“You’re here!” Paul Stevens came out from the kitchen and gave Laurel a big hug. “Hey, now I know it’s officially Monday night.” His thick Brooklyn accent made her smile.
“Cute.” She hugged him back. “I guess hanging out here every Monday means Jenna and I have become too predictable.”
“Ms. Jenna Gems? Too predictable? Fuggedaboudit!” He laughed and raised his eyebrow. “Never!”
“Gee, thanks,” Laurel said with a mock hurt tone, giving him a playful punch on the arm.
“Where is the lady?” Paul nodded toward the entrance to his noisy and bustling restaurant.
“As if she’d be on time.” Laurel followed his gaze and took a seat at the beautiful old oak and brass bar. I wish for once she wouldn’t be late, she thought. She drummed her fingers impatiently on the polished wood in front of her.
Laurel sighed. She loved her time together with Jenna at Paul’s Saloon, rehashing the week’s events over a bottle of Chardonnay or Merlot and the Monday night dinner special. Jenna’s news is usually more intriguing, she thought. All about her men and the many games she plays with them. Tonight, I’ve got her beat.
Laurel checked her watch, and her cellphone rang as if on cue. “Where are you, exactly?” Laurel didn’t miss a beat. “I’d like an ETA, please. I’m starving and there’s something important I need to discuss with you.”
“You sound as if you were expecting me to be late. I’m not always late.”
Laurel rolled her eyes and held up her hand toward Mike, her favorite bartender, before he poured her usual pre-dinner club soda with a twist. “Make it a scotch and soda,” she mouthed, and he gave her a thumbs-up.
“Okay,” she replied. “I know you’re busy. I know traffic’s a bitch. It’s just that I was hoping you’d be on time tonight. I have something important to discuss with you.”
“I’m in a cab. I just left Tony’s and I’ll be there in five minutes. Hang on.” Laurel could hear Jenna speaking to the driver. “No. Don’t go up First Avenue, look at the traffic. Take the Drive and get off at Sixty-first. Okay, I’m back. Bye.” She was gone.
Laurel smiled to herself, in spite of the anxiety she felt. Jenna could be a little bossy. I wonder if she bosses Tony around, too.
Laurel had heard the story of how Jenna met her latest boy toy, Tony Morelli, so often she could practically recite it from memory.
“I was showing my collection at the Euro Jewelry Expo in Milan last October,” Jenna would begin in her low, throaty voice. “I was talking with Donatella, when this gorgeous male model from her show came up to her … very Italian … very handsome, you know?”
Laurel would nod in response.
“They spoke for a moment, then he turned and left, without so much as a word to me,” Jenna would add, as incredulous as if the sun had just dropped out of the sky. “So really, what could I do? I had to ask Donatella to introduce us … and well, you know the rest.” She’d shrug eloquently.
Now Tony was here in New York, doing the men’s couture shows in the tents at Bryant Park. The trouble was that Tony had a mind as well as a body, a trait in men that Jenna didn’t always take kindly to. After all, how could she tell them what to do if they wouldn’t listen or, God forbid, answered back? The next two weeks while Tony’s here should be very interesting, Laurel thought as she sipped her scotch and soda and waited for her friend.
She really wanted Jenna’s take on what had happened. Earlier she had noticed a listing in The Times for Newsmakers on Channel Seven. They were broadcasting a piece that would definitely tie in with the idea she’d been considering since late afternoon to help Anne and maybe all of the magazine’s readers.
Laurel had spent several hours on the Internet researching the subject of hidden identity. She was more certain than ever it wasn’t just terrorists who could conceal their true identities—anyone could do it. Errant husbands, bored wives, child abusers, embezzlers, thieves, even murderers. Anyone with a computer could create a new identity or steal someone else’s. As she researched, she saw a blurb about the latest episode of Newsmakers airing later that night and knew she had to watch it. The subject was exactly what she needed to jump-start her plan. She hadn’t had time to go home and set the DVR, but if Jenna arrived soon, she could be home in time to catch the program.