“Would you like some more lemonade?” asked Julia.
“No, thank you, but it’s really very good. Not too sweet.”
“I make it myself,” said the housekeeper, unable to keep the pride from her voice. “I don’t like the package stuff.”
“Me, either,” said Johnny.
“Let me know if you need anything.”
She went back into the house, leaving Johnny lying on one of the lounge chairs in the backyard. It was unseasonably warm for November, and she grabbed for what little sun she could find. Lowell had bailed her out only the day before, but already her jail pallor had improved. Her shoulder was still bandaged, but she didn’t need the sling. It lay on the ground next to her, along with her shirt. Her white bra was in stark contrast to the orange-and-green tattoo of a lion across her chest. She unhooked her top to take advantage of the warmth of the last of the autumn sun’s rays reflecting off a distant high-rise.
She was half napping when the door from the house opened with a squeak.
Johnny woke to see both Lowells staring at her. “Hey, how are you guys?”
“Would you please put some clothes on,” said the astrologer.
“Huh?” She looked down. “Oh, yeah, I forgot. Hey, don’t let it bother you. I don’t mind.”
“Well, I do,” he said.
“Yeah, okay. Don’t have a fit. But they’re nice, huh?” She cupped her breasts in her hands and presented them to David like a plate of ripe fruit. The lion tattoo covered her entire chest, with the right nipple as the nose of the beast and an orange mane streaking around the bosom.
“Yes, they’re very nice. Now put something on.”
Melinda watched this exchange with great amusement. She wasn’t sure, but she thought her father was blushing.
Johnny put her top back on and gingerly pulled her shirt around her shoulders.
“That better?”
“Thank you,” said Lowell. He came and sat at the backyard table. “Have you ever had your astrology chart done?”
“No. What’s it like?”
“So you don’t know anything about your chart?”
“Just that I’m Aquarius, right?”
“And nobody ever told you anything else, like where your moon is, or your rising sign?”
She shook her head. “I had my aura read once by some woman came into the bar.”
“You see how powerful the ascendant is,” said Lowell, turning to Melinda. “The rising sign represents the physical body and the projection of the self-image. She has a Leo rising sign and unconsciously has herself tattooed with a rather prominent image of a lion.”
“I’ve always been drawn to lions. When I was a kid I used to wear my hair long and comb it up like a mane.”
“Wonderful, just a marvelous example. I must remember to put this in my next lecture.”
He went on, “Tell me again exactly what these women said when they attacked you.”
“I told you yesterday.”
Lowell didn’t like Johnny. He found her rude, obnoxious, and inappropriately aggressive. And he certainly wasn’t happy that she was staying at his house. But he loved his daughter, so he bit his lip.
“Well, tell me again.”
“The big one said: ‘This is for the judge.’ Then she stuck the blade into my shoulder. I think she was aiming for my heart, but I turned away just in time.”
“Is that all she said?”
“Well, when I got away and was running down the corridor I heard one of them say: ‘He ain’t gonna like that she ain’t dead.’”
“Who ain’t gonna like it?” asked Melinda.
“That is the sixty-four dollar question,” said Lowell.
“What does that mean?” asked Johnny.
“It means that if we can find out who put a contract out on you we may be able to find out who killed Judge Winston.”
“Christ, you really think there’s a real contract on me?”
“Well, there may have been one in prison,” said Lowell. “If it is extended to the outside we had better all watch our step. Johnny, you are not to go out alone under any circumstances. If you need something there will always be someone who will accompany you.”
Johnny looked very nervous. “Well, what can I do? I mean, what the fuck is gonna happen to me?”
“You should be all right here,” said Melinda.
Johnny looked around, unconvinced.
Lowell took out his cell phone and hit a few buttons.
“Roland,” said the policeman.
“It’s David Lowell.”
“Yes, what can I do for you?”
“There was an event on Riker’s yesterday.”
“Yes, I’m familiar with it. Believe it or not we get phone calls, too.”
“Well, I’ve bailed Johnny Colbert out and she’s staying at my place.”
The lieutenant must have smiled for the first time that day at the thought of that bad-tempered woman upsetting what he suspected was Lowell’s delicate sense of equilibrium.
“How wonderful for you.”
“Yes, I’m sure you think so. Anyway, people tried to kill her, and her defense would be rather moot if they succeeded.”
“So what do you want me to do about it? Maybe she pissed someone off at Riker’s with that smart mouth of hers.”
“Maybe, but I can’t babysit her all day long or I’ll never get my work done.”
“The police department isn’t on your personal payroll and we’re not obligated to protect anyone once they are out of the system.”
“They did such a fine job of protecting her when she was in it, didn’t they?”
The lieutenant sighed. “Well, you do have a point there. What do you want?”
“Just some extra drive-bys and a word to the cops in my neighborhood would be nice.”
“Anything else, your highness?”
“That should be sufficient. I’ll have Andy stay at the house whenever possible during the day, and he’s licensed to carry a gun.”
“Just make sure that’s all he does with it. All right, I’ll have a car stationed on your block periodically, but don’t take advantage of the situation.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant.”
Lowell looked at Melinda, and then Johnny. “Please, no more trouble today.”