“One is too many.”
“You’ll get no argument from me.”
“Gentlemen,” the security man said, politely nodding his head and opening the door.
We stepped in.
“They’re really gonna screw me, Moe.”
“Who is?”
“The fucking bosses. My rabbi says they want to stick me in IA and there’s nothing he can do to protect me. Me, in Internal Affairs! Jesus, I might as well put in my papers or eat my gun.”
“Don’t be an ass. Come on, let’s see what’s what.”
It was apparent pretty quickly what was what. There were bars set up in the main hallway at the base of each of the two staircases. At one of the bars, I recognized the faces of some local female TV reporters, their heavy makeup looking ridiculous under normal lighting. What was a circus without clowns, right? I guess the news vans were parked around the rear of the house. At least I didn’t see any cameras, but that didn’t mean the cameramen weren’t setting up in the room where the memorial was to be held. There was a small army of tuxedoed servers passing trays of hors d’oeuvres. None of the silver trays seemed to contain those little hot dogs. This didn’t much please McKenna nor did the presence of the media.
“Fuck this! I’m getting a drink.” He walked away. I didn’t try to stop him. He was a man on a mission.
On the other hand, I had no intention of drinking. While I’d made a dent in the bottle of fancy scotch on New Year’s Eve, I hadn’t overdone it. I meant to keep it that way, but when I saw Sarah walking towards me, I changed my mind on the notion of temporary sobriety. She was holding someone’s hand as she approached. That someone was Paul Stern. I was painfully aware of her taking note of the disapproval in my expression before I even realized exactly what it was I was feeling.
“Hi, Dad.” She leaned over and kissed my cheek.
“Moe,” Paul said, letting go of Sarah’s hand to shake mine. I shook it. I wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t a complete idiot.
“We’ve been seeing each other since Christmas Eve,” Sarah said. “Be happy about it, Dad.”
“You don’t need my approval to date.”
“Yes, we do,” Paul said. “You know we do.”
“Well, I need a drink. I’ll see you guys later.”
I walked over to one of the bars where Randy Junction was milling about with a rather spectacular blond. She wasn’t young, but the forty years or so she’d managed to live hadn’t laid a glove on her. She had that perfect Morgan Fairchild nose and violet eyes that were impossible not to stare at. She saw me staring, but she was used to being stared at. Junction was used to men staring at her.
“Mr. Prager,” he said, after I collected my scotch, “this is my wife, Jill. Jill, Moe Prager. He’s the-”
“-man that found Sashi’s killer, yes.” Her voice was as husky as she was lean. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She offered me her hand. “Thank you for finding out what happened, though I wish things had turned out differently.”
“Me too.”
“A lost child of any kind is a tragedy,” she said.
That cut deep. I remembered back to Katy’s miscarriage, how it tore her up inside, how it caused the first subtle cracks in our marriage. I took a prodigious gulp of scotch. “It’s awful for everyone.”
“Except for my husband and the cunt throwing this strange little affair.”
“Jill!” Junction snapped.
“Don’t Jill me! You and that dried-up bitch will need your own private bank tellers now that Sashi’s dead.”
“Okay, that’s quite enough from you.” He grabbed his wife’s arm, but she pulled away from him.
“Again, Mr. Prager, a pleasure to meet you.” She sauntered off into the crowd.
“You’ll have to excuse my wife. She’s had a little too much to drink already.”
“Seemed in control of her faculties to me.”
“It’s Sashi. You see, she can’t have children,” he said with blame in his voice. It wasn’t that they couldn’t have children. She couldn’t have them.
“She can’t have children and you can’t keep your dick in your pants. I think I’ll take her side in this.”
“You don’t understand. Sure, she’s very beautiful, but-”
“Save the explanations for someone who gives a shit, okay? And by the way, I got some of the paintings back.”
You’ve got to love human reflex because in spite of himself and his surroundings and his wife’s commentary on his greed, Randy Junction’s eyes got big and he smiled a big wet juicy smile. Money makes the world go around, the world go around, the world go around
… The best part was watching him struggle to wipe his face clean of joy. He just couldn’t do it and I guess he figured it wasn’t worth the effort. I wasn’t worth it.
“Try not to ejaculate right here, Randy,” I said, waving my glass at the bartender for a refill. “A double.” The bartender more than obliged.
Junction was gone before the words were out of my mouth. No doubt to hunt for Sonia Barrows-Willingham and tell her about the recovered paintings.
As I walked away from the bar, Candy looped her arm through mine and marched me into a library like the ones that I used to think existed only in movies. You know, shelf after walnut shelf of colorfully bound volumes with gilded titles on leatherbound spines. There was even a painting of a fox hunt and a big antique globe from when Ogologlu’s home country was losing its grip on a nice chunk of the world. She closed the door behind us.
“I saw you talking to Randy and Jill.”
“I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus, so what?”
“Come on, Mr.-Moe. Did you tell-”
“Not for me to tell.”
Candy exhaled for the first time since she found me. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Jill? Mrs. Junction? Yes, very.”
“Why would he want me when he could have her? I know that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Not even close.”
She seemed not to hear. “You don’t know about their situation. You don’t understand.”
“Funny. That’s what Randy tried to tell me.”
“And…”
“I’m not judging you, Candy, but what are you doing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly. Now’s not the time to trust your decisions. You’re grieving.”
“I want my life back. I want a life where I can have some joy. Do you know what it’s been like being a slave to my own daughter? To be an adjunct, a second thought, to have my needs be the last rung on the ladder? Everything I’ve done since the day Sashi first picked up a brush has been about her career.”
“Well, you’re free now.”
“That’s right,” she said, stepping uncomfortably close to me. “I can do whatever I want.” And before I could react, she kissed me on the mouth, and with intent.
“Stop that!” I pushed her away hard and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
Candy made to slap my face, but I grabbed her hand before she even came close. When she calmed down, she said, “Why did you do that, push me away like that? I’ve wanted to kiss you like that since I was fourteen.”
“Well, you’re not fourteen anymore, but you are acting like someone who wants to be punished. Try and remember that today is about Sashi. Let yourself feel the grief and the guilt if you have to, but don’t look to me for answers. I don’t have the ones you want.”
She was sobbing now, quietly, into the palms of her hands. Grief does stupid things to people. I knew firsthand about that. I’d done my share of acting out too. If I’d made Candy take note of that, then good, I was glad. If I’d just hurt her feelings… Well, it was a day for hurt feelings.
“I’ve got three of the paintings back.”
She looked up out of her hands, her makeup smeared, but the tears turned off.
“What? How? I don’t under-”
“I did use one to bribe someone and that got me to Tierney,” I said. “I had the other three tested by an expert for authenticity.”
“But-”
“They’re in the trunk of my car. I’ve already told Junction. You guys can get them when this thing, whatever this is, is over. Right now, I need another drink.”
Actually, I felt more like I needed another shower, but a drink was the best I could do under the circumstances. I got a double on the rocks and went to find a quiet little corner for myself. Even with all the people in attendance, I thought, there were lots of quiet corners in a house that size. One of the things thwarting my quest was that there were an inordinate number of flat screens set up around the house showing endless videos of Sashi. Some of the images registered, but I mostly tried to avoid watching. Finally, I found a kind of nook on one of the staircase landings between the second and third floors. There was a small stained glass window that let in light and a pillow-covered oak bench built into the landing wall. I sat down and slowed down my drinking, trying to sip at this one. It was lovely up here and the noise from the main floor was only a quiet medley of shuffling feet and soft whispers.