the tinny eighties tune as she brought the phone to her ear.
“Hey, what’s up?”
As Val chatted, I noticed she was careful not to say the name of the caller. It didn’t matter. I already knew she’d set that ring tone for one very special friend.
“Hold on a second,” she told Dean Tassos and turned to me. “I’m going to take this in the ladies’. Then I’m heading home. Would you give me a ride, Clare? James obviously isn’t showing.”
“Of course.”
With unexpected relief I watched the shapely outline of Valerie’s suit move into the glow of the open doorway. My wool sweater wasn’t thick enough for the March night, but I liked the solitude of this smokers’ patio so I folded my arms close, leaned back in the battered metal chair, and closed my eyes.
Inside the crowded pub, the band was starting up again. I had no desire to join the party. So much had happened tonight, let alone in the past ten days, that I just wanted a few minutes peace. Too bad I never got it.
“Hello, Clare.”
My eyes immediately opened. A wide-shouldered silhouette loomed in the doorway, blocking most of the pub’s golden light. Shifting shadows veiled the giant’s face but not his identity.
“Hello, Michael.”
THIRTY-ONE
“I hadn’t pegged you for a smoker.”
“I’m not. I was just leaving.” I rose from the chair.
“Don’t go. I want to talk to you.”
“I don’t think that’s such a great idea.”
“Why not? Is my cousin around? I didn’t see him.”
“He had to work.”
“When doesn’t he?”
“Like I said, I should go—”
Michael folded his arms, leaned against the doorframe, effectively blocking my exit.
The closer I stepped toward the man, the more he came out of shadow. His pasty complexion appeared to have more color now, flushed from drink or that little drama queen act with Josie or both.
“That was quite a scene in there,” I said.
Michael shrugged. “Josie can’t take no for answer. She never could.”
“You have zero interest in her, I take it?”
“Let’s just say the woman’s well-cushioned life hasn’t brought out the best in her character.”
“I see. Well, I should go back inside . . .” I tried to step around him.
“I saw you at Bigsie’s funeral,” he said. “It was nice, you comin’. I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to say hello to you at the church.”
“You were comforting the man’s family. I’m the one who’s sorry. I’m sorry for you loss . . .”
He gestured to the empty bench. “Won’t you sit down with me? Just for a minute?”
I glanced over his shoulder into the crowded pub. “Val’s coming back.”
I folded my arms. “What’s the matter, dove?” His crow’s feet crinkled. “You think I’d stoop to ravishin’ you in a bar’s back alley?”
“When anything involves you, Michael, I don’t know what to think.”
“You can trust me.” He crossed his heart with two fingers—the good Boy Scout. “Promise.”
“I don’t know. Seems to me your promises leave something to be desired.”
“Maybe they do. But I need to talk to you about something important . . . About the way Bigs died.”
Okay, that I didn’t expect. “What can you tell me?”
He leaned down, his breath heavy with the smell of alcohol. “He was murdered.”
“That’s what James said.”
Michael straightened. “James shouldn’t have shot off his mouth.”
“Please,” I whispered, “talk to me. Who’s responsible?”
“It’s complicated . . .”
Somewhere over our heads, an unsettling thunder began. The Number 7 line was just a block away from where we stood. In midtown Manhattan the tracks were buried deep underground, but here in Queens, the subway train was elevated, periodically roaring over neighborhood streets, making quiet talk impossible. (Then again, in my experience, whenever any previously buried thing was brought out into the open, polite talk became impossible.)
The captain untangled his arms as he moved around me. With unsteady steps, he went to the bench, sunk heavily down. When the deafening noise finally died out, he spoke again.
“I got the evidence today, put it in a package addressed to you.”
“Me?” I sat down next to him on the bench.
“I would have sent the thing to Mike, but one look at the return address and he’d surely toss it in the bin. I want you to give the package to my cousin, explain why it’s important. You’ll know once you look it over. Mike will listen to you. And after you’re done convincin’ him, you two call me and we can get this whole thing handled right.”
“You want Mike’s help?”
“Mikey and I have had our differences. But I know he’s a