High-Caliber Concealer (5 page)

“I should really –” Donny began looking as
if he would go a different way. Z’ev grabbed him by the elbow and
forced him to keep walking in the direction they were going. Nikki
did the same with the other arm.

“Nikki, I cannot believe you did that,” Z’ev
snapped.

“I know, right?” said Donny. “You nailed
that guy smack in the forehead! Last time I saw you, you could not
hit the broad side of a barn. How’d you do that?”

“I joined the company softball team,” said
Nikki, looking around nervously as they stopped at a crosswalk.

“That was awe—” He glanced at Z’ev.
“Totally irresponsible.”

“Shut. Up. Nikki, that was dangerous and
stupid. You should not have been there. And then you should have
left when I told you to.”

“Oh, come on. No one even shot at us. They
were too stunned to figure out what was happening.”

Donny snorted. “Jackson and I used to call
it the I Love Lucy effect.”

“Shut up, Donny,” said Nikki.

“I had it under control, Nikki,” growled
Z’ev.

“Well, how was I supposed to know?” Nikki
snapped back, “You didn’t tell me.”

Donny’s head bounced back and forth between
them like a ping-pong ball.

“It was a DEA investigation—I couldn’t tell
you. I contacted a friend of mine. He was doing me a favor and no
one was supposed to know.”

“Well, Donny is my friend. I wasn’t going to
leave him out there with his closest back-up in Tacoma,
Washington.”

“That isn’t your responsibility. And again,
I had it under control. I talked to my friend, Joe. Joe knew about
Donny. It would have been fine.” Z’ev spoke through clenched
teeth.

“And again, you could have told me!”

“I didn’t think Joe would want it blabbed
all over LA.”

“Suddenly I’m all of LA? Oh, thanks. Nice to
know I have your trust.”

“I didn’t want you involved!” shouted Z’ev,
as they stopped in front of a restaurant.

“He’s my friend!” Nikki shouted, yanking
Donny closer to her.

“He’s dangerous!” Z’ev yelled back and
yanked Donny toward him.

Down the street more police cars arrived and
there was the sound of distant gunfire; all three ducked
slightly.

“Guys, can you keep it together for the kid
here, please?” asked Donny.

A police car whizzed by and, taking their
cue, Nikki, Donny, and Z’ev stepped into the restaurant.

“Three for dinner?” asked the host.

“Yes, please,” said Donny, shaking himself
free.

“We can’t stay for dinner,” said Z’ev.

“Dude, I’ve had nothing but tacos for the
last week,” said Donny. “Don’t be a Mexi-can’t; be a Mexi-can.”

Nikki tried to turn her laugh into a cough
under Z’ev’s disapproving stare.

“I’m Jewish,” said Z’ev.

“Nobody’s perfect,” said Donny, with a
shrug.

“This way,” said the host. Another cop car
drove by and Z’ev allowed himself to be led toward a back
booth.

“I don’t mean to be a pain,” said Donny, as
the host left them to be seated. “But I do have a slight
problem.”

“What?” growled Z’ev.

Donny hoisted his hands, lifting two black
duffle bags into view above the table.

“Oh, crap on a cracker, Donny.” It was one
of Ellen’s favorites ‘swears’ and Nikki found it creeping into her
vocabulary. “You’ve got the drugs and the money? I’m assuming
that’s drugs and money?”

“I hope so,” said Donny. “Otherwise there
wasn’t any point to that little party.”

“I’ll call Joe,” said Z’ev standing back up,
he dialed his phone as he walked away from the table.

“He seems like he’s wound a little tight,”
said Donny sitting down across from Nikki.

“He doesn’t like me getting shot at.”

“No one was going to get shot at,” said
Donny dismissively.

“Yeah, they were. Those Crazy Town Locos
were busting out the heavy weaponry. I don’t believe they were
planning on handing over the money. They were going to shoot
you.”

“Noooo,” said Donny, but hesitantly, as if
he were reviewing the last few minutes in his mind and starting to
doubt that he was in the right. “They weren’t going to shoot
me.”

“Yeah, they were,” said Z’ev and Nikki at
the same time.

“We had the long view on the situation,”
said Z’ev sitting down next to Nikki and waving to the waiter. “The
guys at the back were packing Beretta Model 12’s. They came to
play.”

“I could have handled it,” said Donny with a
shrug. “I’ll have the Saag Gosht, please,” he said to the waiter.
Nikki could tell Z’ev wanted to argue and she could tell that he
was annoyed that Donny was using the waiter to prevent arguments.
But she knew that neither Donny or the waiter could tell. Z’ev,
after all, was a professional.

It was a talent that infuriated Nikki. She
always felt out-classed when he went into agent mode. Soon, the
waiters were calling him Mr. Z’ev and Donny was telling them ‘this
one time in college…’ stories and comparing notes on this year’s
potential match-ups for the World Cup.

Nikki made it through dinner, but she didn’t
remember how. Modern fusion gastro Indian was not her idea of a
good meal. The food all came in tiny weird bites that tasted like
freeze dried air and she never seemed to be able to catch up with
the conversation. Throughout dinner, police cars drove up and down
the street, and once, they saw the SWAT van lumber by.

“Joe wants to pick you up,” said Z’ev to
Donny, when they were standing out on the sidewalk again. He handed
Donny a business card. “He said to call him at 6:00
p.m.
and he’d have a pickup time and location figured
out by then.

“Great,” said Donny, chewing his toothpick.
“Can I crash at your place until then, Nik? I should call my LT and
get stuff figured out.”

“Yeah, of course, Donny. Not a problem.” She
could almost hear Z’ev gritting his teeth.

She loaded them both in the Impala and drove
home, where Donny locked himself in the office to make some phone
calls.

“This is what I’m talking about, Nikki,”
Z’ev said when the silence had stretched on for about an
infinity.

“What you were talking about when?” asked
Nikki bewildered.

“Last night. You want to know why I’m so
suspicious—it’s because you do stuff like this. You dove right into
the middle of a gun battle.”

“I did not dive. I just ran out there and
got Donny.”

“They were pointing weapons.”

“Yeah, at my friend. I needed him out of
there.”

“You could have let the DEA and police
figure it out.”

“They were going to figure it out after he
was dead.”

“I told them he was a cop. They had it under
control.”

“Well, you didn’t tell me. There could be a
little more information sharing.”

“Yeah, there sure as hell could be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m not Lois Lane. I know that you
put a romance novel dust jacket on
Bullseye’s
Don’t Shoot Back
. I know what eye shadow you use to cover up
black eyes. I know you’re…” He hesitated, unwilling to actually say
it. “I know something isn’t –” His phone began to ring. He had
ringtones assigned to almost everyone in his contact list and they
both instantly recognized the old telephone sound that indicated
that it was a work call.

They both stared at the phone, abandoned on
the kitchen counter with the car keys.

“You’d better get that,” said Nikki,
glumly.

“We’re not through talking about this,” said
Z’ev, picking up the phone and walking into the bedroom. A minute
later, he came back out. “I have to go.”

“You said they wouldn’t call you for at
least another month.”

“I said it was unlikely. Apparently,
something came up.”

They stared at each other, Z’ev in the
kitchen and Nikki in the living room and one hundred million miles
apart.

“I love you,” said Nikki, because she
couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“I love you, too,” he said, walking into the
living room. She put her arms around him and buried her face into
his chest—into that perfect little hollow below his shoulder that
seemed meant for her.

“How long are you going to be gone?”

“I don’t know. It sounded like a couple of
weeks.”

“I worry about you,” she said, looking up.
“I know you can take care of yourself, but I worry.”

“The feeling is extremely mutual,” he said,
laughing with just a hint of bitterness.

Nikki wanted to tell him he was imagining
things and that everything in her life was normal. She wanted to
lie, lie, lie. But she couldn’t. Maybe if she was a better liar, he
wouldn’t get that look, that sad one that said he didn’t trust her.
Impulsively, she kissed him. Hard. Wanting to imprint herself on
his brain and body.

“Not to bust up the party or anything,” said
Donny, clearing his throat. Nikki stepped back and Z’ev immediately
dropped his mask back into place. “But I’ve got a meet location and
they want to pick me up now.”

Nikki nodded. “I’ll get my keys.”

“You’ll have to go without me,” said Z’ev,
reaching for his jacket. “Sorry.” He picked up his watch from the
tray by the door and slid it on his wrist. There was a honk from
the parking lot. “I’ll call you when I can,” he said, kissing her
unresponsive mouth. “And don’t get her shot.” He pointed at Donny,
who gave a half head jerk, half nod. The door slammed shut and
Nikki twitched slightly, buffeted by the impact.

“Well,” she said after a moment. “I guess we
should go.”

The door opened back up, Z’ev stepped in
again and Nikki smiled.

“We need to try that again,” he said. He
grabbed her and kissed her into a huge dip. “Right,” he said,
setting her upright. “That’s better. I’ll call you.” And then he
was gone again. Nikki giggled and caught site of Donny who was
wearing a wide grin.

“Shut up,” she said.

“I didn’t say a word.”

“Yeah, well, keep it that way,” she said,
grabbing her purse.

The ‘meet’ turned out to be held in the
parking lot of Pinky’s Hot Dogs. Nikki was a bit disappointed. She
was getting used to a Carrie Mae rendezvous being boring, without
any glamour or mystery or atmospheric fog, but she’d been hoping
that other agencies had things better planned. The Impala cruised
down the freeway and Nikki was keeping an eye out for her exit when
Donny finally spoke up.

“So what does he do for a living?”

“Um,” Nikki paused. Z’ev had told her the
cover story to use if this question ever came up, but all of her
friends were Carrie Mae and they all knew. It had never really come
up before. “He works for the State Department.”

“The State Department?” repeated Donny
skeptically.

“Yeah,” said Nikki, aiming for cheerful.

“Uh-huh,” grunted Donny. “And what do you
do?”

“I work for the Carrie Mae Foundation,
helping women on a world-wide level,” said Nikki glibly.

“Yeah, right,” said Donny sarcastically.

“No, really. I do.” He held eye contact for
a second, and he frowned when Nikki didn’t look away.

“You know,” said Donny conversationally,
after a few moments of silence. “I’m good at being an undercover
cop. I say it’s because I’m good at spotting liars. My
ex-girlfriend says that’s because I am a liar. That may be true. I
choose not to speculate. But you, on the other hand, could never
lie at all. You’d try, but it was never any good, anyone who really
knew you, could spot the lie in a heartbeat.”

“I’m not lying, Donny,” said Nikki,
laughing. “I really do work for the Carrie Mae Foundation.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Donny. “That’s why I’m
worried.”

They pulled into the parking lot of Pinky’s
and Nikki backed into a spot so she could see the whole parking
lot.

“I think we’re early,” said Donny, checking
his watch. “You want a hot dog?”

She looked at Donny in disbelief.

“We had dinner, like an hour ago.”

“Yeah, but Pinky’s hot dogs are supposed to
be really good, and what with the adrenaline and wanting to get out
of there, I didn’t eat what I could.”

“You are a bottomless pit.” It was a
childhood refrain and Nikki found it easy to fall back on.

“So, you want one?” he asked getting out of
the car. The smell of frying meat and French fries wafted from the
diner.

“I’ll just have some of yours.”

“No, you won’t. Get your own damn dog.”

Nikki waffled and got out with him. It was
true what he’d said about dinner and the food did smell good. They
ordered dogs and stood waiting for their order to come up.

“So you and this Z’ev guy, huh?” Donny
asked, taking a seat on the curb. Nikki sat down next to him,
trying to keep her knees together in her skirt.

“Yeah,” she said.

“You’re pretty stuck on him?”

“Yeah,” agreed Nikki.

“It’s funny, but I really always thought you
and Jackson would make a go of it.”

“Well, I thought so too, until he broke up
with me,” said Nikki with a shrug.

Two cars pulled into the lot, one green, one
dirty white. A black guy in a doo-rag got out of one and into the
other. After a minute, he got out again and went back to the
original car and they both drove off.

“Drug deal?” asked Nikki, jerking her head
at the cars.

“Probably a gun, since he actually got in
the car,” said Donny. He sighed and rubbed his face. “Today was
supposed to be like that, you know? We go in, do what we do, fast
and casual, and then we leave. Nobody makes a fuss. Nobody gets
hurt. I wasn’t even supposed to leave Washington. But I had a shot
at getting tape on Ruiz. I figured I should take it.”

“Dogs are up,” said the waiter from the
order window.

Donny and Nikki stood up and retrieved their
hot dogs, chewing as they walked back to the Impala.

“I like your car,” said Donny, as Nikki
perched on the hood.