Page 6 of 3rd Tango
Aww, thanks, Mom.
Charlie leans in again. “When is it?”
I check the flyer. “This weekend.”
“Oh, hell.”
I meet Charlie’s eye and know exactly what she’s thinking. The festival? Total catnip when it comes to surveilling a target. If I know my sister at all, we’ll be hunting down Gayle and the mystery woman and possibly buying some art.
3
Charlie
Sunday morning I’m at my desk fanning myself with a piece of paper.
It’s only ten, but the heat index is nearly a hundred outside and I have the feeling our air-conditioning is on its last leg. I need to wrap up at least one of the three cases on my desk so we can get paid. Since I’d like to stay as cool as possible, I’m debating whether I can hand off the case requiring leg work to Matt, so I can stay in the office.
My phone pings, the security app alerting me I have company. The camera over the back door shows Meg arriving, dressed in shorts and a tank top, a wide brimmed hat in her hands. She uses her key, resets the system, and stops in my doorway a few moments later. “What are you doing?”
“I’m working.” I wave a hand across the stack of files, making it obvious. “Since I couldn’t get everything done yesterday due to our fabulous lunch.”
“We’re supposed meet Mom in twenty minutes.”
I don’t have to tell my sister that going to an art festival with our mother, in order to snoop on Gayle and his girlfriend, ranks right up there with my worst nightmare.
“Art festivals are your territory. I have three clients whose cases I should wrap up this weekend, so I’m staying here. You go with Mom.”
She leans a shoulder against the doorjamb and gives me a scorching glare. “You promised to help with this investigation.”
I point to the stack of folders she gave us at the most-embarrassing-lunch-in-recent-history, sitting on the credenza behind me. “I’ve been working my way through all of those files, but these cases hired us first, and they don’t get the family discount.”
“She’s our mother.”
The word conveys so much more than your everyday label. Familial loyalty, our mom’s ferocity when it came to raising us, her undying love and protection.
“I know that, and I’m taking it seriously, I promise. I’ve made an appointment with this Al Baez guy to discuss the case with him at three. I want to know more about the three bodies found in the Whitetop Mountain woods.”
Meg gives me a look that says that’s not good enough and she’s dragging me with them, regardless, when another alert lets me know someone’s at the back door.
I raise a finger, pausing the chastising speech she’s about to launch into, and check my phone for the video feed. “It’s JJ. What’s he doing here?”
He peers up at the camera, smiling. He’s dressed in casual clothes and sunglasses.
I buzz him in, hoping he can help get me out of this shindig. Maybe he’s bringing me a new case from the District Attorney’s office. Not that I want more work, or that we need it, but anything to keep me from having to poke my eyes out at the festival.
Meg launches into her argument, and I sit there and take it. She chews me out about not taking Mom more seriously, about how she was an accomplished journalist, not to mention the only mother we’ll ever have, etc., laying the guilt on with an extra dose.
“Meg, you know I can’t imagine what our life would be without her, and I respect her for giving up her career to raise us while Dad was gone. I made peace a long time ago with her obsession over Gayle, but honestly, it’s unhealthy, and you and I both have legitimate cases. I’m not blowing this off. Iamgoing to meet with her friend from the CSCC. If there’s any tie between Gayle and these bodies, and this guy feels I should dig deeper, I’ll do it.”
JJ appears behind Meg. He lifts a hand in greeting as she half-turns toward him. “Are we ready?”
“For what?” I ask, feeling my hopes sinking.
He looks confused, glancing between us. “We’re supposed to be meeting your mom in a few minutes, aren’t we?”
I throw my hands up and sit back in my chair. “Oh, for God’s sake. You, too?”
He leans on the opposite doorjamb, his wide shoulder bumping Meg’s petite one. He grins cheekily. “I have nothing better to do on this hot Sunday than spend time with three beautiful women.”
