As the Wicked Watch(61)

“Are you up for it?”

“I’ve gotta get out of this house for a while. The walls are closing in on me,” she said.

I’d gone this far; I might as well go all the way.

“Pamela, there’s somebody I want you to meet. Somebody who wants to help, who can help, I think. She’s from Aurora. She’s a victim advocate.”

“Is she White?” she asked, which struck me as odd.

“She is,” I said, though it hadn’t occurred to me that Pamela might be suspicious of April’s motives. “She’s been looking into cold cases and working with retired law enforcement officers to reopen cases and put pressure on departments for more than ten years. But I’d rather she tell you her story.”

“I can be there in an hour,” Pam said.

“Can you make it two hours? I need to see if April can join us. That’s her name, April Murphy. She’ll need time to get here. In either case, there are a few things I want to talk to you about. See you at two o’clock?”

“You interviewed her last night,” Pam said. “Yes, she was interesting. I’d love to meet her. I’ll be there.”

*

So far today, things couldn’t be going any better. After I hung up from Pam, I called April to see if she could meet us. Just so happens, she was already in the car headed to downtown Chicago to drop off paperwork to one of her clients. I asked her if she could meet me at one-thirty. I wanted time alone with her before Pamela arrived to feel her out on this reconnaissance mission.

“Yes, that should work perfectly,” April said.

I arrived first and grabbed another coffee, then staked out the booth at the back of the store where Pam and I always sit. With a few moments to spare, I decided to call Lisette to give her the bad news.

“Hey, Jordie,” she answered.

“Hey,” I said unenthusiastically.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Wait, I already know.”

At times, Lisette can read me better than my mother. Sometimes we finish each other’s sentences.

“Yeah, I’m so sorry. You know I would love to go, but it’s not a good time for me to get away right now. The good news is I’m on special assignment,” I said, brightening.

“Girl, you stay on special assignment. What is it this time?” Lisette asked.

I almost hated to tell her, because by now I must sound like a broken record. “The Masey James case. Nussbaum is cutting me some slack from the day-to-day to focus on it. I don’t want to bore you with the details, but trust me, it’s good news.”

She sighed. “Well, okay. You know I was looking forward to seeing you every bit as much as Mike,” she said.

“Some alone time together will be good for the two of you,” I said.

“You’re right,” she said. “I think I’m in love.”

“What!” I shouted, drawing attention from the patrons standing at the counter. “Really?”

“It hit me the other night when we were talking on the phone,” she said.

“Have you told him?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “He hasn’t told me yet. I’m not saying it first.”

“Okay, well, yeah, I know you,” I said, chuckling.

“I dunno. Something about this trip feels different,” she said.

“Then I don’t feel so bad about not going. You all don’t need me there.”

Call waiting signaled an incoming from Joey. As badly as I hated to miss it, Lisette’s revelation was far too surprising and important to cut her short.

“It’s only a three-hour drive, so don’t be surprised if you look up and see me waiting for you in the lobby,” she said. “Bass’ll let me inside.”

“Hell, Bass will let you in my apartment!” I said.

Just then, I looked up and saw April Murphy coming through the revolving door. “And I would definitely welcome a visit,” I said, omitting if I can get the time off. If she comes to town, I’ll deal with it then. “We could double-date! But listen, let’s talk later. I’ve gotta go. My meeting just arrived.”

“Okay, I love you,” she said.

“That’s right, you just keep right on practicing those three little words,” I said.

“Only after he says it first!”

“Love you, too. Bye!”

April Murphy was almost unrecognizable. She had upgraded her suburban minivan mom look to suburban cool mom in a pair of black faux leather pants, with a matching black half sweater, a half faux leather jacket, a white turtleneck, and red high heel ankle boots. Our eyes met and I waved her over. She was carrying a stuffed brown legal folder.

“Hi, Jordan,” she said, extending her right hand while clutching the folder against her chest. “I’m glad we could do this today.”

“Thanks for coming on such short notice. Pamela is joining us at two. I wanted us to have some time to talk before she gets here.”

“Perfect! Because there’s something I’d like to share with you,” she said.

“Okay.”

“I have a friend who has done some consulting work for the state crime lab. He’s my boyfriend, actually,” she said with a tinge of embarrassment. “I hate that word.”