Getting Rid of Bradley (18 page)

“Why would I hurt Lucy?” Zack frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”

Anthony abandoned subtlety. “I’m talking about your intentions, you fool. Are you planning on living

here forever?”

“Yes. And to answer your next question, I already proposed. She said no.”

Anthony dropped his nacho. “You proposed?”

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“But she’ll give in. She just needs time.” Zack leaned against the counter and folded his arms. “Hell, she

just got divorced a week ago.”

Anthony bent to pick up the dropped chip, but Heisenberg was already there. He straightened. “Let me

get this right. You asked Lucy to marry you?”

Zack looked unconcerned. “It may take a couple of months, but she’ll say yes.”

“You want to get married? You?”

“Only to Lucy.” The microwave dinged and Zack took out the nachos. “We need salsa with these.” He

handed the plate to Anthony. “Be careful. It’s hot.” He began to rummage through the refrigerator,

looking for salsa.

Anthony stood in disbelief as the plate seared his fingers. “This is eerie.”

“No.” Zack found the salsa and more beer. “This is Lucy. She has this effect on me. I like it.” He

slammed the refrigerator door and headed for the dining room.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Anthony said and followed him.

Tina showed the next morning on the dot of nine, striding into Lucy’s empty kitchen as if she owned it.

“Your baby-sitter’s here,” she announced. “That coffee smells wonderful. I can’t believe that I’m up at

this ungodly hour. Only for you.”

“Go upstairs and go back to bed,” Lucy suggested, turning from the counter to hug her sister.

“No. Just give me some coffee. Where’s the kitchen table?” Tina stepped back from Lucy as Zack

came in from the dining room with the three dogs. “Oh, look, you hired a shepherd.”

“You know, you remind me of somebody,” Zack said.

“Spare me.” Tina looked down at her feet. Maxwell had draped himself over her suede pumps. “Get off

my feet, you little rat.”

“Got it,” Zack said. “Cruella deVil. If she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will.”

“I see you’re dating the cultural elite,” Tina said to Lucy.

“Stop it, both of you,” Lucy said. “It’s too early for this.”

“I’ll put the boys in the backyard on my way out,” Zack said as he put on his jacket. “Anthony’s out

front Gotta go.” He kissed Lucy on the cheek. “Don’t forget the dogs. It’s cold out.” He passed Tina on

his way out “Great seeing you again.”

When Zack and the dogs had gone, Tina said, “Don’t forget the dogs? You? Who is he kidding?

Exactly what is going on here?”

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“Nothing.”

A grin crept over Lucy’s face, and Tina pounced. “Tell me everything.”

“No.” The coffee stopped dripping into the pot, and Lucy poured two mugs and handed Tina one. “I’m

happy, and I’m being careful. You don’t need to worry.”

Tina leaned against the counter and sipped from her mug as she considered what Lucy had said. “What

do you mean, careful?”

Lucy shrugged. “I know how bad my instincts are for men. I’m not counting on Zack sticking around.

I’m staying independent” The toaster popped and she put two more slices of bread on a plate that

already held four. “Strawberry or grape jam?”

“Strawberry. Where’s your table?”

“We’re refinishing the floor. Zack’s idea. Come on, we can eat in the dining room.”

Tina followed her in and sat down. “Lucy, you’re not paying attention here. You don’t have to worry

about Zack sticking around. He’s moved in. He’s adopted your dogs. I think he’s planning on being

around for the next sixty years. In fact, I think you’d better prepare yourself to turn down a proposal.”

Lucy slid into the chair across from her and reached for the jam. “He already proposed. But that was

just heat-of-the-moment stuff.”

“Men will say anything in bed,” Tina agreed, and sipped her coffee.

“Oh, we weren’t in bed. We were here. Having breakfast.” She bit into her toast, enjoying the crunch.

Tina choked on her coffee. “Breakfast? He proposed in the clear light of day? In the morning?”

“Yep. Even before I fed him.”

“It wouldn’t have been the food, anyway. You don’t cook that well.” Tina sat back and marshalled her

thoughts. “You’re going to have to face it He’s serious.”

Lucy tried to shrug it off. “Probably. But I don’t know if I am.”

Tina started to say something and then blinked instead.

“I don’t believe it,” Lucy said. “You do it, too.”

“Do what?”

“You blink when you think of something you can’t say. Zack says I do it all the time. And now you’re

doing it, too.”

“I am? We do?” Tina was nonplused. “You’re joking.”

“Nope. What was it you were going to say?”

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“Nothing.”

“Something about Zack.”

“No.” Tina stopped and blinked again. “I don’t believe it. I could feel it coming, and I couldn’t stop it

That is one habit I am definitely breaking.”

“What were you going to say?”

“Just that if you think you’re not serious about Zack, you’re deluding yourself.” She looked again into

Lucy’s glowing face. “I give up. He’s not the guy I would have picked for you, but he’s obviously the guy

you’ve picked for you.”

Lucy looked prim. “Don’t be ridiculous. I just got divorced. It would be foolish to talk about getting

married again so soon. Really foolish.”

“Illogical.” Tina buttered a piece of toast and bit into it.

“Right.”

Tina licked the butter off her fingers. “Don’t put me in pink for the wedding. I hate pink.”

Zack and Anthony stood in the dry metal-lined basement of the Third National Bank of Riverbend and

stared into a dry, metal-lined safe-deposit box, the contents of which they had just inventoried. It did not

have one hundred and fifty ten-thousand-dollar government bonds in it.

It had one hundred and thirty-two.

“He spent a hundred and eighty thousand dollars in less than a year?” Zack shook his head. “This guy

needs a budget.”

“Running from the police and homicidal in-laws is not cheap,” Anthony said. “I think it’s time to alert the

media and get this guy off Lucy’s tail.”

“Hell, yes.”

But when they got back to the station, there was a new report.

Bradley Porter—or somebody—was using his credit cards again.

In an Overlook motel.

Overlook was a miserable part of town, bleak and gray. As Zack got out of the car, an old hamburger

wrapper blew down the street in front of the motel, startling a dirty mongrel who skipped away, limping,

and a metal sign creaked and banged over a derelict gas station. The only signs that humanity had ever

been there were the two cars parked in front of the motel, and the overflowing trash cans outside the

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burger place next to it.

There were no people.

“You take me to the best places,” Zack said to Anthony, as they went into the motel lobby.

Anthony ignored him.

Fifteen minutes later, they were back on the street again. John Bradley had stayed there and then

checked out There were other people in his room now. In fact, there had been several other people in

the room since.

Bradley Porter had never been there.

“This is nuts. This makes no sense,” Zack said. “What is he, the Invisible Man?”

“Zack...”

“We know he’s in this with John Bradley. So why doesn’t anybody ever see him?”

“Zack...”

“If this guy really is in Kentucky all this time...”

“Zack!”

“What?”

“You’ve got to stop obsessing about Bradley Porter,” Anthony said. “Get back to the case. It is entirely

possible that he’s not really that involved, mat he was just doing a few favors for an old friend and got in

over his head.”

Zack set his jaw. “Porter’s involved. Let’s ask the people in that burger joint. They had to eat Maybe

they went there.”

Anthony stared at the cracked plastic restaurant sign with distaste. “If they did, they were desperate.”

“Exactly,” Zack said.

Five minutes later, Zack was back outside with a greasy burger and a great feeling of annoyance. The

counter girl had never seen Bradley Porter, but she’d recognized the picture of John Bradley

immediately.

“Are you sure you haven’t seen this man?” Zack had pressed her, showing her Bradley Porter’s picture

again.

“Positive. He’s hot. Him, I’d remember.”

Great He was hot Great.

Zack had picked up his burger and stalked out, leaving Anthony to question her about John Bradley.

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Now out on the street, he unwrapped the burger. It didn’t look like food. It didn’t smell like food. And

he didn’t want to know what it tasted like. He went to put it in the trash and noticed the mongrel he’d

seen earlier, sitting by the can. It was a middle-size dog, dirty gray-brown and mangy, but it had huge

eyes that looked up at him.

And at his burger.

“This is your lucky day, mutt.” He broke the sandwich in half and then in fourths so it wouldn’t choke

trying to swallow the whole thing at once.

He put a quarter of the sandwich down, expecting the dog to lunge for it. The dog looked at the

sandwich and then at him with huge, pleading eyes.

“Go on.” Zack nodded. “Go on. Eat it.”

The dog moved cautiously toward the sandwich and then grabbed it and wolfed it down.

“Easy.” Zack put the second quarter down. “Easy. You’re going to choke, and I don’t do the Heimlich

maneuver on dogs.”

The dog wolfed that section down, too.

When Zack reached down with the third quarter, the dog took it directly from his hand. Gently.

“You were somebody’s dog once, weren’t you?” Zack crouched down across from him, watching the

third section disappear. He held out the last section and the dog took it, as gently as before. Zack

wadded up the paper while the dog chewed and tossed it in the trash can. It immediately blew out again

and tumbled down the street, startling the dog into skipping back a few paces.

“Rough life, huh?” Zack said, and the dog came back, cautiously, to stand only an arm’s reach away.

Zack reached out and scratched him carefully behind the ears.

The dog closed its eyes in ecstasy.

“Don’t get used to this,” Zack said, and then he heard Anthony behind him say, “You talk to dogs?”

“Of course, I talk to dogs.” Zack straightened quickly and scared the dog back another couple of steps

with his movement. “It’s not like I talk to plants or anything non-sentient.”

Anthony cocked an eyebrow at him. “Non-sentient?”

Zack winced. “Sorry. Lucy’s rubbing off on me.”

“Well, if your conversation’s finished, we’ve got things to do.”

“Right.” Zack got in the car, deliberately not looking at the dog. It was just a dog. Big deal.

Anthony started the engine, and Zack turned to the door to get his seat belt.

And there was the dog, sitting exactly where he’d left him. Staring at him.

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Oh, hell.

“Wait a minute,” he said, and Anthony stopped.

“What?”

Zack opened the car door. “You coming?” he said to the dog.

“You’re kidding,” Anthony said.

The dog just sat there, looking at him.

“Well, come on,” Zack said, and the dog stood and walked slowly toward the car.

“Get in,” Zack said. “We don’t have all day.” And the dog climbed in carefully, favoring its back leg,

and curled up at Zack’s feet.

“I don’t believe this,” Anthony said.

“Just drive to Lucy’s.” When Anthony didn’t move, Zack glared at him. “Listen, I have no choice. If I

left this dog, she’d never speak to me again.”

“She’d never know.”

“You don’t know Lucy.” Zack suddenly grinned down at the dog, and it thumped its tail. “Besides, this

is a great dog.”

Anthony stared at the dog and Zack with equal incredulity. Then he started the car and drove to Lucy’s.

Chapter Ten

contents-previous |next

When Zack and Anthony came in the back door, Lucy was startled. She dropped a spoon back into the

cake batter she was stirring and wiped her hands on a dish towel. “You’re back early. What happened?

What’s wrong?”

Tina appeared in the doorway from the dining room and made a face when she saw Zack.

“Nothing,” Zack said, his hands in his pockets. “We found the money. But we found something else,

too.” He stepped to one side.

Behind him was the most pathetic-looking dog Lucy had ever seen.

“You poor baby.” She sank to her knees on the bare wood floor and held out her hand.

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The dog limped over to her instantly, and Lucy began to scratch it gently behind the ears, trying not to

cry.

Zack had brought her a dog. Nobody in her life had ever brought her a dog. They rolled their eyes when

they found out she had three, and they acted as if she were crazy, and they made jokes about her zoo.

But Zack had brought her a dog. A wonderful dog that obviously needed her. And him.

She looked up at him. “Where did you find him? He must be starving. Tina, get me the biscuits. The

poor baby. Where did he come from?”

Zack snagged the biscuit box off the counter and crouched down beside her. “Actually, he’s full of

hamburger. He was in Overlook, but he’s a nice dog.”

“He’s a beautiful dog,” Lucy crooned as Zack fed him a biscuit.

“That’s the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen,” Tina said from the doorway.

Anthony met her eyes. “Thank God. I was starting to feel guilty, because I wouldn’t have touched it with

a cattle prod.”

Zack and Lucy ignored them.

“All he needs is a bath and some food,” Zack said. “I’ll give him a bath tonight. We’ll take him to the vet

tomorrow if that limp doesn’t go away.”

“He’s precious,” Lucy said, and the dog sighed and lay down beside her with his head on her knee.

“And he’s not that much bigger than Heisenberg and Maxwell,” Zack said. “He won’t be much trouble.”

“He won’t be any trouble,” Lucy said. “But he’s going to be a lot bigger than Heisenburg and Maxwell.

Look at his feet.”

The dog had feet as big as saucers.

“He’s only half-grown,” Lucy said. “That’s probably why whoever had him dumped him in Overlook.

He wasn’t a puppy anymore, so they didn’t want him.” She scratched the dog behind the ears again. “I

think people like that should be shot.”

“Well, he’s ours now,” Zack said, trying not to sound pleased. “Just what we needed, another dog.”

“We have room,” Lucy said.

Tina and Anthony exchanged glances.

“We’ll have to think of a name,” Zack said, and Lucy said, “You get to name this one.”

“Okay,” Zack said, and patted the dog’s hip. “Pete.”

“Pete?” Lucy stopped scratching. “Pete?”

“I had a dog named Pete when I was a kid,” Zack said defensively. “It’s a real dog’s name. Not

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like...well, some I could mention.”

“I didn’t know you’d had a dog.” Lucy smiled at him suddenly. “Okay, Pete it is.” She scratched the

dog behind the ears again. “Hey, Pete.”

Pete drifted off to sleep, his head on Lucy’s knee.

“I could have fixed you up with somebody rich who’d bring you diamonds,” Tina said. Zack and

Anthony were gone again, the dogs had been introduced to their new brother with a minimum of snarling,

and Lucy was stirring her cake batter again. “But you want a guy who’s never going to make six figures

and who brings you flea-bitten dogs.”

“Yes,” Lucy said.

“You’re hopeless,” Tina said.

When Zack came home at six, he walked Tina out to her car.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you from the beginning,” Zack said as she got in her sleek

red two-seater.

Tina looked at him impatiently.

“Why did you put those locks on Lucy’s house?”

Tina shrugged and started the car. “I didn’t want Bradley taking anything out. It was her house.”

“Bull,” Zack said. “I don’t believe it.”

Tina started to say something nasty and then stopped and cut the engine. “Get in the car.”

Zack went around to the passenger side and got in, sinking down into the butter-soft black leather seat.

“Give,” he said.

Tina took a deep breath and turned to face him. “I’m afraid of Bradley.”

“What?” Whatever Zack had been expecting, it wasn’t this. “I didn’t think you were afraid of anything.”

“I’m not afraid for me.” Tina drew back, annoyed. “I’m afraid for Lucy.”

“What did he do?” Zack said, murder in his voice.

“Nothing,” Tina snapped back. “If he’d ever done anything, I’d have had him arrested and executed.

This is why I didn’t want to say anything. He never did anything. Get out of the car.”

“No,” Zack slouched lower in the seat from stubbornness. “You don’t have to prove anything to me. If

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all you’ve got is a feeling about him, that’s fine. Just tell me. I need to know.”

Tina frowned at him.

“I need everything I can get on this,” Zack said. “I’m afraid for her, too.”

“It’s hard to explain.” Tina stared across the steering wheel at the empty street. “It was the way he

looked at her. Like she was the most precious woman in the world and he owned her. It used to scare

the hell out of me.” She turned to face Zack. “He hated me. But it wasn’t because of what I said or did.

It was because Lucy loved me. He hated that. He wanted her all to himself. And he hated the dogs, too.

Anything that Lucy loved, he was jealous of. He scared the hell out of me.”

Zack tried to stay calm. “Did he ever lose his temper? Hit her?”

Tina flushed, and Zack remembered too late that she’d been married to a man who had. Before he

could apologize and get himself in deeper, Tina went on.

“No. He treated her like...a queen. He didn’t know her, not the real Lucy.” She stopped and then tried

again. “When you first meet Lucy, she’s very quiet and polite because she’s shy.”

“The first time I met her, she beat me up in an alley.”

Tina smiled suddenly and Zack was amazed. It was Lucy’s smile, and Tina was an entirely different

person with it. “Well, then you know the real Lucy.” Tina’s smile faded. “Bradley didn’t. He thought he

was marrying this...I don’t know, this quiet, proper, wife kind of person. I think she tried to tell him that

she wasn’t, but he didn’t want to see anything that wasn’t what he wanted. And he was awful when she

wasn’t what he wanted. She told me that he wouldn’t speak to her when she was wearing jeans. He just

pretended that she wasn’t there if she wasn’t wearing what he wanted.”

Zack clenched his jaw. “I really hate Bradley.”

Tina nodded. “I know. It’s the only thing you and I have in common.”

“Why did she stay with him?”

“She’s not a quitter. And he wasn’t beating her or cheating on her or even yelling at her. He never

yelled. So she just moved upstairs and they lived this very polite fiction. I honestly think Bradley may

have preferred it that way. Making love to Lucy was probably too emotional for him.”

“Bradley is an idiot.”

“No,” Tina said. “Bradley is scary as hell, but he’s not an idiot. That’s another reason why I hated him

so much. I didn’t think he would ever be dumb enough to do something that would make Lucy divorce

him.”

“Ah,” Zack said. “I begin to see the light.”

Tina clenched the steering wheel as she remembered. “When Lucy called me, crying, that day, I wanted

to kill Bradley, but I was also really grateful. Because he’d finally done something wrong. I bribed a

locksmith to get there in minutes because I knew he’d be back, and I was afraid she’d let him in and

listen to him.” She turned to look Zack in the eye. “Lucy is very fair. I’m not.”

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“Good for you,” Zack said, looking at Tina with unqualified approval. “You know, I like you.”

“It won’t last,” Tina said. “I’m a bitch. Ask Bradley. You should have heard the things I threatened that

man with when he showed up at the door. I think I seriously told him I’d have him killed. Not just as a

figure of speech. The real thing. I threw everything I had at him, shrieking.”

Zack’s smile broadened. “I really like you. Thank God you were there.”

“He’s not going to just go away, you know.” Tina looked very sober. “He’s not going to give up. He’s

almost...obsessed with her. This government bond thing may be keeping him busy right now, but he’ll be

back for her.”

Zack spread his hands. “Hey, I’m here. I’m not leaving her.”

“Well, that’s another thing.” Tina darted a glance at him. “He’s going to be furious about you. I’d watch

your back very carefully if I were you. Bradley’s too proper to ever do anything actually illegal in the

normal course of things. But if he lost his temper for once, I think he could be homicidal. And the person

he’d kill would not be Lucy.”

“I’ll remember that.” Zack grinned at her. “I didn’t know you cared.”

Tina shook her head. “I’m not joking.”

“Listen, people try to kill me all the time. It never happens. I’m Superman.”

Tina rolled her eyes to the heavens. “Oh, terrific. Listen, I don’t give a damn who you are. Right now,

you’re the only thing standing between my sister and that...that...”

“Rat,” Zack supplied.

“No,” Tina said. “That homicidal loon who wants her back. You be careful. We need you.”

“Relax. I’ll be careful.” Zack hesitated, and then plunged on. “Listen, as long as we’re being honest here,

I should probably warn you. You’re not going to like this, but I’m going to marry your sister. She hasn’t

said yes, but she will.”

Tina sighed. “I know. I’m past that. You’re not my choice, but you’re Lucy’s. She won’t admit it yet,

but you are.”

Zack relaxed. “Well, that’s a load off my mind. I want you on my side. You’d make one bitch of an

enemy.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Tina said, narrowing her eyes. “If you ever hurt my sister, I’ll cut your liver

out. Now get out of my car. I’ve got things to do.”

Zack opened his car door and then, on an impulse, leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “You’re

not that tough,” he said and then slid out of the car before she could retaliate.

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“What in the world were you talking to Tina about?” Lucy asked when he found her in the kitchen,

pulling cupcakes out of the oven.

“I was asking for your hand in marriage.” Zack opened the refrigerator. “She said sure. What’s for

dinner?”

Lucy froze, the cupcake pan in one gloved hand. “She said sure?”

“She knows quality when she sees it. We’ve got steak? When did we get steak?”

Lucy put the pan down and slid another unbaked one in the oven. “Tina brought it,” she said, easing the

oven door shut. “And her cook made stuffed potatoes, too.”

“You know, I like your sister a lot.” Zack took the steaks out and started opening cupboards, looking

for a pan.

Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “You do? You really like Tina?”

“Oh, yeah. She’s great.”

Lucy looked at him closely to see if he was being sarcastic.

He wasn’t.

“What kind of pan do you cook steaks in?” he asked, his head in one of the bottom cupboards.

Lucy gave up and went to find the broiler.

On Friday morning, Anthony came by with bad news. He stood in the living room and watched Zack

mediate a truce among the dogs, and then he dropped his bomb.

“We’ve made the paper, but we’re not on the front page. Another plant closing, more graft at city hall,

and storm warnings for a major snowfall headed this way, but not us. We’re on page two. The guy at the

paper said he could have done better it we’d actually caught somebody, but just the bonds alone weren’t

very interesting.”

Zack stood and left the dogs to stare suspiciously at each other. “Oh, come on, we’ve had two bombs

here.”

Anthony shook his head. “I tried that. Both already reported. Yesterday’s news.”

“Hell,they made the front page.”

“Yes, well, if there’d been a bomb in the box, this would have, too.”

Zack sank down onto a chair arm. “So all we can hope for is that John Bradley will read the paper all

the way through. Great.” He looked up at Anthony. “We’re screwed.”

“Possibly,” Anthony said. “Maybe John Bradley reads his papers cover to cover. But just in case he

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doesn’t, do not take your eyes off Lucy.”

“I never do,” Zack said.

On Sunday evening, they put the dogs out in the backyard and sanded the kitchen floor. Zack had sent

Anthony out for varnish, and he’d brought back three gallons and a spray can.

“What do we need spray varnish for?” Lucy asked.

“Touch-ups,” Zack said. “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. Be prepared.”

Lucy looked over at him and felt her breath catch, the way it always did lately when she looked at him.

He was on his knees, scraping at the last stubborn spot of glue before they began to varnish, giving it the