Chapter 4
While Della was not available to Perry in the evenings her work did not suffer but it did come to a head when she got in her normal time of 7.30am to find Perry already in the office. He was dialing numbers as if some great offense had occurred to him.
"New job Chief?" she asked. His expression was hostile, she could normally have coped with that but it was directed at her with such intensity that she took a step back, and the breath drained out of her so she could not speak.
"Get Paul Drake in here, if he doesn't answer, get me a detective that can cope with working outside of business hours," he demanded.
Personally she could weather his rare tantrums, but that was an unfair statement and she stepped into his office and shut the door, knowing that it sealed the room off from any possible eavesdropping.
"Have you got something you want to get off your chest?" she asked.
He looked at her, not expecting to be challenged, not by someone who had not answered their phone up until two o'clock in the morning. She didn't look tired, she was wearing a set of pearls, around a black turtle neck and dark grey skirt, looking professional and savvy and they were not pearls that he had given her. This only annoyed him more.
"What do you mean?" he asked, not appearing terribly interested.
"I think Paul has earned his stripes," she said without further elaborating, because she knew she didn't need to. He met her steady gaze then dropped his eyes.
"I will update you both at the same time. Maskie has gone missing," he said grumpily, and she realized it was as much of an apology as she was going to get, she left.
When he had both of them in the room he took the coffee from Della and gave them the run down.
"Phillip Maskies disappeared. He was staying with his uncle in San Francisco for the last month, then he up and left on Monday." Perry told them crushing his fist into his palm in frustration. Paul and Della glanced at each other.
"But Chief, the hearing is in two days."
"I know Della."
"I'm on it," Paul said, exiting the office.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"Ask Mr Fraser to come and meet me tomorrow."
"We're not ready to meet with Mr Fraser."
"I know, I know." he glanced at her, "But he doesn't know that. Let's turn up the heat on him, maybe he'll ask for a continuance."
"Its risky Chief."
"I don't have a choice." he continued to grind his fist, he shoved a cigarette in his mouth, but couldn't light it, she reached over with a match and he held her hand to steady it while he lighted his cigarette. He smiled his thanks.
"Paul will find him Chief," she said softly.
"He better otherwise there will be a warrant out on him if we don't" he squeezed her hand and let it go, with that one motion apologizing for his bearlike behavior earlier, he was rewarded with a smile.
"I'll get those files," she said.
"Rough day?" Aston asked her, they were alone in his apartment, it was a Wednesday night, she was still in her work gear, he had had a car pick her up from the office. They'd had a quiet dinner just the two of them.
"Oh lying clients, disappearing clients, grumpy ..." she stopped realizing she was about to criticize her boss. He stood behind her and massaged her shoulders, "That's nice." she said.
"I'm buttering you up," he admitted. She took hold of his hand and pulled him around to sit in the chair next to her.
"And why is that Mr Gabriel?" she asked him, her face serious, but a smile flickering in her eyes.
"Because I need to ask you something about your boss."
"Perry what about him." He watched her protective walls snap into place.
"I know he doesn't generally deal with hollywood types, but I am concerned about Butler."
"Butler?"
"He's being acting odd, I am afraid he is in trouble, he won't tell me what it is."
"What does that have to do with Perry?"
"I just thought if he could have a word to him, I'll pay of course, I just, well you know, if he is in big trouble, he won't know how to get out of it. You know how he idolizes your boss. You know how we have all ..."
"Overprotected him, yes I have noticed," she said, she was still holding his hands.
"He's Vaughan's nephew." he said as if that excused their behavior, "But the combination of Butler and Delray seems to make things worse."
"Delray doesn't hang in your crowd."
"No, he..., Vaughan doesn't trust him."
"But Delray and Butler have been friends for a long time haven't they."
"Yes, they go way back."
He looked at her apology written all over his face that he was even asking.
"Then Delray went into nightclubs."
"Well Delray went into hospitality, he knew what hollywood people need."
"And what is that?" Her face was so serious and concerned and he could see more questions bubbling their way to the surface.
"Privacy." he said and leant forwards to kiss her on the lips forgetting for the moment about his request for help.
He showed her out, "I guess I broke my promise," he apologized.
"What promise was that?" she asked.
"I promised that I hadn't invited you because of your boss."
"You only made that promise on the Salsa night." she pointed out reasonably. "Is that why you invited me tonight?" she asked, he smiled and kissed her hand,
"It wasn't the main reason," He grinned, "But it played a part."
"Are we friends Aston? I don't know any other movie stars. I don't know how they act. Or are you having a break from your life?"
"I hope we are becoming more than friends." He replied,"but like you something had to change for me." His fingers touched hers, she couldn't work out how she had got here, how she had reached this point, and how he seemed to know so much about her.
"I'll have a word to Butler, see if I can get him to talk to Mr Mason."
"Don't you need to ask your boss?" he asked.
She looked him in the eye, "no, no I don't need to ask him." He noticed her tone soften when she talked about him
'Oh girl, you got it bad don't you,' he thought sympathetically. "I'll see you on the weekend?" he asked her, but at her expression, "If you are not working of course."
"I'll see you if I am not working," she agreed.
"Della."
"yes,?"
"I am not sorry for asking help with Butler, he's a good kid, but he trusts too easily and sometimes he..."
"Thinks he's living out a movie?" she finished for him.
He nodded, "He's young, its a hard lesson to learn," she said. He held on to her hand.
"I'm not after just a disposable romance."
"Aston,I..." what could she say. He looked at her in amusement.
"Of course I am happy to be a throw away lover if that is what you need at the moment." She laughed at him. "I don't know what I need right now." She certainly didn't know if she could take this impossibly handsome, extraordinarily charming man seriously.
"Fine," he said, "we'll take it one week at a time." He watched her assessing him, was sure that she didn't realize that as much as he understood her hesitation he wasn't about to let her slip through his fingers on a technicality.
It was Friday night they had bluffed Fraser and Fraser had begged off on a continuance, but that was the only good news as Paul had run down one false lead after another on Maskie. Paul was slumped in his chair.
"I'm sorry Perry, its like he has fallen off the face of the earth."
"Keep your men looking Paul, maybe extend it to rehabilitation centers."
"Already on it Perry. I've got them checking patients, not just flashing photos."
"Good, good. Well we may as well call it a night." Perry said.
"Have you considered taking up with clients who don't lie, cheat or disappear?" Paul asked him.
"Della doesn't believe we would know what to do with all the spare time," Perry said with a grin.
Paul looked at the end of his cigarette watching his friend over the end of it. He sighed to himself, he knew something had happened between them, something that seemed to make Perry oblivious to the fact that a handsome movie star had Della in his sights. From what Paul could see a woman who had not looked at another man in the last five years was having her heard turn. "Speaking of Della, where is she?" he said instead.
"She's here!" her voice came from the door, she carried in a bag and a tray of coffee.
"Sandwiches?" Paul protested "Honey its dinner time, not lunch ."
"Well we missed lunch so I compromised, these are steak sandwiches. I suppose you want one for the road anyway?"
"Well the boss here has called it a night. But I wouldn't want your efforts to go to waste." He unwound from the chair and took the bag off her before she could put it on the table, she glared at him to no avail, and decided to pull some plates out of the cupboard.
"Folks this is not the way to spend a Friday night," biting into his sandwich he exited. Della looked at Perry who just shook his head with a grin.
"You know I think he is still going to go out to dinner." she declared in mock outrage.
"Well he is a growing boy Della." Perry defended his friend. Enormously satisfied that Della herself was not rushing off somewhere else to dinner.