Jane extended her legs and wiggled her free toes. “I’m bored with this topic for right now. We can talk about you for a little while. Let’s start with your birthday party at Hideaway, which is still somewhat about me since I’m planning it. I guarantee it will be a night of heavy drinking, general debauchery and extreme merriment.”
Ari winced at the description. “Please don’t forget that there are many straight people coming—granted, they are liberal straight people, but you do tend to blur the lines of decency. Sometimes
I’m
offended.”
She patted Ari’s knee and laughed. “Don’t you worry, honey. Lynne and Brian are helping me plan the party, and they’re keeping me on the appropriate side of decency, as you put it.”
“And you know my father may come, right? I don’t think Hideaway would be the best place for a reunion after nearly four years.” She tried to imagine Jack Adams at their favorite bar, witnessing a sea of lesbians in various states of dress, freely displaying their affection for one another.
Jane waved off her concern. “So if he decides to come, we’ll go to dinner and then dump him at Sol’s before we hit the bar.” Sol Gardener was the Phoenix Chief of Police, Jack’s best friend and Ari’s godfather.
“Hmm. I don’t know. I think I’ll ask him not to come. It just would be too difficult.”
Jane sat up and took her hand. “I understand what you’re saying, honey, and in this case you might be right, but you’ve avoided seeing your father for the last six months. I personally think it’s great that he’s trying to mend the fences from the past. Does he even know about Molly?”
“No, we’ve talked on the phone about general stuff and work. He hasn’t asked me about my love life and I haven’t volunteered.”
“He’ll find out eventually, sweetie. Molly’s too big to hide.”
Ari gripped Jane’s shoulders. “Promise me that you’ll exercise some control regarding this party.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Define
control
?”
“Uh, well, that would mean no strippers, no sex toys—”
“Wait! No sex toys? But sex is okay, right?”
“Jane!”
“Hey, I’m just looking for parameters.” She chuckled. “Honey, you don’t need to worry.” She clapped her hands once and sat up on the couch. “Now, back to me. What should I do about this flower business?”
Ari rose and grabbed a notepad from her desk. “Tell me the history again.”
“This makes number four in the past month. The first one was left on my desk at the office, the second one was on top of my car outside Hideaway, the third one appeared on the bench in front of my gym locker, and now this one.”
“It seems like each one gets a little more personal.”
“Damn right. Whoever it is knows where I live, where I work and how I spend my time. I’m totally creeped out.”
She tapped her pencil on the notepad. “You said four in the last month. Is that about one a week?”
Jane narrowed her eyes. “Well, that’s about right, but the last two were only four days apart.”
“Hmm. Well, that could be significant. She
or
he may be losing patience. Can you think of any women you’ve crushed lately?”
Jane scowled. “Don’t say that. You make me sound like a monster. I just like a good time.” She looked up at Ari, who stared without comment. She wasn’t going to argue with Jane about her reputation with Phoenix’s lesbian population. “And no, I have not had a screaming match with any woman in the past month, nor have I needed to duck because a date was throwing a shoe at me. The fall season has clearly been about meeting enlightened women.” She held up her chin with an air of dignity.
Ari sighed and sat down on the couch. “Well, then maybe it’s somebody who’s old-fashioned and is trying to court you.”
Jane smirked and shook her head. “I doubt it.”
“Maybe you should do what Molly suggested and hire a private investigator, someone who could check out the orchids? See if there’s some way to tell where they’re grown.”
Jane held up her hands. “Why do I need a PI? You’ve got it all figured out. We could do it together.”
“I don’t know, Jane. Molly made me promise that I would never again involve myself in anything dangerous. Not after last time.”
Jane was silent but her gaze went to Ari’s shoulder, the place where Ari had been shot. “I’m just talking about the orchid part,” she said. “The simple legwork. No chasing criminals. That’ll give me time to look for a real PI. What do you say? Please? I’m really desperate here.”
She hated it when Jane whined. She rarely put on a pathetic face, but when she did, it was priceless. She sighed. “Hand me the phone book, and let’s look up florists.”
Saturday, October 14th
1:40 PM
The morning had really been about spending time with Jane. They had stopped at three floral shops with detours for her personal needs and her bottomless stomach. Jane seemed to relish their time together. It was like the old days when they both were single. Since she and Molly had become a couple, Jane was relegated to the outer circle of her life, and while she never uttered a complaint, Ari knew she felt a distance growing between them. So she was happy to spend the beautiful day cruising through Phoenix in Jane’s convertible Porsche Boxster while everyone stared or honked at the sleek machine.
By afternoon two facts were clear to Ari: Jane was highly connected, and the orchid-sender could be any female in the metropolitan Phoenix area. Despite Jane’s belief that someone wanted to harm her, Ari wasn’t sure the orchids were meant to be sinister. Jane had brought the last one along to show florists. Ari studied the delicate petals and the beautiful design. It was truly elegant, and as she held the slender stalk in her hand, she thought of Molly, imagining her lover naked on her bed while she stroked her tanned skin with the silky white flower. She quickly set the orchid back in her lap before her thoughts went wild. She couldn’t fathom how something so gorgeous could ever carry a dark purpose.
“Lunchtime,” Jane announced as she whipped the Porsche into a parking spot at the front door of McGurkee’s, their favorite sandwich shop. “You go grab a table and I’ll get our usual.”
The eatery was crowded, and Ari found the last open booth in a corner by a picture window. She gazed at the buildings across the street and reviewed the morning’s activities. They had accomplished little due to their intermittent detours. After stopping at Jane’s to retrieve the last orchid, they’d gone to AJ’s Fine Foods because Jane couldn’t live without her morning double mocha latté. Ari was astonished when Jane greeted the coffee barista with a kiss on the mouth. When they went to pay, she embraced the cashier and turned to Ari. “Lina, this is my best friend in the whole world, Ari Adams.”
Lina took her extended hand and brought it to her lips. “Ari, it is a pleasure. Jane has such good taste in friends.” The look in her eyes left Ari with a clear message of opportunity. She withdrew her hand and noticed the amused expression on Jane’s face.
Their first florist stop proved a dead end, since the only person working was a high school student. The thin young man dressed in gothic attire knew nothing about orchids except that his shop didn’t carry them very often, but he thought Jane’s flower was quite beautiful. Next they had zipped into the dry cleaners to claim Jane’s suits, which also netted her a dinner date with the carhop.
At the second flower shop they learned more about the orchid. The owner, a pudgy older man with white hair, pulled out a thick book on flowers and found the section on orchids. His gaze shifted from the orchid Jane held in her hand to the array of pictures on the page. When he found what he wanted, his stubby finger smacked the book.
“That’s it,” he said. “The
Angraecum elephantinum,
also known as the
Gigantic Angraecum
. It’s very difficult to grow and must be nurtured carefully.”
“Do you sell it?” Ari asked.
The florist shook his head. “No, certainly not something that rare. You wouldn’t have much of a market for it. Whoever grew that flower did so out of love, not profit.”
“I’d say you have an admirer,” Ari told Jane as they left.
“An admirer? What kind of admirer tries to scare the crap out of their intended conquest?”
“Jane, the person may not know he or she is affecting you this way. You heard what the man said. Someone grew it out of love.”
“Love of
flowers
, not love for
me.
If I find out who’s doing this, I’m going to press charges.”
Ari chuckled. So far the entire situation seemed rather benign, and she was rather sure Jane was being overly dramatic. The third stop confirmed that Jane did possess a
Gigantic Angraecum
, but the salesperson did not carry them and had received no inquiries that she could remember.
Ari looked over at the sandwich line to observe Jane shooting a straw wrapper at the drink girl, who giggled. Jane, the naked straw still dangling between her lips, waved it up and down. The girl laughed nervously, clearly embarrassed. Ari shook her head. Jane never knew when to quit. Her phone chimed from the recesses of her purse and she grabbed it before it went to voice mail. She smiled when she saw Molly’s name on the caller ID.
“Hey, baby,” Ari whispered.
“Hi. How’s it going with Jane?”
She could hear concern and fatigue in Molly’s voice. No doubt her own investigation was draining her energy, and the idea of Ari chasing a stalker with Jane probably heightened her anxiety. She knew Molly loved her, even if she wasn’t ready to say it. “We’re just having fun driving around.” She hoped she sounded casual. “Most of the day has been about lattés, dry cleaning and food. We’re at McGurkee’s right now.”
Molly laughed heartily. “Jane and her stomach.”
“Exactly. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Good. I’ve got enough going on. The stakeout was a total bust, and now we’re regrouping. Anyway, I just wanted to call because you may need to go out to my folks’ by yourself and I’ll get out there as soon as I can, okay?”
Of course it was okay. Every time Molly asked Ari to spend time with her family, she always made it sound like Ari was shouldered with an unwanted burden. The fact was that she loved Molly’s family, particularly Brian and Lynne. The four of them frequently double-dated and spent Saturday nights together making dinner and going to jazz clubs. Tonight they were headed out to Molly’s parents’ house for Brian’s birthday.
“Don’t worry about it, babe. I’ll pick up the wine and take the gift. Brian is going to love that gearshift knob you found for him.” Brian was restoring an old Aston-Martin in his spare time, and Molly had combed the Internet for the parts he wanted. “Do you have any idea how late you’ll be?”
Molly sighed heavily. “Uh, probably around eight. Eat without me, but I’ll try to make the birthday cake, okay?”
Jane appeared with the food and mouthed Molly’s name. Ari nodded in response. “Okay. Take care. ’Bye.” She slipped the phone into her purse and frowned. “She’s working so hard right now.”
Jane grabbed the catsup and filled a small bowl that sat on her tray, preparing to eat her fries. Ari was accustomed to Jane’s quirky eating rituals. She rarely ate food with her hands, and her table manners surpassed anything recommended by Emily Post. Only after she had cut a fry in fourths, speared a piece of it with her fork and dipped it into the catsup did she finally bring the morsel to her lips. By then Ari had devoured a third of her entire meal.
“It’s because she’s trying to get a promotion, right?” Jane asked after she had chewed the fry at least ten times.
“Well, she doesn’t have a clear plan, but it’s really stressful right now. She was calling to tell me that she’ll be late to Brian’s birthday party, and I know she’s disappointed. Brian is her favorite person in the world.”
“No, you are her favorite person in the
world
. He’s just her favorite brother. Now, speaking of birthday parties, I think I need a little more clarification. How will Brian and Lynne react if your birthday cake is in the shape of a woman’s chest?”
She nearly dropped her sandwich. “Did you get me a boob cake?”
Jane finished chewing thoroughly before she replied. “I have not ordered the cake yet, but I have to do it today. I knew you wouldn’t go for a vagina-shaped cake, so I was thinking of breasts.”
“What about a rectangular sheet cake? You know, like everyone else has?”
Only after Jane had dabbed the corners of her mouth did she answer. “You are not everyone. You are my best friend, and we are going to make this an incredibly memorable party.” She waved her hand, dismissing the subject. “Don’t worry. I’ll think of something.”
Ari was still trying to imagine how a baker could create a vagina-shaped cake as they left the sandwich joint to continue their quest for orchid information. She surmised that if the sender had not purchased the flower from a shop, he or she was growing them in a private greenhouse or buying them off the Internet, if that was possible. In either case, she doubted they would ever find the admirer.
“I need to connect with Teri,” Jane said.
She headed east toward the Biltmore area into a small pocket of spacious old ranch houses, many of which sat on huge lots. A rusty banana-yellow Dodge pickup truck was parked in front of a house that seemed out of place for the neighborhood. A modernistic structure full of angles, it was clearly ahead of its time, and it reminded Ari of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural style.