Chapter Nineteen

Wednesday afternoon

  

While Tess dug into the history of Crome’s credit card that paid for the room Maureen had been in when the picture was taken to see if there were any more expenses, Blu chased down another lead. This one wasn’t so difficult and one that he should have thought of sooner. He placed a call, got voicemail, and left a message.

Andeline returned his call as he backed into a spot on King Street.

He answered with, “How’s it going, And?”

“I’m fine. How’s Crome?”

“What have you heard?” he asked, cutting to the chase.

“Someone sent him a picture of his woman with a gun to her head. Crome scared the crap out of Phineous and then bribed him with two really low-rent girls, if you ask me. And you’re calling me. I’d say it’s pretty serious.”

“It is serious. Okay, so that’s what you’ve heard. What do you know?”

She said, “Why don’t you get out of your truck and come in so I can see that beautiful face of yours?”

Andeline was older than Blu by more than a decade and she enjoyed toying with him. She wasn’t his type and never would be. But she was a fantastic source when he needed some obscure piece of information. Her contacts ran the gamut of the Charleston elite and underworld. Especially where those two worlds met up, which happened more than one would think. Money had a habit of causing the downfall of many a good man.

He did as she asked, got out of his truck, ignoring the meter since it was after six p.m. and walked into her restaurant. The former Madame in all senses of the title gave him a big grin when he walked in. Instead of their normal cursory banter and lack of physical touch, she stepped around her hostess podium, came over, gave him a tight hug, and a lingering peck on the cheek.

It occurred to Blu that Andeline might also be aware of his troubles with Billie.

They ended the embrace. Her bright blue eyes took him in and her dark hair with highlights that defied her age formed somewhat of a halo. She’d long ago stopped caring about what others thought of her weight, which Blu guessed measured over where the doctors said it should be. But she wore it well along with her designer dresses like the gray and white hugging number she had on at the moment.

She said, “I really wish you’d come around more than just when you need something.”

“Me too, And, I mean it.”

“Sure you do.”

He looked down.

She said, “You eat dinner yet?”

The truth was he was starving and was planning on wolfing down three or four PB&J sandwiches at home later. “No.”

Grabbing a menu, she said, “It appears I’ve got you right where I want you.”

He wasn’t sure what to say.

“Follow me.” She led him to a vacant corner booth.

He sat and she said, “After I get someone to cover for me at the front, you and I are going to have a nice meal.”

“Really, And, you don’t have to go through all this trouble.”

She leaned in close to him and held his chin in her hand. “I’m trying real hard to be a lady around you, Mr. Carraway.”

With that, she stood upright and walked away, leaving Blu to contemplate how he’d gotten here. But he knew the answer. He was here to find information about Maureen’s kidnapper. Andeline hadn’t been this forward before. Something wasn’t right. With a sudden urge to leave, he turned in his chair to get up but was stopped by Andeline now standing beside him.

“Going somewhere?” She placed a pint glass in front of him. Knowing, as all his friends did, that he didn’t drink alcohol, she’d given him a dark soft drink. Bubbles in the glass floated to the top and quietly snapped and popped.

He raised his hands. “The restroom to wash up.”

Giving him a knowing smile like she had caught him in a ruse, she waved her hand in the direction of the lavatories.

As he made his way to the restroom, he thought about the situation. Either this was a joke or she was serious. And there could only be one… no, two reasons why she’d be serious. The one he thought about immediately was she wanted to change their relationship from friendly to something else. The other was that she needed to talk to him about something important and was having a bit of fun at his expense. For the sake of sanity, he forced himself to think it was the latter. After he relieved himself and washed his hands, he walked out of the restroom with a better understanding of Andeline.

The first course of four—she-crab soup—along with Andeline awaited his return to the table. He seated himself, unfolded the napkin, picked up his spoon, and sampled the not-quite-bisque. It was perfect.

Andeline smiled at him.

He said, “This is one great restaurant you have here, And.”

“I know.” She spooned some soup.

“So what is it you want to tell me?”

“All business and no play makes Blu a dull boy.”

Scraping the last bit of liquid off the bottom of the bowl, he said, “You know me too well.”

“Yes, I do,” she said. “And you are really rattled right now. Not because of me, not really. I’m sorry, I so enjoy taking advantage of your uncertainty.”

“It’s Crome,” he said.

“I know.”

He put down his spoon. “What else do you know?”

A waiter poured more wine into her glass and removed the empty soup bowls. She waited until he walked away. “I know about Maureen and that you two have been hunting her all over town. I know that your partner tried to go out on his own and you wouldn’t let him. I know that no less than Patricia Voyels, Tess Ray and Harmony Childs, and Brack and Darcy Pelton are looking into it.”

Their salads came.

After the waiter set the plates down, ground fresh black pepper over them, and left, Blu said, “What else?”

“None of my sources knows who is doing this.”

Blu forked some ruffage. “That doesn’t help me out here.”

“It should,” she said. “Think about it. If I don’t know, it’s not out there. You’ve gotten as far as I have, which is saying something, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“I don’t, but I’m not happy about it.”

“Happiness is a state of mind, my friend,” she said. “I’m always happy because I choose to be.”

He thought about countering her statement with something like, “Until someone sticks a gun to your head.” But, as an ex-Madam who’d worked her way up from the bottom, Andeline had seen and experienced as much in her life has he had in his. Maybe more. That meant gunplay and death. This was nothing new to her. It was just another day.

The information he’d learned did not help him out, but he found himself beginning to relax.

And then she asked, “So how’s Billie?”