Mixed Messages (A Malone Mystery) (36 page)

With David out of the way, this could be my golden opportunity, he thought. I might never get another chance like this to be alone with Annie. But how can I stay home when
my m
other is so insistent that I go?

Wait a minute, he thought.
What if I don’t really leave?
What if I only pretend to
leave
?
I could
hide in the basement
.
That way, I’ll be
here
if Annie wants me
.
A smile played at the corner of his lips
.
If Annie wants me
… .
If my Annie wants me
… .

Chapter 3
5

“SON OF A BITCH!”
Tina
screamed
as she slammed down the phone.

Greg pushed the mute button on the remote control, silencing the television
.
“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, hell,”
she
replied, “that damn old woman cancelled her appointment for tonight.”

He
sat up straight
.
“No séance?”

“No séance!”

“I thought you said she was so hot to do this
.
What happened
?
What changed her mind?” he asked.

“Do you know how damn much trouble I went to, to set this up?”
she
shouted, not answering him.

“Calm down,”
he
said, grasping the recliner’s worn arms and pushing back the footrest
.
He got up,
strode
over to Tina and put his arm around her shoulder
.

“I will not calm down
!
Don’t tell me to ‘calm down,’” she yelled, shrugging away from him
.
“I am pissed
!
The old bat just cost me five hundred big ones!”

He
raised his hands in a gesture of surrender
.
“Okay
.
Okay
.
I get it. You’re pissed
.
Now, will you please tell me why she cancelled?”

She
put her hands on her hips and said, “She
has to give out candy tonight.”

“Why can’t the woman downstairs with the kids give out the candy?”

“Because, for some reason, her stupid husband won’t be there and she has to take her kids out trick
-
or
-
treating.”

“What about the old lady’s son
?
Why can’t he do it?”

“He’s going out of town!”

“Where’s he going?” he asked.

“How the hell should I know
?
Some stupid convention.”

“So,”
he
said, “she cancelled for tonight but I’ll bet you she’s gonna reschedule
.
Right?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you ‘don’t know’?” he asked
.

“I don’t know!” she said, stomping her feet and throwing her arms in the air
.

“
Fine
,” he said
.
“
Now, c
an you cool the theatrics and talk to me?” He grasped her hand and began running his fingers across her palm
.
“
Why
don’t you know
?”

“Cause, just now, on the phone, I got the feeling she’s backing off
.
I tried to set up
another appointment but she said she’d get back to me. I know what it is; I think she’s listening
to that Kern woman
.
I could tell from her voice she’s starting to have doubts.”

“What kind of doubts?”

“Doubts about my psychic abilities
.
What’d you think I meant
?
Doubts about the earth being round?”

“That’s it, take it out on me. You can use me as your whipping boy
.
I don’t care,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she said
.
“I’m worried, that’s all
.
What if I lose her
?
What if I never get another client like her
?
How will I survive?”

“Oh, Teen, you’re being paranoid,”
he
said.

She
pulled her hand away and glared at him
.
“Paranoid!”

“I’m sorry,” he said
.
“I’m just not convinced there’s anything for you to worry about
.
What makes you think she’s listening to ‘that Kern woman’
?”

She frowned
.
“Because they’re real close and she thinks the world of Ann
.
She
talks about
her like she was her daughter and her two little brats like they were the grandchildren she never had
.”
She
started to pace back and forth, clearly agitated.

“Sweetie, you’ve got to settle down,”
he
said
.
“It’s not worth you getting sick over
.”

“You can say that; you weren’t there the other day when I met Ann Kern and tried to read her palm
.
Let’s just say it was obvious she’s not a believer
.
She made it very clear, right in front of Olivia
.
You should a heard the stuff she said
.
‘
I don’t believe anyone can tell the future from looking at the lines on
a person’s hand
.
That’s just a bit too much.
Only God
knows what the future holds for us
.’ I can only imagine what she says when I’m not there. I know she’s been trashin’ me
to Olivia
for a long time
. I know that’s why
Olivia cancelled
.”

“Come on now, Teeny
?
Don’t worry about it, honey
.
You’ll figure something out. You’ll make your money
.
Just not tonight.”

“But I wanted that money
tonight
,” she said, drawing out the word, “I had plans for it
.
Your birthday’s next week, you know, and I have something special in mind for you
.”
She could almost feel the soft, supple leather of the jacket she had picked out for him
.
“It’s a surprise
.”
She
strutted
over to
him
and put her arms around his waist, gazing up into his face
.
“Now, I won’t be able to afford to get it for you.”

“You’re all the birthday present I need,” he said
.
“Anyway, with my brains and your persuasive charm, I’m sure we can figure something out
.
There’s got to be something we can do.
Remember, Teen, where there’s a will, there’s a way
.
I’m with ya, babe
.
All the way
.
Now will you please lighten up?”

She
smiled
.
“Well, okay
.
You’re right
.
I guess it’s not a total loss
.
Maybe you and I can do something special tonight
?”
She
ran her hands down his
lower
back
,
grasp
ing
his buttocks
and
squeezing as she
pull
ed
him closer to her
.
“I’d rather stay home with you anyway
.
We can open a bottle of wine, maybe watch one of those nasty movies you’re so fond of and then make a little movie of our own.”

“Uh-oh.”

“What?” she asked
.
“Oh, don’t tell me you’re going out
again
tonight!”

“I’m sorry, sweetie
.
I promised the guys I’d play cards
.
I thought you’d be out.”

She
stepped back
.
“Oh, well, that’s just great
!
So what am I supposed to do
?
Trick-or-treat
?
Why can’t you cancel
?
Everybody else is.”

“I can’t. I’ll make it up to you, I promise, but I have to go tonight. The guys need me.
And anyway, it’s a high
stakes game. I stand to make a lot of money.
”

“Fine
.
They
need you
.
Go
.
Don’t worry about
me
.
At least one of us will make some money tonight.
I’ll find some way to amuse myself,” she said, stomping out of the room.

* * * *

Greg
walked back over to the recliner, picked up the remote and turned the sound back on
.
Even with the volume turned up, h
e
could hear
Tina banging things around in the bedroom
.
He had to stop himself from laughing out loud
.
From experience, he knew what
she
would do tonight
.
She’ll pout and cry and feel sorry for herself, he thought
.
Then she’ll open that bottle of wine and drink herself into oblivion
.
She’ll pass out on this filthy, old couch and snore like the pig she is
.

Then tomorrow, he thought, she’ll be hung over and even more difficult than usual
.
He shuddered, picturing what she looked like in the morning normally, knowing that it was always worse after she’d spent the night crying and drinking
.
Her bright red hair would be tangled and matted and big globs of mascara would be stuck in the corners of her eyes
.
She’ll be a little distant because she’ll want to punish me and she’ll expect a lot of attention and an apology
.
But, after a few kisses and a little ass kissing from me, she’ll get over it, he thought
.
She always does
.

What a way to live, my man, he thought
.
But it all serves its purpose, doesn’t it
?
She serves her purpose
.
Sometimes the end justifies the means and this time the payoff could be well worth the cost
.
A little patience goes a long way
.
In the meantime, a man’s gotta do what a
man’s gotta do
.
Some psychic she is, he thought
.
Good thing though because
, if she really could read my mind, she’d know
what
I’m really thinking
.

He stood up and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly
.
“Tina,” he called to her, as he
put down the remote and
ambled
down the hall toward the bedroom, “don’t be mad, Honey
.
We’re here together now
.
What say, we make the most of it
?”

Chapter 3
6

ANN SAT AT HER DESK,
sorting the stack of letters into alphabetical order that Father Andrew had asked her to file
.
While
she
worked, her mind kept wandering from the task at hand to thoughts of David
.
What’s happened to him? she asked herself for
maybe
the
thousandth
time
.
What’s happened to the sweet, caring man I married
?
Where’s the old David
?
Then she asked herself a new question
:
what’s going to happen to him now?

The image of David in a bright orange prison jumpsuit popped into her mind
.
She could see him, cuffed and shackled, with his blonde hair
unkempt
and his head bowed as he was led down a long gray hallway and shoved into a tiny cell
.
Stop it
!
she reprimanded herself
.
But she knew that she couldn’t ignore the situation much longer
.
She would have to tell Louise
where her son was and, as much as she dreaded it, she would have to ask for Louise’s help
.
She didn’t know where else to turn.