If Hooks Could Kill - By Betty Hechtman Page 0,101
said. “And Jeffrey is an okay kid.” Samuel finished putting away what he’d bought, then announced he was going out to hang with some friends. As soon as he left, the house seemed too quiet.
I showered again, still feeling some ick from my cop encounter, changed into fresh clothes and called Mason. I caught him in his car. “I have to get out of here.”
“Ah, the detective driving you crazy?” he said with a chuckle.
“Nope,” I said. “They’re gone. Moved out, kaput. And the quiet is making me nervous. I had quite a day.”
Mason said he’d picked me up in a few minutes.
I grabbed my carryall and went out the front door to wait. When I saw Mason’s black Mercedes pull up to the curb, I went down the walkway and pulled open the passenger door. I jumped back when I saw the seat wasn’t empty. Jaimee glared up at me as Mason leaned across the seat. “I hope you don’t mind we have company,” he said in a forced bright voice.
I got into the backseat. “We finally worked out a location for the wedding,” Mason said looking over his shoulder. “We just have to pick out their wedding gift.” He leaned his head toward me. “It won’t take long. Then we can get dinner or something.” I heard Jaimee snort in the front seat.
“Tell me about your day,” Mason said.
“Later,” I said. I was hardly going to talk about my ride in the police cruiser in front of Jaimee. Nor did I want to discuss the coins and watch. I almost got out of the car. It was a toss-up, which made me feel more uneasy at the moment. Being a third wheel with Mason and Jaimee or feeling jumpy in my too quiet house. It’s good I didn’t want to talk because I wouldn’t have had a chance, anyway. As we drove across the Valley, Jaimee kept fussing about the arrangements for Thursday’s honeymoon, which apparently was another gift from them.
I looked out the window as we cruised along the freeway and she went on and on. Personally I thought the annoying tone of her voice was grounds for divorce all on its own.
“If we do it your way,” she said. “They’ll have to stop in Honolulu.”
“It isn’t as if they have to change planes. They don’t even have to get off if they don’t want to. It just makes a stop to pick up passengers,” Mason said in a tired voice. “I’m just happier with that airline,” he said. Mason got off the freeway in North Hollywood and went to a warehouse district. Finally he parked and we got out. “Jaimee wanted to go here,” he said gesturing toward a low building. It looked plain on the outside, but when I followed them in, I was amazed. It reminded me a little of Kelly’s father’s place, only much bigger. There was stuff everywhere. Odd pieces like old dress forms, and tables made out of unusual doors. Jaimee rushed off, but Mason hung behind.
“I’m sorry to have put you in the middle of this.” He took my hand and squeezed it. “But you’re probably keeping me from killing her, again.” Jaimee had gone into a room with large carved horses and life-size bronze statues of cavorting nymphs. “I can think of a lot of other ways to celebrate the detective moving home,” Mason said with a devilish wink.
“It’s hard to feel exactly happy about it,” I said before giving him the details of how it came about. Mason was dumbfounded when I told him about going to see how the work was coming in Barry’s condo and my subsequent arrest.
“You should have used your phone call to call me,” he said.
“It never got to that. Barry showed up and straightened it out.”
“However it happened. It’s good that he’s gone and you can get on with your life.” He turned to look at me and his expression grew warm. “And we can start acting like a couple.” The words were barely out of his mouth, when Jaimee yelled for him to come look at what she was sure was the perfect gift for Thursday.
“Maybe Barry’s living at my house isn’t the only obstacle.” I said. “Maybe after the wedding.” I let it hang, but I was pretty sure Mason got my meaning. I wasn’t going to be a girlfriend in the shadows. I didn’t want any strings, but I wanted an all-access pass to his life. Being invited to