"Mom…"
"Okay, okay, I can take a hint."
Right The Mistress of the Subtle Signal. The basement door closed.
"She's sweet," Wanda said.
"Yeah, adorable." Myron leaned forward. "Why don't you tell me why you're here?"
She started wringing her hands again. "I'm worried about Duane."
"If it's about Dimonte's visit, don't let him get to you. Being a horse's ass is part of his job."
"It's not that," she said. "Duane wouldn't hurt anybody. I know that. But something isn't right with him. He's tense all the time. He paces around the apartment. He flies off the handle at the littlest things."
"He's under a lot of pressure right now. It could just be nerves."
She shook her head. "Duane thrives on pressure. He loves competing, you know that. But the last day or two it's different. Something is really bothering him."
"Any idea what?"
"No."
Myron leaned forward. "Let me ask you the obvious question: Did Duane get a call from Valerie Simpson?"
She thought for a moment. "I don't know."
"Does he know her?"
"I don't know that either. But I know Duane. We've been together for three years, since we were both eighteen. He was still on the streets when we met. My father freaked out when he heard. He's a chiropractor. He makes a good living, worked hard to keep the bad element away from us. And here I was, dating a street kid, a runaway."
She chuckled at the memory. Myron sat and waited.
"No one thought it would last," she continued. "I left college and got a job so he could pursue tennis. Now he's putting me through NYU. We love each other. We loved each other before all this tennis stuff started and we'll love each other long after he puts down the racket for good. But for the first time he's shutting me out."
"And you think Valerie Simpson is somehow connected?"
She hesitated. "I guess I do."
"How?"
"I have no idea."
"What do you want me to do?"
She stood, paced in the small room. "I heard those policemen talking. They said you used to be a big deal with the government. You and Win. Something secretive with the FBI – after you recovered from the knee injury. Is that true?"
"Yes."
"I thought maybe you could, I don't know, look into it?"
"You want me to investigate Duane?"
"He's hiding something, Myron. It has to come out."
"You might not like what I find," he said, echoing Win's earlier words.
"I'm more afraid of going on like this." Wanda looked up at him. "Will you help him?"
He nodded. "I'll do what I can."
Chapter 7
The phone rang.
Myron reached out blindly, swimming back to consciousness. He grabbed the receiver and croaked, "Hello?"
"Is this the Rent-a-Stud hotline?"
Her voice hit him like a jolt. "Jess?"
"Oh shit," Jessica said. "You were sleeping, right?"
"Sleeping?" Myron squinted at his digital. "At four-thirteen in the morning? Captain Midnight? Surely you jest"
"Sorry. I forgot about the time difference."
He sat up. "Where are you?"
" Greece," she said. "I miss you."
"You're just horny."
"Well, there's that."
"Captain Midnight is willing to help," he said.
"My fearless hero. I suppose you're not even a little horny."
"Captain Midnight lives chastely."
"Part of his image?"
"Exactly," he said.
"It's no fun," she said. "Being away from you."
His heart soared. "So come home."
"I am."
"When?"
"Soon." Jessica Culver, Miss Specific USA. "Tell me what's been going on," she said.
"You hear about the shooting at the Open?"
"Sure. The hotel has CNN."
Myron told her about Valerie Simpson. When he finished, her first comment was, "You didn't have to bend that clod's thumb back."
"But it was all very macho," Myron said.
"A real turn-on, I'm sure."
"Guess you had to be there," he said.
"Guess so. So are you going to find the killer?"
"I'm going to try."
"For Valerie's sake? Or for Wanda and Duane?"
"For all of them, I guess. But mostly Valerie. You should have seen her, Jess. She tried so hard to be sullen and unpleasant. A girl that young shouldn't have to try that hard."
"Do you have a plan?"
"Of course. First, I'm going to visit Valerie's mother tomorrow morning. In Philadelphia."
"And then?"
"Well, the plan isn't really that well developed. But I'm working on it."
"Please be careful."
"Captain Midnight is always careful."
"It's not just Captain Midnight I'm worried about it. It's his alter ego."
"And who might that be?"
"My Love Muffin."
Myron grinned into the receiver. "Hey, Jess, did you know Joan Collins was on Batman?"
"Of course," Jessica said. "She played the Siren."
"Oh yeah? Well, who did Liberace play?"
Chapter 8
Myron spent the rest of the night dreaming about Jessica, though as usual he could only remember meaningless scraps in the morning. Jessica was in his life again, but it was still new to him. Too new. He needed to hold back, to tread gently. He was afraid of being crushed under her heel again, of having his heart slammed in the door of love.
Door of love. Christ. He sounded like a bad country song.
He motored south on the famed New Jersey Turnpike. The powder-blue Cadillac with the canary-yellow top was four cars behind him. More than anything else, this stretch of roadway had made New Jersey the butt of so many jokes. He passed Newark Airport Kind of ugly, but what airport isn't? Then he drove by the turnpike's piece de resistance, its cause célèbre if you will – an enormous industrial power plant between exits 12 and 13 that closely resembled the futuristic nightmare world in the beginning of the Terminator movies. Thick smoke sprung from every orifice. Even in the bright sunshine the place looked dark, metallic, menacing, foreboding.
On the radio a rock group called the Motels were repeatedly singing the ingenious line Take the L out of lover, and it's over. Deep. Literal, but still deep. The Motels. Whatever happened to them?
Myron picked up the cellular phone and dialed. A familiar voice answered.
"Sheriff Courter speaking."
"Hey, Jake, it's Myron."
"I'm sorry. You must have the wrong number. Bye."
"Good one," Myron said. "Guess those night-school comedy courses are finally starting to pay off."
"What do you want, Myron?"
"Can't a friend just call and say hello?"
"So this is just a social call?" Jake said.
"Yes."
"I feel so blessed."
"Wait. It gets better. I'm going to be in your neck of the woods in a couple of hours."
"Be still my heart."
"I thought maybe we could meet for lunch. I'm buying."
"Uh-huh. You bringing Win?"
"No."
"Then okay. Guy gives me the creeps."
"You don't even know him."
"Cool by me. Now what do you want, Myron? This may be a surprise to you, but I work for a living."
"You still have friends on the Philadelphia force?"
"Sure."
"Can you get someone to fax you a homicide file?"
"Recent homicide?"
"Er, not exactly."
"How old?"
"Six years," Myron said.
"You're kidding, right?"
"It gets worse. The victim was Alexander Cross."
"The senator's kid?"