And if I do insist, someone will leak it to the press and tomorrow’s breaking story will be about the police chief abusing her authority to get personal favors unavailable to other needy citizens-

“Donna, reschedule my first three meetings until this afternoon. Just cram them in somehow. I’ve got somewhere I have to go. Tell Social they can release Alisha and her son into my personal custody.”

Beth pulled out her cell phone and punched in a number. “It’s Beth. We need to deal with this. Now.”

“I know,” answered Abe Altman. “I know.”

CHAPTER 75

MACE HAD JUST finished breakfast and was pouring a second cup of coffee when Altman came into the eating area right off the kitchen.

“Hope you slept well,” he said. “Not bad. Met Rick Cassidy on my run this morning.”

“A wonderful young man. He was planning on leaving the Navy to be closer to his sister, so I thought a job here would fit into that. She goes to George Washington and has accepted a full-time position with the World Bank in D.C.”

“That was really nice what you did for her.”

“When a poor man gives something, that is a sacrifice indeed. When a rich man gives something, it hardly rises to the same level.”

“Well, I know some rich people who never give anything.”

Altman was dressed in his usual manner, jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. He poured a cup of tea from a pot on the sideboard, bit into a biscuit, and sat down next to her.

“Herbert is a genius in the kitchen,” he said. “I have two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. and I can’t even crack an egg properly.”

“I know, I’m a klutz in the kitchen too. I had two croissants and a plate of eggs and had to stop myself from going back for more.”

Altman took a sip of tea, set the cup down, and said, “Psycho?”

Mace wiped her mouth. “Look, it was no big deal.”

“It was a very big deal. I heard from Carmela, who talked to Non at the apartment building. Non watched the entire confrontation from her window. You and Roy could have been killed. I feel terrible. Terrible, Mace. I had these people vetted with great depth but I had no idea of this man’s involvement with Alisha.”

“That’s probably because everyone’s scared of the guy. But we got out okay, and we also removed Alisha and Tyler from the situation. Beth helped me with that.”

“I know.”

“So you talked to her?”

“Yes. If anything had happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself.”

She put a hand on his arm. “Abe, I’m assuming you recruited me for this job because I know my way around those places. That also included knowing how to survive there. My big mistake was taking Roy with me. That was stupid on my part. That won’t happen again.”

“I don’t believe there should be a next time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t justify sending you into dangerous places, Mace. I can’t risk that. No study is worth that.”

“Well, I think this study is. Look at Alisha. She’s a good kid. She just needs a chance. And Tyler, we can’t leave him in that place. He needs some special help. And there are thousands just like them in this town.”

“It’s too risky.”

“I’m willing to take that risk. You offered me the job and I accepted. Now let me do my thing. Abe, you knew these areas were potentially dangerous. What’s the big deal now?”

“It all looked good on paper. But paper is not real life. All my calculations aren’t worth anything, it seems, when you have people like this Psycho around.”

“I can take care of that.”

“I thought when they learned you were trying to help folks in those situations, that it would protect you.”

“And it will. But for those few who think otherwise, I’ll deal with it. I don’t think you’ll win this one, Abe.”

They both looked up to see Beth standing by the door holding pudgy Tyler Rogers. Behind her was Alisha clutching a small bag.

Mace rose. “Alisha? Are you and Tyler okay?”

The young mother came forward, her eyes wide as she took in the interior of the mansion. “We’re fine. Chief Perry took real good care of us.”

Mace looked at her sister. “I really appreciated the assist, Beth. I didn’t know who else to call when Psycho showed up.”

“He’s not a guy you mess around with. Although from what I heard you pretty much held your own.” She paused. “Did Kingman really play him in one-on-one basketball?”

“And kicked his butt,” said Alisha with ill-concealed delight. “I was watching with Non at the window. Kicked his butt,” she repeated, tacking on a big smile.

“Where’s Darren?” Mace asked.

“Who’s that?” asked Beth sharply.

“My brother. He didn’t come with us. Don’t know where he is.”

“So what are you all doing here?” said Mace.

Altman rose and came forward. “Beth and I spoke this morning and Alisha and Tyler are coming to stay with us. I was hoping that they could be in the west wing of the guesthouse if it’s not an inconvenience to you.”

Mace blurted out, “Inconvenience? That place is so big I’d need a map to find them.”

“We staying here?” said Alisha looking around. “I don’t have no money for a place like this.”

“There is no charge,” said Altman, taking her arm lightly after receiving a high sign from Beth. “And I’d be honored to take you and your son to your new quarters and help you get settled in.”

Beth handed off Tyler to Alisha and the three left together. Beth turned to her sister and eyed her empty coffee cup. “You might need another jolt of caffeine, because we need to talk. Now.”

CHAPTER 76

I HAD my police scanner on last night. Heard about the homicide in Nine. Knew you’d be there. You look beat.”

Beth took off her hat and sat down. “You look spent, too. Can’t be the accommodations. Having nightmares again?”

“I don’t have nightmares anymore.”

“You sure about that?”

“You held me when I was twelve, Beth. You don’t need to hold me anymore.” Mace handed her a full cup of black coffee and sat down with her own. Beth took a swallow and spent a moment admiring the room.

“I can see why you split from me to come here.”

“I’ve actually found the concierge service to be pretty average.”

“I guess I can leave it to you to find trouble even as a research assistant.”

“It’s a gift.”

“So you’re going back in?”

“See no reason not to. So what do we need to talk about?”

Beth hunched forward. “Andre Watkins?”

Mace barely reacted, but it was enough.

Beth said, “I thought so. A-1? Since we’re the police we had to resort to a search warrant, but the kid there said a woman and a tall man had come in previously with some story about a diseased aunt.”

“You been by Watkins’s place?”

“It’s empty.”

“It wasn’t empty when we got there.”

Mace told her about the man who’d been there pretending to be Watkins, including his description and her suspicions that the apartment had been searched.

“Nice to have known that before.”

“And it wasn’t Watkins having dinner with Tolliver on Friday night.”

“I know. The description was pretty general. We have a BOLO out on Watkins,” Beth added, referring to a “be on the lookout” order.

“The imposter said he was an escort. Was Watkins an escort?”

“Yes, worked for an agency in town. No one’s seen him since Friday.”

“Maybe Tolliver sensed that something bad was going to happen to her and she wanted some cover.”

“So presumably they got on to him, either eliminated him or he took off running scared and they sent some goon to roll his place looking for answers.”

“And he was doing just that when we knocked.”

“Pretty ballsy of the guy to open the door to you.”

Mace shrugged. “He peeped us, could tell we weren’t the cops, or maybe recognized us and decided to play actor and pump us for info. Unfortunately, we were pretty accommodating.” Mace eyed Beth. “Anything else?”