"All right. But if you need muscle for the job, you now have my number. Day or night, I'll be there."
I'm back at the table. I expect Diana to comment, but she barely seems to have noticed I left. When I deposit her third lemon drop, she reaches for it as if it's been there all along. After a sip, she says, "Graham called this afternoon. He said he had to fly back early and wouldn't be able to do dinner. Not that I'd agreed to dinner..."
She stares across the room, her eyes unfocused.
"That's good, right?" I say tentatively. "That he left?"
She blinks hard before forcing a humourless laugh. "Yes, sorry. Did that sound like regret? Absolutely not. I was just thinking..." She turns to me. "Is it ever going to end, Casey? He only has to call, and I'm in lockdown again. Do you know what I did today? Checked my life insurance. I wanted to be sure it was paid up so you wouldn't be on the hook if anything happened. Can you believe I even thought that? Me? Miss Happy-Go-Lucky?" Her fingers tighten on the glass. "Not so happy these days. Definitely not so lucky."
"How about a vacation?" I ask. "God knows, I've got a shitload of time banked."
She nods, absently, and I struggle to think of "fun" things to do, but it's like asking a pastry chef to fix a broken carburetor. My idea of a holida
y is the guy behind the bar.
"I keep thinking about this place," she blurts. "And don't laugh, okay? Because I know it sounds crazy, and maybe it just proves how desperate I am. But in my therapy group, there's this woman I have coffee with, and we talk about our escape plans, what we'd do if things got too bad. She has a place she'd go."
"A cabin or something?"
"No, a town. For people who need to disappear. A place where no one can find them."
"Like an underground railway for abuse victims?"
"For anyone in trouble. It's an entire town of people who've disappeared."
I shake my head. "I'm sorry, Di, but that sounds like a classic urban legend. Think about it. An invisible town? In today's world, you're never really off the grid. How would a place like that work? The economy, the security..."
"I'm not saying I believe in it. The point is that it proves how far I've fallen, Case. I can't stop thinking about it. Obsessing over it. Telling myself maybe, just maybe, it could be real."
"It isn't," I say. "Now, if you want to talk real strategies and escape plans, we can do that. But no fantasy bullshit. It's a real problem; it needs a real solution."
SIX
Everything goes fine the next day. Ricci stops by and takes me up on that offer of coffee, and he's all business. I don't mention the parking garage. If it was him, he must have just been trying to work up the nerve to ask for a drink again and changed his mind.
As for Graham, all is silent. I insist on Diana spending another night at my place, but I don't see the need to stay with her.
When I walk into the bar that night, Kurt's washing glasses. He squints against the dim lighting to be sure it's me. Then he smiles, puts down the glass, and has a shot of tequila poured before I reach the bar.
He doesn't say anything. I down the shot and let him pour another. Someone hails him across the room, and he slings the dish towel over his shoulder and walks off, leaving me to take my second shot, slower now, as the burn takes hold.
We barely exchange a dozen words over the next hour. Usually, if I'm here without Diana, we talk. How's work? How's life? Did you see the forecast calls for rain all week? Yep, deep conversation. That's no reflection on Kurt. He's joked that we only have one thing in common: I arrest people and he's been arrested.
Tonight he can tell I'm not in the mood for chatter, and he takes no offence at that, letting me sip my tequila in silence.
The bar should close at two. Kurt shuts it down at one. The only remaining patrons are too drunk to check their watches. I doubt they even own one. He scoots them out the door with a cardboard cup of coffee and a good night. He doesn't bother telling them not to drive. There's little danger of them owning vehicles, either.
By the time he comes back, I have the tables cleared and I'm washing glasses. He nods his thanks and finishes cashing out. He's supposed to make the deposit tonight. He'll get it later. No one's going to break into his apartment for a few hundred bucks. Not when the last guy who jumped him spent a week recuperating in hospital.
He's done first and takes the dishrag from me to finish up. I wait. He tosses the rag in the sink, and I follow him into the back, where stairs lead up to his apartment.
It's a tiny place, half the size of mine. Kurt has two jobs and an ex-girlfriend with a five-year-old son. His son. His responsibility. Not that he plays any role in his child's life. He's just the ATM. His ex has decided her new husband is "daddy." Kurt still insists on paying child support, even if it means working two shitty jobs. He's also saving money. Saving it for what? No fucking idea, he said when I asked. I guess we have that in common, too.
He's locking the door as I walk into the living room. I hear him follow me, but he doesn't say a word, just stands behind me as I stare out the window.
"Casey?"
I turn. He doesn't move. He's trying to gauge my mood, if I've changed my mind about staying. I unbutton my shirt, and he smiles, staying where he is, watching. I left my bra off when I changed to come over, and as my shirt falls open, he sucks in breath. I start toward him.