“I’m working for Melanie Joan Hall.”
“Again?” Back when he was less averse to my taking dangerous cases, Richie had helped me on my first Melanie Joan Hall assignment. It was a successful collaboration, if not the safest one. We wound up putting John Melvin in jail. “What is it this time?”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m here to talk to a spa owner to see if she gave Melanie Joan’s book one star on ReadAnon.”
“She hired you for that?”
“It’s more serious than it sounds,” I said. Then I recounted the day’s events.
“That’s a lot,” he said.
“Right?”
He cleared his throat. “Not that I’m condoning this, but my dad might be able to help.”
I winced. I wasn’t above asking Desmond Burke for help. I’d done it plenty of times. But my job was to unearth a snarky book nerd. And life-and-death as it may have felt to Melanie Joan, I wasn’t sure it warranted getting the Mob involved.
“Dad’s been branching out into tech,” Richie said.
“Ah.”
“I know, I know,” he said. “But if you’re feeling desperate…”
“Speaking of feeling desperate,” I said. “How close are you to Boston?”
I expected a sly laugh, but I didn’t get one. Instead, I heard background noise—people talking much louder than theyneeded to. A harmonica riff I immediately recognized as the beginning of “Thunder Road.” My heart sank. “I take it you couldn’t find coverage for tonight,” I said.
Richie exhaled. “I’m sorry, Sunny.”
I stared out at the beach, at a young couple walking along the water’s edge, holding hands. It was a lovely image. Maybe I’d paint it tonight, after dinner, when I’d be back at my loft. Alone. “Assistant manager went home with a stomach bug,” Richie was saying. “She was going to cover for me. And we’ve got one server taking PTO, two others down with the same bug as the assistant manager…”
“Jeez. Don’t tell the health inspector.”
“Summer down the Shore,” he said. “It’s so crowded, there’s always something going around. You know how it is.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I do.” I hated the way my voice sounded. Like I was pouting or something. I cleared my throat and told him I understood. Of course I did. My job had taken me away from Richie many times, and he always understood. Well, hesaidhe did. He could’ve been thinking any number of thoughts that showed a distinct lack of understanding. But like me, he knew enough not to voice them. “I can stand anything for three hours.” I forced out a laugh. “Even my mother.”
“Even Elizabeth.”
“Let’s not get carried away.”
Richie laughed. “I’ll make it up to you,” he said.
A seagull landed on top of my car. Rosie strained at her leash. “Stop.” I said it a little too harshly.
Richie asked if I was okay, and I said, “I’m fine. Rosie is just being annoying.”
Richie said he missed Rosie, and I said, “She misses you, too.”
“Call my dad about your case,” he said. “He really might be able to help.”
I told him I had to go. After we hung up, I picked up Rosie and hugged her tightly.
“You okay?” said Tony. The second man to have asked me that within the past minute.
I turned around. I had no idea how long he’d been standing behind me or how much he’d heard, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask him. “Let’s go to Infinity,” I said. “Before we run out the meter.”
Sixteen
