Chapter 10

Doreen headed downtown and parked at the police station. Not leaving her car, she phoned Mack and asked, "Can you check the street cameras outside the Chinese food place?"

"Yes, my colleagues already requested access to the traffic cams this morning," he shared. "Where are you?"

"I'm just outside the police station. I'll take a walk around."

"Outside here?" he asked.

"Yeah," she confirmed.

"Why?"

"I don't know," she muttered. "I guess I don't really have an answer to that."

"Doreen," he said, with a note of warning.

"I know. I don't even understand what this impulse is about. Still, I'm here, but I don't know why. Anyway, I talked to the owner, Mr. Woo, from the Chinese food restaurant. He didn't see anything, didn't hear anything, doesn't know anything."

With a note of humor, Mack shared, "Someone has already spoken to him, and yes, that's what he told us too."

"Right," she muttered. "I don't understand how everybody can be so blind as to what goes on around them. I'm not certain I believe him."

"Yes, you can understand that. It's happened to you a couple times."

"Maybe so," she muttered. "That doesn't make me feel any better, and I'm not altogether certain I appreciate your bringing it up."

He chuckled. "Maybe not, yet whatever is happening right now, we're on it."

"I know, but not fast enough. I would like very much to know where Mathew was and how he came in."

"Someone checked with a couple rental agencies, but they don't have green Jags."

"No? I bet Bernard would know."

"I don't know about that," Mack countered, "and do you really want to get involved with him, when his son's out there, gunning for your mug shots?"

"I wish I knew what his son was up to, or if he is still being difficult."

"Why don't you just leave Bernard to handle his son?"

"I was planning on it," she replied, "but Bernard would definitely know where to rent a green Jag privately." And, with that, she ended her call with Mack and quickly phoned Bernard.

"Doreen," he greeted her in a jovial tone. "Are you coming for coffee?"

"Ha. Afraid I might kill you while you're making it?"

He snorted. "No, not in my dreams or my nightmares. Come on over. Come have coffee."

"I wondered if you knew where somebody could rent a green Jag on a private or commercial level, for when they're in town."

He hesitated. "Why are you asking?"

"Because my ex only traveled with green Jags. Always."

"What?"

"Yeah, that was his favorite vehicle, and, if he could get it, that's always what he got."

"Okay. Weird."

"He's had them here in the past," she shared. "I don't know whether he drove up this last time or flew in and rented here, but, in either case, where is his vehicle?"

"The police should find out if he flew in, and, if he did, they could also access cameras at the airport to verify if he was picked up in a green Jag."

"Yes, well, I'm jumping right ahead to assuming a green Jag, just because I know Mathew," she stated. "I've also determined that he was coming up to talk to me, trying to make me change my mind on the divorce."

"Really? I thought you had a done deal?"

"It was done for me, but I've since learned that Mathew was in dire straits and needed money. The divorce would put him in over-the-top, so he was likely wondering if he could get me to hold off on the divorce for a bit or go back to him long enough that he could get out of trouble."

"Wow. And I thought I was low."

"I know, right? Anyway, I never even saw him, so I don't know what was on his mind for sure. However, if that's the case, he would have been heading to me. However, after his run-ins with the local authorities, he was sidestepping my house, I guess. He had sent a private detective here to track my movements, so apparently that's where he learned I would likely be at the Chinese food place that day."

"So it seems."

"There's a good chance they were listening in from my backyard—or had my phone bugged," she suggested, now staring down at her phone, "which I'm just now realizing is potentially still a problem."

"Get a new phone," Bernard suggested.

"Yeah, I think I will. At the same time, it's quite possible that I was being followed."

"Yeah, absolutely," Bernard agreed. "But how would they have known you would be there ahead of time?"

"I did talk to Nan on my phone, and I probably did mention that I might go down for Chinese food."

"There you go. Definitely get a new phone, and hand yours over to the police."

"Right, I'm at the police station right now, but I don't have another one."

"I've got one you can use," he offered. "Go drop off your phone, then come down here, and we'll have a cup of coffee together. I'll get lunch ready, and we'll talk about what you can do next. I'm finding this very exciting."

She snorted. "I would ask what the update was on your son."

"Let's just say he likes his allowance."

"Yeah, ya think? Maybe you could put him to work doing something useful."

"Oh, do you need something?"

"My lawyer has hired a PI to look into things for me as well, but your son could always get a job doing stuff like that, if he wanted to, or something along that line."

"Ha, I never even thought of that. It's still kind of sleazy…"

"No better than selling photos to some rag, yelling, She killed her husband? Still, maybe he could benefit by learning to do it right, without breaking the law."

He snorted at that. "I tell you, give kids an inch, they'll take ten feet and smile at you while they do it."

"I don't have any kids, so I shouldn't be giving you any advice. Just pass it off as I'm having a bad week," she noted, with a chuckle, "but I will take you up on that offer for a phone. I'll pop over and hand this one in." She stared down at it.

"Go on, then drive straight here." With that, he ended the call.

She got out, sent Mack a text to meet her outside, then walked up to the station door. She waited outside for him to show up. She'd only been here a moment, when he came barreling out front.

Looking at her, he frowned. "What's the matter?"

"I was talking to Bernard, and we decided that the only way the private detective or anybody else might have known I was going for Chinese food is because I talked to Nan about it that morning. I had told her I would go pick it up."

His eyebrows shot up. "So, do you think somebody had a listening device in the house?"

"Or on my phone," she added, holding it out to him.

He took it and nodded. "What will you do for a phone then?"

"You check that one for listening devices. Meanwhile, I'll go have coffee with Bernard, and he has a phone I can borrow. I guess they call them burner phones?"

He nodded slowly, then looked at her. "It's just a phone that you put SIM cards into, when you want to make an untraceable phone call."

"That also means nobody could call me."

"Except if you call me first, then I would have your number in my call history."

"Good enough," she said. "I will do that for a couple key people. Then, beyond that, don't be surprised to see that new number."

"Right, I'll get the techs to look at this one, and, if it's clear, you'll have it back pretty soon."

"Perfect," she said. "And, if it's not clear, maybe we can use it to set a trap."

He stared at her, a slow smile twitching up the corner of his lips. "As I mentioned before," he repeated cheerfully, "you would make a great cop."

She gave him a dark look. "And, as I recall, that's becoming an insult."

"Not an insult at all, and you're just judging by one person."

"Yeah, I don't like her."

"Any idea why?" he asked, staring at her, because he didn't really have a problem with his new colleague.

"She was rude to me. She thinks I killed Mathew," Doreen replied.

"If you were a real criminal, it would have been much worse."

"If I was a real criminal, I might have been geared for it, but I'm not. I just didn't like her attitude. Is this her first ever detective position?"

Mack avoided her question, giving her a hug, then saying, "Say hi to Bernard for me."

"Will do." She walked back to her car, and, with the animals now settling down, clearly irritated at not being able to greet Mack, she drove to Bernard's.

As she pulled into the big fancy driveway, the gate opened in front of her, and she pulled up to the front entrance. With the animals out and sniffing around, generally more interested in their next set of journeys, Bernard stepped out of the house and opened up the big front doors.

"Come in, come in," he greeted her. "It's a terrible state of affairs."

"It's a pain in the butt," she declared.

"And yet," he replied, waggling his eyebrows, "a somewhat convenient one."

She sighed. "That just makes me feel worse," she muttered.

"Do you still care for Mathew?"

"No," she declared, "but he represents a stage of my life that I can't easily walk away from."

He listened to her and nodded. "That's very true. Grief doesn't end just because the relationship did."

"Exactly. Even if the relationship had been a good thing and was over, one would have feelings about it. In my case, the marriage was not a good thing at all, and now hearing that he planned to try to change my mind again doesn't make me feel any better."

"Especially considering that he was only trying to make you change your mind to make his life easier."

"Yeah, but that was him," she stated, with a wry look. "As much as I hate to admit it, nothing seems to have changed in terms of who he was."

"Why would it?" Bernard asked, with a shrug. "He was happy with who he was. He was just in a spot and needed a way out. That's what we all do."

Again, no real way to argue with that because it was true.

Bernard led her into the big drawing room, and she smiled as she entered. "I do love this room, Bernard. I love the space, the openness."

"It is my favorite room too," he agreed. "Although it tends to give off more of a chilly feeling in the evenings when it's cold, it's absolutely lovely during the day, especially nice sunny ones like today. Now sit down and relax. I've got coffee coming, and I have arranged for lunch."

"Good," she said, giving him a fat grin. "I can always eat."

He burst out laughing. "You're one of the few women who really enjoys their groceries and isn't afraid to say so."

"Are you kidding? I absolutely adore groceries, especially yours."

He gave her an affectionate smile. "Set the animals free. They can't do any damage here."

She snorted at that. "You're kidding, right?"

"It's fine. They'll be totally okay, and, if we do have messes to clean up, I have housekeepers."

She burst out laughing. "I had forgotten," she muttered.

"Which is strange because you lived this life before, did you not?"

"I did," she confirmed cheerfully, "but I would be totally okay to never go back to it."

"That surprises me."

"That's because I didn't really get to live it. I existed in it, but it wasn't my lifestyle. It wasn't me or even any aspect of me that I recognized. It was more like pretending to be that quiet and perfect china doll that Mathew wanted."

Bernard shook his head at that. "Quiet? He didn't know what he was missing out on."

"No, and now he'll never find out either," she reminded him.

He nodded, giving her points for that. "And you'll still try to solve this case, huh? Even though he was who he was?"

"Yes. It's a good way to bring closure, not only to the case but for me."

"I can understand that, but you certainly do stretch tolerance and affability. Not sure he deserved it."

"Not sure he did either," she agreed, "but it doesn't matter because this is the mess that faces me, and I want to put it behind me as quickly as possible."

"What's next? You've been waiting for this divorce to go through, as I understand."

She nodded. "I have been."

"Then what? Will you be putting poor Mack out of his misery?"

She shot him a look. "What do you know about poor Mack's misery?" she asked in a dry tone.

"Hey, I can see a man in love, having been there and having loved every aspect of that process," Bernard shared, with a big grin on his face. "I can definitely sympathize with him."

She sighed. "He is really not having such a hard time."

"No, but he is not totally sure where he stands either." He glanced at her. "Did you tell him where you were headed today?"

"Yeah, I sure did. He says hi."

Bernard nodded. "You know he really cares for you, right?"

"Of course I do, and, yes, I am planning on putting him out of his misery," she admitted, with an eye roll. "Whatever that means."

He just laughed. "Whatever it turns out to mean, have some fun, explore it, and dive on in. You may have existed in your previous relationship, but don't do that to Mack. Be there 100 percent, and you'll be surprised at the good it does for both of you."