The Manolo Matrix (13 page)

Fifi?”

“You’re going to kill me.”

“If that means you’re leaving me with him for the evening, I have to agree. The little queen is driving me nuts. I swear I don’t know how people survive with roommates. Much less with spouses.”

“I’m sorry. I really am.” He didn’t know how sorry I was.

“I can’t possibly forgive you. Unless it involves sex. If you’re getting laid, I can find it in my heart. So long as he’s cute and I can live vicariously through you later.”

“I’m not getting laid,” I said, though I wouldn’t mind.

“Then you’re screwed,” he said.

“You don’t know the half of it,” I muttered. Then I added, “But I am with a guy.”

“So there’s still hope,” Brian said.

“Yes,” I agreed. “There’s hope.” I thought about the bizarre clue. A tiny, dismal ray of hope, but hope nonetheless.

“Then I forgive you for standing me up.”

I almost grinned at that. Even in the crappiest of circumstances, Brian always made me feel better. “I

promise you a rain check,” I said. And since I had every intention of surviving, that was one promise I

absolutely intended to keep.

“I’ll let you get back to almost getting laid,” he said. And he was just about to hang up when I had a brilliant idea.

“Brian!”

“Jenn?”

“Hang on a sec. I need a favor.”

“No way. That’s way too kinky for me.”

“I happen to know thatnothing is too kinky for you.”

“True,” he said. “Shoot.”

“The guy I’m with, he’s into puzzles and stuff. And we’re doing one, and I’d like to impress him, you know? But I’m clueless.” I wasn’t entirely sure Brian would buy that, but I wasn’t about to tell him the truth. I know Brian, and Brian would call the cops, no matter how much I begged him not to.

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“Puzzles,” he said. I could hear the curiosity in his voice. “What kind of puzzles?”

“Like crosswords and stuff. The kind of crap you get off on.” I was whispering now, just in case Devlin had moved back from the kitchen and was hanging around outside the bathroom. “I don’t want him to know I’m asking you. So can you hurry?”

“Not if you don’t tell me the puzzle.”

“Right.” I felt a quick twinge as my mind went blank. I should have brought my notes back to the bathroom with me. But then I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. I’d been looking at the damn thing now for hours. I’d memorized entire songs in less time than that. The words were there in my memory. I just had to pull them out.

A sharp knock at the door made me jump. “Jenn? You okay in there?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Just freshening up, and then a friend called. We were supposed to get together tonight.”

“Oh.” A pause, then in a lower voice: “You’re not telling him about—about all of this, are you?”

“Hello? No! Duh! Of course not.”

In my ear, Brian was humming the theme fromJeopardy! On the other side of the door, dead
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silence.

Then, “Right. Okay. Well, the pizza should be here in about forty minutes.”

“Great. Terrific. Be right there.”

“I’m not hearing a lot of passion from you,” Brian said.

“First date.”

“And you’re hoping that solving a puzzle makes him hot?”

“Just shut up and help me.” Since he stayed quiet, I assumed that meant he was okay with the shutting-up plan. “Okay, here’s the puzzle.” I closed my eyes and tried to picture the legal pad.

“Had

Barbara Cook acted professionally and searched for her white knight on the river, she—”

“Come on,” Brian said, cutting me off. “Tell me the truth. This is really something kinky.”

“Justhelp me.”

“Okay, okay.” I heard the eraser end of a pencil tapping against his teeth, a terrible habit I wish he’d break. Then I heard a beep.

“Your phone?”

“Hang on.” A pause. “I don’t recognize the number. God, I was hoping it was Larry. I could handle Fifi if I didn’t have to do it alone.”

“Brian…”

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“Sorry. The puzzle. Right. Well, the first part is easy.”

“I’m listening.”

“Barbara Cook, right. She’s an actress, so there’s your ‘acted’ reference. And the professional bit is a hint that we’re talking about one of her roles. One of her most famous ones, actually.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Because of the next part. The search for the white knight. That’s what she—”

“Did inThe Music Man!” I finished. “The white knight song! You’re a genius.” I paused—a moment of silence as we both paid tribute to his brilliance. “Except….”

“Right. The rest of it. What did you say? Looked for her white knight on the river?”

“Yup. Mean anything to you?” I knew it didn’t mean anything to me.

“No, but—”

“Something’s familiar,” I said, once again butting in on his thoughts.

“You, too?”

“Yeah. I can’t get my head around it, but something.”

“Okay, let’s think about what we know. She’s a librarian. She’s looking for a knight on a river.

What knight? For that matter, what river? The East River? The Hudson? The—”

“Wait!” I almost dropped the phone I was so excited. “She’s a librarian, and the Library Bar’s at The

Hudson Hotel! That’s got to be it! It’s so obvious!” Convoluted and weird, but obvious.

Especially when you know that the game is basically one big scavenger hunt across the city.

“So how do we know if we got it right?” Brian asked.

“I’m sure,” I said. “It has to be right.”

“And that’s it?”

“Hell, no,” I said.

“Good. Because this is way more interesting than watching reruns ofTrading Spaces with Fifi.”

Actually, I’d happily settle into a boring night of television. But I didn’t bother telling Brian that.

Instead, I just moved on to the second part of the clue. “So the next bit is ‘she would have found her—’ ”

Beep. Again with the phone.

“Hang on.” And then he was gone. Two seconds later, he was back. “Larry,” he said. “Thank
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God.

He’s going to save me. I swear, I’m going to owe the boy kinky sexual favors, but I don’t mind because

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he’s saving me from home decorating hell.”

“Bri—”

“Love you, babe. Have a fabulous date. I hope it gets steamier than solving puzzles.”

“Brian! Wait!”

But he’d already madekiss kiss noises, and was gone.

Damn!

I dialed him back, but I just got his voice mail. I left a message to call me back, but I didn’t think he would. With a choice between a date or solving puzzles, I’d have chosen the date, too.

I felt a little snarly that he’d abandoned me, but I couldn’t hold onto the emotion. For one, he thought I

was just playing first date games. For another, he did help me with the first half of the clue. That was good, right?

Devlin looked up as I came back into the living room. “I tried to track down the source for the message from Speedy Delivery. No luck. The guy’s boss wasn’t there. I left a message asking her to call me, but they said I probably wouldn’t hear back until tomorrow.”

“Well, I managed to make a much bigger splash than you,” I said. “I figured out the first half of the clue.”

“No shit?” He looked at me with respect in his eyes, and I felt like preening. “Spit it out.”

More than happy to oblige, I told him.

“Brilliant,” he said, and I preened some more. “But what about the rest of the riddle?”

Leave it to a Fibbie to rain on my parade. “Still working on that,” I said. “Any ideas?”

“It says she’d find her answer,” he pointed out. “I think that may be a reference to us.”

“If we go to the Library Bar, we can find our answer in…something,” I said, just to make sure I was clear on the point.

“Exactly.”

“Any idea what the something is?”

“Not a clue. You?”

I shook my head, desperately trying to force myself to think. More than anything before in my life, I

knew that this Mattered. You know. With a capital M.

This was real, and this was bad, and I needed to figure this out—and fast—or I could end up dead. Just like poor Eddie who didn’t love his teddy.

The thing is, I was having a hard time making this allfeel real. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been

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tossed into that many life and death situations. If someone were standing there pointing a gun to my head, well, I think I’d have no problems feeling the pressure. This, though…

Somehow, I’d ended up in the wrong role. You know: Tonight, the part of the Female in Peril will be played by Jennifer Crane. And I didn’t even get a kick-ass solo. Except I didn’t want to play the female in peril. I wanted to be the kick-ass heroine. The Lara Croft of musical theater.

Appropriate, I thought, since she was a video game heroine, and this whole thing started with a computer game.

The thing is, Lara wouldn’t run. She’d walk straight into danger. And she’d win. After she’d
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kicked a little butt, that is.

Time to do some butt-kicking of my own. “Maybe we should go there. The Library Bar, I mean.

We can try to figure it out on the way.” I glanced at his cable box to read the time. Not quite ten.

The bar would be open for hours yet.

“Works for me. Let’s go.”

I looked him up and down. I still didn’t know what had happened to this man, but I could tell that he’d been pretty much locked in a hole for days. But here he was, stepping out into the world for me.

I gotta say, that made me feel pretty damn good. And so I hooked my arm through his and off we went to see the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Or Marian the Librarian. Or something like that.

BIRDIE

Iam by far the luckiest girl on the planet. I know this, because why else would Providence be smiling on me with teeth so bright they’re blinding? The game, the encounter with Reardon.

It’s just all so perfect. How, I wonder, can it get any better?

That’s a question I ponder as I sit in my room at the Waldorf, painting my toenails with the polish I

picked up at Sephora. I’ve already re-done my makeup. Twice, actually, and I’ve decided to go with peach tones for both my face and my nails. I considered red, but ruled it out. Not only is red really not in my palette, but it also tends to stand out.

As the base coat on my fingers dries, I focus on my toes, particularly my little toe. It’s tricky, and I’m concentrating intently when my computer beeps, signaling an incoming email.

Now, for most girls that may not be a big thing. But I’ve been in prison for five years and don’t have that many correspondents. At the moment, in fact, I’m receiving emails from only two sources: PSW and a young man I’m cyberfucking. At least I think my online lover is young and male; considering the propensity of the Internet for hiding reality, I really can’t be certain. Not that I care. I’m having a blast no matter who he is.

The littleping excites me, and I finish my toe quickly, then head across the room to the machine.

If it’s my lover, I’m more than up for a romp. But I’m hoping it’s from PSW. The success of my earlier assignment has made me giddy, and I want a repeat performance.

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Of course, I know that the odds are against me. After all, the rules of the game are clear, and I’m not to make a move on my target until after he solves the qualifying clue. Since he’s only been in possession of the message for a few hours, I know just how unlikely it is that my part in the game has commenced.

Still, I know Devlin Brady. And I know that he’s smart. He was the force of nature behind the team that landed me in prison, after all. And any man who can do that must have brains and balls.

So maybe a man like that really has aced the first portion of the game.

All those thoughts zip through my head as I heel-walk to the computer. And then, when I look at the screen and see that the message reallyis from PSW, well, I have to admit I fall a little bit in love with Mr.

Devlin Brady. A man who can work his way through this game so quickly is one hell of a worthy opponent.

My lust fades, though, the second I click over to the message. Brady hasn’t made progress. Not yet.

But someone new has been added to the mix.

And, frankly, that is even sweeter.

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So sweet, in fact, that as I stand here, waiting for my toes to dry, I have to read it once again:

>>http://www.playsurvivewin.com<<

PLAY.SURVIVE.WIN

>>>WELCOME TO REPORTING CENTER<<<

You have one new message.

New Message:

To: Birdie

From: Identity Blocked

Subject: Additional Player

Protector has obtained assistance from outside source. Source identified as Brian Reid, address included in profile.

Fate of Additional Player: Discretionary to Assassin

>>>Audio File Included: Telephone.wav<<<

>>>Additional Profile: BR_Profile.doc<<< I hug myself, loving those three little words: Discretionary to Assassin. Why do I love them?

Because they mean I can do whatever I want to do. Jennifer Crane dragged someone else to the party, and now that someone else is fair game. And the most lovely thing about it? It’s a totally guilt-free kill for me (well, frankly, they’reall guilt-free). Because I didn’t bring the boy in.

Jennifer did. His death is on her head. I

might be the one who pulls the trigger, but she’s the one who made the next move mine.

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DEVLIN

During the drive to the Hudson Hotel, Jennifer curled up in the far corner of the taxi, possibly just thinking, but more likely scared. Terrified, really.