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I SAT ON A PARK BENCH at Friendship Fountain, on the lookout for a bearded man with a baseball hat and sunglasses. Philip had finally called, and I asked him to meet me there so he could answer some questions. He was hesitant at first, but finally agreed to meet.
But I’d already waited twenty minutes, and saw no sign of him anywhere. I looked at my watch and started to think maybe something happened to him.
The probability of that seemed to be increasing.
It was a pretty busy area. I watched the younger women and maybe one or two men pushing kids in strollers around the fountain. The older kids ran around as their moms tried to keep up without taking their heads out of their phones. There were runners and walkers, people of all ages. Three old ladies sat together on a park bench not far from me, talking to each other as they seemed relaxed, staring at the fountain.
I felt a hand on my shoulder that I think startled me a bit. More than it normally would.
It was Philip.
“Where’ve you been?” I said as I looked at my watch. “I was starting to wonder...”
Philip looked down at me, quiet for a moment. “I went to my brother’s apartment. I thought I could talk to him, maybe see what he knows, but...there was some kid there. His name was Jayray or Rayjay or something. The kid answered the door, said Frank had been arrested.”
“He’s at the John E. Goode Pretrial Detention Facility,” I said as I stood up off the bench.
“Frank?”
I nodded.
“You knew he’d been arrested?”
“Not sure it’s going to hold. He returned the car. And the value’s barely five hundred dollars. Looking at a misdemeanor.”
I didn’t tell Philip the whole story or mention I was there when Frank took the woman’s car.
“But, what I don’t understand,” I said, “is why you’d risk going to his apartment?”
Philip looked off for a moment and removed his sunglasses from his face. “He is my brother. I hoped he’d know something about Victoria. Be willing to talk to me.”
“You’re walking around here in a fake beard and that ugly baseball hat—like a homeless person—so nobody’ll recognize you? But then you’re out and about, knocking on doors?” I said. “Why bother with the disguise?”
“Well, he wasn’t there anyway, obviously. And the kid—”
“Jayray?”
“Yeah, he’s not one for conversation. Didn’t say much.”
I gestured for Philip to follow me. “I’d rather not be a sitting duck. I get the feeling you’re not fooling anyone.”
We started walking along the walk around the fountain. I said, “Do you owe Charles Weiss money for that crystal pelican?”
He didn’t answer my question directly. “You talked to Charles?”
“I went to his shop. Told me he owes the artist who created the sculpture. And he’s afraid if he doesn’t pay him...”
Philip shook his head. “Don’t let him fool you. He’s not in any danger.”
“What makes you so sure?”
Philip kept his eyes straight ahead without answering.
“He hired a bodyguard,” I said.
“Did he?”Philip stopped and faced me. “Charles dealt with my father. It had nothing to do with me.” He started walking ahead of me. “Did you speak with Carla Weiss?”
I picked up my pace and followed behind. “I did.”
“She plays it cool, doesn’t she? Smokes her weed, lets on like she doesn’t know which end is up or down.” He stopped and turned to me, wagged his finger. “But that couldn’t be further from the truth.” He again picked up the pace and walked ahead of me. “I gotta go, Henry.”
“Go where? You said you’d meet me. How am I supposed to find Victoria if you won’t even take the time to tell me what I need to know?”
I followed him across the grass as he headed back toward the street. I said, “Philip, do you remember that woman I met in Ocracoke last year?”
He nodded. “Of course.” He paused for a moment. “The one who left you, without saying a word?”
“Yes, that’s her. For some reason, she’s here in Florida. Showed up out of the blue, said she’d been looking for me.”
“Good for you,” he said, and started walking again. I picked up my pace and walked alongside him. “Turns out she was married.”
“Yeah?”
“Still might be,” I said.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Henry. I don’t know if you’re looking for advice or something or just making small talk, but if this doesn’t have anything to do with Victoria...”
“She said her husband knew she was with me. Couldn’t have been very happy.”
Philip stopped again. “And?...”
“Well, I was thinking. What if the bomb wasn’t meant for you? What if her husband—and I have no idea who this guy is—what if he thought I was on that boat?”
“And he calls me? Takes my fiancé from me?” Philip shook his head. “You’re beginning to sound crazy.”
“Am I? How many people actually knew you were living on that boat? Not many, right? Did your brother know? Did Charles?”
Philip paused a moment. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t tell many people.”
“And what about those three men who came after me? What if it had nothing to do with you?”
“You think they kidnapped Victoria because you were screwing someone’s wife?”
I shook my head. “No, what I’m saying is, maybe the two are unrelated.” I thought for a moment. “And I didn’t know she was married.”
Philip continued ahead of me and finally reached his car. He stuck his key in the door and turned to me as he opened it. “I’m paying you to find Victoria. And for all I know, she could be dead. And here you are, telling me about a woman you had a fling with.” He closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head. “I have nowhere else to turn, Henry. Whoever has her said not to involve the cops. So I’m not willing to take that chance. It’s as simple as that. So I’m dependent on you. And—tell me if I’m wrong—I thought you knew what you were doing.” He stepped in his car and pulled the door closed behind him without giving me another look.
He started the engine and sat with his head down in his phone as if I wasn’t standing right outside his door.
I turned and walked away. I went back to my car and stepped inside and turned the key in the ignition. As soon as the engine started I remembered something I needed to ask Philip.
I jumped out and left the car running. I ran toward Philip’s car. He’d just started to pull from his parking space but stopped. He rolled down the window. “Now what?”
I leaned with one hand on the roof of his car. “This guy Dominic, who works for Charles...I’d like to look into him a little more. He’s a big guy. I’d say he’s Italian, if I had to guess. Maybe a Long Island guy, the way he talks. But he could be from anywhere up north, really.”
Philip shrugged, then shook his head. “I don’t know anything about him. Maybe you should talk to—”
There was a loud explosion behind me and sent me face-first into Philip’s car. My chin slammed into the top of his door. Glass and debris smashed against the back of my head and covered Philip’s car.
I held my arm over my face as I turned to see where the explosion came from.
It was my car.
Flames and black smoke poured from all sides. The hood had been thrown across the parking lot and landed on top of someone else’s car.
I ran around to the other side of Philip’s car and ducked down behind it. I wasn’t sure what would come next.
We looked at each other through the passenger window without saying a word. Even if Philip had spoken, my ears were ringing so loud the only sound I could hear was the ringing mixed with my heart beating inside my head. My ears felt like they were blocked with concrete.
“Get out of here!” I yelled to Philip through the glass. My voice came from my throat as if in slow motion as if I’d yelled into an empty jar.
Philip had no problem with my suggestion. He slammed his car in drive and took off with his tires squealing on the pavement. He drove full speed past the flames pouring from my car. Philip had the Impala up on two wheels as he turned a corner and disappeared down the street.