Key West (37 page)

Tears slid down Sonnie’s cheeks and she didn’t do anything to stop them. “I don’t blame him.” Chris had never mentioned that he liked children.

“Neither do I,” Roy said. “But he turned into a vigilante and all but conducted a trial on the spot. Outcome? Seemed the mother had beaten the kid to silence so her old man wouldn’t get even madder. Chris left the pushers to Aiden and hauled the woman off. Got her charged in night court and threw her in the pokey.

“She had excuses. Explanations. She admitted hitting the kid, but said he was okay when she left him. He was asleep.

“Chris didn’t believe her, and he didn’t have any difficulty finding support for his theory. Long story short. The baby died. The mother was convicted of murdering her own child and sent up.”

“And she got out on some technicality,” Sonnie said. “I don’t know how anyone can be a conscientious policeman. They can’t get the courts to keep criminals behind bars.”

Bo and Roy looked at each other. “The woman died in jail,” Bo said. “Hanged herself with a bedsheet. And it turned out she was covering for her sister and the boyfriend. They were occupying another bed in the same room with the kid. When he cried, they made sure he shut up.”

“And they didn’t come forward with the truth?”

“Not until the mother died and the sister finally found some remorse. Anyway, Chris blames himself one hundred percent. That’s why he left the force. He says he murdered that woman. That was over two years ago. The moment he said he was getting out of NYPD, Beatty divorced him. Apparently she found being a cop’s wife glamorous. Wife of a washed-up cop didn’t appeal. She remarried within a few months. Another cop. This one had been helping Beatty for some time. He kept her company through the lonely nights when Chris was on duty.”

Sonnie passed the backs of her hands over her eyes. She didn’t know Chris had returned until his arm settled on her shoulder and his deep voice said, “I just got the end of that. There was no reason for you to know any of it. I’m sorry Roy and Bo opened their big mouths and spilled my business.”

His tone chilled her. She looked up in time to see his cold face and the angry eyes with which he regarded Roy and Bo. “When I got down here I was pretty shaken up. If I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have unloaded on you. I’m trying to forget. I didn’t want Sonnie to know any of it. Not ever.”

“You hypocrite,” Sonnie said. Anger hadn’t been the feeling she expected. “You want to know everything about me and I’ve confided in you. But you’ve got to be the big, strong guy who can deal with his own ghosts. You don’t need anything from anyone.”

Roy touched her arm and said, “Go easy, Sonnie. I spoke out of turn.”

“You did not,” she told him. “You love your brother and that’s why you told me. You think I can help him. You’re wrong. He’d never let me.” And she wished she could be far away without having to deal with what she felt, the disappointment, the embarrassment at her foolishness in thinking he’d begun to rely on her, to want to be with her.

“Now see what you’ve done, bozo,” Bo said. “The best thing that ever came your way, and you’re managing to turn her off.”

“I do want to be with you,” Chris said, ignoring Sonnie’s resistance and turning her toward him. “I would have told you when it seemed right. You’re going through heavy times. We’ve got to deal with you, not me.”

“Too easy, Chris. Too quick. Don’t you know anything about me? I don’t want pity. I want help, yes, but not pity. And maybe it would help me if I knew you had bad things to cope with, too.”

Roy and Bo drifted away.

Chris leaned to drive a thumbtack deeper into a postcard on the burlap-covered wall. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But I repeat: until tonight it hasn’t been about me. I did tell you I’d dropped out. You must have known I had a reason. I’m a shit. That’s the reason. Because of my hard head, a woman died. It wasn’t

enough that she’d lost her baby. Ι had to hound her, drive her into a corner until she’d have said anything to shut me up. So I got a confession. And it was a lie. I killed her, and I’m never going to forget it. I’m trying to forgive myself—at least enough to carry on. And you’re helping me with that.”

She could scarcely swallow. “How could I have known what you’re going through? Chris, I’m sorry. Let me in. Let me be here for you. I need you; you know that. Would it be so bad for you to need me, too?”

His hands came to rest on the sides of her face. He leaned his brow on hers. “I do, Sonnie. I thought you knew that by now. I don’t even want to think about not having you where I can get to you.”

“You weren’t to blame,” she told him. “You weren’t, Chris.”

He shook his head. “Let it be, darlin’. I appreciate what you want to do, but let it be.”

Sonnie placed her fingers on his mouth. Her body quickened just because he was near. “Will you let me know when you’re ready to deal with it?”

“I’ll let you know.” He kissed her. She felt air currents from the fans whirring overhead, and smelled Chris’s clean skin. And she stood on her toes to kiss him more deeply.

His hands were on her bottom, holding her against him. She wasn’t the only one aroused.

“What does it take to get a drink around here?”

Sonnie slowly lowered her heels to the floor, slowly allowed their mouths to part. And when they had, she looked at his lips and wanted right back where she’d been.

The sound of a glass banging on the bar opened Chris’s eyes. Sonnie grimaced at him and he showed his teeth in a silent growl before turning around. “You got a problem?” Chris asked the blond man who had managed to find enough energy for a walk to the bar. “Where I come from, interruptin’ a lady and gentleman at a time like this wouldn’t be considered respectful behavior. No, sir. I think you should apologize; then we’ll talk about a drink.”

“Well, I’m mighty sorry if I’ve offended you,” the man said. “I surely do ask you to pardon me, sir. Now, get me a goddamn beer and join me at that table. You too, Sonnie. If we don’t have even more trouble than we thought we had, then my name isn’t Wally—Aiden Flynn, to you.”

Twenty-five

These were the moments Aiden lived for. “You’re losing your touch, partner,” he said when Sonnie was seated in the booth and Chris was in the process of sliding in beside her. “You looked right at me. Geez, I know I’m good, but wasn’t there anything familiar about me?”

“I did wonder about the smell, but we Southerners set great stock in good manners.”

Sonnie aimed an elbow at his ribs, but she also grinned. “I didn’t suspect it was you, Aiden. The disguise is fabulous.”

“He’s like a kid,” Chris said. “Halloween is his idea of heaven. But you’re right, he’s dam—darned good at it.”

Aiden knew better than to persist with the ribbing—at least not at a time like this. “Thanks. And don’t worry, Sonnie; I rarely choose something this flamboyant. For the past couple of days I’d definitely have been missed in any crowd.”

Bo and Roy arrived with drinks that hadn’t been ordered. Oysters followed, and baskets of French fries and onion rings. “Just to keep your strength up,” Bo said, sliding several pieces of Key lime pie on the table. “Nibble here and there. That’s what I do when I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“Thanks,” Aiden said, and refrained from mentioning that nothing Bo ate went to his waist.

Bo hung around.

Roy returned with a bottle of champagne and five glasses. “What the hell’s that for?” Chris asked.

“Language,” Roy said. “It’s just in case we might want to celebrate something. Okay if we join you?”

“Hell, no,” Chris said.

“Hell, yes,” Sonnie said, and Bo laughed, slapped his knees, and cackled.

“This is business,” Chris informed everyone. “There isn’t goin’ to be any celebration today, and the fewer people who know what’s goin’ on here, the better.”

“Ooh, but he does get so Carolina when he’s mad,” Bo said. “I love that lazy sound.”

Roy looked at the ceiling. “In case you haven’t noticed, bro, you seem to need our help. Bo’s and mine, that is. Is it just possible we’d get better at making decisions where Sonnie’s concerned if we knew more? Hey, say the word, kid, and we’re outa here. We’ll still do our best because she’s our best girl, but it might be nice not to be handicapped by ignorance.”

Enjoying himself thoroughly, Aiden slipped all the way into the booth and slapped the seat beside him. “You’re right. Sit down. Maybe we’ll celebrate a little common sense around here, huh?” He looked very deliberately into Chris’s hard hazel eyes. At the moment they were real hard and showed the shade of green that got mixed in when he was boiling at being crossed.

At last he said, “Pull up a chair, Roy. Don’t take what I say too personally.”

“Never have,” Roy said comfortably. “Υοu always were a pigheaded little varmint. I don’t know how anyone could stand being your partner anyway.”

“Drop that,” Chris said. “Fill us in, Aiden. Everybody keep both eyes open for approaching ears.”

“Gotcha,” Roy said, and Aiden took great pleasure at the sight of Sonnie pressing her lips together to stop herself from grinning again.

Chris jabbed a forefinger at Aiden. “Before you wow us with your incredible detective efforts, answer me a question or two. It took a bit, but I finally got a call back from Ballsy in Records.”

‘Ballsy?’
The chorus went up from everyone but Chris and Aiden.

Chris waved a hand. “Don’t ask. If he weren’t invaluable, he’d have been out on his ear years ago. You, Mr. Flynn, are on an indefinite leave of absence. I told you to get lost, and you promptly got the sergeant to believe you’re all stretched out and need a looooong break. Now, if I’d asked him for that kind of privilege, he’d have laughed me out of his office. But good ol’ Flynn doles out a sob story and he gets all the time he wants. How come? Something between you and the sarg Ι don’t know about?”

“Watch him, Aiden,” Bo said. “I know it seems unlikely, but this guy might be questioning your sexual preferences. Now, I’d be one of the first to welcome you to the family, but if that isn’t your scene, I’ll get the ice bags and you can flatten him.”

“I won’t need the ice bags,” Aiden said, chuckling. “He likes to push. If he pushes too far, he’ll get his, but I won’t be offering TLC. I got the leave. End of story.”

“Where have you been?” Chris said. “I even went out to look over that blot on the landscape you call a vintage automobile. I figured you might have been sleeping in it and I just didn’t notice. It leaks so badly it’s always fogged up anyway.”

“Oh, no.” Aiden covered his mouth. “Don’t tell me I forgot to make the bed.”

Sonnie turned a slice of pie around and around and finally attacked it with a fork. She rolled her eyes with ecstasy and got real serious.

Aiden couldn’t resist revealing his latest personal acquisition. “I’ll be putting the pink pony in mothballs soon. Just wait till you see my new baby. I got a ‘fifty-nine Cadillac Sixty Special four-door hardtop.” He actually clapped his hands.

“Cadillac?” Chris said.

Flynn nodded. “Time I got versatile. Bought it at auction. Sight unseen, but who cares? One-hundred-thirty-inch wheelbase. Overall length”—he paused—”two hundred twenty-five inches. Torpedo-shaped dummy air swoops. And those
fins.
It’s got to be taken all the way down, but—”

“Paint it chartreuse,” Chris said, rubbing his head.

Aiden pointed at him. “You’ve got it. Chartreuse. I love it.”

“A zoo,” Chris said. “We’re supposed to be conducting an investigation, and the rest of you are having a party.”

“Got to eat sometimes,” Sonnie said around a mouthful. “Congrats, Aiden.”

“Thanks,” Aiden said. “All right. Down to business. I’ve lucked out, Chris. First, I don’t think Sonnie is delusional.”

“Thanks,” she said without looking up.

“Sorry if I gave that impression,” he said, and he was. “It was just that there didn’t seem anything to substantiate your claims. Cops are boring about stuff like that. Judges don’t listen to hunches, so we’ve got to keep going after evidence that can be seen, heard, and preferably touched.”

“Like dead bodies,” Chris said. Apart from the occasional French fry, he was too engrossed in Aiden to eat or drink. “Any idea why KWPD’s so nonchalant about Edward’s death?”

“They’ll probably get less nonchalant in time. Especially now. One of my visits yesterday was to the funeral home. The assistant medical examiner’s a nice guy. Very professional.

“There’s no doubt the tissue and blood samples turned up heavy doses of local anesthetic. But there’s something else. And this is really stupid on behalf of whoever did it. Edward was unconscious when those shots were administered. Speculation is that he was stuffed into his sleeping bag. He tried to get out and hit himself a good one on the side of the head. There was a nasty hematoma and a lot of swelling. He would have been unconscious. So giving him those shots was a piece of cake. But they really screwed up using the backs of his arms. Somewhere he’d have been capable of reaching himself would have been so much better. Then there would have been some thought about suicide. Good news is that he was out cold before the fire started. He had some nasty moments, but not as nasty as they could have been.”

“Thank God,” Sonnie said quietly.

Roy and Bo said, “Amen,” in unison.

Chris said, “If I could be sure the bastard didn’t intend to do something to Sonnie, I’d be lighting candles to him. The jury’s out on that. What else?”

“Moving right along,” Aiden said mildly, picking up his beer and taking several hefty swallows.

“Why don’t you have a meal before we go on?” Sonnie said. “I’m so grateful for everything you’re doing. So’s Chris. Aren’t you, Chris?”

He looked sideways at her and Aiden’s jaw tightened. His old buddy had a bad case. Now they’d better pray the bottom didn’t drop out.

“I’m grateful,” Chris said finally. “You want to eat, Aiden? It’s okay with me.”

“I’m doing fine, thanks to Bo and Roy.”

“This is dangerous stuff, isn’t it?” Roy said. “You’re right to be closemouthed, bro. But don’t think you can’t trust us to be careful.”