Flawless by Heather Graham
They were standing in front of the elevators, surrounded by both visitors and staff, and Julie wasn’t exactly whispering. Embarrassed, Kieran said, “Julie, keep it down. Please.”
“Sorry,” Julie said, lowering her voice. “It’s just that being in the middle of a divorce, I guess I’m living vicariously through you. The way he’s built, is he like that...everywhere?”
“Julie!” Kieran protested again as they stepped into an elevator with a half dozen other people.
Julie grinned and made a motion that indicated she was zipping her lips.
On the ground floor, they headed for the cafeteria. Kieran realized that she’d spent half of yesterday at Finnegan’s with a chef who worked wonders with every dish he created and she hadn’t eaten a thing. She’d been in such an emotional whirl that the thought hadn’t occurred to her.
It shouldn’t now, with danger seemingly everywhere, but it did.
A few minutes later—armed with eggs and toast and the largest cup of coffee available—she joined Julie in a booth. She nodded curiously at the three to-go cups of coffee sitting in the center of the table.
“I thought the guys might want coffee when we go back upstairs,” Julie said. “But right now I want to know everything. How did it happen? And when? Do your brothers know? Was it like a fantasy? Did he drive you home, then sweep you up the stairs? Or were you at his apartment?” Julie giggled. “It wasn’t on a table in the storeroom like in The Postman Always Rings Twice, that old movie we just watched on Netflix, was it?”
“Julie! I never said that I was sleeping with him,” Kieran protested.
“But you are—whether you said it or not. Now that we have an in with the FBI, maybe he can arrest Gary.”
“Julie, Gary has to do something that warrants an arrest,” Kieran said.
“He’s done plenty to warrant an arrest,” Julie said. “Think about my poor dogs.”
“And when he was abusing the dogs, you should have called the police,” Kieran said.
Julie waved a hand in the air. “They wouldn’t have done anything. They’d have told me to call animal control, and animal control might have tried to take Benji and Sally away from me. I couldn’t take that chance.”
“I’m afraid someone can’t be arrested just for being a jerk,” Kieran said.
Julie’s hands were wrapped around her coffee cup, as if for comfort, and she was staring down at the dark surface. “No,” she agreed softly, then looked up. “But, Kieran, I like him. I like your guy. He was so nice to me at the pub the other night.” She giggled. “A harem! Gary thinks Craig has all of us. That’s too funny. He’s actually jealous, even while he’s bringing his bleached blonde bimbo into our apartment and sleeping with her in my bed.”
“It is your bed. Get it back.”
Julie shook her head. “I don’t want it back. Ever. I’d always think of it as filthy.” She sighed. “Look at me. I’m a horrible person, teasing you and moaning about Gary when Bobby is still in the hospital.”
“I think Bobby is going to make it. I really do,” Kieran said. “Think we should get back up there? The guys probably prefer their coffee hot.”
Julie nodded, and they headed out.
* * *
Back upstairs, they discovered the hall had become a busy place in their absence. A new and different doctor was there and entered the room as they approached. The officer on duty was alert in his chair, and Declan and Danny were leaning against the wall, waiting for their chance to see Bobby. Inside the room, Craig and Mike had been joined by an older man who appeared to wear years of trial and weariness on his face, and the three of them were talking with Bobby, who was back in his bed.
“What a good sister,” Danny said, helping himself to one of the cups of coffee Kieran carried.
“Nice of you,” Declan said, taking one from Julie. “And one for Officer Hunt here. Thanks.”
Kieran looked at Julie, who shrugged.
“I’ll head back down for more,” Julie said. “You know, for the guys in the room who are actually working,” she added lightly, then headed back toward the elevator.
Declan turned to Kieran and said, “Bobby’s last scan came out really well. Lots of medical jargon that I didn’t understand, but the upshot is that he’s out of the danger zone. He’ll be moved to a different room this afternoon and kept another day or so, and then he can leave.”
Officer Hunt smiled at her. “I’m not surprised you’ve stayed with your friend. ‘Any decent person would lend a hand,’ right?”
Kieran smiled weakly. It wasn’t that it was a bad motto. She just hadn’t really wanted to be a creator of mottoes.
Or recognized so easily by strangers.
Especially men in hoodies.
Bobby, she reminded herself, had not been attacked by a man in a hoodie. But even Bobby seemed to believe that he’d been attacked by someone who’d been in Finnegan’s.
“We’re all still worried about him,” Danny explained. “Who knows whether this is over or not.”
Kieran felt a knot forming in her stomach. So much for the eggs. She met her brothers’ eyes. “You think someone was really after Bobby? That it wasn’t a random attack?” She spoke in a normal tone, seeing as Danny had already included the officer in their conversation.
“Who knows what happened?” Declan said.
As he spoke, the door to Bobby’s room opened, and the doctor left. Mike and Craig joined them in the hall, followed by Detective Mayo.
Introductions were made, and then Declan asked, “Was Bobby able to help you at all?”
“Well, if tall, dark and wearing a vampire cape helps, yes,” Mike said.
“There was more than one person in on the attack,” Craig said.
“Coffee!” Julie announced, joining them and handing around the cups.
“I’ve seen you before. You come into Finnegan’s now and then,” Declan said, addressing Mayo.
“I do indeed,” Mayo agreed, nodding to Declan and glancing over at Craig and Mike. He shrugged. “My family hails from County Mayo, Ireland. My great-grandfather was one of the many who headed to New York in the middle of the nineteenth century during the great potato famine. Finnegan’s is like a touch of the home I never knew. And,” he added, “cops love the place.”
“We do have plenty of cops around,” Declan agreed.
“Well, pleasure, and I’ll be moving on,” Mayo said. “Craig, Mike—we’ll keep in touch,” he said, then headed down the hall. He paused to turn back and lift his coffee to Julie. “Thank you,” he said.
“Pleasure,” she assured him.
Declan looked at Craig and Mike, his expression serious. “I don’t like it,” he said. “I don’t like it one bit.” He shook his head. “It’s no secret that we really do have off-duty cops in the place all the time. You’d think people would know that and misbehave somewhere else.”
“One would think,” Danny murmured.
Declan looked over at his sister. “Kieran, go home. You worked all week. You were caught up in a robbery on Monday and then involved in that subway thing two days later. Last night you slept here at the hospital. Go home. Get some sleep. Julie, why don’t you go with her? I have a few free hours to hang here, and Danny can stay until tonight.”
“Danny has to work today,” Kieran said.
“But I can be back for tonight,” Danny said.
“I just got here, and I had plenty of sleep last night. I can help out here or at the pub, wherever you need me,” Julie said.
“There, you see? Everything is covered,” Declan said. “I’ll just see you home and—”
“Declan, I know how to hail a cab. I’ve lived in New York my whole life,” Kieran reminded him.
Declan hesitated, and Kieran realized that her brother didn’t want her
Craig quickly stepped in. “Mike and I can take Kieran home, see that she’s bolted into her apartment.”
“Thank you,” Declan said. “Now get going, sis. You need a break.”
“Declan, I’m all right,” Kieran said.
“No, you’re not. You look like hell, like you slept twisted in a knot.”
“Someone needs to stay with Bobby tonight,” she said stubbornly.
“I can sleep here,” Julie said. “I’m mostly working from home now anyway.”
“We’ll see,” Kieran said. “I may be back. But right now I’m going to tell Bobby goodbye, if you’ll excuse me.”
She still felt a little embarrassed around Craig and Mike, but they’d offered their help and she knew she had no choice but to accept it.
She moved quickly past them and into Bobby’s room. Leaning down, she gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then met his eyes and whispered, “Bobby, if you know something—anything—about something going on at Finnegan’s, you have to tell the cops.”
“If I actually knew anything, I would,” he told her. “You leaving?”
“Not if you don’t want me to.”
He smiled at that. “Lass, get out of here and quit fussing over me. Let me have some rest.”
She smiled. “I’ll see you soon.”
“That you will, lass, that you will.”
Declan entered the room just then and greeted Bobby cheerfully.
“You’re in responsible hands now,” Kieran told Bobby. “I’ll see you all soon.”
Declan caught her before she could leave. For a moment he held her in a tight embrace. “Be careful,” he warned her. “Make sure your door is locked and bolted.”
“Yes, sir,” she assured him, heading out.
“See you all later,” Kieran said to the group gathered in the hall.
Danny looked over at her. “Call me if you get cabin fever. And don’t leave your place without at least one of us in tow, okay?”
“Don’t forget, I’m here, too,” Julie said.
“Thanks,” Kieran called, leaving.
Craig and Mike stepped up and flanked her, as if instinct allowed them to fall into protective formation instantly.
As they waited for the elevator, she tried to appear nonchalant. Tired and nonchalant.
She couldn’t help but wonder just how much the two men had heard of what Julie had been saying.
Had Mike already known that his partner was sleeping with her?
Had Craig talked about her? Said something like “Hell, yeah, nothing like an auburn-haired bartender,” with Mike replying along the lines of “Nice piece of ass, my friend, nice piece of ass.”
No. They wouldn’t talk like that. She didn’t know why she was so certain of it, but she just was. They had class.
Like her brothers. She’d heard them talk among themselves often enough. They could tease, they could even make the occasional off-color remark. But they weren’t...crass.
Gary Benton, though. He was crass.
She mentally shuddered, just thinking about the man.
The elevator came, interrupting her thoughts, and a few minutes later the three of them headed out to the street.
It was a perfect spring day, and their car was parked just down the street, its official decal protecting it from tickets and tow trucks.
Craig opened the front passenger door for her, but she hesitated. “Mike, you can ride up here. I’ll just be hopping out when we get to my place.”
“I like the backseat,” Mike said, rolling his eyes. “You’ve driven with him, right?”
“You should drive so well, old man,” Craig teased him back.
She didn’t want to make a scene. She just wanted to get home and retire to the comfort and tranquillity of her own bed.
No, forget tranquillity. Her bed would only make her think about the last time she’d slept there.
Maybe she could just nap on the couch.
Craig drove quickly and competently. “Any new insights?” he asked her.
Kieran immediately felt fearful at his words because now she knew Finnegan’s was involved.
But not any member of the Finnegan family!
“I wish,” she murmured. “What about you? Oh, yeah, you can’t tell me or you’d have to kill me.”
“Ongoing investigation,” he said.
“All I know right now is that I’m really tired and that I’m really, really grateful Bobby’s going to be okay.”
Mike leaned forward, his head between Craig’s and Kieran’s. “Bobby say anything to you?”
“Other than that the guy who attacked him seemed to be wearing a vampire cape?” Kieran asked.
“Yes,” Mike said.
She shook her head, feeling as if she was lying when she really wasn’t. She just wasn’t telling them everything, that was all.
“We’re all worried,” she said honestly. “We have diamond buyers and sellers and jewelry store owners as customers.”
“Like Mr. Krakowsky, Gary’s boss,” Craig said.
She nodded. “Like Mr. Krakowsky,” she agreed.
Sunday morning traffic was light. They were at her place in no time. She started to get out of the car, but Craig was there before she could set foot on the sidewalk. She looked up at him as he reached to give her a hand.
She hesitated and then took it.
Mike was out of the car, as well, but only to take the front seat now that she was out of it.
“It’s broad daylight on a Sunday morning,” she said, and managed a rueful smile. “We should be at church. On Sundays Finnegan’s opens with a traditional roast at one, and we only serve a limited menu. We have a lot of good Catholics among our clientele,” she told him. “Of course, this is New York. We also have a rabbi who comes in, and pretty much every other religion, even atheists and—”
“You’re babbling,” Craig interrupted. “Let’s get you up to your apartment.”
Craig didn’t follow her in this time. He was all business, with his sunglasses and FBI-sanctioned suit.
“Lock yourself in,” he said, then waited to be sure she followed his order.
She started to, but he suddenly put a hand on the door, stopping her. “Kieran, call me. Please, call me if you think of anything at all that might be helpful.”
“Of course.”
“And keep your door locked and bolted.”
“I will.”
That time he let her close it, but she knew he was still waiting in the hall as she slid both the bolts.
Then he was gone.
And she was alone.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
SYLVIA MANNERLY WAS almost too easy to read, Craig thought.
She was terrified that her company was going to wind up looking bad, that maybe Maria had been into something illegal, which had led to her death.
But through Ms. Mannerly they’d found another contact—Jilly Bowen, a young woman from the Bronx who had been friends with Maria Antonescu. They hadn’t managed to reach her the night before, and today she seemed scared to be talking with the FBI, but she agreed to meet him and Mike at a coffee shop in the Diamond District.
Jilly was young, only a girl. Maybe nineteen. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life and had started with Clean Cut Office Services right out of high school. “I have the Manning building. No diamonds to steal,” she said. “God! I can’t believe what happened to Maria. She was so nice, and she worked so hard. All she cared about was work and school. Not me. I’m stashing away my savings. I’m going to backpack through Europe before I decide on school or anything else. But Maria...she had a goal. Very little fun. Until...”
Her voice trailed off, and s
“Until?” Craig pressed gently.
Jilly let out a sigh. “You can’t tell her aunt!”
“We already know about her secret lover,” Mike said, smiling. “And not to worry. A young woman seeking the companionship of a young man is a pretty natural thing.”
Jilly smiled at that. “Joe,” she said softly.
“You know the guy’s name?” Craig asked, surprised. From the way Alicia Rodriguez had fallen apart, he’d been sure she must have been Maria’s best friend.
But she hadn’t known the boyfriend’s name.
Jilly nodded. “She didn’t tell me on purpose. She was on the phone with him, and she was a little upset. I heard her call him Joe and say something just wasn’t right.” She stopped speaking, and her eyes widened. “You can’t believe Maria was in on the robbery! She would never have done anything like that. You didn’t know her. She was the most ethical person I’ve ever met.”
“We’re not casting aspersions on Maria,” Craig assured her. “Okay, so tell me, did you ever see Joe?”
Jilly shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“You said she talked to Joe on the phone.”
“Yes, her cell phone. Didn’t you find it?”
Craig shook his head.
“I can’t believe Miss Mannerly didn’t have a conniption fit when she didn’t get it back,” Jilly said. “We all have company phones. Cheap pay-as-you-go things. Miss Mannerly gets them for us, and we’d better answer them at all times when we’re working. She’s a jerk. Cheapest service, hardly any data, no games, no watching the latest movie trailers. I’m surprised she didn’t demand that you find it and give it back to her. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad place to work. We’re paid a decent wage, and we even have insurance. But, boy, she’s a tigress when it comes to the rules.”
“Not always a bad thing,” Mike said. “Though she does sound pretty tightfisted.”
“She’s just careful with the company’s expenses,” Jilly said, softening a little. She shook her head. “You should have known Maria. She was wonderful. She’d help anyone in a pinch.” Tears filled her eyes. “I heard that Mr. Belvedere is going to have a funeral for her?”