Tap Dance (26 page)

"Wow," she said breathily.

"May we call that a 'to be continued'?" he asked with a smile before moving to the Red Dragon bags.

"You better believe it," Marianne agreed moving to grab plates and utensils. 

"What did you need to speak with me about?" Ram asked, removing his light windbreaker before sitting at the bar.

She glanced at him as she prepared the plates.

"There's this guy, almost a kid, that I met when I worked a shift for Greg.  Nice enough guy, who has been asking me out.  I've told him I won't go out with him numerous times then he showed up here this morning.  Greg admits to giving him my phone number.  But when he showed up here today, he wouldn't answer how he knew where I lived and it scared me," Marianne said placing a full plate in front of him.

"What's his name?"

"Niko."

Ram's whole body stilled, his fork still half way to his mouth.

"What, Ram?"

"Niko?"

"Yeah, that's what he told me," she said trying to think if she'd ever heard him say his last name. 

"Niko Milosevic?"  His voice was like steel, hard and deadly.

"I don't know," she said catching her lower lip in her teeth.  "Paul said he knew him when I introduced them at Buxby's.  Maybe Paul knows his last name?"

Ram reached for his cell.  "Paul, that Niko guy that you saw with Marianne…"

"Yeah, Chief.   Niko Milosevic.  Made me sick to my stomach just to see his slimy hands on her."

Ram stood up from the barstool, so angry he couldn't sit down.

"Thanks, Paul."

"Do you know who Niko is, Marianne?"

"No," she whispered. 

"He is one of the sons of Goran Milosevic.  The Milosevic family are what you might call the Mafia, the Serbian Mafia.  Niko is being groomed to take over the 'family business'."

"So, not a good guy?"

"No,
Pyari
, not a good guy at all," he glanced down at his plate before remembering the rest of Paul's sentence.  "Why did he have his hands on you?"

He watched her blush as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 

"It's just this thing he does.  Kisses the back of my hand," she said pushing her food around her plate.

"That's all he does?"

"He holds my hand over his heart after he's done kissing it," she mumbled.

Ram took a very deep breath.  He didn't like the thought of anyone touching her even innocently.  But for Niko fucking Milosevic to touch her, or force her hand to touch him?  That shit stops
now
.

"Please listen carefully,
Pyari
.  If he calls, you don't answer.  If he comes by, you don't answer.  If he sees you out and about, you call me or Paul immediately.  Do you understand?"

"Yes," she said looking up at him.  "I'm sorry, honey."

"For what?  You haven't done anything wrong and I'm sorry if I scared you but, it is important that you stay away from him. Okay?"  Ram sat back down on the barstool and rubbed her back.

"Okay," she whispered leaning back against his hand.

Ram took another bite and was trying to think of a way to legally beat the shit out of Niko when he remembered she'd said there were two things she needed to talk with him about.

"What was the other thing,
Pyari
?"

"Oh, yeah," she said reluctantly.

He waited and watched as she moved more food around on her plate.

"Remember that Fed Ex envelope you picked up when we…the first time we went for a drive?"

He nodded.

"I was married before.  His name is Steve Quinlan," she snuck a glance up at him before turning her eyes back to her plate.  "We were married a short time, a long time ago."

He watched her swallow thickly.

"He's the one that sent the Fed Ex.  I'd totally forgotten about it until he called and asked me to put the contents in my safe deposit box.  There were five CDs in the envelope and all he will tell me is that by having them, they keep him safe."

"Where are they now, these CDs?" Ram said trying and failing to unclench his jaw.

"In my safe deposit box," she mumbled.

"Do you know what's on them?"

"No, Ram.  I don't.  I tried to find out both when he called me and then when he stopped by, but…"

"He's stopped by?  What does that mean, Marianne?"  He was trying to remain as calm but his every muscle was tense.

"Tha-that Saturday night, you know, of your dinner?  I drove around for a while and ended up here at my apartment.  He showed up around four in the morning."

"He showed up here?"  Ram didn't even want to touch the subject of the dinner, why she didn't tell him of an ex-husband or even why her ex-husband would come to her apartment in the fucking middle of the night.  Those were things they would talk about later.

"Yeah.  But he wouldn't tell me anything except that he had a 'situation' and that it had gotten a little out of hand.  He said that those CDs were keeping him safe but wouldn't tell me from what or from who…" her voice trailed off.  "I think he's in some really deep shit, Ram."

"He is,
Pyari
," Ram admitted.

He saw her head jerk towards him on his words.

"I can't tell you what I know, okay?  But we need you to speak with Agent Grant about this.  The only thing I can say is your ex-husband is being pursued by the Milosevics."

"You mean Niko?"

"Not necessarily, although family is family," Ram shrugged.  He was going to have to think this through. 

But first, he wanted to get Agent Grant on the phone so he could get his tight FBI ass over to Marianne's. 

Didn't want Ram there for the interview? 

Bullshit.

Chapter Twenty Nine

Looking around my apartment, I was starting to see it was finally taking on a personality.  Starting over had been hard, but as things came together, I could see that the new furniture and knickknacks were helping my apartment become my home. 

My new home. 

Less blue and a bit more formal than what I had before, but then I had gotten the furniture in the divorce, so it had been outdated.

But I especially liked seeing Ram sitting in a corner of my new sofa as we waited for the Feds to arrive.

The buzzer sounded and I made my way to the intercom next to the door.

"Yes?"

"Federal Agents Grant and Freeman to see Marianne Gibson," the tinny voice announced.

I pressed the release button glancing at Ram.

Opening my apartment door, I saw two men in suits coming my way.

"Ms. Gibson?" The taller one asked while they both showed me their badges.

"Please come in," I offered, stepping to the side.

They shook hands with Ram and I saw his eyes narrow at the taller one.

"How can I help you?" I asked sitting on one of the barstools since the only available seating was on a small section of my couch.

"Chief Patel says that you have information regarding Steven Quinlan," Agent Grant explained.

The questions started. 

And they continued. 

Then circled back again.

I told them everything I knew, about Steve's phone call and visit.

I had started shaking about five questions in, and the tremors hadn't gotten any better the more they questioned me.

"Am I a suspect?  Do I need a lawyer?" I finally asked, starting to put together a picture of what my asshat ex-husband had gotten himself into just based on their questions and the way they were phrased.  

A scary picture.

"Not at this time," Agent Freeman finally spoke.  All of the questions had come from Agent Grant who was beginning to remind me of that weird-o guy in the Matrix with his perfect hair, perfect suit, perfect diction.

They both stood up at the same time even though there wasn't a smidgeon of communication between them before they stood. 

Creepy.

"Here's my card, Ms. Gibson," Agent Grant said.  "If you hear or see from your ex-husband again, please call.  We believe that his life is in danger and, by being in contact with him, that danger could spread to you.  If there is anything else you know, or are uncomfortable talking about, you need to tell us as soon as possible.  Withholding information could see you charged with willful obstruction in a Federal investigation. "

I swallowed thickly as I nodded, my knees shaking so hard they were knocking together.

"It almost goes without saying, Ms. Gibson, but we will need those CDs at the earliest opportunity," Grant said, looking me square in the eyes.

I nodded again and led them to the door.

"Thank you for your time, Ms. Gibson," Agent Freeman murmured as they left.

Ram held back, but appeared that he, too, would be leaving.  I got a brief hug and briefer kiss with a promise he'd call later.

I stood at the door after I closed it, my mind a whirl.

I slowly changed out of my 'meet Feds' clothes before heading back to the kitchen where I caught myself staring in the depths of my fridge without seeing anything in front of me.  My mind wouldn't settle at all.

I reached for the folding stool and went into the cabinet above the fridge.  Alcohol.  I wanted a shot or two of something potent.  I pulled out the first bottle my fingers touched.  Patron Tequila. 

I downed the first shot, then refilled my glass and wandered into my living room to sit in the corner of my couch to sip it.

There were things the Agents asked about which bothered me.  Like how they knew so many personal details about me, how they knew personal details of when Steve and I were married and about my life now. 

Their questions made me uncomfortable, fearful and vulnerable all at the same time.

I had told them of Steve's phone call and the late night visit and they had seemed unsurprised. 

Ram seemed very surprised when I had told him.

Did they already know about those? 

Ohmigod. 

Were they watching me? 

Did they, like, sit out in their car and then follow me around?

I sucked back the remaining tequila in the shot glass and went to pour another.

I stood there and looked at the short, squat bottle of Patron.  The alcohol wasn't helping and another shot might send me over the edge. 

Especially since I hadn't eaten much at lunch.

What I wanted to do was talk to Ram.

I wanted to continue our 'to be continued' moment from earlier. 

We hadn't made love since we had gotten back together.  True it had only been four days, but not so long ago we were looking for ways, were inventing ways if we had to, in order to assuage that physical hunger which was always been between us. 

Ram was still affectionate, but it wasn't the same.  Everything between us was just a half of a step off.  The easiness we'd had from the moment we met just wasn't there.

I put the tequila away and washed out my shot glass. 

I was just about to do another look through the fridge when my phone rang with the Crystal's ring tone, Pink's U + Ur Hand, which cracked me up every time I heard it.

"Hey, Marianne!  Come to dinner with me at Luigi's.  Dex gave me a twofer coupon.  You up for it?"

Actually I was.

"Sure, but can you swing by and pick me up?"  I figured being pulled over for drunk driving after having a sit down with Federal Agents wouldn't earn me any points with Ram.  And I was going for as many points as possible until we, the us kind of 'we', came back.

"No worries.  Be there in thirty," she said before ringing off.

I went back into my room to change.  While Luigi's wasn't as upscale as Henry's or the Roses, I don't think yoga pants and a racer back t-shirt was appropriate either.

Like always, we had a great time although we were both a bit subdued.  I told her about being back with Ram and how we are dating exclusively which made her smile.

"So Adler's out of the picture," she asked with a smirk.

"Yeah."

"I'm still floored you were seeing two guys at the same time," Crys said with a laugh.

"Hey, little girl, I've heard you've been known to string along a few at a time yourself," I shot back.

"This is true.  But they were just boys. You were stringing along two very fine, very gorgeous examples of manly, male-type flesh.  Big difference."

I smiled back and watched as she finished the rest of her lasagna.

The waitress was just taking away our plates when Crys spoke again.

"Marianne, do you ever feel like a spare part?" she asked, playing with her napkin, not looking at me.

"Spare part?"