Nina managed a smile and didn’t complain when I tore the rest of the duct tape from around her arms and ankles. Tension and fear had caused her to perspire; her shirt was glued to her body and her perfume had a sour smell. Yet she didn’t seem frightened. Perhaps she was pretending. I do it all the time. When I finished with the tape, she slipped off the chair into my arms. We held each other tight. I could feel the heat of her body. It was as if she had just completed a marathon and hadn’t had time to cool down.
Schroeder was on his cell, calling the police. “Take your time,” he told the emergency operator. “Fucker ain’t going anywhere.” He saw me looking at him, and he moved toward the front door, giving Nina and me some space. I yanked the headset off and dropped it on the floor.
“I knew I would be all right,” Nina told me. “I knew you would get me out of this.”
That’s more than I knew, I thought but didn’t say.
“It was because of Erica,” Nina said. “He threatened her. He said if I didn’t call you, he would find Erica. He would kill her. I would have told him no, except for Erica. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You did the best, perfect thing.”
I held her face with both my hands. Nina was still smiling, but tears were running down her cheeks onto my fingers. “I don’t know what to say,” she told me.
“Don’t say anything.”
“It really isn’t that much fun, what you do. Is it?”
I could hear the whining sound of distant sirens coming closer and closer as I kissed her and held her and told her how much I loved her and how sorry I was that she had been put in jeopardy and asked her to forgive me. She blew it off. I could have canceled a date because my car broke down for all the resentment she showed me.
“It’s not your fault” was all she said. Yet it was my fault—I couldn’t shake the truth of it—and I told her so.
“Everything’s messed up,” I said.
“You did what was necessary,” she said. “I can see that. Anyone could see that. What he did, Teachwell, what he did to Victoria and to me and to all the others, no one should be allowed to do that.”
I kissed her again. “I must have been a helluva a guy in a previous life to find you in this one,” I said.
We held each other for a long time, even after the sirens were silenced and the house began to fill with serious men demanding answers to serious questions.
Finally Nina said, “How did Teachwell know about Erica and me, about us, that we were together?”
“Someone told him.”
It was a small house and not as well kept up as it should have been. I rang the doorbell, and when nothing happened I rapped on the door. Karen opened it slowly. She was wearing a clingy blue robe that looked good on her and nothing else that I could see. “McKenzie,” she said. She tightened the cinch on her robe. At the same time, she threw a glance at the room behind her as if there were something she didn’t want me to see.
“I’m happy to see you,” she said, but I didn’t believe her. “What brings you here?”
“Hi,” I said. “I hope it’s not too late.”
“Not at all.” She swung the door wide. “Come in. Please excuse the mess.”
There didn’t seem to be much of a mess. Only a large soft-sided suitcase standing alone in the living room.
“Going somewhere?” I asked.
Karen casually wheeled the suitcase against the wall. “No,” she said. “I’ve been getting my winter clothes out of storage, my sweaters and long-sleeve blouses and other things, and packing away my summer clothes before the cold weather sets it. It’s getting colder.”
“So it is.”
“I’m glad to see you.” This time she smiled brightly when she said it. I still didn’t believe her. “What have you been doing since we parted? Have you found the T-Man?”
“Yes. He’s dead.”
“Dead? What happened?”
“Another ambush. The same as with Joley Waddell. Only this time, he was holding Nina hostage. I got the drop on him and I killed him.”
“Just like that? Jesus, McKenzie. You killed him just like that?”
“No, not just like that. We talked a bit first.”
“You talked? About what?”
“About why I was killing him. About how things got to that point.”
“Is everyone else okay? Are you okay? Nina?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good, anyway.”
“Sure.”
Karen folded her arms across her ample chest and looked me hard in the eye. “Why are you here, McKenzie?” she said. “I’m glad you’re here. I really am. But I’ve been flirting with you since we met and you’ve resisted all my charms. So why are you here now? You could’ve called me.”
Oh, my, she’s good, my inner voice told me. I paused, trying to see the words in my head before I spoke them. I didn’t want to be excused later of leading or confusing her.
“The T-Man,” I said aloud. “His name was Thomas Teachwell. Did you know him?” She shook her head, but that wasn’t good enough for my purposes. “Did you know him?” I repeated.
“No,” she said.
“Ever hear the name?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Why do you keep asking?”
“A lot of little things, they all make sense now. Scottie returning to the halfway house the evening we went looking for him. I think you called him. While I was in Lehane’s shooting pool and you were outside, I think you called him.”