Compulsion Page 6

  A few minutes later Toni looked over again and saw Nancy Manford talking to Vicky. Toni had known Nancy for several years. She worked part-time as an activist and they were both on the Community Awareness committee that met monthly. She excused herself from the table and went over to say hi. Even though she wasn’t necessarily close to Nancy, she did consider her a friend.

  “Hey, Nancy. How’ve you been?”

  “Oh, hi, Toni.” She hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. “I saw Vicky and thought I’d crash the party. Is that the birthday girl?” She pointed to their table.

  “Yup, that’s her. You know Boggs—she’s sitting next to Patty—so go over and say hello.”

  “I think I will.” Nancy winked. “Is she available?”

  “I don’t think so, but go over and say hello anyway.” Toni chuckled and hugged her again.

  Vicky pulled Toni closer. “I only met Nancy once and that was ages ago. I can’t believe she knew who I was. I mean, I think she’s nice and all, but after what we found out about her a few months ago, I think I’ll keep my distance.”

  Toni nodded and giggled. They’d run a background check on her a few months ago and found a stalking charge. “Me, too. That’s why I told her Patty wasn’t available.”

  Before Vicky could respond, a woman approached them.

  “Detective, nice to see you again.”

  Vicky shook her hand. “Nice to see you, Your Honor.”

  “So Officer Green is another year older. Where is the birthday girl?”

  “She’s right over there.” Vicky gestured to the table.

  Toni raised her eyebrows at Vicky.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Vicky said immediately. “Judge Crayton, this is Toni Barston. She’s one of our assistant prosecuting attorneys.”

  Toni reached out her hand and smiled. “Very nice to meet you, judge.”

  Judge Crayton shook her hand. “So you’re Toni Barston.” She smiled. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m moving over from civil to criminal next week, so I may see you in my courtroom.”

  “I look forward to that, Your Honor.” Toni remembered hearing the judge’s name but had never seen her before. She was racking her brain, trying to remember anything about the judge. She came up with nothing.

  “Well, great seeing you again, detective. And nice meeting you, Ms. Barston. I must go over and wish Officer Green a happy birthday.”

  “Good to meet you, judge.” Toni watched the woman walk over to her table. She turned back to Vicky. “Well, that was interesting. What’s she like?”

  “I don’t really know her,” Vicky admitted. “She’s been around forever, though. She used to work criminal exclusively but moved over to civil a couple years ago. She’s semi-retired now. Mostly she fills in for other judges. I had no idea she was coming back to criminal. I testified in her courtroom once and she seemed fair.”

  “Pretty cool that she’s open,” Toni commented. “I mean, coming into a gay bar and all.” She felt good about that. Even though she knew that law was still a good ol’ boys’ network, it was nice to know that an openly gay woman could be a judge. Maybe Fairfield wasn’t as backward as she’d thought.

  Another woman approached Vicky and broke Toni’s train of thought.

  “Detective Carter, right?” the woman said. “I’m Karen Young. I think we met about two years ago.”

  Vicky shook her hand. “That’s right. I remember. I was investigating a bank embezzlement case and you were one of the bank vice presidents there, right?”

  “I used to be, yes. Over in the advertising department. Now I work for the main bank part-time, mostly just board meetings. I also freelance. Good to see you again.”

  Vicky turned to Toni. “This is Toni Barston. Toni, this is Karen Young.”

  Toni greeted her. “Nice to meet you, Karen.”

  Karen smiled. “So, you’re Toni Barston. I’ve heard of you, on the news if I’m not mistaken. Pleased to meet you.” She said to Vicky, “I didn’t mean to crash a birthday party, but I saw you and thought I’d say hello.” She turned to leave. “And nice to meet you, Toni. See you both around.”

  After she left, Toni laughed. “Jeez, Vicky. Do you know every woman in town or what?”

  “Hey, I can’t help it if I’m so memorable, can I?” She was still laughing when yet another woman approached her.

  “Hi. It’s Detective Carter, isn’t it?” The woman held out her hand. “I’m Doris Jackson.”

  Vicky responded in kind. “Yes, of course. I think we met a few years ago.” She nodded toward Toni. “Toni, this is Doris Jackson. She’s the owner of Gertrude’s Garage.”

  Toni shook her hand. “Great to meet you. I really love this place. You’ve done an excellent job. I was here for your grand opening last year.”

  Doris smiled. “Well, thank you. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourselves. Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.” With that, she turned and left.

  “Is it me, or did that seem rather odd and abrupt?” Toni looked at Vicky, wondering if she felt the same thing.

  “It felt weird to me too.” Vicky laughed. “Of course, maybe it’s because I’m standing here in full view of the rest of the bar, next to the food table. Maybe this looks like a pathetic receiving line and people just feel obligated to talk to me. Let’s go sit down.”

  Toni chuckled at Vicky’s description. She always had a way of saying things that made you laugh. She followed her back to the table where a fresh bucket of beer had just been delivered. Boggs was just sitting down after filling a plate with fresh wings. Even though the bar was loud, it was tolerable in their little corner and she could actually hear the conversation. Gathered at the table with her were Vicky, Johnnie, Patty and Boggs. Nancy Manford had apparently moved on.

  “I just want to thank all of you for making this so special for me.” Patty smiled at each of them. “It means a lot. And thank you all for the wonderful gifts.”

  “There’s more,” Vicky said with that famous smirk of hers. “We have a couple special gifts. We’re going to let you open them now, but you can’t tell anyone else about them. At least not until next week. Agreed?”

  Patty looked confused. “I guess so.” She looked to Johnnie for help, but she only shrugged.

  Vicky pulled the box from underneath the table and presented Patty with the first gift. It was the pad of paper with a pencil attached from Boggs, who grinned like an idiot. Patty thanked her and opened the next one. It was the videos from Toni. Again she looked confused but thanked Toni. The next was a book from Johnnie. It was titled How to Eat Doughnuts Without Being Obvious. Boggs burst out laughing and Vicky punched her in the arm.

  “Um, thank you, Johnnie.”

  Johnnie kept her face serious. “You’re very welcome.”

  Patty opened the last gift from Vicky. It was a plastic pipe and Sherlock Holmes hat.

  Clearly very confused, she said, “Um, thank you everyone. They’re very nice.” Her smile looked frozen and plastic.

  “And remember, you can’t tell anyone about these gifts,” Vicky reminded her.

  Patty nodded. Toni couldn’t take it anymore. “Oh, for God’s sake, Vicky. Tell her. This is killing me.”

  Uncertainty and expectation played in Patty’s eyes.

  Vicky pulled out a small brown leather business card holder from her pocket and presented it. Patty held it in her hands, still looking confused. “Go ahead,” Vicky said, grinning. “Open it.”

  Patty slowly opened the holder and took out one of the cards. Her eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped.

  “As of Monday,” Vicky said seriously, “you are officially a detective with the Fairfield Police Department.” She leaned over and kissed Patty on the cheek. “Congratulations.”

  Toni jumped up and ran over to hug Patty. “I’m so happy for you and so proud. Congratulations!”

  Patty seemed stunned. “Are you serious? I really made it?” She shot a dubious glance at Vicky, then looked back at the bus
iness card. The word Detective was in front of her name and the emblem of the Fairfield P.D. was in the upper left-hand corner.

  “Yes. In fact, you made the highest score on the exam.” Vicky was smiling. “But you can’t tell anyone until Monday. Captain Billings made me promise, okay? But I’m sure your sister and Cathy already know.”

  Everyone laughed. Patty’s sister, Lori, was a medium and her friend Cathy was a psychic. Cathy had helped them figure out who was stalking Toni a few months ago.

  Patty was just beaming. “I can’t believe this. Now this really is the best birthday I’ve ever had.” She picked up the plastic pipe. “And I swear, these are the best gifts ever.”

  As Patty started asking Vicky a hundred questions, Boggs leaned over and whispered to Toni, “Do you want to tell them about us?”

  Toni squeezed her hand. She’d never been so excited about anything in her life, but she didn’t want to tell everyone yet. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to pull the focus away from Patty, or maybe she just couldn’t believe it was really true. It almost seemed magical at the moment and she was afraid to break the spell. “Let’s wait until everything is finalized,” she whispered back to Boggs, who nodded. Toni curled her arm through Boggs’s and scooted a little closer.

  The feeling of Boggs’s strong arm comforted her and she almost had to pinch herself to make sure this was real. Boggs winked at her before turning her attention back to the group. Toni felt her entire body react immediately. How can even a wink still make me weak in the knees after this long? She kissed Boggs on the cheek. Could things get any better? she wondered.

  Chapter 10

  The woman sat at a table in the back of the bar with Jan. They’d just started on their second order of wings. They’d watched Doug mingle with quite a few people and he seemed to be doing fine and wasn’t being obvious about his transactions. She smiled. A waitress appeared with another round of drinks. The woman looked at her glass. It was centered on the small cardboard coaster and contained exactly three ice cubes, floating in Scotch.

  Carefully she stirred the liquid three times with her left index finger, then tapped it twice on the rim. As she licked the Scotch from her finger, anger surged inside her. Her eyes narrowed and she pushed her chair a few inches from the table. Her breathing quickened and her heart pounded. She looked at Jan then back at her drink. “This is not my Scotch,” she snarled through clenched teeth.

  Jan nodded and stood up. She quickly caught the attention of the bartender, who appeared at the table in less than a minute. “Oh, my God,” she said, stricken, as she took the drink from Jan’s hand. “I didn’t realize.” Her hands were shaking as she whisked the drink away. She reappeared moments later with another drink and set it on the empty coaster. “I’m very sorry.” Her voice was trembling as she spoke. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Just don’t ever let it happen again.” Jan’s husky voice and angry glare was enough to scare even the most self-assured barkeep.

  The woman repeated her routine and relaxed after tasting the Scotch. She nodded to Jan, who leaned back in her chair and lit another cigarette.

  The woman took a healthy swallow, then a deep breath. “I met Toni Barston when I came in,” she said quietly. “Now, I remember seeing her on the news last fall.” She took another drink. “She looks stunning in person. I wouldn’t mind having her on the payroll. It would be helpful if we had someone from the prosecuting attorney’s office.”

  Jan simply nodded.

  “Did you get the job done tonight?” She looked at Jan, who’d worked for her for many years. She trusted no one as much as Jan. But there were some things that she wouldn’t tell even her. She wondered why so many things had gone wrong in the last few months. Could it be because of Jan? Or was it because of Toni Barston? She didn’t think it was anything she’d done herself. Or was it? No, she’d been very careful. But earlier she’d made the mistake on her list. Fuck. She was getting worried and began tapping her fingers nervously on the table. Then she ran her fingers through her hair three times. It didn’t work. She did it two more times and felt better.

  “I got half the money he owed us.” Jan took a sip of her rum and Coke. “There was nothing on his computer and I didn’t find any ledger or list.”

  “What about the rest of the merchandise?” She didn’t feel right about this. She needed all this to just go away. She was losing control, and her anxiety was growing. Things used to be so simple.

  “I didn’t find anything,” Jan said. “But it could’ve been on Kevin when he was killed, so the cops would have it. Mike can take care of that.”

  She nodded. “Fine.” She could feel her heart pounding. She excused herself and went to the bathroom. She detested public restrooms, but at least this one she knew was cleaner than most. She balanced herself above the toilet, careful not to make contact. Afterward she flushed the toilet with her foot. At the sink she scrubbed her hands furiously with soap while she counted to thirty, rinsed thoroughly and dried her hands. She repeated the sequence and was on twenty-two when two women came barging into the bathroom. They were giggling and kissing and went into one of the stalls together.

  Damn it. Now, I’ve got to start over. She added more soap to her hands, concentrating as she counted to thirty again, trying to ignore the sounds of passion coming from the last stall. She rinsed again and pulled out the paper towels. After drying her hands she took another paper towel and used it to open the door. Using her foot to keep the door open, she tossed the paper towel in the trash.

  Back at the table she finished her drink with one large gulp, feeling her world was crashing down around her. Nothing was right.

  “Can I get you another?”

  “No. I want to go home.” She was overwhelmed.

  Jan got up immediately. “I’ll get the car.” She swallowed the last of her drink. “I’ll be out front in five minutes.”

  The woman didn’t respond. She watched Jan leave, then scanned the rest of the bar. She needed to do something, but she didn’t know what. Maybe get laid? Things were spiraling out of control and that meant something very bad was going to happen. She ran her fingers through her hair five times. That helped. Maybe Toni Barston was the problem. She’d try and get her on her payroll. She was a beautiful woman and having her close would be nice. And if that didn’t work, she’d set her up and ruin her life. Or kill her. It didn’t matter. One way or another she’d make things right again.

  She got up and headed to the door. She’d ask Jan to dig a little deeper into Toni’s life. She felt good about that decision and walked outside feeling a little more in charge of her life.

  Chapter 11

  Sunday morning Toni and Boggs were sitting at Toni’s dining room table drinking coffee after they’d finished breakfast. Toni had made their favorite, scrambled eggs with Gouda cheese. The Sunday paper was lying on floor and Mr. Rupert was chewing on it. Toni had a pad of paper in front of her.

  “We need to make of list of things to do,” she told Boggs.

  “And finish our list of things we need to buy,” Boggs reminded her. “Like a new bed and couch.”

  Toni laughed. “I still can’t believe you don’t like my ancient waterbed or the hand-me-down couch.”

  Boggs shook her head. “Well, your couch is in better shape than mine, but I think we’ll need something different for the living room, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I think so. There’s no place to put a wraparound couch there.” Toni thought for a moment, picturing the space. “But it could go in the basement. I can’t remember how big that one side is, can you?”

  “I think it’d fit, but let’s see if Aunt Francie can let us take another look so we can measure things.”

  She pulled out her cell phone and made the call while Toni refilled their cups.

  “She said she could meet us there at one o’clock today,” Boggs explained. “My softball game is at eleven, so we could make it. We’d still have time for me to shower and change.
Then maybe we could do a little shopping afterward. What do you think?”

  “Perfect.” Toni glanced at her watch. “Time for you to put on your uniform. I’ll get my measuring tape and measure the couch while you get ready. We can stop at your apartment for you to shower after the game and I’ll measure some of your stuff while we’re there.”

  While Boggs got ready, Toni measured and took notes. With two extra bedrooms, they could use her waterbed for one and Boggs’s full-size bed for the other. On the other hand, her waterbed was really old and moving it and filling it was a pain in the ass. Maybe she’d better scrap that idea and just donate the damn thing. She wasn’t sure about the study. They’d definitely need a good-sized desk and maybe the one Boggs had would work. As for the living room, they would need a new couch and a couple chairs at least. And some lighting. She looked at her old square coffee table. That would probably have to go in the basement with her couch, if it’d fit.

  This was all so new and exciting for Toni. She still wasn’t super comfortable buying furniture with Boggs’s money, but she had to admit that what they currently had really wouldn’t work too well. But still . . .

  “Hey, hon,” she called out to Boggs. “Why don’t we just work with what furniture we have and buy new things a little at a time?” Toni thought this way she’d be able to contribute more.

  “Nah,” Boggs said as she came down the stairs with her softball uniform on. “I want us to have a Fourth of July party. So we’ll have to have something for people to sit on by then.”

  “What?” Toni was stunned. Even if they were able to move all their things on the thirtieth, it would take a while to get settled in. “Are you kidding? We can’t be ready by then.”