CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

"She was here? Right here?"

Eva Cesare was pale and shaking. Hector was shaking, too, but his face was flushed dark with anger. They had just finished telling Allison about their sudden visitor.

"Did you call the police?" Jamie asked.

Allison felt like she was hooked to a helium balloon, drifting up away from the earth, away from conventional reality. This all kept getting weirder and weirder. It was like she had stumbled into someone else's life.

"No," Hector said. "I wanted to, but Eva told me not to call."

"Why?" Jamie asked her, incredulous. "Why not, Eva?"

"I did not think it would be a good idea," Eva said. "What would we tell them? Why would they believe us? It is crazy … this woman going around threatening people. Who is she? What does she want? Allison, what is all of this?"

"It's my fault," Allison said.

She looked around her single room, feeling violated and heartsick all over again. Her gaze fell on the magazine basket, and she caught her breath. She dashed to it and pulled out magazines in clumps. People with Jude Law on the cover. Entertainment Weekly with the cast of Big Bang Theory. People with the Kardashians. Entertainment Weekly with a montage of characters from upcoming children's movies. Cosmopolitan with a model in a slinky dress and "Ten Tips To Drive Him Wild In Bed." People with Will Smith, cute-as-a-bug.

No folder.

"It's gone!"

"What's gone?" Jamie wheeled closer.

"The folder. The one with the pictures."

"Allison, what is all of this?" repeated Eva. "What was in that envelope you had me hold for you? Who is that woman? You have to tell me!"

"God, she was here!" Allison wrapped her arms around herself.

"It's almost seven," Jamie said. "If we're going to call the police, we'd better hurry."

"What envelope?" Hector asked.

"I don't know what to do," Allison said.

"Please, tell me what is going on," Eva said.

"Everyone, be quiet," Jamie said.

For a moment, they were, and they could all clearly hear Mr. Kaminski's television through the back wall. It was tuned to Wheel of Fortune … whirr-clicky-click and the dismal down-spiraling noise of someone landing on Bankrupt. That sound summed up Allison's mood.

"I can't do this," Allison said, looking helplessly at Jamie.

"You know you can," he said. "You're tough."

"I'm not. I'm a wimp."

"I could never love a wimp."

Flustered as much by what he'd said as by the matter-of-fact tone in which he'd said it, she dropped magazines all over the place. Love? Had he really dropped the L-bomb on her? Just like that, out of the blue and in front of Eva and Hector and God and everybody?

She stared at him, momentarily robbed of the power of speech. His eyes were dark and deep and full of trust. That warm curve of patented Jamie Tremayne smile melted her like so much gooey chocolate on a summer day.

"Okay," she said. She went to the phone.

She would call the police. She would dump all of this on them and deal with the consequences as best she could. Then, maybe, if she got through it in one piece, she could see if there was still a chance for something to develop between the two of them.

Before she could pick it up and dial, another phone rang. This one was in her pocket, the chirping ring of the pre-paid cell phone. Her sunburst clock pointed to a minute past seven.

"It's her!" she said in a foolish stage whisper.

Jamie swore silently, looking grim. "You'd better answer, Allison, and see what she has to say."

"What is –" Eva began, but stopped at a stern gesture from Jamie.

The cell phone chirped again. Allison answered. "Hello."

"Hello, Allison."

"Look, I know you wanted to talk to Scoot –"

"Oh, enough of that," snapped Jade. "Did you think I wouldn't figure it out? Did you think you'd fooled me?"

"Um …"

"Now, Scoot, or Allison, or whatever you're going by, we have a problem here. Don't you agree?"

"What do you want?"

"I want this never to have happened, but unless you can turn back time, we'll have to make do somehow. We'll have to improvise. Where's my money?"

"I …"

"And don't lie to me, Scoot. Don't think you can get away from me. Even if you could, other people would pay."

"How can you –"

"Like your boyfriend in the wheelchair. Or those neighbors of yours, who seem like such decent people." Jade paused, while icy worms of horror burrowed into Allison's stomach. "Or your uncle … or even little Missy, your precious baby sister who writes you such adorable letters."

"No!" The word, blurted louder than she intended, drove a sharp jab of pain into her throat.

"The money?"

"I have it. I have it right here."

"And what were you going to do? Keep it? Turn it over to the police?"

"I hadn't decided," Allison said, then went ahead and admitted the truth. What did she have to lose at this point? "But I was leaning toward keeping it."

She had turned away from the open gawking curiosity of Hector and Eva, away from Jamie's steady and encouraging eyes. She saw the letter from Missy, the envelope with her family's address on it. Of course, she'd known from Jade's tone that it hadn't been a bluff. This was only conformation. The icy worms slithered and knotted.

"At least you're a criminal too," Jade said. "There's that we have in common. You know that if you go to the police, they'll have some very serious questions about your own habits and activities. Right, Scoot?"

"Right," she said, downcast, head hanging. She wanted to protest that she was nothing like Jade, nothing at all, but didn't want to anger the woman on the other end. "I have the tape, too."

"The tape." Jade let out a breath that sounded strained between clenched teeth. "I can't take your word for it that you haven't copied it, and there'd be no way I could know."

"I haven't!"

"I'd like to believe you, but like I said, I can't. And it doesn't matter, really."

"I just want this to be over," Allison said.

"There's another thing we have in common. You've caused me a lot of trouble."

"I'll give back the money."

"You certainly will. But what else am I going to do about you?"

"Oh, stop it! Don't play with me!" Allison surprised herself by raising her voice. It was coarse as a file scraped over metal. "If you're going to kill me, just go ahead and say so and quit dicking around!"

There was a long, thoughtful silence after this outburst. A long, thoughtful silence in which Allison could see her life slipping away like the last few grains of sand in an hourglass running empty.

"I'd really prefer not to have to do that," Jade said at last. "Despite what you might think, I am not some murderous maniac. It's all business, Scoot. Always business. What would I gain from killing you? I admit, you've been a pain in the butt and I've had my moments of revenge fantasies, but I can't afford to risk indulging them. Nobody would pay me for getting rid of you. There's no profit in it, even if it would be a measurable public service. So I'm prepared to leave you alone."

Her words hung in an expectant way.

"If …?" Allison prompted, not really wanting to hear the rest but knowing that she had to.

"If it goes both ways. If you're prepared to leave me alone."

"What's that mean?"

"That means, I get my money back, and you destroy that tape, and you don't go to the police. You forget that this ever happened."

"Boy, would I love that," Allison said, and she meant every word.

"Wouldn't we both," remarked Jade dryly. "That's my deal. You keep your end, and convince your neighbors to do the same. I'll keep mine. We'll never have to deal with each other again."

"What if I can't convince them?"

"Try," Jade said. "Try really hard."

"But what if I can't?"

"Like I said, if I'm unable to get at you, I'll start with your friends and your family. I won't enjoy it, I won't profit from it, but business is business and I'll do what I have to in order to keep my career afloat. You got that?"

A tear trickled down Allison's face and she wiped it away, thinking of Missy, and Jamie, and Uncle Bob, and everyone else whose lives were hanging on a thread thanks to her. "All right. But there's one other thing I want."

"Oh, and you're the one calling the shots?" Jade asked with bitter humor.

"Don't do it," Allison pleaded. "The guy … the guy with the sailboat … leave him alone, too."

"What's he to you?"

"Nobody. I just can't stand to see anyone else hurt."

"How many times do I have to say it? It's business."

"Please!"

Through the phone, she heard muffled traffic and street noises. She heard a gusty sound that might have been a sigh, and might have been Jade snorting in disgust at this display of soft-heartedness.

"Jade?" Allison ventured. "Are you still there?"

"I'm here."

"Can't you let this one go?"

"It's a moot point, you know," Jade said. "By now, the police will have tracked him down as the owner of that gun. It's evidence, so they might not give it back to him right away, but they'll have informed him where it came from and he will be suspicious. What did you tell them about where you got it? Not the truth, I know."

"No," Allison admitted. "I told them I bought it from a street vendor."

Jade laughed. "Clever. Lying to the police to save your own skin. Good job."

She said nothing, writhing inwardly with shame.

"But anyway, it is a moot point," Jade went on. "I couldn't get at him now. He'll be alert. The police might even be watching him, thinking that he had something to do with all of this. If we're lucky, maybe they'll even find a way to pin Weasel on him."

The admission, made so casually, sent a shudder twisting through Allison.

"So, I'll agree," Jade went on. "I won't kill him. I'll just have to repay my up-front fee and deal with some disappointed clients. This has put a serious blot on my record."

"You'll really leave him alone?"

"Yes."

"And me? And my friends, my family, my neighbors?"

"Yes to all of the above."

"So I just give the money back, and destroy the tape, and it's done?"

"It's done. Not that I expect you to trust my word, unless there is honor amongst thieves. Which is what we both are when you scrape away the veneer. You steal purses, I steal lives. Well? What do you say? Is it a deal?"

"It's a deal," Allison said. She didn't dare look at Jamie, Eva, or Hector, sure that they would be staring at her in contempt, not understanding that she was only trying to look out for and protect the people she cared about. "When and where do you want me to bring the envelope?"

Again, Jade laughed, and this time it was mirthless. "So that you can set a trap, and have the police there to catch me?"

"No!" Allison hadn't thought that far ahead, and once more felt hopelessly out of her depth.

"Let's not even give you the chance," Jade said. "Step outside on your balcony, why don't you?"

The slithering icy worms inside her froze into a solid tangled mass, which then plummeted as the bottom dropped out of her stomach. Her throat contracted into a pinhole again, and fine hairs stood up all along her arms and the nape of her neck.

She could easily picture herself drawing back the draperies and finding Jade there on the balcony. Phone in one hand, gun in the other. The last sight she'd see would be Jade's green eyes and cruel smile, and maybe a muzzle flash.

"Are you going to shoot me?"

"We've been through this already," Jade said impatiently. "If I'm going to shoot you, wouldn't you rather get it over with?"

Strangely, that relaxed her. She covered the mouthpiece while she dug around in her duffel bag for the envelope. "You guys go into Eva's apartment, okay? Stay there until I come back, no matter what."

"Allison –"

"Please, Jamie. Don't argue."

"You are making a deal with the devil," Eva said, shaking her head.

"I know, but I have to. Go on. I'll be right there."

"I don't want to leave you," Jamie said.

"Trust me," Allison said. "I know I don't deserve anybody's trust, but … please. This once."

"I do trust you," he said. "I'll go, but, Allison, I don't like it."

They went into the next apartment. Jamie looked back at her like she was on her way to the gallows or the guillotine. Maybe she was. If so, the last thing she wanted was for any of them to be hurt as well.

"You're too good for me, Jamie," she said.

Once the kitchen door was shut, Allison bolted it from her side. She went to the drapes. Steeling herself, she pulled them back.

The balcony was empty. Allison slid the glass door open and stepped out. She looked over the rail. There, in the alley where she'd been only a few hours ago, was Jade. She was wearing different clothes, but it was her, all right. Phone in one hand … gun in the other. But the gun was held low against her leg, not pointing up at Allison.

"Toss it down," Jade said.

"You promised, remember."

"I know."

Allison held the fat envelope of cash over the rail. Twenty-five thousand dollars. Enough money to help a lot of people. She found that her fingers didn't want to let go. She forced them to open.

The envelope fell straight down and slapped into the alley. Jade, still keeping an eye on her, bent and picked it up. She tore away the tape, riffled the bills, nodded. "It's all here?"

"Yes."

"And the tape?"

She tossed it down. The tiny cassette did not crack when it hit the ground.

Jade picked it up, examined it, and pocketed it. "Good. One more thing."

Somehow, Allison managed not to flinch. This was when it would come, the sudden raising of the gun, the whipcrack of the report, the flash, the impact.

But the shot didn't come. Instead, Jade cocked her head and surveyed her like she was a germ under a microscope.

"Why, Allison? Why do you live in a dump like this? Your family's got more money than I'll ever make and you threw all that away to live like … like these people. Why?"

The questions hit her almost as hard as bullets. "What does that have to do with anything? You got what you wanted. Now go!"

"Call me crazy, but I'm interested," Jade said. Her tone was grudgingly admiring. "You've caused me no end of trouble, dressing as a boy, riding around on that damned skateboard … you've got guts, I'll say that much. You're quick, too. The way you lied on the phone when you must've realized it was me … that whole 'Steffi' thing … pretty slick."

"Not so slick." Allison didn't know what to say. She didn't feel like she had guts … she felt like her guts running down her legs into her shoes. And she did not want this woman, of all people, to admire her.

"Maybe we're not so different after all," Jade said. "Maybe that's why I don't really want to kill you. Inside, we're the same. So, answer my question. Why?"

"If I stayed with them I'd never have my own life," she was astonished to hear herself say. "That's all I want. My own life."

"Yeah," Jade said. She put her gun away. "Me, too. Goodbye, Scoot. Steer clear of Century Plaza from now on."

"Count on it."

Jade headed for the mouth of the alley. At the end, she paused and looked back. "I'd tell you to stay out of trouble," she said. "But I don't think it would do any good."

**