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“The fourth floor. It’s really big. He took over three apartments and knocked through the walls.”
“How the hell was he able to do that?”
“He owns the building. There are no tenants there now, and he remodeled a few of the apartments. One’s a gym, and he turned two of them into a screening room. He’s a movie buff.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Marco exclaimed. “How does a private detective make that kind of money?”
“I asked him once, and he said he’d done some big favors for some important men and they’d been grateful. But I also think he knows how to invest. He tried to explain how the financial markets worked once. My eyes glazed over.”
But Marco hadn’t heard anything past the first sentence.
“Steph, how do you know him?”
She rolled her eyes. “Do I have to reveal my sordid past?”
“Tell me the bullet points while I’m dressing,” he said, releasing her and heading for his closet.
“I went through a teensy bit of a shoplifting phase when I was about fourteen,” she began, following him across the room. “Max was advising the store on their security and caught me. He was about to call the police when he found out who my dad was. He made me tell him where I lived, then put me in his car and drove me home.”
“No shit.”
“Dad was really grateful, and then…” she said, pausing dramatically, “a couple of years later I dyed my hair orange and started hanging around with some party animals at school. One afternoon I went to buy a baggie of weed, but the guy refused to sell me anything, then my new friends didn’t want to hang out anymore. I found out he’d hired Max to keep me out of trouble. He’d put the fear of God into my friends and the dealers in the area.”
“I can totally see your father doing something like that,” Marco remarked as he slipped into a crisp white shirt and tucked it into black slacks, “and I’m sure Max could be quite menacing if he wanted to be.”
“Anyway, then Dad had his heart attack, and Max and I became really good friends. He used to call me pumpkin head because of my hair. I got tired of hearing it, so I dyed it dark brown and let it grow out, then I realized that’s why he’d done it. I was always at his office. For a while I even thought about being a PI.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I still might. He said his door is always open if I want to join him.”
A loud ringing suddenly shrilled through the bedroom. Striding across to the nightstand, Marco glanced at his phone.
“Morning, Joe,” he said crisply, picking it up. “What’s up?”
“An envelope has just been dropped off. It’s marked confidential. Benny’s checked it and there’s nothing inside except two sheets of paper. It’s waiting for you in the security room.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Did something happen?” Steph asked as Marco ended the call.
“A delivery. I’ll be back shortly. Take a shower and get dressed.”
“In what? We were supposed to go back to the lodge last night, remember? My bag isn’t here. I don’t have anything except that outfit from the club, or your clothes.”
“Put those back on for the moment. I’ll see what I can figure out.”
“If we’re staying there, can I go back to my place and pack a bag?”
“I’m not sure what we’re doing. We’ll have breakfast and figure it out.”
“Okay.”
He was about to leave, but as he looked at her standing in the middle of the room, a worried frown on her forehead, and his big white robe hanging off her body, the feisty, confident woman seemed more like a lost little girl. Walking back to her, he placed his hands on either side of her face.
“Hey, everything will work itself out.”
“I’m worried about the Zeppelins and what they’re up to,” she murmured. “Max said they’re really bad news. I know I shouldn’t ask this, but why are you involved with them?”
