Page 31 of Hard Hitter
“I’ve had better days.”
She laughed, but then her face sank into her hands. “Yeah. Do they have whiskey on the jet?”
“Why?” He reached up and pulled her hands away from her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head, but her eyes darted nervously to the side.
“Sweetheart,” he warned. “Come on. You look freaked.” Her eyes were red, too.
“I’m tired of being freaked.”
“Sing it, sister. But we don’t always get what we want. Just tell me what happened.”
She pointed at her phone. “My tenant had to call the cops earlier. Vince showed up to saw the basement door off its hinges. I thought he might try something. All he had to do to know I wasn’t home was read the game schedule.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“He was removing stuff from the storage room when the cops showed, but Maddy thinks they didn’t catch him. So now I have a broken windowanda broken door. I need to follow up with the police. And my first appointment is supposed to be at nine in the morning and I just...” She put her head in her hands again.
“Hey, don’t worry. Henry will understand if you need a couple extra hours tomorrow. There’s no single-malt on the jet, but...” He waved down the flight attendant. “Jill, how are you?”
“Excellent, Doulie! What can I bring you?”
“Everyone in this row has had a shit day. We need something fun to drink.”
“Like a margarita?” the young woman asked. “That’s what I drink when I need more fun in my life.”
“How do you feel about margaritas?” he asked Ari.
“I’m a lifelong fan,” she said.
“Two of those, please.” O’Doul passed the attendant some cash.
“Thank you,” Ari said. “I say that a lot lately. But I mean it.”
“I know,” he said lightly. “This too shall pass. And in the meantime, there’s tequila.”
***
It was after midnight by the time the cab pulled up in front of Ari’s house on Hudson Ave.
“Thank you for dropping me off,” she said, looking with trepidation up at her house, her hand hesitating on the door’s lever.
O’Doul paid the driver and got out, removing both their bags from the back.
She pointed at the cab just as it began to pull away from the curb. “Don’t you need him to wait for you?”
“Nah. It’s just a couple of blocks. I want to make sure you’re okay here.”
The look of relief on her face was pretty hard to miss. “Well, thanks. It’s not like I expect to find him lurking in the shadows, but...”
He could be lurking in the shadows. Even though Ari had sworn her ex had been a good guy at some point, now he was acting like a desperate guy. Desperate guys did stupid shit. Ari was right to be cautious. “Do you want to take a look around back, first?”
She swallowed hard. “Sure.”
He used his phone to give them a little extra light, and followed her around to the rear door. The door—such as it was—had been leaned back into place. It was currently sealed with police tape. A note stuck to the door read:Do Not Enter by Order of the NYPD.
“All right,” Ari said, her voice shaky. “I guess I’m not looking in there tonight.”
