Page 93 of My Rock Star Neighbor
He says it as if I must have magical powers.
Pommer asks, “Who does she think is behind it?
Demoraux says, “She doesn’t buy that it’s Galliano.”
“Too obvious?”asks Pommer.
Demoraux says, “I’m not a mind reader.”
Glad to see Demoraux is still his usual charming self.
Pommer then asks, “But are you sure you’ve destroyed any proof that you’re connected, right?Because—”
Pommer’s involved!
Demoraux cuts him off.“Yeah.I’m careful like that.”
Pommer speaks again.“I expect you’ll disappear now again.”
“I thought I had disappeared after quitting.I’ll go off grid this time,” Demoraux replies.
Nick:He just handed him a thin envelope.
Is that the final payment?I need that envelope.I need physical proof.How do I obtain that?
Me:We need to follow Demoraux and get that envelope.
Nick:Are you crazy?How do we do that?
I meet Nick outside the fake baby shop, keeping an eye on a disappearing Demoraux.We follow but stay back so he won’t pick up that we’re trailing him.
“You can distract him,” I say.“You can ask him directions as a tourist, and I can try to pickpocket him.”
“Do you know how to pickpocket someone, Maddie Hughes?”Nick asks.
“Bella was once writing a scene in a novel that required pickpocketing—don’t ask—and so she wanted a friend to pickpocket her to see how it felt.You might not believe it, but there are videos that explain how to be a master pickpocket.We both learned.She wanted to know if she would feel anything if she were the victim.”
Nick shakes his head.“The skills you’ve acquired… Here I was thinking that you were leading a blameless life.”
Demoraux is halfway down the block.The parade is over, so the crowd is dispersing.He’s picking up his pace, and a group of people, all wearing the same jackets, are suddenly between us.We race after him, weaving between the people setting off poppers, but lose him when he suddenly disappears out of sight.
We walk up and down the block to survey the stores but don’t see him anywhere.The street is filled with vendors and people dressed in raincoats and transparent ponchos of all the colors of the rainbow.Tourists crowd the souvenir shops, while others line up outside a restaurant with a row of glowing red paper lanterns hanging from the awning.The streets are littered with wet slips of colorful sheets of paper from the poppers, making a beautiful collage.
“Back to Plan A,” I say.“I need to cover the library.”The two of us turn and jog over to the library—which is closed for the New Year celebration.It has to be the other library pictured in the posts then.I take out the envelope I’ve pre-prepared, with a slip of paper with the typewritten title of a romance book inside.Beatrice seems to be a romance reader.I show Nick, frustrated that I was so ready to exchange the envelope.He gives me a hug.
I call Tasha, who picks up immediately.
“Nobody has visited this library,” she says.“My son is having a good time, though.He likes all the books they’ve read in the reading circle.”
“I’ll come up and relieve you,” I say to Tasha.
Nick looks conflicted.“I have to leave.”He’s playing in Hoboken tonight, and tomorrow they’re the first act in Jersey City.“Please be careful.”
“I will,” I say.
He gives me a look like he has his doubts but hugs me goodbye and jogs off to return to his apartment while I take the subway up to meet Tasha.
As I enter the library uptown in Harlem, Tasha’s son is sitting in a circle listening to the librarian readThe Family Book, and Tasha is holding the baby.I walk up to Tasha, who gives me the cold shoulder.I realize I look like some elderly tourist from California.I forgot to tell her I was in disguise.I text her.She looks up, shocked.
