Cold Fusion Read online

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  At ten to eleven, Slider parks his ride next to mine in front of the Central Hotel. This place is the first high-rise ever built in Point Lookout. It’s a gigantic eyesore in the midst of lovely single-family homes. The houses west of the building are in almost constant shade, but no one’s complaining too loudly because the hotel has created a shitload of new jobs for the town.

  The hotel started operating at half capacity at the end of May, and already the local bakery has had to hire two new people to keep up with the demand. In season, the bakery and all the other suppliers are likely to have to hire even more people. It’s worth a few extra hours of shade for a dozen families.

  As we step in the place, I can’t help seeing the huge posters announcing the official grand opening party on June 15. It’ll be a huge barbecue on the beach with live music and a DJ who must be famous, given the size of the letters used to write his name. I follow Slider along a very long bar to a door marked “Staff Only.” He pushes the door open and enters as if he owns the place.

  At a large table, a dozen people eat lunch almost silently. One of them is Mimi. Sitting across from her is Toussaint, eating a sandwich wrapped in silver foil. So much for the generosity of the hotel management. Toussaint is allowed to join Mimi on weekends.

  The kid sees me and jumps out of his chair. “David!” He run to me, oblivious to the fact that other people are in the room.

  They all look up from their plates. The few who were inclined to smile as Toussaint jumps in my arms to hug me frown when they notice Slider. He’s wearing his biker’s uniform and looks very badass.

  An elderly man stands and addresses Mimi with a very clipped British accent. “Jeanne-Michelle, my dear, why don’t you entertain your gentlemen callers outside? Don’t forget that your service starts in twenty-five minutes.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Mimi answers with a clenched jaw, glaring at us. She folds her napkin and gets up.

  Slider has a half smile, probably from the “gentleman” designation. I’m ready to bet it’s been a long time, if ever, since he’s been called that. He opens the door, and Mimi passes me to follow him outside the common dining room. I gesture to Toussaint that he should go back to his seat and finish his lunch.

  Smiling at the man who’s probably the head waiter, or whatever they call their chief of staff, I ask, “You don’t mind, do you?”

  Since I’m sitting on Mimi’s chair before he has a chance to answer, he saves face by nodding. Toussaint looks at me with an ear-to-ear grin and resumes his attack on his sandwich.

  “How have you been?” I ask.

  He chews his mouthful and says, “Fine. I moved in with Mimi while we’re waiting for Manman to get better.”

  I shake my head. I’m not sure what Mimi has told him. He could be in full denial or misinformed.

  “Living with Mimi is nice,” he says.

  I can see in his eyes that he would probably be more enthusiastic if he didn’t feel as if he were betraying his mother by saying how great Mimi was. I try to make light of it with a joke. “You’re such a weird kid. You really like folding your stuff?”

  His eyes go wide, and he frowns. “How do you know Mimi likes folding stuff? You’ve been to her place?”

  I wink at him. “No, she’s never invited me, but I can see she’s very neat and organized. She would kick me out after half an hour because that’s about how much time it takes me to mess up a room.”

  “Then your time is almost up,” Super Waiter tells me. He’s hovering over me and bending slightly, an extended arm toward the door.

  I decide to ignore him and ask Toussaint, “All good with the math?”

  The man coughs and insists, “Sir.”

  Toussaint’s eyes dart from the man to me, more annoyed than scared.

  I stand and tower over the waiter. “I’m keeping my young friend here company until his aunt returns. I trust this won’t be a problem.” I use the icy tone I perfected talking to the very drunk soldiers who returned to the base after curfew. I add a touch of contempt to my voice for good measure.

  The man realizes I’m taunting him. He steps back, and out of the corner of my eye, I see some of the staff would cheer me on if they weren’t afraid to lose their jobs. I’ve always loved to bully a bully. Does that make me one? I guess so.

  I sit down again, and the man leaves the room. I wonder if he’s going to call security to have me removed. I’m betting against it—that would make him look like an idiot in front of his crew—so I chat for a few minutes with Toussaint.

  Mimi returns. “He’s waiting for you outside.”

  I stand and pull out the chair for her. “I’m sorry we interrupted your lunch. It was cool seeing you, kid,” I say to Toussaint, who waves good-bye at me.

  As I leave the hotel, I find Slider waiting for me on his bike. He’s in a foul mood.

  “I offered her a minimum pay, and she told me to go fuck myself,” he says, kicking his engine alive. “Literally!”

  “Well, she could very well come around soon,” I tell him. “Her boss wasn’t happy about our visit, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t diplomatic enough when I told him to get lost, so I’m betting he’ll need to fire her tonight to assert his authority for the rest of the crew.”

  “You devious bastard!” Slider says with a wicked smile.

  I take that as a compliment. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do to get the job done.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  I meet with Brian under the pier at six. We have a couple of tequilas and paddle away from the shore on our body boards. The waves are big. The first storm of the season is approaching, and all the sane people are safely at home. Some are even boarding up their windows in case it turns into a hurricane.

  “You know sundown is feeding time for the sharks,” he jokes.

  “Yeah, but I couldn’t figure out another way to see your ugly mug,” I tell him. “It’s not I. A. that I’m worried about; it’s the Knights. I’m working at their strip club, and I could get into all kinds of trouble if they saw me hanging out with an Iron Tornadoes member.”

  “I hear you,” he says. “How’s being a bad boy working out for you?”

  “I’m not sure. Yesterday I enjoyed being uselessly rude to someone.”

  Brian laughs. “Tell me more! That’s so unlike you. I wish I could have seen you do it.”

  “There’s this girl who refuses to come back to work for the club, and we’re kind of in a rut with the talent search right now, so Slider and I—”

  “Slider? As in the V. P. of the Knights?” Brian cuts in.

  I nod and continue. “We showed up at her new place of work and scared the shit out of her supervisor.”

  He whistles. “You know that guy is a killer, right?”

  I nod again. I’d like to tell him that that’s all a legend, but I can’t. I trust Brian enough to put my life in his hands, but Slider’s life isn’t mine to play with. I cannot blow the cover of another police officer.

  “As long as you know,” he says.

  We paddle for a while in silence.

  When we turn toward the beach, waiting for a perfect wave, he says, “You didn’t get her fired just because you wanted her to get back to work there.” He gives me a smirk.

  The man knows me so well. Some days, I think he’s just as gifted as his brother at reading people’s minds. Well, at least at reading my mind.

  “You got her fired because you want to keep an eye on her, and as long as you’re undercover, there’s no other way for you to force her to remain under your watch.”

  I laugh and feel as though we’re fifteen again. I splash him, and I don’t need to tell him how much I miss him. He knows.

  “How’s your father?” I ask.

  “He goes through phases. Sometimes I think we’re close to the end, and he’s going to shrivel up and die while puking over the closest receptacle he can find, and some other days he’s so full of energy, I think nothing can get to
him and he’ll live forever.”

  “Chemo’s a bitch,” I say.

  “He gets into fits of rage.” Brian searches for words. “He’s angry because just as he was making peace with the idea that his body’s betraying him, he became aware that he’s also losing his mind.”

  “Is he?” That’s a scary thought. The man always had a temper, a violent one, but he also had control. If the control snaps, there’s no telling what he can do.

  “That’s why I had to take over,” Brian confesses. “Someone has to supervise him. It couldn’t be Everest because they’re just too similar. It can’t be Juliya because… Well, she’s a girl, and anyway, she’s got another year before she finishes college and comes back home. It had to be me.”

  “I’m sorry, bro.”

  “It’s not that bad, really,” he says. “I actually love the MC, and I’m happy to turn it around to more legit activity.”

  We let a few good waves pass us by. Neither of us is in a hurry to get back to dry land and harsh reality. We savor our little bubble of freedom, floating around in the ocean as if we don’t have a care in the world.

  “I spoke to Lisa this morning,” I say and wait for him to prompt me to continue. I know talking about her is painful for him, and if he’d rather not know more, I won’t volunteer any more information.

  “I can’t believe it’s been two years already,” he says. “She must be getting ready for her finals, no?”

  “Yes, she’s almost done. Since she’s not happy with some of her papers, I’m ready to bet that if worse comes to worst, she’ll have As instead of A pluses.”

  We both shrug. My sister’s always been an overachiever, and we’ve never seen her walk out of an examination room without wishing she could have done better.

  “Did you tell her?” he asks.

  “That you quit the police academy? Yes.”

  “That’s it?”

  I nod.

  “She didn’t ask you why or what I was doing?”

  I can’t tell whether he’s relieved or disappointed by the fact that I didn’t tell Lisa more about his situation. “She didn’t have a chance to ask. She was at the restaurant. I caught her just before the beginning of her shift, and by the time we started talking about you, she had to start work.”

  “So she doesn’t know that I’ve become the V. P. of the club.”

  “No, but she will eventually…” I leave my sentence unfinished because we both know that’s when he’ll find out what’s more important to her: her wish to be a D. A. or her love for him.

  My sister has been in love with Brian all her life, and I have no doubt that Brian loves her too. No matter how many other women he’s been with, he’s crazy about Lisa and just biding his time with the others.

  “Is she coming home this summer?” he asks.

  “Nope, she has an internship with a top-notch Manhattan firm. I don’t think she’ll come back for another year to take the bar exam.”

  He doesn’t say anything, but I can hear him thinking that it’ll be another long year. But it doesn’t have to be. I can’t understand why he doesn’t fly or even ride to New York to see her. If I really wanted to spend time with someone, I would sure do something to make it happen. Come to think of it, I just did.

  I have no doubt that as of tonight—or even earlier if the team wasn’t short-handed—Mimi has lost her job at the hotel. He boss will never come right out and tell her that it’s because she had unsavory visitors. If he does bother to give her a reason for her termination, he’ll come up with a bullshit excuse, but she’ll know. The only question I have is will she surrender right away and accept Slider’s generous offer tomorrow, or will she look for another job before caving in?

  I make a bet with myself as Brian and I race toward the shore. If I win, I’ll see her naked tomorrow. If he wins, it’ll be later this week.

  CHAPTER TEN

  I won the race to shore, but on Monday, Mimi is a no-show. Then again, so are the clients and the barman. The rain is torrential. It’s bad enough that I decided to drive over in my mother’s car!

  But there’s one positive point. The president of the Wizards is back, and he’s alone. My good buddy Zach—he and I are now on a first-name basis—is disappointed by the latest exotic beauty that Slider is testing. I’m sure Suzy will find a way to make it up to him. I chat him up, and after making sure his right arm won’t be joining him tonight, Slider and I set our plan in motion.

  At the beginning of Suzy’s last number, I buy Zach his favorite bourbon and drop a pill in his glass. It’s some crap Slider’s given me to help Suzy neutralize him. I don’t think Suzy needs any help, but Slider thinks it’s better to be safe than sorry.

  When she’s done cracking her whip on stage for the three clients who were desperate enough to brave the howling wind, she marches over to the bar, growls in Zach’s ear, “I’ve been preparing something very special for you,” and grabs his tie.

  He follows her up the stairs like a gentle puppy. Slider and I inform the clients that we’re closing. The other dancers are happy to go home early. A few minutes later, we’ve locked the front door and are up the stairs.

  Suzy’s waiting for us by the door of the playroom. “How much did he drink? I hardly had time to truss him up before he passed out cold.”

  Out of curiosity, I glance in the room and regret it at once. Unlike Brian and his brother, I’m not into kinky sex—or at least I don’t think I am. Okay, I do really like to see what I’m doing, so I want light and, if possible, a mirror. Who knows, maybe my preferences are kinky for those who like doing it with the shutters closed and the lights off. Anyway, Zach is blindfolded, naked, and spread out, each limb tied to one of the four posts of the bed. He looks like a giant jellyfish washed to shore. Yuck! Whatever he’s paying Suzy, it’s not enough.

  She catches the disgust in my eyes and chuckles. “I’m not an act, baby. I’m a true sadist, so you shouldn’t worry about me. I actually enjoy beating him up.”

  I try to hide my surprise but apparently fail.

  Slider laughs too as he says, “To each his own.”

  Suzy points with her crop at Zach’s pants on a chair by the bed. “He’s got a chain with a set of keys attached to his belt.”

  We get to work right away, and we somehow get lucky and hit the right key after a few tries. I go to the desk and turn on the computer. It’s an Apple Macintosh, one of the newer models with a hard disk. I’m in luck because I have used this kind of machine. A disk is already inserted in the drive.

  The machine boots up while Slider goes through the drawers of the filing cabinet. One is used to store clean underwear and shirts and the other drawer has some paperwork. Slider’s quick; I hear the click of his little camera and the paper turning while I stare at the blinking icon.

  As always, when I want to do things quickly, I feel as if my life is playing in slow motion. Everything takes too long, and it drives me crazy. I look for a printer, but there is none. However, right in front of me is a box of disks. I toss the contents of the box on the desk, remove the disk already in and feed another into the drive, praying for a virgin one or one with some space to copy files from the hard disk. The first two floppies I try are full, but the third one prompts the computer to ask me if I want to format it. Yes! That will work.

  There’re dozens of files on the hard disk, and their names are initials. I have no time to look at what they are now. I decide to copy whatever the disk will hold. I watch the screen like those idiots who stare at the elevator floor numbers lighting up one at a time.

  “What are you doing?” Slider asks, locking up the file cabinet after putting everything back.

  “Copying fucking files,” I snap. “They don’t have a printer, and if they did, that would take too long anyway. I have no other choice.”

  “Hurry,” he says.

  As if I want it to take so long. I throw up my hands because as far as I know, there’s no way to speed things up. He goes to check on Suzy.
I hear hushed voices in the adjacent room. Ten minutes pass, and Slider looks into the office.

  “Still working on it,” I say. “How long will he be out for?”

  “Who knows?” Slider says. “That stuff helps me fall asleep, but it doesn’t knock me out the way it did him.”

  Right, but then again, Slider probably doesn’t take his sleeping pill with hard liquor.

  In an ideal world, I’d make a list of the file names I copied, and I’d compare it to the files on all the disks, but this office is bare. There’s no paper, no pen, no stapler, and from what I’ve seen, there’s not much more in Slider’s office. Whatever mail comes to the club goes on an “inbox” pile on his desk to be picked up by the Wizards accountant who indirectly supervises Slider’s management.

  I’m trying to think of a way to make the list when all hell breaks loose. There’s a flash of light, then thunder strikes so close that the entire building shakes… and the power goes off.

  Slider and I go through a cursing competition, and he wins. I keep repeating “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” whereas he has a more impressive repertoire. Suzy walks in holding a weird-shaped candle. Where did she pull that from?

  “I don’t smoke, but I like to do stuff with wax,” she offers as an explanation to the question I didn’t ask.

  “Give it to me,” Slider says. “I’ll go look at the fuse box.”

  “It’s not the fuses,” Suzy answers, pointing out to the window of Slider’s office across the hall.

  It’s pitch black outside. No one else has any electricity.

  “A paper clip,” I growl. “I need a stupid paperclip to dislodge this disk from the computer drive.”

  “I don’t have that in my goodie bag,” Suzy says.

  “Was there a disk in the drive when you started?” Slider asks.

  I nod.

  “Then we’re leaving and locking up behind us. We’ll figure out a way to get the disk out before or during one of their next visits.”