Becoming Juliet - Paula Marinaro Page 0,41
the stuff you know about her. Observable shit like body piercings, tattoos, scars, or any defining marks. She got any friends in town? She go away weekends? Entertain any company? You’re right, brother, shit like licenses, plate numbers, even social security cards can be bought for a price. So, you got to go with what’s observable. Find that chink in her armor. Put down any small detail you can think of, and that’ll give me a start. Does this Juliet Jones chick got any ink?”
“Not that I can see.” P.J. said.
“So, you ain’t boning her yet?” Jules gave out a low whistle. “I’m impressed.”
“Yeah well…it’s not like that.” P. J. told him.
“Well, then what’s it like?” Jules persisted.
“She’s got this paranoia thing going on. I’d like to get to the bottom of it.”
“Yeah, well you know what they say about that.” Jules scoffed. “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you. No judgement here, and you know I got your back. The only time I’m gonna come down on this hard is if you think she’s a threat. I’ll put out some feelers.”
“I’d bet my left nut that the only threat she poses is to herself. But it wouldn’t hurt to check.” P.J. told him.
“Well, like I said, I’ll make inquiries.” Jules replied. “At least knowing that she isn’t working with the feds will be a start.”
“Thanks, Jules.”
“You wanna thank me?” Jules inhaled deeply. “Do us all a solid and call your damn mother. She’s threatening Reno if she doesn’t hear from you soon, it’s gonna be road trip time. And we are all too busy for that kind of shit right now.”
“What’s going on?”
“Just fucking Colombians pulling their bullshit again. Nino is up to something; we just don’t have a handle on it yet. Same old, damn same old. By the way, I might send a couple of cases of weapons for you to hold on to.” Then Jules added with meaning. “I’m gonna let Claire know that you’ll be coming home soon.”
“Tell Jet I’ll make room in storage.” P.J. said. “And yeah, tell mom I’ll make the trip.”
“Okay, good. In the meantime, I’ll find out what I can about your woman.”
“She ain’t my woman.” P.J. said. But by that time, Jules had already hung up the phone.
“I can’t believe how quickly the weather has turned in just a couple of hours.” Layla exclaimed as she stood next to Juliet. They had come out of the movie theater to find that a threatening storm had begun to intensify. Now, as they looked out from the wall of windows just above the exit door, the two friends discussed their options.
“I wonder if we should just ditch the cars and call Reggie to come pick us up?” Layla frowned.
“I think we’ll be okay if we leave right now, don’t you?” Juliet peered out through the glass doors and into the stormy night. “It’s not like we’re hours away from home. And we’d just have to have Reggie drive us back here in the morning to come get our cars.”
“Yeah, that’s true. It’s a moot point anyway.” Layla said as she zipped up her jacket and put the hood up over her head. “I just remembered that Reggie dropped the minivan off to have the wheel bearings checked. He’s with the kids at his mom’s house. I’m supposed to pick them up from there.”
“We can do this.” Juliet told her, even as a loud clap of thunder shook the sky.
“You think so?” Layla peered out into the storm and sighed. “We’re gonna get wet as hell.”
“Not me, I ran track in high school. But you? I bet you run all gawky and slow...kind of like a pageant queen on crack.” Juliet teased her friend.
“You wouldn’t be challenging me to a race would you, Miss Jones?”
“A race yes, but a challenge? I don’t think so!”
“Well in that case, last one back to their car is a rotten egg!” Layla squealed with laughter as she darted first for the door.
“Cheater!” Juliet’s voice rang out merrily to Layla. But when the two friends got outside, they were hit with the force of the storm. The rain came down in freezing torrents and the gusts of wind made them catch their breath. They huddled together as they ran to their cars.
“Reggie’s mom’s house is only a couple of miles from here!” Layla shouted out over the gale force winds. “Follow me, we can all stay the night there!”
Juliet shook her head and