The light looked different from the huge windows in Kevin’s guest room. Whether it was the height or the part of town, Dani didn’t know. Street level Cabrini was so dirty even the sunlight had an unpleasant cast to it. Here in a downtown penthouse, the world looked bright and clean and full of things she knew about in theory but had no experience with. She pulled a chair next to the window and stared out for hours. Puffy white clouds scudded across the crisp blue sky. Sunlight played off the glass towers. She would like to have seen the lake but his place had no view of that side of the city. Big jumbo jets passed on their way to and from the Point Sable airport. The only helicopters she could make out were from news stations and hospitals. This side of town must have been too nice for police choppers.
Off and on she napped in the chair. Mostly she watched the skyline. The sun sank behind the glass towers, the vivid blue of the sky darkening to twilight. Restlessness pushed Dani to her feet. She moved through a series of stretches then dropped to the floor to do sit-ups and push-ups. She was ninety seconds into a plank when a knock sounded from the door.
“Come in.” She rolled to a sitting position, her back to the bed.
Kevin entered the room as if scared of what he’d find there. Dressed in a light gray suit and white shirt with no tie, contacts instead of glasses, his dark gold hair smoothed back from his forehead, he looked ready for a date. Dani narrowed her eyes, a knot of tension forming in the back of her cheek.
Not her business.
“I need to leave soon to make the appointment with my friend. Did you decide on a name and other details?” He held out a pen and small notepad.
Only one name had occurred to her. She got to her feet and stood in front of him, grabbed the pen and pad a little rougher than necessary. Last minute hesitation had her holding the pen poised over the paper. She took a deep breath, her nose filling with bergamot and rose and maybe musk. She glanced at Kevin, keeping her gaze only as high as his stubble. So it was cologne, not aftershave.
She wrote hurriedly and shoved the pen and notepad at him then returned to the chair by the window. “How long will it take?”
“She said she’d let me know tonight.” He tucked the items away in the inside pocket of his jacket and produced his phone. “We need a couple of photos too.”
The tension spread to the back of her head and down her neck, bringing a bout of self-consciousness with it.
“I think in front of the wall would be best,” he said.
Dani nodded and rose, looking down at herself. The dark blue t-shirt she wore would be fine, but he hadn’t supplied any makeup with the clothes. Hell, she hadn’t even brushed her hair today.
Kevin dropped his phone on the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. He returned with a hairbrush. Heat flamed her cheeks. She stood frozen for a moment. Instead of offering her the brush, Kevin placed his fingers on her shoulder and guided her to turn so that she stood with her back to him. He gathered her hair and ran the brush through it slowly, careful with the tangles. The backs of his fingers touched the skin beneath her hairline as he lifted the strands in sections. Shivers traveled down her spine at every brief skin to skin contact. The scent of his cologne surrounded her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“I’ll be gone longer than I thought,” he said. “My sister called. She wants to have dinner. She’s a doctor, she’s been a little worried about me since what happened.”
Dani exhaled slowly, all of the tension in her muscles draining away.
“I promise not to have any wild parties while you’re gone.”
Kevin smoothed her hair one last time and arranged it to flow down her back. “If you have any wild parties, you better invite me.” He turned her around and looked her over.
It felt…strange. Men had been looking at her like she was a juicy piece of meat for way longer than they should have. She’d become inured to it out of necessity. The way Kevin looked at her now was completely different. A little bit of frank appraisal. More than a little appreciation. Just enough of what might have been desire to bring the tension back, but a different kind of tension. The kind that didn’t feel bad at all.
Kevin smiled. “Now you’re ready to have your picture made.”
Dani stood against the wall and looked right at the tiny lens of his cell phone camera. He snapped a pic then saved it. “One more, and this time maybe a smile.”
“Are you supposed to be smiling on your driver’s license?”
“You shouldn’t have the exact same photo on your driver’s license and your passport. Imagine you’re about to go on the vacation of a lifetime and give me a big smile.”
Dani couldn’t imagine any vacation, much less a great one.
“Do you like the beach?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mountains?”
“Never been there, either.”
“Surely something can get a smile out of you. Come on. Think of something. Anything.”
The mystery tattoo on his right upper arm was the first thing to come to mind. Then the way he’d smiled at her this morning, slow and lazy and knowing, and that wink. Who the hell winked anymore? He did, and it worked for him.
She resisted, because she didn’t like the idea that he could bring a smile to her face. What that might mean, if she weren’t skipping town as soon as possible. But then she thought of the voice mails he’d left on the phone she’d stolen from him. The corners of her mouth lifted without her permission. Not a big smile, but judging from the way his face lit up, it would do. He took the photo and nodded.
“That’s perfect.” He put his phone away. “I left you some food in the fridge. Make yourself at home.”
“Thanks.”
“Can I bring you anything?”
“No, I’m fine. I won’t break anything, promise.”
“I’m worried about you being without company, not supervision. There’s a difference.”
Yeah, there was. She liked it that he knew that. “Your sister’s worried about you. Don’t bail on her.”
Kevin nodded and strode to the door. “I’ll see you later.”
“Have a nice time with your sister.”
He grinned. “It’s always nice to be lectured at about my life choices.”
Alone again, Dani returned to the window. Tired of staring at the skyline, she closed the curtains and left the guest room. Time to check out the fridge and that giant TV downstairs. Half an hour and a plate of pasta later, it was the tablet that drew her attention. She didn’t know the first thing about social media but she knew electronics. In moments she had the tablet awake and found the app he’d used earlier.
There were new messages, tweets, whatever the hell, in the #CabriniGhost column.
Anybody seen #CabriniGhost tonight?
#CabriniGhost needs to tell my boss to keep his fucking hands off my ass.
Saw a fight on Cliffwood and Volunteer. No #CabriniGhost to shut that shit down
No #CabriniGhost in days, where he at???
That one rankled her but she kept reading. Most of it was idle gossip made digital. Speculation about the Ghost’s identity, whereabouts, what the cops might do if they caught the vigilante.
Get their asses kicked, was the answer to that one. She didn’t automatically hate all cops but she’d had enough dealings with police while on the streets to not have much use for them. Asking one for help was for damn sure something she’d never do.
Holy shit. Dead girl by the river. #CabriniGhost needs to get her ass back out here.
Dani swore. After helping a few, now everybody expected her to, what exactly? Do what the cops couldn’t, or wouldn’t, do? Clean up the South Side? Dani was nobody’s savior. It was long past time she stopped that nonsense anyway, especially if people were talking about it on the Goddamn internet. She dumped the tablet on the sofa and searched the coffee table for a TV remote. Maybe she’d find something about vampires to watch, look for some popcorn in Kevin’s well-stocked kitchen, and just chill.
It took her a whole ten seconds to give up on the remote and pick up the tablet.
Not an overdose. This girl’s throat is all marked up. Somebody killed her. #CabriniGhost
Anybody know this girl? #CabriniGhost
A picture was attached to the last tweet, partially obscured. She tapped on the screen and the rectangle expanded to a much larger view.
Jesus fucking Christ. It was one of the Russian girls.