I thought of the sexy satin blouse and lacy lingerie Bray had been wearing.
“She eat a little pizza with you and tell you to go on home like you was nothing to her? She dis you for the last time last night?” Marino asked.
Anderson silently stared down at her motionless hands. She kept licking her lips, trying not to cry.
“I mean, it would be understandable. All of us can only take so much, isn’t that right, Doc? Like when someone’s fucking around with your career, just as an example. But we’ll get to that part a little later.”
He leaned forward in his antique chair, big hands on his big knees until Anderson’s bloodshot eyes lifted and met his.
“You got any idea how much trouble you’re in?” he said to her.
Her hand shook as she pushed back her hair.
“I was here early last night.” She spoke in a flat, depressed voice. “I dropped by and we ordered pizza.”
“This a habit of yours?” Marino asked. “To drop by? Were you invited?”
“I would come over here. Sometimes I dropped by,” she said.
“Sometimes you dropped by unannounced. That’s what you’re saying.”
She nodded, wetting her lips again.
“Did you do that last night?”
Anderson had to think. I could see yet one more lie condensing like a cloud in her eyes. Marino leaned back in his chair.
“Damn, this is uncomfortable.” He rolled his shoulders. “Like sitting in a tomb. I think it might be a good idea to tell the truth, don’t you? ‘Cause guess what? I’m going to find out one way or other, and you lie to me, I’ll bust your chops so bad you’ll eat cockroaches in prison. Don’t think we don’t know about you and that goddamn rental car sitting out there.”
“There’s nothing unusual about a detective having a rental car.” She fumbled and knew it.
“Sure as hell is if it’s following people everywhere,” he retorted, and now it was my time to speak.
“You parked it in front of my secretary’s apartment,” I said. “Or at least somebody in that car did. I’ve been followed. Rose was followed:’
Anderson didn’t speak.
“I don’t suppose your e-mail address would happen to be M-A-Y F-L-R.” I spelled it out for her.
She blew on her hands to warm them.
“That’s right. I forgot,” Marino said. “You was born in May. The tenth, in Bristol, Tennessee. I can tell you your Social Security number, address, too, if you want.”
“I know all about Chuck,” I said to her.
Now she was getting very nervous and scared.
“Fact is,” Marino stepped in, “we got of Chuckie-boy on tape stealing prescription drugs from the morgue. You know that?”
She took a deep breath. We really didn’t have that on tape yet.
“A lot of money. Enough for him and you and even Brayto have pretty good lives.”
“He stole them, not me,” Anderson spoke up. “And it wasn’t my idea.”
“You used to work in vice,” Marino replied. “You know where to unload shit like that. I just bet you were the mastermind of the whole fucking thing because as much as I don’t like Chuck, he wasn’t a drug dealer before you appeared on the scene.”
“You were following Rose, following me, to intimidate us,” I said.
“My jurisdiction is the city;” she said. “I cruise all over the place. Doesn’t mean I have some motive in mind if I’m behind you.”
Marino got up and made a rude noise to voice his disgust.
“Come on,” he said to her. “Why don’t we just go on back to Bray’s bedroom. Since you’re such a good detec-tive, maybe you can look at the blood and brains everywhere and tell me what you think happened. Since you weren’t following no one and the drug dealing wasn’t your fault, may as well get back to work and help me out here, Detective Anderson.”
Her face got pale. Terror leapt through her eyes like scattering deer.
“What?” Marino sat next to her on the couch. “You got a problem with that? That mean you don’t want to go to the morgue and watch the autopsy, either? Not eager to do yourjob?”