Hot Stuff

Chapter SIXTEEN

Cate bolted out of the condo building and hit the ground running. She wanted to show Kellen the scanner, and she needed to shower and change her clothes. It was close to five o’clock and the traffic was heavy. The temperature was in the high eighties, but a stiff breeze ripped down the street. A storm was blowing in. She reached the townhouse and realized she didn’t have a key. She rang the bell and prayed Kellen was home. She hadn’t thought to call first.

Kellen opened the door, and Cate rushed past him.

“I’m late,” Cate said.

Kellen snagged her arm, and pulled her to him and kissed her. “What time do you need to be at work?”

“Six. But I have to take a shower and get dressed.”

Kellen nuzzled her neck. “You smell good. You smell like birthday cake. You always smell like cake.”

“I made four cakes for the party trolley, and Julie said her boss would pay me for them.”

“I’d pay to nibble on you,” Kellen said.

“Really? Do you… um, pay for sex?”

He smiled down at her. “No. But you’d be worth it.”

“I guess that’s a compliment.”

“It’s conversation. My plan is to keep talking to you so you stay pressed up against me.”

Kellen hardly needed a plan. He was warm and hard… some places harder than others. Cate was quickly losing her sense of priority.

“It’s a good plan, but I’ve got to take a shower. And I have something to show you.” Cate scrounged around in her purse and pulled out the scanner.

“What is it?”

“It’s a scanner. It reads microchips that get implanted in pets for identification purposes. It was in Marty’s condo.”

Beast’s toenails could be heard scrabbling on the wood floor as he turned a corner and galloped toward Cate. He put the brakes on too late and plowed into her, buckling her knees.

Cate bent to hug Beast. “I missed you,” she said to Beast. “Did you have a good afternoon?”

“We went for a walk, and he played with his friends in the dog park,” Kellen said. “He drank a bowl of water and slobbered it all over the kitchen floor. And then he took a nap. If I can convince you and Beast to stay here, I’m going to have my cleaning lady come more than once a week. I might even buy a mop.”

“Wow, buying a mop is pretty drastic for a bachelor like you.”

“It’s a small price,” Kellen said.

He looked at the scanner and pushed the button to turn it on. “I should have thought of this. I know microchip use is common. It just didn’t pop up on my radar screen.” He passed the scanner over the scruff of Beast’s neck, and numbers appeared on the readout.

“Here’s the problem,” Kellen said. “We don’t know what these numbers mean. This could just be an ID chip. We know Kitty Bergman wanted Beast, but maybe she wanted the water bowl.”

“Maybe I should ask her,” Cate said.

Kellen grinned. “You’re going to call her up and ask her?”

“Yeah.”

“I like it. Do you have her phone number?”

“No. Get her phone number, and I’ll jump in the shower, and I’ll call when I get out.”

“Do you need help in the shower?”

“No! I’m late.”

“You’re not late yet,” Kellen said.

“I will be if you help in the shower.”

Kellen and Beast were waiting in the bedroom when Cate stepped out of the bathroom.

“I got the number,” Kellen said. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Truth was, she’d rather cut off her thumb than call Kitty Bergman. Unfortunately, Cate didn’t think Kitty was going to give up on Beast. Kitty was a woman who was used to getting what she wanted. If the necklace in the water bowl was the prize, and Beast was simply incidental, then Cate could keep Beast safe by telling Kitty the necklace had been found and turned over to the police. And that’s why Cate was going to call scary Kitty Bergman.

“Yeah,” Cate said. “Dial her up.”

Kellen punched the number in and handed Cate the headset.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Cate said to Kitty.

“Who is this?”

“Cate Madigan. Beast’s mom. I was wondering if you still wanted Beast now that Marty’s… gone.”

“Of course. Marty would want me to take care of his dog.”

“The thing is, Beast is used to me. We’ve sort of bonded. So I thought it might be best for me to adopt him.”

“That’s very sweet of you, but out of the question.”

“And by the way, the strangest thing happened. His water bowl fell apart and there was a diamond-and-sapphire necklace in it. Can you imagine? Anyway, I gave it over to the police, of course.”

“Of course,” Kitty said.

“Do you still want Beast?”

“It’s really what Marty would want. Marty would want me to have his dog. And if you don’t give him to me I’ll track you down, and when I’m done with you, you will be dust.”

“Okay then. Good conversation,” Cate said. And she hung up.

Kellen was watching Cate. “Well?”

“She wants Beast.”

“Your face turned white at the end there.”

“She said she was going to make me into dust.”

“That’s extreme.”

Cate checked her watch. “Shoot! I have to go.”

“I’ll walk with you,” Kellen said, putting the headset in its cradle. “I don’t want the Wicked Witch turning you into dust.”

Gina and Cate stood side by side looking across the bar at the half-empty room.

“Evian’s going to have to find a Marty substitute real quick,” Gina said. “This place is going to tank.”

“Yeah, it’s amazing how fast everyone jumped ship,” Cate said.

Gina focused on Evian sitting at the end of the bar, head down, fingering a bowl of bar nuts, presumably looking for something special. A cashew maybe. “Poor guy,” Gina said. “He looks real depressed. I guess he’s got real problems.”

Cate had a suspicion Evian’s problems were pale compared to her problems. Evian might lose the bar, but Kitty Bergman was going to turn Cate into dust. The one bright note was that Cate felt confident Kellen would take care of Beast.

Marty’s keyboard guy and bass player were on stage, banging out some songs without Marty. A few people paid attention. Most kept their noses in their drinks. Pugg was on duty, sitting at a high-top table, watching Cate as if she might at any moment vanish in a poof of smoke.

Cate motioned to Pugg to come to the bar.

“Pugg is at your service,” he said, climbing onto a stool.

“I know you have instructions to keep your eye on me, but I’m really okay. It’s nice of you to stay here, but Kellen will be picking me up, and nothing’s going to happen in the bar.”

“Be that as it may, Pugg has promised Julie he would not let you out of his sight. And if Pugg does not fulfill that promise, Pugg won’t get any tonight.”

Cate smiled. He was endearing in a very bizarre way. “Do you like Julie?”

“Julie is a saint. Pugg doesn’t deserve Julie, but he’ll bang her all the same.”

“Is that all you’re interested in? Sex?”

“Defense mechanism,” Pugg said. “The truth is I’m nuts about her, and it scares the bejeezus out of me. How could anyone like that love anyone like me?”

“I have a feeling under all that Pugg stuff you’re really a good guy.”

“I don’t even know what’s under the Pugg stuff anymore.”

“You should take some time to find out,” Cate said.

The bar phone rang at ten o’clock and Gina passed it over to Cate.

“It’s for you,” Gina said. “Didn’t give a name.”

Cate drew another draft for a customer and took the phone.

“Cate?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t faint or anything, but it’s Marty.”

“That’s impossible. Marty’s… you know.”

“I swam to shore. I just lost my wig and a shoe and my purse. That was one of my favorite wigs too. I paid three hundred bucks for that wig. Here, listen to this.” And he sang a couple bars from “Over the Rainbow.”

“Omigod,” Cate said. “You sound just like Marty.”

“I am Marty! And I’m locked out of my condo. What the hell is that thing on the door?”

“People were breaking in, so I changed the lock to something that couldn’t be picked.”

“No shit. Houdini couldn’t crack that lock.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in the alley behind the bar. I’ve been living in a packing crate about a block from Evian’s, trying to be invisible. Being dead has some advantages, it turns out. Mostly that no one wants to kill you again.”

“Maybe you should go to the police.”

“Not an option. I need to get into the condo. If I can get into the condo I can leave the country. And I need to see my dog. He’s in the condo, right?”

“Actually, he’s staying with a friend of mine.”

“How could you do that? I asked you to take care of him. Is he close? Does he have the beautiful bowl I sent him?”

Cate turned her back to the room and lowered her voice. “Marty, I found the necklace in the bowl.”

There was a beat of silence and then a sigh. “Fuck,” Marty said.

“I turned it over to the police.”

“Did you tell them where it came from?”

“No.”

“Cate, you have to help me. I need to get away from Kitty Bergman. The woman is insane. The only way I can get away is to get into the condo. And I need the dog. You need to go get him and bring him to the condo. And please do it now. Tell Evian you got the curse or something. I can’t keep living in this packing crate. I need some decent food. I need a safe place to sleep. I need a manicure.”

“Out of morbid curiosity, how are you making this call?”

“I stole a cell phone. It’s nice. It’s one of those new Motorolas. Unfortunately it’s pink and not at all my color palate.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the condo. And I’ll have my friend bring Beast.”

“I swear I’ll make this up to you. I really appreciate this.”

Cate hung up and dialed Kellen.

“I just got a call from Marty. I know it was him because he sang ‘Over the Rainbow’ to me. He wants to get into the condo. I told him I’d have you bring Beast over, and I’d let him in.”

“I don’t want you going to the condo alone. I’ll pick you up at Evian’s.”

There were a handful of customers at high-topped bar tables and half the stools were filled at the bar. One hour until closing. No need to stay open late without Marty Longfellow on stage. Gina could easily handle the orders, Cate thought.

Cate made sure her tabs were in order. She told Gina and Evian she wasn’t feeling well and was leaving early. She got her purse from the back room and quietly walked through the dim bar.

“I’m leaving early,” she told Pugg. “Kellen is picking me up. Thanks for watching over me.”

Pugg nodded.

Cate walked out the front door and stood under the glow of the overhead globe light. A thunderstorm had just passed through, and the sidewalks were glistening wet and steaming themselves dry. There were few people on the street, most having been chased indoors by the storm.

A black town car pulled to the curb in front of Evian’s, the passenger-side door opened, and a man got out. It took Cate a moment to place him. He was one of Kitty Bergman’s goons. Cate turned to the bar and had her hand on the door when she was yanked back. There were a flash and a sizzle and then it was all black for a moment. Weak legs, scrambled brain. She stumbled and was pulled up. Hands under her armpits. Someone dragging her. And then she was in the car, in the backseat, next to a strange man. Her hands were shackled. She wasn’t sure how that happened. She gave her head a small shake to focus and looked hard at the man next to her. It was Marty. He was bearded and unkempt, in baggy, dirty jeans and a wrinkled denim shirt.

“You set me up,” Cate said to Marty.

“No,” Marty said. They were out here waiting for you, and they saw me walk out of the alley.”

One of the men in the front seat turned to Cate. “Yeah, we were real lucky. At first we didn’t recognize him. We thought he was dead. He caught our attention because he didn’t shuffle along like a guy on the street. And then we realized it was Marty.”

“Why were you waiting for me?”

“I’m sorry,” Marty said. “When they captured me the first time I told them about the water bowl and the microchip in the dog. And unfortunately, you have the dog.”

“Yeah,” the guy in the front said. “Marty avoids pain.” He had his cell phone in his hand and he punched in a number. “We have her,” he said to someone on the other end. “And we got someone else too. You’re gonna love this. We got Marty. Turns out he can swim.”

They were on Columbus and turned onto Dartmouth. Traffic was slow. Saturday night and it had rained. Everyone was in a car. Cate turned and looked out the back window, and saw Pugg running behind the town car. She was at once grateful and horrified. She didn’t want them to capture Pugg too. She was afraid Pugg wouldn’t avoid pain. She was afraid Pugg had too much hero in him for his own good.

“What happened to me back there?” Cate asked.

“Stun gun,” the guy in the front said. “We just gave you a jolt. We gave Marty enough to curl his hair when we threw him off the bridge.” He looked at Marty. “Who would have thought you’d swim out of it?”

Cate had a sick feeling in her stomach, and her heart was thudding in her chest. The atmosphere in the car was more conversational than confrontational, but her hands were cuffed in front of her, and she was being abducted. Marty had apparently told them what they needed to know, and they’d thrown him off a bridge, all the same. She’d be happy to get Beast and let them wand the number off him as long as he was returned to her unhurt. Even if Marty was a thief it was hard to believe he had anything valuable enough to go to all this trouble and risk exposure.

The town car turned left onto Commonwealth and Cate caught sight of Pugg running, shirttails flapping, on the sidewalk beside them. He had his eyes on the car and ran flat out into a woman walking a sheepdog. The last Cate saw of Pugg he was sprawled on the ground and he wasn’t moving.

The town car cut around to the alley behind the house with the red door and pulled into a parking space.

“We’re going to get out now, and we’re going to walk to the back door and go in,” the guy in the front said to Cate. “If you make a sound, I’ll hit you with the stun gun. If you struggle, I’ll hit you with the stun gun. If you try to run, I’ll knock you down, and then I’ll hit you with the stun gun.”

“Okey dokey,” Cate said. “Got it.”

Cate and Marty were walked through the back door into the kitchen, into the center hall, and up a flight of stairs to a bedroom.

“We’re gonna leave you here, and don’t try to do anything cute like jump out a window. We’d hear you screaming in pain when you hit the ground, and we’d drag your broken bones back in here and lock you in this room again.”

The two men left the room, locking the door behind them.

“I imagine we’re waiting for Kitty to arrive,” Marty said. “Ick. She’s like the slime monster dressed in Chanel. It just isn’t right.”

“What’s the deal with Kitty Bergman and you? I know you steal jewelry. What’s Kitty got to do with it?”