Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes (17 page)

“Edwina, listen to me. Are you safe? Is Rogenstein anywhere around?”

“He left. He bought a big trunk in this store that sells everything and put it in a cab and drove away. I don't know where he was headed, but I didn't have any money, so I had to ask—”

“I'm sorry to keep interrupting you, but listen to me care
fully. You are to come straight back to this hotel when the officers reach you. Is that clear?”

“Yessir. I'll wait right here for the officers.”

“You've been foolish, woman. You could have become another victim.”

“I'm sorry, Matt, but I lost track of the time. When Frank left the hotel, he seemed hell-bent on the direction he was going and I got carried away. What time is it, anyway?”

“It's five thirty. I came back a little early.”

“Well then, it's not my fault,” Edwina said indignantly. “You said six o'clock. I'd have been back by six o'clock.”

“We'll discuss it when you get back here. The car should be pulling up any minute now.”

Edwina disconnected and handed the phone back to her new street-savvy friend.

“Five-Oh comin' to haul yo' ass to lockup?”

Edwina thought a moment. “I don't think so, but they
are
coming to pick me up. He said a couple of cops in a cruiser.”

The young man gave her a round-eyed look. “That is off the chain! You must be some Bonnie-and-Clyde motherfucker!”

“Yep, that's me all right. The chain's slipped off. Or on the chain, or whatever. That's me.”

“I thought you was jus' some sad ol' wack-a-loon that was lost.”

A police car pulled up to the curb. The officer on the passenger side got out and opened the back door. “Miz Martin,
Detective McDermott asked us to escort you back to your hotel.”

Edwina entered the cruiser as if she were royalty. She glanced back at her new friend. “Thanks for the use of the phone. And take it easy, sleazy!”

“Backatcha, spooky lady.”

“Backatcha, baggy pants.”

E
dwina worried as the squad car approached the Anson Hotel. She didn't dread seeing Detective McDermott nearly as much as she did Debbie Sue. Her friend and partner would give her a ration of shit for sure. At the same time she wondered if Rogenstein had returned.

The hotel's porte cochere was congested with police vehicles. Uniformed men and women seemed to be everywhere. Had they been looking for her? They must have been. The last thing she had expected was that Matt and/or Debbie Sue would be so concerned that they would sound an alarm and get the whole NYPD involved. The best thing she could do was simply not put in an appearance.

Edwina leaned forward to speak to the two cops in the front seat. “Hey, guys, I don't suppose you'd want to take
me back to Ground Zero, would you? I'm from out of town, you know. I didn't really get to look around as much as I'd like to.”

The cop on the passenger's side turned halfway in his seat and looked at her. “Detective McDermott was direct about us bringing you straight to the hotel.”

Mentally, Edwina winced. “Oh, yeah. There's that. Well, I mean, he's not your boss or anything like that, is he?”

When neither policeman replied, she slumped back in the seat.

The police car pulled to a stop in front of the hotel entrance and Edwina climbed out. “Thanks for the ride, boys. It was nice to meetcha.”

“I'll walk you to your room,” one cop said, sliding out of the passenger seat.

Somehow Edwina had known he would say that. She trudged wordlessly beside him, her mind whirling with questions. Rogenstein had left We Sell Everything long before she had. Had he already come back to the hotel, and was he here now? And if the answer to either question was yes, then what?

She stood silently as the elevator rose to six. When the door opened she said to her escort, “Thanks, shug. I've got it from here.”

“If it's all the same to you, ma'am, I'll hand you over to Detective McDermott. That's what he told us to do and he was clear on the matter.”

Police lined the hallway leading from the elevator to the room she shared with Debbie Sue and Celina, some on
phones, some just leaning against the wall talking to one another. The scene was congested but fairly quiet, except for the frazzled, coming-apart-at-the-seams night manager, Homer.

Edwina tried to be inconspicuous, but Homer spotted her and marched toward her, his lips drawn thin. He was within a few steps when a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. It appeared Debbie Sue was hell-bent on reaching her before Homer did.

To Edwina's surprise Debbie Sue grabbed her in a big bear hug and rocked her back and forth, half talking, half blubbering. “Oh, Ed. You're alive. I pictured you dead. I've never been so happy to see anyone in my whole life. I couldn't stand it if something happened to you. What would I tell Vic?”

“Well, hon, that's so sweet of you. But I'm fine—”

“You're not hurt?” Debbie Sue held her at arm's length, her gaze running up and down her body. “Did he grab you and make you leave with him?”

“No, hon, I followed him.”

“Shit.” Debbie released her, scowling. “That's exactly what I was afraid of.” Now the friend who seemed so happy to see her suddenly became the person Edwina had dreaded. “Shit, Ed. Have you taken leave of the good sense God gave you? Do you know what could have happened to you out there? How do you think we felt when we woke up and you were gone?”

“I tried to call earlier—”

“Did you even think about what could have happened to you? Will you please promise me you won't go off half-
cocked again? From here on out we do things together, right? As a team, right?”

Edwina raised her right hand. “I promise. Where's a Bible? I'll swear on it. Now, do you want to know what I found out when I followed him?”

Before she could tell, Homer planted himself in front of Debbie Sue. “I'd like to know when you and your party will be leaving this establishment.” Indignation made his voice tremble.

Debbie Sue swung her attention to Homer. “We've got a room 'til Sunday morning. That's when we leave,
Homer
.”

Edwina drew herself up to her full five feet and ten inches. “Just why are you in such a hurry to see us gone,
Homer
?”

Matt was suddenly standing between them. He addressed the night manager. “Sir, these women haven't done anything except be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The manager pointed a finger at Edwina. “
That
one has caused an untold amount of damage in this hotel.”

“But you wouldn't want to see harm come to her and her friends, would you?”

“Well, no. But there are policemen—”

“Yes, sir, I'm aware of that. I called them. Now that Mrs. Martin is back safe and sound, I'm going to send all of them on their way. Everyone else is going back into the room. All will be quiet again. Isn't that what you want?”

“Yes. Oh, God, yes.” Shaking his head, Homer covered his face with both hands. “I just want some peace and quiet. And some order. Mr. Pembroke demands order. He comes in at nine o'clock sharp on Fridays and if he sees—”

“There's nothing for him to see,” Matt said. “Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. I'll be happy to write a letter to Mr. Pembroke praising your professionalism and the extent to which you've gone to help the men in blue. Now, why don't you accompany these officers downstairs?”

One of the cops stepped up beside Homer and said, “Happy to help you, sir.”

He settled a withering glare on Edwina and pointed a finger at her again. “
You
. You stay out of the bar, stay out of the restaurant, stay out of the lobby.” He pounded his palm with his fingertip. “You stay in this room. Do you understand me?”

Edwina huffed and hoisted her chin. “Well, I never…”

After the uniformed cops and Homer left their sight, Edwina turned to Matt in awe. “You know, you're slick as bat shit. You're wasting your time as a cop. You could have been a used-car salesman.”

“And you should have been a magician,” he replied, without smiling. “Come into the room, Houdini, before you disappear again.”

Edwina was thrilled to see a cart of food inside the room.
Breakfast!
She'd had no sleep, she was pumped on adrenaline and the long walk in the early morning air had kicked her appetite into full gear. She grabbed a plate and started heaping on muffins and pats of butter and fresh fruit.

Celina was sitting in a chair, her big eyes brimmed with tears. “Edwina, are you all right?”

“Look, y'all, cut it out. I'm fine. He never knew I was fol
lowing him. Lord, I've been in worse life-threatening situations than that.”

“You have?”

“Lord, yes. Every time a customer sits down in my chair and announces she wants something ‘fun and exciting,' I know I'm in trouble.”

Celina laughed then. “Oh, Edwina, you take the cake.”

“Thank you, I think I will. I'll take this piece right here.” She gave Celina a big grin as she grabbed a slice of white cake covered with strawberries and added it to her heaping plate.

Everyone calmed down and began to eat. “Tell us everything that happened,” Matt said, pouring a cup of coffee for himself. “Don't leave out any detail. Anything could be important.”

Edwina told of hearing Rogenstein's door open and seeing him walk up the corridor and of herself being overwhelmed with the urge to follow him. She told of his entry into the store that sold everything, his coming out with the trunk and stopping a cab. “The trunk's green. It has a large loop handle. Did he come back here? Have y'all seen him?”

“No, he hasn't been back,” Debbie Sue said. “Or if he has, we missed seeing him. But then we were asleep until Matt showed up.”

“So how's the investigation going?”

“I'm working on it,” Matt assured her. “Under any circumstances there's red tape involved in getting a warrant, but in this particular case there are more concerns. Since we don't have the recording, I want to be sure everything's
done by the book. I don't want something coming back to bite me.”

“I still can't believe all of this is happening,” Celina said, shaking her head. “I never in a million years thought coming to a convention to learn how to be a detective would end up with me involved in a real murder investigation.”

Matt turned a grim look at her. “And you're right in the middle of a really big one, too. I hope you're enjoying the adrenaline rush.”

She returned an angelic smile. “Honestly? I'm not. I think it's very sad and very scary. This isn't for me. It would come across as really exciting on paper, but being in it is a whole other story. I miss my library. Finding a book I thought was lost is enough excitement for me.”

He turned to Debbie Sue and Edwina. “And you two. I suppose you love it.”

“It has its moments,” Debbie Sue said. “But today is the first time I've been honest-to-God scared and it wasn't for my own safety.”

Edwina knew Debbie Sue was talking about her and was genuinely touched. “I'm sorry, Debbie Sue. The next chance you get to do something really lame, I won't say a word.”

“Thanks, friend. Knowing our history, you won't have to wait long.”

 

To Debbie Sue's dismay, Matt lectured them again on the dangers of getting involved in something they weren't
qualified to handle. He preached statistics and gave more warnings than a father to a set of triplet daughters on prom night.

“I spoke to Homer,” he said pointedly to Debbie Sue. “He doesn't remember a conversation with you yesterday about a room change, but he assured me he'll see to it this morning. I intend to stay here until that happens.”

“There's no need for that,” Debbie Sue said, chastened. “I confess I told you a fib. I promise not to do it again. Look, Ed and I have to give our session at ten o'clock, and we'll take Celina with us.”

“If I know you two, you'll decide to stay up here in the room so you can eavesdrop or spy or whatever.”

“Oh, we can't do that. If we don't fulfill our obligation to these conference folks, we'll have to pay for this whole thing, the airfare between here and Texas and the hotel bill. Holy cow, the courtesy bar alone could put Edwina and me both in bankruptcy. We've had experience with that.”

He gave her an arch look. “You're changing rooms just the same.”

Debbie Sue shot Edwina a look of desperation. When Edwina shrugged her shoulders, Debbie Sue turned her attention back to Matt. “We're going to need some privacy to get dressed. Can you at least wait outside the door?”

“That much I'll do. I'll be sitting in a chair by the elevators. When you're ready I'll escort you downstairs to the concierge.”

He rose from his seat. Before leaving he stopped in front
of Celina, tilted up her chin and kissed her. “Be careful,” he said softly. “Don't blindly follow these two.”

“Awwww,” Edwina said dreamily.

Matt glowered at her and started for the door. “See you in an hour,” he said as he pulled the door shut.

Debbie Sue watched his departure through the peephole. When she was satisfied he was out of sight, she turned back to her roommates. “Okay. With all the cops around here, it's safe to assume that Rogenstein didn't come back here, right?”

“Right,” Edwina agreed. “And he had that friggin' trunk. Somebody would have noticed.”

“Maybe not,” Celina put in. “This
is
a hotel. Would it be out of the ordinary for someone to bring in a trunk?”

“I don't think he's in that room. There hasn't been a sound from over there. With all the commotion in the hallway, if he was in there, he would have come out to see what was going on.”

“If no one saw Mr. Rogenstein go in,” Celina said, “maybe Cher left and no one saw her, either.”

“I say we've got to go in and look around in that room,” Debbie Sue said. “We've got to look closer than those two cops looked. Rogenstink had them bamboozled. If we don't find anything, great. We've satisfied ourselves.”

Adrenaline was still rushing through Edwina's bloodstream. She needed action. “I'm for that.”

“Okay. Any idea how we can get in there?” Debbie Sue asked.

“But what about the warrant Matt's waiting for?” Celina asked. “If Mr. Rogenstein goes on trial, wouldn't our enter
ing his room without a warrant put the evidence in question?”

“If we were cops, I suppose it might. But we're not. We're private citizens just snooping around. We haven't been hired by anyone to do anything. At the worst, I suppose they could get us for breaking and entering.”

“Hmm,” Edwina said. “I'll bet Homer would like to do just that.”

“Well, I'm willing to take that risk.” Debbie Sue's tone had a ring of finality.

“You may be willing, sweet cheeks,” Edwina said, “but it ain't gonna' happen. Not with ‘Steel Jaw McDermott' waiting for us to relocate.”

“Maybe he'll get a call and have to leave,” Celina said as she chewed on her thumbnail.

“Oh, yeah,” Debbie Sue said, and Edwina heard a plan in her tone. “That just might happen. Guess we'll just have to hope the wheels of justice turn smoothly. We're pretty much out of it at this point.”

Edwina glanced at Debbie Sue, puzzled, but Debbie Sue gave her a wink.

“We might as well get ready to go downstairs,” Debbie Sue said. “Celina, you take the bathroom first. Ed and I'll finish packing.”

“Oh, okay. I'll hurry,” Celina gathered her things and headed for the bathroom.

“No need to rush. We have plenty of time.”

Once Celina closed the door and Debbie Sue heard the shower, she said to Edwina, “Listen, I've got an idea.”