Page 17 of The Wrong Side of the Law

Chapter Five

Gabriel

Lisa beat me to the restaurant, of course. It’s not any kind of surprise to find her there ahead of me, waving from acrossLa Grenouille’s large dining room. The shocker is that she picked the posh new rooftop restaurant at the Central Hotel in the first place. Fancy stuck-up joints are not Lisa’s thing, but the things that I smell and see at tables in the filled-to-capacity dining room tell me that she might be on to something with this place.

“Hey, you,” I say, when I’m near enough not to have to yell. “Fire marshal must be going nuts with how packed this place is.”

“I know, right” she answers, marveling at the crowd. “They’re doing something right, here. Brian and I have come twice since they opened.”

Lisa stands and gives me a motherly hug. The sense of warmth and caring pours out of her at the first touch. Not for the first time, I envy her children. Do they know how lucky they are to have a mother like this? I hope not, to be honest: all children should grow up taking their mother’s love for granted.

As I settle into the chair across from her, Lisa tilts her head and frowns at me.

“Burning the midnight oil again, are we?” She gestures vaguely in the direction of my face. “Those bags under your eyes would get you an extra luggage charge, if you had to fly somewhere.”

I want to shrug off the question, but—just like any good mother—she’s not going to let me get away with that.

“Gabriel Cooper, you need to take better care of yourself.”

“Yes, mom,” I say, giving her my best hangdog look.

“I mean it,” she says. “You’ve got more wrinkles than me, and half the years!”

“Oh, please,” I say, barking a laugh. “I’m notthatfar behind you.”

I’d never really noticed before, but Lisa does look older now than I remember. She’s got lines forming at the corners of her mouth, and crinkly laugh lines at the corners of her eyes. How does she manage to make them look so good? She’s one of the lucky ones who ages gracefully, I guess.

“Yeah, yeah. Fifteen years, at least. That makes a difference,” she says, smiling wryly. “And the right response there would have included some sort of question like ‘what wrinkles,’ you know.”

“Oh,” I say, with my best innocent look. “Is it too late for me to add that?”

“Probably,” Lisa says. “But, yeah. The key is just… not to fight it. You can’t fight time. It’s a-”

“Waste of energy,” I interrupt, continuing one of her favorite sayings. “It’s a battle you simply can’t win.”

“I have taught you well, my young apprentice. But anyway,” Lisa says, cocking her head to the side and brushing away something imaginary from the air between us, “I’m done with my lecture on life’s priorities. You can pay attention again.”

“I always listen to you,” I protest with a chuckle.

“Whatever,” she sighs, shaking her head.

“How’s the family?” I ask.

“The kids are great,” she says, and her eyes brighten at the change in subject. “Brandon’s waiting to hear back from colleges now.”

“Oh? He’s looking at… where, again? I think you mentioned NYU?”

“Yep! He shouldn’t have any problems getting in there, of course. He’s got the grades, and he’s a legacy, thanks to mommy dearest, and…” Lisa trails off as I snort water out my nose. “Yeah, that came out wrong, didn’t it?”

“Maybe,” I answer once I can breathe again. “Perhaps just a bit.”

“Anyway, continuing on,” she says, shaking her head. “He’s applied to NYU like a dutiful son, Columbia just to be contrary, University of Michigan because he’s always liked their football team, and Miami as a fallback. But if he doesn’t get NYU or Columbia, I’m not sure he’s going to go to college at all, or at least not right away.”

“No? That doesn’t sound like him. And I don’t see steam pouring out of your ears. What’s the alternate plan?”

“Brian hired some new employees,” she says. “They’re former Navy SEALs.”

“Brandon’s got a bad case of hero worship?”

---