She turned. “Yes?”
“Don’t let RoseAnn talk to clients until she learns to watch her language.”
“Gotcha.”
44
Viv and Rosie stood in Viv’s friend’s apartment and looked around. “It’s not obvious,” Viv said to the tech guy.
“That’s because they’re wireless-we didn’t have to hide a lot of wiring.” He pointed. “You’ve got four cameras in here, one at roughly each corner of the living room. Nothing can happen here that we can’t see.” He led them into the bedroom. “We’ve got one in the light fixture here and one in that basket on the chest of drawers.”
“Don’t worry,” Rosie said, “we’re not going to get this far.”
The techie shrugged. “Whatever. Each camera has a microphone, too. We’ll be in the second bedroom, down the hall. There’s a lock on the door, so he won’t walk in on us by mistake. When are you guys going to start the ball rolling?”
“You may not have noticed this, Albie,” Viv said, “but we’re not guys.”
“I hope your mark notices that,” Albie said. He handed Rosie a wristwatch. “I’ve only got one of these, so you’ll have to decide who wears it.”
“What does it do?” Viv asked.
“Two things: it’s got a GPS chip, so if we should lose you in the street, we can still keep track, and if you press the stem, it’s a panic button. It sets off an alarm that flares your location on the screen and buzzes loud, in case somebody’s in the john.”
“You’re going to have two cops in there with you, so don’t all go to the john at the same time,” Rosie said.
VIV AND ROSIE sat in an unmarked car on West Forty-fourth Street and watched the entrance to the building that housed the Bright Lights, Ink, agency. It was raining. Viv’s cell rang. “DeCarlo.”
“It’s Bacchetti. I see you on West Forty-fourth on my laptop screen.”
“Shall I wave?” Viv asked.
“Just watch your ass,” Dino said. “I’m not up for wearing my uniform to your funeral.”
“Don’t worry, Lieutenant, there’ll be three guys in the second bedroom, and when one of us is in the apartment with him, the other will be outside the door with a key. What could go wrong?”
“Are you armed?”
“One of us will be. If the one in the apartment is packing, it might be a tip-off. And Albie gave us a panic button, and the one who’s doing the tailing will have the radio.”
“I’ll feel a lot better when this is over,” Dino said. “Be careful, Viv, goddammit!” He hung up.
“I think Dino cares,” Rosie said. “About you, I mean.”
“Oh, stop it
.”
“He didn’t tell me to be careful.”
“That’s because he wasn’t talking to you.”
“He didn’t call me, either.”
“He couldn’t call both of us at the same time.”
“I’ve seen him watching your ass,” Rosie said. “Believe me, he wants your body.”
“Rosie, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to shoot you, I swear to God!”