’s smile faded. “Miss O’Brien, you’ve got to be careful out there, okay?”
“Of course. I’m always careful.”
“There’s nothing on the news except about that poor girl who was murdered.”
“I’ll be careful, Tim.”
He was still looking at her, worried and frowning. “I wish I was off duty—I’d go with you to make sure you get wherever you’re going.”
“I’m just going to O’Malley’s. I know everyone there, and they all know me. My mother is waiting for me there,” she fibbed, “and a bunch of other friends.”
She gave him a wave and started the engine. Then she paused and rolled down the window. “Tim?”
“Yes?”
“There are two of you on duty tonight, right?”
“Always,” he assured her.
“You haven’t seen anyone walking around down here, have you?”
“Well, I gave Mrs. Larson—you know, in 10-D—her cat back a few minutes ago.”
She laughed. “Pussy Galore?”
“Yeah,” he said, and shook his head. “She’s got to keep that cat inside. He’s going to get run over one of these days if he doesn’t stop sneaking through the door whenever anyone goes in or out.”
She smiled and waved again. “Good night. And thanks.”
As she merged with the traffic, she decided that she was going a little bit crazy. It was all Joe’s fault, she told herself, then admitted that maybe it was at least partly her own, too. After all, she was the one who had just called in Harrison Investigations.
She had to stop her mind from playing games, that was all. All she needed was to be careful, make sure she stuck to safe places, and that she didn’t take chances.
And she needed to see to it that her mother did the same.
With that thought in mind, she searched the street for parking and found a place in a busy area not far from the pub. But when she stepped out of her car to put money in the meter, she once again felt as if someone eerie and not quite real was nearby. For a split second, she felt the sense of shadows and darkness and fear closing in around her.
She told herself that she was on a busy New York street, a stone’s throw from the pub itself, not to mention that she had great lung capacity and could scream like a banshee, if need be.
She turned around and realized that there was someone near her.
A bum.
“Lady, got some change?” he whined.
She felt ridiculously relieved and handed him a dollar.
He offered her a toothless grin and walked off.
Shaking her head, she hurried on to the pub.
CHAPTER 13
Everyone in the place seemed to be talking when she walked in, and the music playing in the background only added to the din.
Paddy, over by the dartboard, was the first to see her. “Gen!” he called out, and made his way through a throng of people to reach her.
“Hey, Paddy,” she said, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“You’re all right, lass?”
“Of course, Paddy, thanks.”
He nodded gravely. “Eileen is at the table over yonder.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“Oh, aye, there’s a group of them tonight, there be.”
“I guess everyone is shaken up.”
He lowered his voice to a whisper, though he could have shouted and no one would have noticed. “She shouldn’t be alone with those folks right now, and that’s a fact,” he said.
Her heart seemed to skip a beat. “I agree,” she whispered conspiratorially in return, then smiled and patted his shoulder. “But when she’s here, I know she’s fine. I know you and Angus will keep an eye on her.”
He nodded gravely. “And on you, Gen,” he swore.
“Thank you,” she told him. “You always make me feel like I’m…home. And safe. Give Angus a hug for me, huh? I’m going to go see what’s up with my mom, okay?”
“Sure thing. You ever need me, young lady, you call.”
“I will.”
He started to turn away, then paused. “Adam Harrison is here, too,” he said.
“Adam?” That did startle her.
He pointed. Adam was alone at the end of the bar, leaning against the wall, watching the room. He lifted his beer to her, and his eyes seemed to speak volumes.
In fact, they chided her. It was as if she could hear him saying, You shouldn’t have come out on your own.
She smiled. Okay, first she would go over to see Adam, since a quick glance told her that her mother was fine and hadn’t even noticed she was there.
“Adam,” she said, reaching him. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Right. Now you won’t have to call to tell me you’re on your way,” he said.
She flushed. “I guess I should have called someone, huh?”
“Yes. You should have.”
“But honestly, Adam, this isn’t about me. It’s about Eileen.”
He leaned low. “Shall we accost her together?” he teased.
“Why not?”
He finished his beer and set down the glass. “Genevieve?”
“Yes?”
“Murder can happen anywhere at any time. And whether you like it or not, this Poe Killer thing is personal. Because of who you are, you have to be careful all the time, but now you need to be even more vigilant.”
She inhaled. Exhaled. Remembered how terrified she had been in her own garage.
“I don’t want to turn into a little old lady who’s afraid to leave her own apartment,” she told him. “And I really am careful,” she assured him.
“You drove down here alone, right?”
“Because my mother was here.”
“But that’s not being careful,” he said gently.
“How did you know to come here?” she asked, looking him in the eye.
He stared back at her. “Hunch,” he said. “Now, before we go over to see your mother, tell me who all those people with her are. A few of them look familiar, but a refresher course won’t hurt.”
She told him quickly who was whom, and then he took her hand and led her through the crowd.
When Eileen saw Genevieve’s face, her own went a little white.
It was guilt.
She hadn’t called Genevieve, and she was with the Ravens. Brook had called and asked her to join them for a drink at the pub, and she had agreed without really thinking.
But she had never thought she was in danger from any of them anyway—or, to be honest, from anyone else. She spent her time worrying about Genevieve.
Then she saw Adam, and her face was suffused with color again, and she smiled delightedly. “Adam!” she called, interrupting the conversation around the table.
“Eileen,” he replied, with a smile of his own.
She was sitting between Larry and Lila, but she quickly excused herself and got to her feet, hugging Adam, offering a kiss to Genevieve, then turning to introduce him to the others. He had indeed met several of them at various charity functions, and greetings went around the table.
With Eileen on her feet, talking to Adam, Larry and Lila, who had so vigorously pointed fingers at each other regarding Thorne’s murder, were now next to one another—and pointedly ignoring each other, Gen noticed. Suddenly Lila jumped up and demanded, “So, Adam Harrison, what are you doing in town?”
“You’re not up here because of this dreadful business, are you?” Lou asked.
“Just came up on business,” Adam said lightly.
“Well, you managed to arrive just when the city is going insane,” Larry said.
Meanwhile, Brook dragged over some extra chairs, and in a minute they were all seated.
“Honestly, that murder is all that anyone is talking about,” Larry said. “Everyone’s forgotten about war in the Middle East and global warming.”
“This girl…” Brook said. “I can see why everyone’s so interested in her. She was a lost child of New York.”
“A lost child of New York. I like that. Can I steal it?” Larry asked. “It’ll make a great headline.”
“Go right ahead. I’ll be looking for something deeper, something that gets into the psychology of the phenomenon, for the magazine,” Brook said with a shrug.
“You’re both awful!” Barbara exploded.
They all fell silent, staring at her. She flushed. “One minute you’re complaining because people are treating this like the most devastating news in the world, and the next you’re talking about the spin you’re going to give the story yourselves.”
“Bravo,” Don Tracy said, and applauded, causing Barbara to turn an even deeper shade of crimson.
“Not to mention that we’re all forgetting what it means to us personally,” Lou said quietly.
“Just what does it mean to us?” Nat Halloway asked.
“My dear money man, so sweet and accommodating—and unimaginative,” Lou said, but not unkindly. “It means there really is a psycho out there with a Poe fixation. And that no one in the city is safe—especially us.”
“Just how did you all end up here tonight?” Adam asked pleasantly.
“Well…we get together here all the time,” Don said. Then he laughed. “Hell, I’m here because I needed a drink.”
“I called Eileen,” Lou said. “And she said we should call Lila, and Lila called Barbara.”
“It’s where we hang out,” Larry said a little lamely.
“Just like Cheers,” Don said, lifting his glass. “Everybody knows our names.”
“We needed comfort, if you ask me,” Nat said, and they all fell silent, because unimaginative or not, he had hit on the truth.
The table was still quiet when Genevieve noticed, from the corner of her eye, that the front door had opened and someone else was coming into the crowded bar.