Bosom Bodies (Mina's Adventures) (13 page)

DeFiore
barked,
“We need to get Ralph here
.
”

“You think the place is bugged?”
Sam walked around inspecting the damage.

“Just a precaution
,
”
DeFiore
said.

They all talked and acted as if she wasn’t there.

“Mina was away when it happened.”
DeFiore
turned to her. “How long were you gone?”

“Hum, most of the day. Adams wanted me to take the day off. I went to Del Mar with Margo. We got back maybe thirty minutes ago. I stopped to talk to the guard at the gate, and then I came home and found this. That’s when I called you.” She watched the reactions on the cops’ faces.
DeFiore
seemed relieved
. Was it
because she didn’t mention Diego? When Sam’s eyes met hers, Mina knew Sam had seen her driving by Ginger’s condo.

“Mina, we’ll need to go through room by room, check for finger prints and other clues to help us identify whoever did this
,
”
DeFiore
said. “You should find somewhere else to stay for a while, how about Margo?”

“Margo is sick, she ate some bad food. I don’t want to burden her. Maybe I can stay in a motel for tonight.”

“It may be more than one night. I’d feel better knowing you are with people we can trust. How about Adams?”

Something in
DeFiore
’s voice convinced her to agree with him, if only to get him off his protector role. “I guess I could drive over to Adams’
s
place,” she remembered, “if only I had my car, that is.”

“Sam, you can handle this here, can’t you? I’ll drive Mina over to her lawyer’s house. She will feel safe there until we sort this out.”
DeFiore
turned to Mina, “Want to grab something for the night? Toiletries?”

Without knowing where she would spend the night, Mina picked her pajamas and some undies from the pile on the floor. She went to the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush, toothpaste and her small plastic bag with make up. Not sure why, she picked up the bag with the broken angel, then stuffed everything into her gym bag. “What if someone calls me?” she said to
DeFiore
.

“Sam here will take a message,” he said. His hand on her elbow, he coaxed her toward the front door.

They entered the elevator without exchanging a word. Mina felt numb. None of this made sense. What could she possibly have worth all that trouble? And the cops weren’t doing a thing. They should have been protecting her, instead they took her car, so she couldn’t even run. She wasn’t going to Adams. The last thing she wanted was another lecture about safety and responsibility and not getting involved with the wrong people. What wrong people? All th
is
because she gave a ride to a wicked
woman
?

“We’re not going to Adams’
s
house,
”
DeFiore
said, matter
-
of
-
factly.

Her heart skipped a beat. Where was he taking her?

“Oh, are you offering me hospitality in one of your cells? What’s safer than that?”
She tried
to sound sarcastic, but was scared to death. They were now in the common garage.

An attempt
ed
smile softened
DeFiore
’s face. He shook his head and pointed to his sedan. The miserly light supplied by the sparse lamps cast a strange shadow on the car, on
DeFiore
, and perhaps, on her life.

She sat in the passenger seat, the gym bag with her few belongings pressed against her bosom. Eyes closed, she brushed away a stubborn tear trying to escape her lids against her will.

This must be the way innocent prisoners feel when they get locked up.

The green sedan crossed the gate and turned south. Her heart thumped in her chest. She couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m not going…” Mina and
DeFiore
spoke the same words at the same time.

“You first,” he said.

“I’m not going to Adams’s and…”

“I
already said I
’m not taking you to Adams’s. Mina, are you afraid of me?” He sounded surprised and hurt.
“
I’m only looking out for your safety.” He patted her knee in a way that reminded her of her mother. “Until we figure out what you have that someone else wants so badly, I have to make sure no one can harm you. Understand?”

“And how are you planning on doing that? By driving me around until
…
”

He turned the car into a shopping center and parked next to a two-door, black, sleek
-
looking vehicle. Without answering her,
DeFiore
reached back and unlocked the rear passenger door. Diego got in, slammed the door
,
relax
ed
back against the seat
and
let out a satisfied, “Ah, feels better than riding a bike. Home, James.”

Colorful neon lights on the store façade painted fleeting moods on their faces. Mina thought for sure something awful would happen any minute now and nothing would be the same again.

Silence lingered, so did her anxiety and mistrust.

“Diego here is not really a cook
,
”
DeFiore
said.

“You don’t say.” Mina had no idea where she found that false assured tone. “He has a gun.”

“Yeah, well, comes with the job.”
DeFiore
sounded more like a big brother than a cop. Was he being brotherly to her or to Diego?
“Mina, he is sort of a cop, not a cop, cop—” He sighed again and looked to Diego who sat sprawled in
the back
seat
, seeming to
enjoy the situation.

“Some cop,” she muttered. Maybe her mumbling touched a nerve, because Diego straightened up and began to talk.

“I’m not a detective like Dan here. I’m sort of a—private policeman. Not exactly. Let’s say that I take my orders from the government, so technically I work for the United States of America. Is that good enough for you?”

“You are one of the good guys then?”

Silence.

“It depends which side you are on.
You
are on the good guys side. Okay?”

“Do I have a choice?” Mina
asked
.

“I told you she can be a pain. Takes after her mother,”
DeFiore
obviously
wasn’t paying her a compliment. “Mina, Diego is going to take care of you.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Mina
.
” Diego put his hands o
n
top of Mina’s seat, his back to the lights
and his
face close to hers. She couldn’t see his eyes but felt the intensity of his stare. “Mina,” he repeated, “I was investigating money laundering at Bosom Bodies. Not a big deal, I’ve done it many times. All was smooth sailing until you showed up with the fake hair, the fake lashes, and the fake—identity.”
That pause. The man was a master manipulator.
“I believed you when you said you were doing Ginger a favor
.
I believed you, although I know that’s not why they wanted you there.”

“They? What do you mean? You know who is doing this?”

Diego sighed just like
DeFiore
had done and sat back.

She could hear the impatience in
DeFiore
’s voice. “It’s getting late, I need to get back to see what’s up with Sam. Mina, you are staying with Diego for now. I’ll have Adams bring you to my office tomorrow
. W
e can talk about all this and see if we can get you your car
. O
kay?”

“Whoooa, I’m not going with him.” She pointed to Diego. “I can stay in a motel.”

“Fine, pick a motel and Diego will stay in the room with you. Get a suite
. H
e’ll sleep on the couch. I thought you’d rather stay close to your condo in case you want to answer your own phone or get some clothes. My mistake. So, where should I drive you?”

She didn’t answer. She was tired, tired of arguing, tired of trying to understand, just tired of playing the strong person. “Okay, I’ll go with Diego. Are you coming with us?”

“No, Mina. I
’
m going back ahead of you
. We have other problems, very serious problems. Diego will explain.” He turned to the back of the car
.
“Wait until everyone leaves the building before you take her up
. I
f you can, use the stairs and the terrace. I want to make sure no one sees her and no one connects the two of you. Got that?”

“No problem. We’ll get a drink somewhere. What do you say? Forty minutes?”

DeFiore
nodded. “Good night, Mina. Trust Diego. He’s on your side. I will see you tomorrow at my office.”

He waited. She didn’t know what to do. “You need to get into Diego’s car.” He pointed to the black two-door.

She felt a knot closing her throat. She couldn’t talk or she would cry. Diego got out of
DeFiore
’s car, opened her door and waited. She slid off
the
seat, the gym bag still pressed against her chest, and got into Diego’s car.

Mina watched the
taillights
of
DeFiore
’s sedan morph into shrin
king red dots and disappear in
traffic.

Gone.

She stared straight into the empty parking lot, long after
DeFiore
left. Silence and tension filled Diego’s car. Missing were the curiosity and attraction she had felt, replaced by mistrust and confusion. What would become of her?

“Look, I know this is awkward,” Diego interrupted her
self-pity
. “It doesn’t have to be.”

“Oh? What would you suggest we do about it?”

“Communicate. Would you like to stop for a drink and a chat, or is there something else you’d rather do to kill forty
-
five minutes? Sorry, I guess kill isn
’
t a good
choice of
word
s
.”

Mina thought about the situation—maybe he wasn’t the enemy
.
She turned to look at him. “Can we drive by Bosom Bodies?”

Diego was sitting sideways, almost facing her. “The place is shut down. Forever,” he said.

“I know. I didn’t mean to go into the restaurant,” she choked a little on the word restaurant. “I’m still in denial
,
I guess
, a
bout Barbara, Angelina, and—“

“Me?”

“Yeah, you too.” She watched the smile migrate from his eyes to his lips.

Without a word, he started the engine, glanced at her safety belt, secured his. The car began to move and music came from the dashboard stereo, ‘
Un bel di, vedremo
’—

Dio
m
io
,
a knife through her heart would have hurt less. Her grandmother used to play that song, on a big record player that looked like a dark box with a needle sticking out from a long, narrow arm. The needle would be on top of the record, and it would keep turning around and around
. E
very time it played, her grandmother
cried
in a muffled kind of way, like she was embarrassed about it. She would blow her nose into a large white handkerchief she kept in the pocket of her apron and try to hide her face.

It started soon after Paola left Italy. Mina ask
ed
why all the crying and the answer was always the same, “Such a wonderful aria, such words of hope, hope to see your loved one again.”

Mina
always
felt there was more to it than tears of joy
. Once
her grandmother promised to take her to see
Madame Butterfly
someday
when
Mina w
as
a little older and the opera company came to town. It never happened. Her grandmother died in the car accident, and Mina flew to California to be with Paola. She hadn’t thought of
Madame Butterfly
in a very long time. She swallowed hard and kept looking straight ahead.

From the corner of her eye she caught Diego’s hand on the stereo’s control.

“No.” She tried to stop him.

If she surprised him, he didn’t show it, “Looks like we have an opera lover onboard,” he said.