Then I looked behind the espresso counter. Duke and Jane, no Tex.
My heart skittered, then stopped.
“Where’s Tex?” I asked.
The first customer came in behind me.
“Not here,” Duke said.
“What do you mean, not here?” I asked.
Duke looked around. “I mean, not… here.”
“He’s always here,” I said.
“Wel he’s not now,” Duke replied.
“Fuck!” I shouted and the customer turned to stare at me.
“Sorry,” I muttered, set my travel mug on the book counter and hauled out my cel .
I cal ed Mom’s cel and got her voicemail.
I left a message, “Cal me the minute you get this.” Then I hung up, scrol ed down my phonebook and cal ed Tex.
He didn’t have an answering machine so it rang about twenty times before I hung up.
Then I cal ed him again.
On the seventh ring, he answered.
“What?” his boom was muted.
“Tex? Where are you?” I asked.
“Hung over,” he answered.
“Mom’s not answering her cel , where is she? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine.”
Then he disconnected.
I stared at the phone.
“Tex just hung up on me,” I told Duke and Jane.
They just looked at me.
“He says he’s hung over,” I said to them as the second customer walked in.
“Maybe he is,” Jane offered.
I scrol ed down to Eddie’s number and pushed the green button.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Hey, it’s me,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“Jet,” I told him, making sure that he knew who he was talking to.
Silence for a beat, then he said, “Chiquita, I know who it is.”
I could hear his smile in his voice which made my bel y curl even though I was in borderline freak out mode.
I ignored the bel y curl.
“We have a crisis,” I said.
Silence for another beat.
“Didn’t I drop you off about five minutes ago?”
“Yes.”
“How do we have a crisis in five minutes?”
“Tex isn’t at work. He says he’s hung over,” I told him.
“So maybe he’s hung over,” Eddie replied.
“He can’t be hung over and protect Mom! He’s fal ing down on the job. Mom has to move in with us.” More silence.
Then, “Your mother isn’t movin’ in with us.” There was no smile in his voice on that comment.
“Then we have to move to my place.”
“Last time I stayed the night at your place, your Mom knocked on the door when my hands were in your pants.
We’re not movin’ to your place and your Mom isn’t movin’ to mine.”
“Eddie!”
“Jet, my plan has two goals. One is to keep you and your Mom safe. Two is for us to have some privacy and time to get to know each other. Your Mom moves in, my second goal is in the toilet.”
“We can get to know each other when Mom’s around.”
“Not the way I want us to get to know each other.” My bel y curled again and I felt spasms in three different places. I took a breath and shook it off.
“I bet you’d hit the snooze button if Mom was with us,” I said.
“Yeah, but then we wouldn’t have time for a long shower.” Dear Lord.
I had to admit, I liked long showers, at least, I liked long showers with Eddie.
I didn’t tel Eddie that.
Instead, I said, “I’m pretty certain I don’t like you.” Then he said, “You’re so ful of shit.”
The smile was back in his voice.
I sighed and flipped my phone shut. What else could I do?
* * * * *
Indy strol ed in mid-morning. “How’d it go with Eddie?” she asked when she dumped her bag in the locked drawer behind the book counter. “Darius told on me,” I said.
She nodded, “He told on me too.”
“How did Lee take it?” I asked.
“Lee’s used to me doing crazy shit. What I want to know is, how’d Eddie take it?”
“He didn’t like it, but he got over it.”
For some reason, this made me happy and I grinned at her.
She grinned back.
* * * * *
Half an hour later, Vance walked in with another one of Lee’s boys, a guy named Mace. Mace didn’t come around very often. According to Indy, he was more of a night time person. Mace had to be six foot three, had the prerequisite Nightingale Investigation Team kil er bod, black hair, jade eyes and a jaw so square, it could be used in math class. Indy reported that Mace had some native Hawaiian in him and was supposedly a top-notch surfer. This wasn’t surprising. Even for a big guy, Mace had the grace of a top-notch athlete who knew how to use his body. He gave up the surfing game when he discovered snowboarding. Then he lost the boarder zen when some shit hit with his sister and he gave up that game to go recreational in his spare time. Now, in his not so spare time, he hunted people for Lee and cracked heads together when the mood struck (which was a lot).
Indy didn’t know what the shit that hit with his sister was about, except it was seriously not good and it put Mace in a perpetual bad mood.
One more thing, Mace was hot. Al Lee’s guys were hot in one way or another but Mace was a little different. Mace was broody hot.
Ten minutes after Mace and Vance settled in to the comfy seating area with coffees, Lee and another of his guys, Matt, walked in.
“Powwow,” Duke muttered, eyeing the boys and Indy, Jane and I watched as Matt peeled off to sit with Vance and Mace, and Lee came over and ordered coffee.
Sometimes, Lee would hold powwows in Fortnum’s. I didn’t know why, I didn’t ask and when they did, I steered clear.
The powwow’s significance magnified when Hank arrived and didn’t even bother buying a coffee. Hank was a cop, not one of the boys, and his presence made things official.
It also put the hotness quotient of Fortnum’s seating area into uncharted levels.
“Yikes,” Indy said.
She could say that again, but only in a good way.
The bel went over the door and I looked up.
Tex was wheeling Mom in.
“Hey baby dol ,” Mom cal ed.
“I’m not talking to you,” I cal ed back loud enough that the Hot Crew quieted and looked at me. I ignored them. “And especial y not you!” I said to Tex.
“What’d I do?” Mom asked, eyes round.