After Midnight (14 page)

“Sam, I feel like I’m taking advantage of you being a good guy. What I would hate most is if one day you woke up and felt trapped. I don’t want you to resent me.”

“Okay, we’ll keep this open. You can stay here as long as you need or as long as you want.”

“So I could leave anytime I want, but you’d be trapped. That doesn’t seem fair to you.”

“Do I strike you as a man who wouldn’t be honest with you?”

“No, but…”

His expression grew serious. “I don’t want you to leave.”

His directness and sincerity clearly startled her. Her whole demeanor seemed to lift. For the first time since he had seen her this afternoon, there was hope in her eyes. “Are you sure?”

He stood and walked around to her. Gently, he pulled her to her feet and faced her, his hands gripping her upper arms. “Call it a gut feeling, but I think that this thing between us is worth fighting for.”

Kate wrapped her arms around his neck and, being careful of his right shoulder, buried her face in his neck. “You’re too good to be true.”

He lifted her chin and kissed her. Though he was gentle at first, the taste of her on his lips and the feel of her body against his brought back that surge of desire that had simmered just below the surface since he met her. His mouth captured hers with a fierce possessiveness he didn’t know he had. He knew, at that moment, that he would do anything in his power to keep her there, in Denver, in his arms.

He stepped away first, knowing if he didn’t take a break, he would make love to her right there on the table next to the pizza box and empty beer bottles. As much as he wanted her, that wasn’t the direction their relationship should go. It was more than just sex, and he wanted her to believe he didn’t make all his decisions with his penis.

They moved to sit on the couch, with Sam leaning against one corner and Kate leaning against the other and her legs resting across his lap. The softness of her bare skin as he stroked her legs was almost too distracting, but he forced himself to concentrate on their conversation.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t take your call, but I was at PT, and my phone was in my gym bag.”

“That’s okay. Brian waited with me until the cop arrived.”

“Brian?”

“Yeah, that reporter who was riding along with you.”

“Why was he there?”

“He dropped by to give me the name of a body shop…which I no longer need.”

“Does he know who you are?”

“I don’t think so. He’s never mentioned it, and I certainly haven’t brought it up. He shops at the bookstore.”

Sam wasn’t sure he liked having Brian hanging around Kate, but he decided he didn’t really have the grounds to show any signs of jealousy, so he moved on to the subject he’d been dying to get to.

“You were absolutely right about the connection between Jameel and Coral. I ran her through the computer, and she was listed as his mother. I’m not sure how Larry fits into it all, but I thought we could pay her a visit tomorrow.”

“I’d love to go with you.” Her expression brightened, then fell. “I guess I’ll have to call J.R. at the Music Hall and quit the play.”

“Why would you do that?”

She gave him an exasperated look. “I don’t have a car. I can’t get back and forth every day.”

“Well, it’s your lucky day. I happen to know of an excellent chauffeur who has a lot of free time on his hands.”

“I couldn’t—”

“You could. My pony loves getting out of the city and stretching her legs.”

“I can’t ask you to—”

He interrupted her again. “You’re not asking. I’m offering. Consider me your biggest fan.”

She could tell he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Accepting that one part of her life was going to work out, at least for a while, she relaxed and gave him a shaky smile. “You’re going to get so sick of that play.”

“Maybe, but I won’t get sick of seeing you up there onstage and hearing you sing. You’ve got a really good voice. Why aren’t you going after a singing career?”

“Great singers are a dime a dozen. I wouldn’t have a chance. It’s even more difficult to get a hit record than it is to be a working actress.”

“You’re better than half the singers on the radio right now.”

“So are thousands of backup singers on Broadway and in Vegas. There’s no explanation why a singer like Britney or Rihanna break out and better singers don’t. At least Katy, Gaga, and Taylor write their own songs.”

He grabbed her ankles and pulled her until she was resting on his lap. “I can’t say I’m not just a little bit relieved. It’s hard enough sharing you with a local audience. If you hit it big with a record, you’d be out of my league.”

“What if I hit it big in Hollywood?”

“I’ll escort you down the red carpet.”

She stood and stretched, then reached out for his hand. “I don’t know about you, officer, but I’ve had a long, hard day. Any interest in tucking me in?”

He was immediately on his feet. “Maybe we can make it a long, hard night,” he offered, and flipped off the lights before following her into the bedroom.

While Sam suffered through his early morning physical therapy, Kate tidied the condo and washed the dishes. She was showered and ready to go by the time he returned. He took a quick shower and they headed to the Marcus house.

As Jameel had remarked, it was in one of the worst parts of town. Even Sam looked a little uncomfortable as they made their way down the narrow streets lined with cars; most of the houses didn’t have garages or even driveways. Although it was midmorning, there were people everywhere, sitting on front porches or hanging around in small groups. Kids played in the street on skateboards or in one-on-one basketball games with bare hoops mounted on poles or the sides of the houses.

“Six fifty-one…six fifty-three…six fifty-five, there it is,” Sam said, and stopped in front of a small blue cottage. Unlike most of the others on the block, this home’s yard was neat and junk free. Colorful petunias spilled over planters on each side of the front door. A large cottonwood tree shaded the whole area, offering a cool oasis from a day that promised temperatures in the upper nineties.

“Ready?” Kate asked, and Sam nodded. She could tell that this was awkward for him because it forced him to think about the death of his old partner at the hands of the kid who used to live in the house. It showed the strength of his character that he was able to do this with a degree of civility.

“Let’s do this.” He sucked in a deep breath and got out of his car.

They walked together to the porch. The front door was open, but there was an aluminum screen door. From inside came the sound of a television tuned to a cooking show. Sam knocked on the doorframe.

The TV sound shut off. “Coming,” a voice called from within the house. There was a creak of a chair as someone got up, followed by the shuffling of slippers on a hardwood floor. The woman finally made it to the front door and stared through the fine mesh of the screen at Sam and Kate.

“Coral Marcus?” Sam asked.

“Who wants to know?” Her tone wasn’t unfriendly, just suspicious.

Kate nudged Sam and stepped forward. “I’m Kate McKinney. I was a friend of Jameel’s. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Kate.” Coral’s voice softened. “Jesse spoke of you often. Come on in, girl, and get out of the heat.” She swung the screen door open wide.

“Jesse?”

Coral shook her head. “His birth name was Jesse Leon Marcus, but he decided that sounded too white. He changed it to Jameel when he was in junior high, but I never called him that. I named him after my father. Jesse is a perfectly good name.”

“I agree.” Kate hesitated.

Sam’s hand on Kate’s back gave her a little pat of approval as they walked inside. Coral led them to the kitchen. “Have a seat. Can I get you some coffee or lemonade?”

“Lemonade for me,” Kate said, and Sam nodded in agreement.

Coral took a pitcher out of the refrigerator, placed three glasses on the table, poured them almost full, then sat down. She was of indeterminate age, probably late forties. Her black hair was worn in a short cap of tight curls and was liberally peppered with gray. Her skin was the color of polished mahogany, and her eyes were a shade darker and dulled by sadness. She was dressed in a matching robin’s egg blue sweat suit and a flowery T-shirt.

“I’m sorry we didn’t meet earlier. Jameel and I spent a lot of time together, either auditioning or working on plays.”

“He loved theater and movies. He could quote lines and tell you the names of the stars and directors of almost any movie you could think of. That boy would stay up all night long, watching movies.”

“We used to pass the time by asking each other trivia questions,” Kate commented. “And let me tell you, when you’re trying to make a career as an actor, you spend a lot of time hanging around, waiting.”

Coral smiled. “Jesse said that waiting was what he did best.”

There was a pause as they sipped their lemonade.

“I don’t know if you knew it, but I was with Jam…er, Jesse, the night he was shot.” Kate was hesitant to bring up the subject, but she felt it was important that Coral know.

“Oh, no.” Coral was genuinely horrified. “I didn’t know that.”

“He said we had been hired by someone who was shooting a television pilot. Did he say anything to you about that?”

“He might have. I don’t remember. You could look in his room and see if he had any papers on it.”

“That would be great. I need to find out exactly who it was who contacted him about the job.”

Coral stood and, without speaking, shuffled her way down the short hall to a small bedroom. Kate and Sam followed. At the doorway, she stopped, “You two go on in. I…I haven’t been able to go in there since…”

Kate reached out and squeezed the older woman’s arm as they passed her to enter the bedroom. It was a typical teenager’s room, except instead of posters of rap stars, there were movie posters papering every wall, floor to ceiling. A neat row of colorful and probably expensive sneakers lined the floor of one wall; they were obviously his prized possessions. The bed was a tumble of sheets and blankets, but there were no dirty clothes on the floor. Inside the doorless closet was his entire wardrobe, hanging on hangers or folded on a shelf. He didn’t have many clothes, but those he did, he had taken care of.

There didn’t appear to be anything out of place except on the dresser. Taped to the mirror was a list of casting calls. On the top of the dresser were Jesse’s trophies from Little League sports, bottles of men’s fragrances, and several pay stubs in a neat stack.

Sam picked up the stubs and flipped through them, then handed them to Kate. She recognized all of the names of either local agencies or play companies and shook her head. And then there was a plain white envelope that had been tossed on top, looking oddly out of place, as if Jameel had been in a hurry. Kate and Sam exchanged a look, then he took a small plastic bag from his pocket, picked the envelope up with a pen, and deposited it in the bag. Nothing else seemed to be promising. They finished their search and returned to the kitchen, where Coral was again sitting at the table.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” she asked.

“Maybe. I’ll send it to the lab to check for prints,” Sam said.

“Oh? Are you a policeman?”

Not sure of her reaction, Sam had been reluctant to tell her. But he couldn’t lie. “Yes, ma’am, I am. I was there that night, too.”

Unexpectedly, her eyes welled with tears and she reached out and gripped his hand. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know he felt like that.”

Sam’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “How he felt about cops?”

“No, how he felt about Officer Resnick.”

Sam leaned forward. “What was his connection to Officer Resnick?”

Coral wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Jesse blamed Officer Resnick for his father’s death.”

“Jesse’s father?” Kate asked, trying to make the connection.

“Yes. You see, Jesse’s father wasn’t really a bad man. He just couldn’t keep a job. He kinda had a temper, you know. Someone would tell him to do something he didn’t want to do and he’d flare up and get himself fired.

“So about ten years ago when Jesse was only eight or nine, he and his daddy went to the store to get some food for dinner. I don’t know what that man was thinking, but he pulled a gun on the clerk and told him to empty his cash register. The clerk must’ve hit a panic button or maybe someone saw what was going on, but the police came.”

She shook her head at the rush of old feelings the memories were stirring up. “Maybe Leon was doing drugs again, I don’t know. Or maybe he was showin’ off in front of his kid, but he pointed the gun at the policemen. I was told they tried to get him to put it down, but he was acting all aggressive, and they shot him dead.”

“And one of the policemen was Officer Resnick?” Sam guessed.

Coral nodded. “He’s the one who pulled the trigger. And Jesse saw it all.”

“So why has Officer Resnick been sending you a check all these years?” Sam’s voice was gentle.

“Officer Resnick felt really bad about the shooting, but especially because Jesse was there. He came to see me shortly after Leon’s funeral. I never blamed him. He was just doin’ his job. I knew how Leon could be. Even sober he was a son of a gun, but on the drugs, he was kinda crazy. Officer Resnick was the kindest man I ever met. He gave me a check, and even though I tried to give it back, he left it on the counter. He told me to use it for Jesse, to keep him off the streets and out of trouble. Then every month like clockwork, another check would arrive. I have to tell you, that money made all the difference in the world, and I was able to keep Jesse in school and in sports. He was such a good boy. I thought he would make it. I really did.”

“Did Jesse know about the checks?” Sam asked.

“Oh, no. Officer Resnick insisted that I keep it a secret.” Coral shook her head sadly. “He was a truly nice man. I would give anything to have that night never happen. I should have told Jesse. I should have kept him home that night. I should have—”

“You had no way of knowing,” Kate rushed to assure her. “I spent a lot of time with him. I was with him that night, and he was fine. We were laughing and joking. When Sam stopped, we both went into our roles, but there wasn’t supposed to be any violence. He didn’t act weird until Officer Resnick showed up.”

“All I can say is that I’m so sorry.” Coral covered her mouth with her hand.

Sam rose, and Kate followed his lead. Coral walked them to the door, and Kate gave her a little hug.

In the Mustang again, they drove several blocks in silence. They pulled into a Sonic and parked in a stall. After placing their order, Sam turned to Kate.

“It sounds like Jameel saw Larry and something snapped,” Sam said thoughtfully, still putting the pieces together in his mind.

“It must have brought back all those horrible memories of seeing his father get shot by a cop in a uniform, and he blamed Larry.” Kate was still having trouble combining Jameel and Jesse in her mind, but it explained his sudden change in attitude.

“And he didn’t know how much Larry had done for his family all those years.”

“It’s all so awful. And so wasteful.” Kate sighed, filled with sadness for everyone’s loss.

Their hamburgers and tater tots arrived, and they ate absently, still wrapping their minds around what they had learned earlier.

“So, who do you think hired you and Jameel?”

“I honestly have no idea.” She took a drink of her chocolate malt. “Can you really lift fingerprints off an envelope?”

“Sure. But unless the prints are in the system, it won’t tell us anything. Let’s just hope whoever hired you has a record.”

“I’m not sure what that’s going to tell us.”

“Me neither, but I’ve got to know.”

“At least you can tell Sue that her husband wasn’t a cheater. He was a hero.”

“I already knew that.” Sam gave her a rueful smile.