CHAPTER THIRTEEN

 

Thursday – April Fools’ Day

 

Jack checked the time on his phone. Again.

She was late.

He expected after years of hounding him for a date, the least Amy Chin could do was show up on time, goddammit.

He wasn’t angry about her tardiness. He was still pissed six ways from Sunday because of her blackmail.

After speaking with Bud Schuman in Robbery last week, Ray had finally received copies of the archived reports he’d asked for. He’d planned on spending Wednesday morning going through them, then visiting some of the shops after lunch. It was a long shot, but maybe something had been missed when the reports had originally been written. As they were now technically cold cases, it wouldn’t hurt to go back and re-interview witnesses and shop owners.

Ray had called Jack and asked if he wanted to tag along. Of course, he did. If any of this helped him learn more about Rybak and why he’d chosen Jack’s house to off himself, he wanted to be the first to know.

When Jack entered Ray’s office yesterday morning, the angry look on his friend’s face was the last thing he’d expected. Ray told him he’d called down to Reception and asked them to let him know when Chin arrived for work. As soon as he got the call, he went up to SVU to speak with her about her missing brother. Anyone in their right mind would have wanted to help and give Ray what he needed. Especially the sister of a missing man. Neither Jack nor Ray had expected her to throw them a curveball.

She was happy to help, but she’d only talk with Jack.

Angry heat flashed through his body as he immediately turned on his heel and left Ray’s office. Not waiting for the elevator, he took the stairs by twos to SVU. By the time he mounted the last stair and stomped over to the Missing Persons desk, he was spitting nails.

What really sent him over the edge was when she told him she’d be happy to help in any way she could, but only over dinner. Hence his sitting here on the patio at the Hog Island Oyster Co. at the Ferry Building and staring at the Bay Bridge. The bridge lights had come on moments ago, as had the patio lights and heaters, and the deepening blue sky behind told Jack the sun was setting on the west side of the peninsula.

His jaw ached from grinding his teeth. He forced his hand to relax around the bottle of Bette Jane’s Ginger Beer he’d been nursing since his arrival nearly an hour ago. The last thing he needed was broken glass in his palm and a trip to the hospital. Lord knew he’d had more than his share of those over the years.

Bitch!

Blackmail was bad enough, and possibly actionable within the department—coercion and impeding an investigation—but now she had the audacity to be late.

Frankly, if he didn’t feel that her brother’s disappearance was somehow tied into the Rybak investigation, he wouldn’t have waited this long. Hell. He wouldn’t have even agreed to dinner. Did she think he’d wait around all night for her? If she did, she had another thing coming. It had taken her four years to get him to take her out, so maybe making him wait was her payback. He was almost sure it didn't have anything to do with today being April Fools’ Day and this whole situation being a set-up at his expense.

He checked the time again.

“Fuck it,” he grumbled.

The chair's metal legs screeched across the concrete as he rose. He pulled out his wallet and extracted some money to pay for his drink and the time he’d wasted taking up one of the tables. He knew the waitress was anxious to turn the table for paying diners, so he added a generous tip for the inconvenience and dropped a twenty onto the table, setting the bottle on top so it didn’t blow away.

“Jack!” The sound of her voice grated on him and made the hairs on the back of his neck rise. When he looked up, the sight of her kicked him in the gut as he watched her step through the restaurant door and walk across the patio.

Amy Chin was a small woman. He guessed she only just met the department's height requirement of five feet, but geared up, she always appeared more than.

Right now, there was nothing of Officer Amy Chin about this woman. Everything about her made her look dainty and delicate, and her choice of attire screamed seduction. Many around them stopped what they were doing and stared at her too.

Jack knit his eyebrows together as he swept his gaze up his co-worker from toes to tits.

Her deep-pink stilettos clicked across the concrete as she approached him. His gaze followed her slim, shapely legs north to the hemline of her slinky deep-pink-almost-red silk dress, if it could be called that, to where it stopped at the top of her thighs. The fabric hugged her perfect hourglass-shaped body. He wasn't sure which was holding up the top of the dress, the micro-thin shoulder straps or her stiff nipples pressing hard against the sheer material.

He nearly laughed at the thought, if she pulled up the top of the dress to cover her breasts more, he might get a look at her panties. Pull the dress down to better conceal her crotch and her tits might pop out over the top.

As Chin moved, she pulled the long, pale-blue embroidered shawl she wore around her. The delicate peony and lotus blossoms matched the color of her dress.

He swallowed hard, embarrassed for her rather than being aroused. She was trying too hard to impress him. Little did she know it was the exact opposite he found sexy—a woman whose self-confidence and inner femininity radiated outward to enhance her natural beauty, regardless of what she wore. Someone like Leah.

Jack suspected anyone else would have found Chin exciting, beautiful, and maybe even ready for a night doing the horizontal bop. To him, her attire was garish and made her look cheap.

Forcing himself not to stare, Jack threw himself into his chair and pocketed the twenty he’d set on the table for the waitress.

She stood beside her chair and looked down at him, no doubt waiting for him to pull it out for her. When he didn’t, she yanked it out herself and dropped onto the metal seat, exclaiming, “Goddammit!” She tried adjusting her dress and shawl so she wasn’t sitting directly on the cold metal.

He caught her glare then and noticed her makeup echoed the colors of her garments, but her natural brown eyes seemed to blacken as she scowled at him. She was angry about something, and he was sure it was something other than him not pulling out her chair.

She tossed her small matching pink purse onto the table then leaned back with her arms and legs crossed. Her foot immediately started bobbing up and down. The look on her face implied she wanted to tear off someone’s head. Probably his.

“Nice of you to finally show up,” he said.

“I don’t know why you couldn’t have picked me up. A real date would have.”

“This isn’t a date, Officer Chin.” He used her title to drive home the point.

“Then what are we doing here?”

“This is nothing more than a business meeting. You said you’d only help us with our enquiries regarding your brother if I took you to dinner. That’s the only reason why we’re here—talk, eat, then go our separate ways."

She huffed. “You still could have picked me up.”

“And you could have called to say you’d be late.”

“I would have been on time, but—” He didn’t really care why she was late. He just wanted to get this over with. “I took a Fast-Fast Cars because it should have been faster than the Muni.”

“And probably a better idea not to take public transport in that get-up.” Chin’s scowl darkened. Play nice, Jack, or you won’t get what you came here for. “What happened? Did the vehicle blow a tire?”

“I wish.” She sat up and arched her back to look over the other patrons. Her shawl fell off her shoulders, forcing Jack to look away from the sight of her nipples pressing against the sheer fabric. It was chilly here, overlooking the Bay, and the reason why he hadn’t removed his leather jacket. She should have dressed more appropriately. “Where’s the waiter? I need a drink.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“The asshole dropped me off at Fisherman’s Grotto down on the Wharf.” Chin threw herself back again and refolded her arms.

“You did tell him the Ferry Building, didn’t you?”

Chin glared at him. “Of course I did, Jack.”

“Then why did he drop you at the opposite end of the Embarcadero, nearly two miles away?”

Chin huffed and glanced away. “When he picked me up, he had boxes in the back seat and asked if I minded sitting up front. The last thing I expected was for him to put his hand on my leg.”

“He what?” Jack wasn’t happy sitting here with Chin, but it did make him angry hearing anyone would put their hands on a woman without her consent.

“Yeah. He pulled up to a traffic light and looked over, said my dress looked really soft and could he touch it. Then his hand landed on my thigh.”

“So, you got out and . . .”

“I reached into my purse and pulled out my badge. I told him he was lucky I didn’t have my weapon on me, or I’d have blown off his balls!”

Jack didn’t know if he should laugh or be angry because she didn’t get out of the vehicle. “Then you got out.” She looked away. “Amy . . .”

“I know, I know. I was reaching for the handle when he turned onto a side road. I thought he was going to drop me off right there, but he kept driving. The one time I want to get out and walk and all the lights are green. When he finally stopped, I found he’d driven to the other end of the Embarcadero. I reminded him I wanted the Ferry Building. He said he knew and to just get out. I asked for his license and Fast-Fast Cars credentials, but he reached across me to open the door and started pushing me. I’m not exactly dressed for an altercation, so I got out. I did get his plate number and called it into the department, then waited for a responding officer. By the time I’d given my statement, another patrol car pulled up with the asshole in the back. After I IDd him, they let me go.”

“By the tone of your voice, that’s not all.”

“You’d think the car would have been enough—I prepaid the fare when I booked. When he threw me out at the Grotto, I didn't have any money on me to get another Fast-Fast Cars, so I had to either walk or get a streetcar." She lifted a stiletto-clad foot. “I’m not exactly dressed for walking.”

"The reporting cop didn't offer you a ride down here?"

Chin shook her head. "He probably assumed I was going into the Grotto and left. I didn't have any money and didn’t realize until it was too late that I didn't have my Clipper card on me either. I know I was taking a chance getting on the streetcar without paying but I was hoping to just get here and forget about the last hour. But of course, that’s when the Muni cops thought it was a good time to spring a surprise inspection. I was ticketed for failure to pay the fare, even after I explained who I was and the horrible start to my evening. I swear, it would have been quicker walking.”

Jack wanted to laugh at the string of misadventures she'd suffered but didn't dare. What else could he say but, “I’m sorry.”

Chin recrossed her legs and looked at Jack for a long moment before she added, “You know, this is all your fault. You should be the one paying this fine.”

“How do you reckon?”

“You should have picked me up,” she said for the third time. Jack wasn’t going to repeat himself, so he said nothing. “It’s not like it was out of your way,” she grumbled.

“You live over in the Richmond District. That’s the other side of the peninsula.”

“I did, but I moved to be closer to . . . work,” she finished awkwardly.

“Makes sense. Where’s your new place?” he calmly asked. He didn't want to know, but her pause made him shift anxiously in his seat. When she didn’t reply right away, he asked again, “Amy, where’s your new place? Or is it a secret?”

“Nottingham,” she said under her breath.

Jack knew exactly where she was. Nottingham Place was little more than a short alleyway located about a block over from Tommy Wong’s. She hadn't moved to be closer to work, but to be closer to him. “You’re right. It would have been quicker to walk. When did you move?”

Just as quietly, she said, “About a year ago.”

If he thought he was pissed about her blackmail and her late arrival, knowing she moved so close to him, and a fucking year ago, was infuriating. Had getting information about her brother not been so important, he would have left her where she sat and walked out on her. Instead, he took long, deep breaths to calm his rage. She had always had a way of getting his blood pressure up, but this was over the top.

He pushed his anger down and, calmly as he could muster, asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why should I? It’s not like you’d ever come over. Every time I’ve invited you, you turned me down.”

She wasn’t wrong, but she had an unhealthy attraction to him, and discovering she was practically living on his doorstep for the last year without knowing disturbed him. Had she been spying on him? Just then he wanted to go back to his apartment, get up on the roof to see how much of her place was visible, and potentially how much she might be able to see from there. Could she see into his apartment? His insides shook at the thought.

He couldn’t force her to move, and she hadn’t done anything illegal, so he tried shifting the conversation. He needed to focus on her brother.

"I hope it's a nice place.”

“Where’s that damn waitress? I need a drink and I’m hungry.”

Jack spotted their waitress and motioned to her. A moment later, she appeared with menus and took their drinks order. As much as Jack wanted to order something stronger, he settled for another Bette Jane’s Ginger Beer since he was on his bike. He didn’t need to be inebriated on the ride home. Chin ordered a G&T with extra G.

“Not drinking, Jack? Come on, lighten up. Let’s have a nice time together.”

“I drove.”

“Great. You can give me a ride home after. It’s the least you can do considering the trouble I had getting here.”

“Not gonna happen, Amy.”

“But we’re neighbors. If you drop me off on Nottingham, you can come up to see my new place,” she coyly suggested.

Jack shook his head. He really hated lying to people, but sometimes a little white one couldn’t be helped. “I’m going to Ray’s after. Opposite direction. Sorry. Besides, I’m on my bike. You’re not exactly dressed for it.”

Chin shyly smiled. “You noticed. What do you think?” She let the shawl fall from around her shoulders. The chilly air instantly stiffened her nipples again under the silky fabric. Her brown eyes darkened the longer she gazed at him. When she coyly dipped her head, her short black hair framed her face and made her look both innocent and tempting. She knew exactly what she was doing.

“I think you forgot to finish dressing before you left your apartment.” Jack picked up a menu and blocked her scowl from view. He breathed deeply. He wasn’t a man of steel. Any red-blooded male would be turned on by her scantily clad body and overt seduction. But he wasn’t just any red-blooded male. He was a married one, even if he didn’t know where his wife was, or if she was still alive.

He heard Chin grumble and glanced over the top of his menu. She’d wrapped the shawl back around her shoulders and was now scowling at her menu.

“What the fuck?” she said under her breath.

“Problem?”

“It’s all seafood.” Her gaze scanned back and forth across the offerings.

“And your point? We live in San Francisco. What did you expect in a place like this?” He waved to the sign over the door. Hog Island Oyster Co.

“It also says hog, Jack. As in pig, as in pork, as in meat. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“When the waitress comes back, ask her what the specials of the day are. Maybe they have something you’ll like." Jack scanned his menu. "Look, there’s pork belly. Happy now?” If she hadn’t just blindsided him with her new apartment location, he would have laughed at the childish look she gave him. He knew it well because Zoë had given it to him more than once. It said, don’t like it, can’t make me.

The waitress arrived with their drinks and a forced smile. “Have you decided on your meals?” Jack looked at Chin. She finally sat up and asked for the day’s specials. It was a short list, most of which revolved around oysters, but the last item was chicken, so she ordered that and tossed down the menu. “Would you like something to start? I can recommend the Kilpatrick appetizer. Four oysters per order, cooked with bacon, shallots—”

“If I wanted oysters," Chin snapped, "I would have ordered oysters."

The waitress, who Jack knew from his arrival was called Jenny, did her best not to show her hurt at Chin's rudeness and turned to Jack. “For you, sir?”

“I’ll start with the Kilpatrick and have the steamers with pasta for my main meal. You can bring them together. Thank you, Jenny. And I’m sorry for keeping you waiting. My friend,” he said, swallowing hard, “had trouble with traffic.” Jack gave Jenny a sincere smile and saw her expression soften.

Jenny gazed between Jack and Chin. “I’m glad she finally arrived safely.” Jenny’s tone lacked sincerity. “I’ll bring your meals as soon as they’re ready.” She turned on her heel and quickly walked away.

“You know,” Jack said as he settled back. “You should have been nicer to her. She could spit in your food, and you’d never know.”