Read Online Hedging (A Smith and Wetzon Mystery) by Annette Meyers - Free Book Online Page A

pockets amiably. “Guess I forgot to bring any.”
    Not very likely, T.J. thought, watching the charade. David liked being master in more ways than simply mime master.
    The detective didn’t seem surprised, or annoyed. He directed his words past David. “I’d like you to call me ... T.J. It’s about someone we both know. Someone named Leslie.”

16
    “I DON’T know anyone named Leslie,” T.J. said, dabbing at the few remaining streaks of white makeup that had settled around her hairline and upper lip. “Though there was something about that cop Metzger ...”
    “I wanted to be a cop once,” Mona said, hitching her backpack onto her shoulder.
    Eric howled. “I’ll bet.”
    “I did but it didn’t work out.”
    “Why not?”
    “Too big for the breeches,” Jeff said. They high fived each other.
    “Oh, you guys. Did we get cash this time, David?”
    David reached into the grouch bag and took out a wad of bills.
    “Twenty each.” He doled out the bills. “This was our first institution, and feedback should be good. We’ll do better when we get to hospitals and schools.”
    After the others left, Zoey gathered up the greasy tissues and cotton balls and threw them in the garbage. “Didn’t T.J. do great, David?”
    “Yes.” He’d put the drawstring bag away and was rinsing out the coffee pot. “Want to join the troupe, T.J.?”
    “I’d like that, but I have to get a regular job. Besides, do you really think I’m ready?”
    “You can be. I’ll work with you. Tomorrow we can go to the zoo.”
    “The zoo?”
    Zoey laughed. “You’ll see. Listen, dude, it’s dark outside already. We should go. I have to get some sleep before my shift tonight.”
    “T.J., why don’t you stay and we’ll work through some exercises?”
    Zoey, who was gathering up her things, paused, her back to T.J. and David. On the surface of the pause was an unnatural tension. She had brought T.J. to David. Did she resent David’s response?
    It was enough for T.J., who had her own qualms about working in David’s intense sphere. “Too much stimulation for me for one day, David. It’s not even twenty-four hours since I ran away from the hospital. And Zoey and I had—” she looked at Zoey “—no sleep at all last night. And tomorrow I have to see about finding a job in the neighborhood.”
    “Be here at noon tomorrow,” David said, “and we’ll go to the zoo.”
    “That cop,” Zoey said. “He didn’t seem half bad.”
    “I forgot to take his card from David.” T.J. stopped at a newsstand and bought the News and the Post , folded them under her arm. Better to read the stories in Zoey’s apartment than on the street.
    “David will tell you he lost it.”
    “David didn’t like him.”
    “David likes you.”
    “What?” T.J. was startled.
    “He likes you. You’ll be part of the troupe.”
    “He likes me for the troupe, you mean.” She was uneasy.
    “No, more, I think.” Zoey stared straight ahead. “He was different with you.”
    “How different?”
    Zoey thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Tender, sort of.”
    “Zoey, this is all wrong. I’m not sure I can handle any of this. It might be better if I left.”
    “No, please don’t go.” Zoey clutched her arm. “It’ll work out all right.”
    She sighed. “Where would I go?” But it was in the front of her mind that she might have to leave, sooner rather than later. She could call the cop, Metzger. She didn’t need his card. David had read the card out loud. The Twenty-first Precinct. It was personal, he’d said. About Leslie.
    There was some good news: her photograph on the front page of both newspapers had shrunk to the size of a passport photo. No one could think it looked like her. But there was a little more to the story. Yes, a ten thousand dollar reward was being offered for information leading to Mary Lou Salinger, the only known witness to the explosion of the executive jet on the Teterboro runway. The explosion had now been