CHAPTER 5
"Mr. and Mrs. Harlan?" Roger Walston met the couple outside of the apartment building on Manitou. "My goodness, you got here sooner than I expected."
"Jacob seems to have a lead foot today." Rosa Novelli was enjoying the opportunity to play Maria Harlan.
Roy held the door open for her and they followed the apartment manager inside. "I'm sure Mr. Walston doesn't want to hear us bickering, dear."
"If you didn't drive like a maniac he wouldn't."
"Alrighty then..." Walston allowed them to board the elevator before him and hit the button for the second floor. "Apartment B-8 has been empty just a couple of days. I'm really surprised to have someone looking at it so soon."
"No time like the present." Roy put a protective arm around Rosa. After opening the apartment door, Walston led them through the tiny apartment that consisted of a very small living room, a kitchenette, a bath, and one bedroom. The lease was signed in short order and the pair left and went back to the ranch where they found CJ sitting outside on the patio as Tomás and Paul kept Catey Rose busy playing in the pool while Sheila was making a run to the store. Joining her under the shade of the large umbrella the two sat down. "Where's Matt?"
"At the barn. He thinks Cricket is getting close to foaling."
"Oh boy..." Roy knew how much Matt cared for the horse and that he had been not only worried about CJ but her as well.
"How did it go?" The lawyer-turned-PI poured two glasses of lemonade for them.
"We got the apartment."
"I was wondering...what are you going to move in there?"
"It's already furnished with a stove, so I think I'll just move my bed in there, maybe a dresser, the couch...there really isn't much room in it."
"So the Novelli and Houston Moving Company will most likely have a job tomorrow, huh?" She gave a laugh.
"I wanted to talk to them about that."
Motioning toward the barn, she took a drink. "Vince is down there with him...and Murray is supposed to be on the way."
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Roy had been present when Houston and his secretary Chris had worked up a plan for her husband, Murray Chase, to be present for the foaling. Since the couple were expecting their own child shortly, it had seemed like a good way for the CEO of Houston Industries to get in a little practice.
"Only one way to find out." She couldn't help but chuckle. All three looked up as the man they had been talking about pulled in and got out of his car looking extremely nervous. "They're at the barn, Murray."
"Yeah...okay..." He came over and greeted Mama and then headed down to the barn.
"I would love to be a fly on the wall..." Roy snickered as he watched the man go.
"Easy, baby girl." Matt gently stroked the sides of the mare after leading her into the barn and back to one of the stalls as Murray entered. "Slow down, Murray. She's not there yet."
"Oh..." The worried-looking CEO shook hands with Vince.
"You're not going to have me boil water this time are you, Ace?" Vince started laughing.
"We need boiling water?" Murray looked between the two men as they continued to laugh. Finally Vince explained how Houston had gotten rid of him when he started to freak out over the breech birth on the day that Sophie had foaled – right before CJ had given birth to Catey. "Oh..."
"No, I don't think we're going to need anything. Cricket seems to be doing just fine." Matt walked back toward the door of the stall as the mare began to pace around the area. "Did Chris come with you?"
"No, she didn't feel like it." Murray worriedly watched the horse. "The warm weather is bothering her."
"Good thing she isn't in Texas." Matt shook his head and looked up as Roy walked in to view. "How'd it go?"
"Good. We got the apartment. But..." He slapped both Vince and Matt on the shoulder. "I'm going to need some movers."
"Oh, I see where this is going." Vince laughed. "Oh well, it'll be worth it if it convinces Mama to go ahead and marry you."
"I just need strong backs and weak minds, boys." The older man chuckled as they both shot him dirty looks.
"Keep laughin' old man – you won't laugh when you get the bill." Matt tried for an evil look but couldn't help cracking up.
"Houston...she's...there's something..." Murray had turned pale as he pointed at the mare.
"Looks like I'm about to become a grandfather. Roll up your sleeves and get in here, Murray." The cowboy smiled.
Meanwhile...
"Here's your receipt, Mr. Knowles." Latitia Aaron handed over the receipt to Rudy. "Thank you." He silently nodded and went back down the hallway to Mary Alice's room, just peeking around the corner to find her sitting up in the bed picking at her dinner. Indecision kept him rooted to the spot. She seemed happy enough at the moment and although he wanted nothing more than to go in and give her a hug and kiss, he found himself thinking that maybe it wasn't a good idea. Maybe he should just pop in to check on her everyday but not get near enough to scare her again. Although the thought nearly broke his heart, he knew that the agitation it caused when she saw him wasn't be good for her; maybe she was better off without him near her. In a soft whisper he spoke: "Goodnight, Love." Turning away, he went back down the hall, out the front door, and got behind the wheel of his car. He had taken Judy Durst to the hospital to be with Ted about an hour earlier; it wasn't looking good. With nowhere else to go, he went back to the hospital to wait on news of his friend.
After checking with a volunteer at the desk he found out that Ted was in the intensive care unit and was directed to the waiting room for the ward. There he found Judy sitting all alone staring sadly at the carpet. "How's he doing?" He sat down next to her.
"Not good. They said it was massive; it looks like he's got a lot of damage." The reply was a whisper.
"I'm sorry."
"No need." She shook her head. "We never should have gotten involved with Declan. It's too much of a strain. Not really physically, but emotionally..." Wiping her eyes again she shrugged. "Neither of us has ever done anything like that before...never dreamed of doing it."
"I know; none of us had – except for Declan. If I didn't..." He stopped, the thought of what he wanted to say seeming evil to himself. "If I didn't have Mary Alice to take care of, I would just leave. Go live in the car or something. I may have to do that anyway."
Judy nodded. "We don't have the rent for this month. Unless Declan gets a good price..."
Suddenly he blurted out. "Mary Alice doesn't know me anymore and I don't think she ever will again."
"Oh, Rudy..." Reaching for his hand she started crying again. "I'm so sorry."
"Every time I go in her room now she panics and starts screaming...then they drug her. I'm not going to do it anymore. She may not have much longer but I'm not going to scare the daylights out of her every single day. She's better off without me being close."
"Maybe tomorrow she'll..."
"No. It's gotten worse and worse the last three months. This week she's done it every day. It isn't fair to her." He wiped away tears.
"Mrs. Durst?" A young nurse came into the waiting room and without her saying so much as a word both knew that Ted was gone; the expression on her face gave her away.
"No..." Judy began shaking her head as the young woman came over and sat down next to her, taking her hand and began speaking the words that she didn't want to hear. "NOOOOOOOOO!"
The drive back across town to the apartment seemed interminably long to Rudy. Now Judy wasn't only dealing with the loss of her husband of fifty years, but the expense of hospital bills, a funeral, and the rent for the apartment. Although she had quit crying after they had left the hospital, he found the silence deafening; he had no clue what to say to her.
"Rudy..."
"Yeah?"
"I think I may have a way to help both of us." She looked over at him.
"What's that?"
"We could move in together." The silence in the car resumed as he thought over what she had said. "Mary Alice will never live there; Ted is gone. We have to look out for us."
"I..." He didn't know what to think.
"It's the only thing that makes sense."
He couldn't argue with that. It did make sense. "But...what will people think?"
"What would people think if they knew what we had been doing just to get by?"
Once again she had a point. He thought on it. Young people these days moved in together without so much as thinking twice about it. "Well...do you think Walston would agree to it?"
"I think Walston wants to keep the units rented. He just wants the money. It's either going to be one empty apartment or two...am I right?"
"Yeah, you are."
"We'll talk to him about it tomorrow." She got quiet again as they drove through the streets of Los Angeles, both of their futures uncertain. As they entered the apartment building and went toward the elevator they were met by Gallagher.
"Good news!" The veteran conman was all smiles. "We didn't just make a big score today – we made a very big score." His co-conspirators were silent. "What's wrong?"
Normally quiet and timid, Rudy grabbed the other man by the collar and slammed him into the side of the elevator. "What in the hell do you think is wrong?! Ted is dead, you idiot." He shook Gallagher violently before turning him loose in disgust.
"Oh, gees...I'm sorry. I didn't think it was that bad." Surprised at the attack he tried to regain his normally cocky attitude without much success. "Judy..." He stopped at the cold look that she was giving him. "Hey – it wasn't my fault. He just..."
"I want our share – right now, Declan." The look she gave him was hard as steel.
"Sure – let's get inside." He unlocked the door to his apartment and the two followed him inside. "Want a drink?"
"No." Rudy stood just inside the door with his arms crossed.
"Okay..." Declan pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and began counting off bills. "Let's see here...Ted's share..." He continued counting. "Judy's...and here's Rudy's." The other two picked up the piles of cash and counted them.
"I think you've been shorting us this whole time, Declan." Judy, usually quiet and reserved, was now all business.
"What? No, no way. How could you say that?" The conman found himself backing up against the kitchen counter as the other two moved toward him.
"Easy. You're a known thief." Rudy snatched the rest of the bills out of his hand. "How much have you gotten from the fence in the last month?"
"I, gees, I don't know. I mean..." He looked between the pair. "It's not like I keep records of this stuff."
"You may not write it down but you know what you've been getting." She began counting the bills that Rudy handed to her. "It seems to me that this little enterprise has been benefiting you more than anyone else, Declan."
"Now look." Sliding to the side he went around into the kitchen, keeping the counter between them. "I taught you guys how to pull these jobs. My experience ought to count for something."
An idea popped into Rudy's head. "Maybe we don't need you now; maybe we'll start doing our own jobs."
"Ah, but you haven't thought it through, my friend. You don't know squat about selling the goods."
"We may not know about selling them..." Judy tossed part of the bills on the counter. "...but we do know who has set these jobs up." She paused. "And I just bet that the police would like to know. From now on we get a bigger cut." Turning she walked out of the apartment followed by Rudy and went across the hall to her own door, locking it behind her and sliding down into a chair as sobs silently went through her body. Ted was gone and she was left alone to deal with the aftermath – and Declan Gallagher.