Couples
Chapter 10
From her seat in Rick's shopping cart, Lily reaches out toward a pyramid of shiny apples. "Er!"
Rick strokes her dark silky locks. "Close, red. The apples are red."
A nearby male shopper smirks. "You don't really believe you're teaching her colors, do you? She'll never remember."
"But I will," Rick retorts. "My daughter and I are both enjoying some time together. Do you have a problem with that?"
Rick's antagonist shrugs. "It's your time to waste. My wife insists on getting our groceries from this place instead of a market with reasonable prices. I have to do the shopping while she's got a broken wrist. I just want to get out of here as soon as I can to watch the playoff game I recorded while I was at work last night."
"You know, they have personal shoppers. If you don't want to come to the store, someone else can pick out your wife's groceries and deliver them," Rick suggests.
The disgruntled husband snorts. "And pay even more? No thanks. And I've met up with some of those shoppers. They push side hustles, like some of the regular employees. Who needs that?"
"What kind of side hustles?" Rick asks.
"You name it: toys, cosmetics, 'natural' boner pills. There's one operator around here even selling a treatment for arthritis and psoriasis, supposedly just like the one in the commercials, only cheaper." The man shakes his head in disgust. "It's probably even phonier than the crap on the shelves here. Someone ought to go after fakers like that."
"Someone is going after fakers like that," Rick responds. "Look, my wife is a cop, a detective. She's around here someplace looking into a rip-off like you described. Would you be willing to put off watching the game for a little longer? You could tell her about the guy hawking the phony cure and give her a description."
"Actually, the con artist pushing that sh*t is a woman. But sure, I'll talk to your wife. We all have to do our civic duty, right? And I already know who won, from the news. I'll just be going through the video to catch the slick moves. And this place does have some great snacks I can pick up to eat later while I'm watching. I just can't admit to my wife that the healthy stuff tastes decent."
"No reason to reveal all your guilty pleasures," Rick declares.
The break room at Wholesome Sustenance isn't large, but it is clean, quiet, and houses a vending machine stocked with freshly squeezed juices. Kate is sipping an orange-carrot combination that took a healthy bite out of her credit card, when Rick herds in the civic-minded shopper, Rob Wheatly. "This is the witness I texted you about."
"Sit down, Mr. Wheatly," Kate invites. "Thank you for talking with me."
Rick notes a gleam in Wheatly's eyes he's seen from so many men who meet Kate. They react to her hotness before taking in the badge. He usually has to suppress the urge to sock them, especially the married ones. They should restrict their lustful glances to their own wives, at least while Rick's around to see them.
Kate is thoroughly aware of the reaction she elicits. When necessary, she uses it to her advantage. That used to bother Rick even more than it does now. But he's seen men trying to push unwanted attention on Kate end up regretting it – a lot. She doesn't cause permanent damage, just temporary but excruciating pain.
Wheatly appears to be keeping his hands to himself, and Lily is starting to fuss. Rick points toward the doorway. "I'm going to walk her around a bit."
Kate nods and turns back toward Wheatly. "So you heard a woman offering medicine?"
"Yeah, one of the ones with the white coats in the section where they sell all those expensive supplements. She claimed it would work just like the stuff that golfer advertises on T.V. She was selling doses for a couple of hundred dollars instead of the thousands they usually cost. She said she had her own set up for doing what she called an 'infusion,' too."
"Did she explain how she could afford to do that?" Kate inquires.
"I wasn't paying that much attention. I just wanted to find the vitamins my wife likes and get away from there. But that woman mentioned something about medicines sold in Europe but not available in the U.S. She said she has a friend who brought some over after a business trip. She claimed she's just in a better position to get them where they're needed than her friend is."
Kate makes a notation on her pad. "You wouldn't happen to know the name of the woman in the white coat, would you, Mr. Wheatly?"
"I think she had a nametag like all the staff here do, but I didn't read it. I can describe her, though. Not tall, but not real short either. She had those little half-glasses on a chain and red hair. I think she's the only employee in that part of the store with red hair. She's the only one I've seen, anyway."
"I'll find her, Mr. Wheatly," Kate assures her witness. "But I'll need your contact information in case I have to get in touch with you again."
"Sure," Rob agrees. "This is kind of like being on Law and Order."
"Unfortunately," Kate laments, "we can't send our suspects to jail in an hour, but we do the best we can. I appreciate your time, Mr. Wheatly. You may have helped a lot."
For the fifth time during the interview, Rob's eyes settle on Kate's nursing-enlarged breasts. "Anything I can do."
Kate shoves a pen and paper across the table. "Just give me your name, address, phone number, and email."
Alexis stares at the huge platter of cookies provided by her history teacher, Ms. Shay. Normally just the scent of the dark chocolate and cherries would be a siren call. But she's too nervous to eat anything. Mr. Simmons approved her speech, so even if she wants to tweak it, she can't. Dana's assured her at least ten times that it's excellent, but what else would he say?
With Dana, her agreement with her father has been Alexis's shield. Whenever she's been tempted to go over the line, and that's been a lot of the time, she remembers her promise. But she's already eighteen. Her birthday wasn't marked by as big a celebration as her Dad usually plans because she was up to her neck in Stop the Poison. A family and friends dinner at Le Cirque was as far as the festivities went.
Dad would have bought her a car if she'd wanted one. But in the city, keeping a vehicle can be more of an expensive nuisance than a convenience. Parking alone, especially in Manhattan, is ridiculous. And she can navigate the subway system in her sleep. A car can wait. Graduation won't, and with it, she emerges into both the freedom and responsibility of adulthood. Her vow is fulfilled, and what she and Dana have been longing for lies ahead. How can she be both so hopeful and so scared at the same time? She doesn't know.
What she does know is that she'll have another summer working at C.S.U. with Chief Osnitz before she officially starts her college career. That, and putting in some time with Stop the Poison will more than keep her busy. Dana's got a summer project as well. He always does. Neither one of them will be lying around, vegging out, and binging reruns. But that just means that what time they have together will mean even more. She's terrified – and she can't wait.