Bosom Bodies (Mina's Adventures) (10 page)

“No, I don’t know who the new neighbor is, but I’m sure you are about to tell me. And Paola could be a real pain in the butt sometimes, but if that makes you happy, okay. Now behave. It’s for your own good.”

“It’s Diego, the cook Diego.”

“The who? What? Oh, got it. A nice man, you can trust him.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I have all night.”

“You’re sounding like Paola again. Got to go. Don’t call that phone number. And trust Diego. Listen to me, and you may get your car back sooner. Goodnight.” He hung up.

She turned her head, phone in her hand, and saw Diego leaning against her open bedroom door. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Not long enough, I’d say.” He had that abstract smile that didn’t match the piercing look in his eyes, and Mina felt like he was mentally gulping down every detail in her room, every detail in her life.

“How do you know
DeFiore
?”

“Why do you always call him by his last name?”

How clever, answer a
question with a question.

“It’s very Italian, easy to pronounce, and it means ‘of the flower.’ Why am I telling you this? You speak Italian.”

Diego shrugged
.
“
O
h, I don’t speak that well, just the basics.” This time his smile was unabridged.

Mina remembered she was in her robe, sitting on her bed. She felt
…
exposed. She dropped the phone,
stood
and said, “How about a glass of Prosecco?”

“So that’s what you were working so hard to uncork.”

He had been watching her
. How long?

G
oose bumps cre
pt
over her arms.
DeFiore
’s
remark
, ‘
a nice man, you can trust him,’
lost some of its persuasion. Might as well go with the flow, offer him a drink and send him home through the front door.

They sat sipping wine. Diego read the label, Gambellara, province of Vicenza. “Is that where you are from? Vicenza?”

“The province, yes, but I’m from a smaller town
. Y
ou probably never heard of it.”

“Try me.”

“Why? You know Vicenza?”

“The birthplace of Palladio? And Caserma Ederle, home of the 173
r
d Airborne Brigade in Vicenza?” His expression changed, his eyes focused on something Mina couldn’t see.

“When did you move in?”
S
he wanted to lift the mood. The man was more temperamental than she was. Not an easy feat.

“Must have been right after your magic evening with Angelina.” His sarcasm was back with a vengeance. “Anyway, I didn’t see your car in the assigned parking, so, yes, must have been
Tuesday
.”

He knew
about Angelina? And
where she parked her car?

Mina had to keep talking. The silence made her feel awkward. “Did you get a new job?”

“No, I’m spending my kid’s inheritance.”

“You have kids?”

Diego laughed, a hearty laugh
but
not loud, sort of intimate
.
“No
. N
o kids, no wife, just wanted to see your expression. Totally worth it.”
He patted her knee
. H
is hand didn’t linger, but Mina felt a surge and hoped he didn’t notice.

“How come I didn’t see movers, some kind of commotion?”

“Maybe you
were still under the influence.
I don’t know. I’m renting the condo furnished and I travel light.” He glanced at the stacked boxes against her walls.

He knew about Angelina and the drug. What else did he know? Who told him? Had he been speaking to
DeFiore
? What if he were a spy? If
so
, he was in the wrong place, she thought.
Nothing to
spy on
t
here.

“Are you sure Angelina didn’t take anything from you? Why would she go through all that set up if she wasn’t looking for something?”

“I had a hundred dollars cash in my purse. She didn’t take it. She can’t wear most of my clothes or shoes
. T
hey won’t fit her. What else is there? My old TV?”

“You know that saying
,
one man’s trash is another man’s treasure?”

“I didn’t have any trash either.” Accusing her of bad housekeeping? None of his business. “The only remarkable thing is the
scent of
perfume.”

“You mean in your bedroom?”

“See, you noticed too. It was my mother’s perfume. I packed it when I moved, and I haven’t opened the box yet.”

“Maybe Angelina did. Let’s go check.”

“What? I don’t know wh
ich
box it is in. I didn’t mark it.”

“Look, you have to unpack at some point. Besides, if it is perfume that spilled, it may damage whatever else is in the box. I’m offering to help. Come on, it’ll be fun. Let’s take the bottle and glasses and make it an unpacking adventure.”

After all the evenings of pure boredom, his suggestion sounded like an invitation from heaven. They each grabbed their glass of Prosecco. Diego picked up the bottle and they headed to her bedroom.

All the boxes had been sealed with packing tape. Mina suggested a metal nail file to replace a box cutter, but Diego pulled out a
pocketknife
. The blade caught the reflection of the light fixture.

“Let
’s start with the smaller boxes,
” Mina suggested. She didn’t want Diego to know she felt intimidated by his knife.

They ended up sitting
cross-legged
on the bathroom
mat. Mina grabbed the closest box from the counter. All the contents spilled around her. The tape holding the bottom together had been slashed open.

“Are you okay?” Diego asked.

Covered with bath salts and cotton balls she nodded. She was shocked
. S
he examined the now empty box. It had no markings except for the word ‘top’ clearly marked in black. That same marking was on all the boxes. Why cut open the bottom? She looked at Diego. He frowned
,
then stood and slid his hands
along the bottom of
the next box before turning it over. It
,
too
,
had been slit open.

“Mina, do you have a larger container we can use to empty the boxes that are already opened?”

Again, she nodded and went to get one of the larger boxes where her clothes used to be. She brought it into the bathroom and they checked box by box. All had been opened, obviously searched, and then set back to look untouched. Angelina had a busy night.

“Why?” Mina asked herself
out loud.

“She was looking for something.”

“Looking for what? Inexpensive toiletries, trinkets? Look
,
a broken purse mirror. Well
,
I hope that gives Angelina however many years of bad luck you Americans say
.
”

Trying to joke didn’t help. Next came the box where Mina had packed her mother’s Boucheron bottle. The spilled perfume had dr
ied in
a dark ring on the cardboard. Inside, the
delicate
cap was broken, but the glass bottle remained intact. Mina was devastated. She didn’t want to look anymore. This was senseless. Why?

Diego g
rew
quiet. “Mina, Angelina wants something you have. It must be something small, something that would fit in one o
f these boxes. Think about it. D
id she mention anything? Maybe as a joke, asked to see something personal?”

Mina kept shaking her head. She felt violated. In a way, she was glad to have Diego
t
here. It gave her a sense of security she didn’t quite know how to define.

Her phone rang
again
. She hesitated, then stood and walked over to the bed where she had left the phone after
DeFiore
’s call.

She felt like a defeated soul. “Hello?”

“Mina, what’s wrong?” Brian
sounded concerned
.

“Oh, hi, Brian. You know, it’s Christmastime
. Y
ou are a million miles away.” She wasn’t going to talk about Angelina and spilled perfume bottles.

Mina felt Diego’s stare on her
back
. She turned. He mimicked walking with his fingers. She understood, watched him stride to the end of the hall, past the living room and leave through the terrace door.
His scent of mo
untain pine
lingered long after he left.

A drab December sun preened on Mina’s terrace. She watched from inside the glass door, her hands entwined around her hot coffee mug. By morning’s light, last night seemed surreal. She had shared a glass of Prosecco with Diego, the former cook at Bosom Bodies. And she liked the time spent together. That was the sticky point
, s
o sticky
,
she had trouble dealing with it.

At first she convinced herself her sense of bliss came from Brian’s phone call, but after they hung up
,
she went to lock the terrace door
through which
Diego left
. She
lingered
there
.

Morning found h
er thoughts still with Diego.
Secretly she wished
he
would come to borrow a cup of sugar or something. He didn’t
, a
nd the open boxes became a niggling reminder. Sooner or later she would need to talk to
DeFiore
about those boxes. Maybe she should ask Diego’s opinion. Yes, that was a wise decision. The ringing of the phone stopped her from opening the door to the terrace.
Did Diego know her phone number? She hurried to answer.

“Good morning, Mina.”
Adams
.

“Oh, hi.”

If Adams sensed the disappointment in her voice, he didn’t acknowledge it.
“Did you see today’s paper?”

“What paper? Oh, no. I don’t get the newspaper, why?”

“They wrote about Barbara Spencer’s death.”

“Oh, good. Is there something about me in the article?”

“No, thank God. There is only a mention of a Volkswagen. But just in case some zealous reporter decides to snoop around, it would be better if you take a few days off.”

“Off of what? I’m not doing anything.”

“Mina, you could spend a few days up at my cabin on Big Bear. I’ll send a driver. Better yet, let’s ask Margo, she’ll keep you company.”

“Adams, forget it. I bet it is snowing up there.”

“Mina.” His
tone
changed. I
t wasn’t louder or anything, but suddenly she
knew
he was done making suggestions. He was telling her. Adams never, ever talked to her like that. This must be serious.

“Okay, send Margo over and I’ll go to Sea World.”

“Sea World?”

“Yeah, you know, in San Diego, they have a big fish named Flipper or something. People from everywhere come to watch it do tricks.
After that
I can go down to Tijuana and buy some Christmas decorations.” She sensed his hesitation. He probably didn’t believe a word she said.

“I promise, I’ll stay out of here for
twenty-four
hours, at least. What’s going on anyway?”

“We are so close with the business deal,
and
we don’t need bad publicity. Asians are a little different about that sort of thing. Get ready. I’ll have Margo come by in about
thirty
minutes
or so
.”

“Adams, what about my car?”

“Patience, my dear, patience.”

To hell with patience, she felt like a prisoner. Well, she was a prisoner
. G
o there, do that
,
enough already. She wasn’t going to go to Sea World
.
W
hat was she, twelve years old? Mina could always count on Margo if she wanted to have fun and she was, oh, so ready!
Yes, let’s have fun.
She went looking for her jeans and her boots. Where was her hoodie? A shiver ran up her spin
e. S
he lent her hoodie to Angelina. She should have told
DeFiore
, except she hadn’t remembered until now. Well, she could tell him when she picked up her car. She grabbed a light sweater and a zippered vest. That should be good and warm. Would the guard call her when Margo arrived? Mina figured she had enough time for another cup of coffee and maybe a banana.