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“Well, I’d better get back to work.” Jazz’s face was alive with excitement, no doubt the adrenaline of their mischief and the subsequent macabre discovery.
Crowley shared that joy, but he also harbored darker thoughts, uncertain about Jazz and Rose spending time together. There was clearly a spark between them that he doubted would ever be extinguished. He also told himself not to be a jealous fool, Rose was with him, after all. But still, the nagging doubts persisted. It was one thing to recognize you were being a jealous fool, but entirely another to not feel it any longer.
“Thanks for that unusual sightseeing detour,” Rose said. “A New York City experience most people would never get.”
Jazz made a sarcastic curtsy. “You’re welcome. I hope I get to follow this up, it could become quite the juicy exposé.” She gestured with the camera she’d retrieved from Rose. “Especially as we got photographs of the bodies in situ. You want me to credit you as the photographer if I get a feature piece, get you an official New York Sentinel byline?”
“No, thanks! I’m happy to be photographer incognito,” Rose said with a grin.
“I expect there’ll be a lot of red tape before you’re allowed your fun in the paper,” Crowley said, and he heard the gruffness in his voice.
Rose glanced at him, frowning slightly.
“Sure, there always is.” Jazz seemed unfazed by his attitude, and he was thankful for that. “But I have the best chance here to get something going. We’ll see. LaGuerta, that’s my editor, she can be a hardass, but I’ll try to talk her around.” She moved to Rose and hugged her. “See you more before you leave town, I hope?”
“Oh, most definitely.”
They kissed each other’s cheeks, then Jazz reached out a hand to shake. Crowley took it, wondering if the scowl he wore looked as obvious as it felt. He resented his feelings, didn’t like to be jealous, but he resented the closeness of the women too. This wasn’t how he had hoped their excursion to New York would play out.
“Really good to meet you, Jake,” Jazz said. “You look after Rose, you hear?”
“I will. You can count on it.”
“See you guys.”
Jazz turned and strode away. Rose turned to Crowley.
“You okay?” Her brows were knitted, but more in concern than annoyance he thought.
“Sure, why?”
“You’re a little grumpy, is all.”
Crowley took her hand and squeezed it, kissed her lightly on the lips. “I’m sorry. A little out of sorts, I guess. But you’re right, I’ll try to shake it off. Let’s get a coffee and go to Times Square. Be tourists again.”
They continued north up 5th Avenue, and soon enough the road opened up into the large, long triangular precinct that for some reason was called a Square. Crowley loved this part of New York, so intense, so vibrant with colors, neon, noise, people. The digital billboards scrolled a riot of colors advertising all kinds of technology, movies, shows, cars, the full gamut of human achievement and excess.
Crowley pointed to a freestanding shop in the center of the pedestrianized precinct. It said wafels & dinges in bright yellow lettering. “I have no idea what either of those things are, but they sell coffee too, so let’s go.”
A few minutes later, oversized cups in hand, they moved to the red steps in the middle of Times Square designed as a kind of viewing platform for tourists. Glass sides surrounded the bright red plastic stairway, people swarming all over to get the best selfies at the top, the brilliance of Times Square framed just right behind them. Crowley and Rose sat on one side, only a few steps up.
Rose hefted the cup. “Everything in America is unnecessarily big.”
Crowley grinned. “Yeah, that’s their brand, I think. Excess in all things. Kind of exhausting, isn’t it? A bit grotesque.”
“It is, but invigorating too.” She spoke without looking at him, her gaze roving the mad brightness all around them.
Crowley nodded. He had to admit, it was mesmerizing. He joined her in looking around, as fascinated by the huge array of people as well as the city itself. “I love to visit, but I could never live here.”
“Too much for you?”
“I think so. It would be overwhelming. Then again, if I lived in New York, I wouldn’t be in Times Square all the time, so perhaps the perspective is off. Other parts of the city, even parts of Manhattan, are entirely more relaxed. More so than here, at least.”
“It’s certainly not England,” Rose said. “Not even London.”
Crowley smiled. “Old Londinium has its own charms and bustles. But we’re used to those.”
“I guess. What do you think about what we saw with Jazz?” Rose asked.
“I don’t know. Pretty bizarre to visit a vault supposedly undisturbed for two hundred years only to find fresh bodies in it.”
“Yeah, exactly. So it obviously wasn’t undiscovered. Someone knew about it and was making good use of it. That’s just so creepy. You think we disturbed the lair of a serial killer?”
“Sounds like one of your horror movies.” Crowley cast his mind back, picturing the gloomy crypt. “Did you notice how the bodies stacked up there were in layers? The two on top were fresh, but beneath they were kind of representing different time periods as they went down. Not by much, but the stack must have covered several decades, and that was only the one pile. Other piles seemed even older.”
“I did. And you know, we were shocked by fresh ones, but the next couple of layers down weren’t that old either. There was some relatively modern clothing rotting away down there.”
“I saw that too,” Crowley said. “But towards the bottom of the next pile over, the corpses were ancient. Little more than bone and rags.”
“You think someone found that old vault and decided it was a good place to stash the more recently deceased.”
Crowley laughed, but without much humor. “I guess so. Not a bad place in a city like this. I mean, you can lose a body in the wilderness easily enough, but a place like New York?” He gestured around, encompassing all of Times Square and the massive city beyond.
They sat quietly for a moment, sipping coffee. Then Crowley said, “You notice anything else about the bodies?”
“Like what?”
“Any... uniformities?”
Rose frowned. “I’m not following.”
“Each one, at least all that I could see, had a hole in the skull. Same size and location every time.”
Rose looked up, eyebrows raised. “Really? I saw blood on the back of that fresh guy’s head but didn’t see a hole. Even the older ones had it?”
“Yep, so far as I could see anyway. We only had a moment, but that’s significant, don’t you think?”
“It is. I wonder if Jazz noticed that? I should tell her.”
Crowley sighed. Jazz again. “Already gone off the idea of ghost hunting?” There was a level of snark in his tone he hadn’t intended, but he wasn’t about to apologize for it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, I just–” He was interrupted by his phone ringing. Feeling like a fool, he was thankful for the distraction. “Hang on.” He thumbed to answer the unrecognized number. “Hello?”
“Jake, is that you?”
The voice was male, familiar, but Crowley couldn’t place it for a moment. “Yes, this is Jake Crowley. Who’s this?”
“Dear boy, it’s Matthew Price. Your aunt was kind enough to give me your number.”
“Matt Price! What can I do for you?” Crowley saw Rose’s sour look from the corner of his eye and enjoyed a moment of juvenile pleasure from her disapproval. Give her something to worry about too. He wasn’t sure why she was supposed critical of Price, the man seemed decent enough to him.
“Matthew Price, if you don’t mind. I wondered if you’d like to have lunch tomorrow? I thought perhaps we ought to get to know each other a little better now we’re both such a large part of Gertrude’s life.”
“Sure thing, sounds good. Where and when?”
“Let’s say twelve noon at Riko on 8th Avenue? It’s a wonderful little Peruvian place I’ve grown rather fond of.”
“Sure thing, I’ll see you then.” Crowley hung up and grinned at Rose. “Aunt Gertie’s loverboy wants to have lunch. Get to know me better.”
One side of Rose’s mouth twisted slightly. “I really don’t care for Price.”
“I know, but I like the guy. And hey, at least my friend doesn’t want to shag me.” He could tell by the sudden tightness in her face that he was pushing the teasing too far. “Only joking. I guess you can have lunch with Jazz then?”