Читать книгу A Place to Be - Nancy Degenhardt - Страница 7

By 11:00 p.m. Kate was in her nightgown, sitting in a stuffed chair with her legs and feet stretched out on a hassock, watching the late news. There was a soft knock at the front door.

"Who's there?" she called out.

"Kate, it's me -- Rod."

She flung the door open. "What are you doing here? It's not August."

"Aren't you glad to see me?" Rod asked as he reached for her.

"You know I am." As angry as she was over not hearing from him for weeks, she was so overjoyed to see him that she melted into his arms.

After a long kiss, Rod related that Kathryn had given him her message. "And I had business to take care of in Saratoga, so here I am with the whole weekend free."

The next morning they slept in, neither one of them being in any hurry to leave the comfort of the bed and each other. In the afternoon they decided to drive up to Lake George and go on the paddle boat dinner cruise around the lake. After dinner as they stood next to the boat's railing, he kept one arm protectively around her.

"This is a beautiful lake," he whispered to her.

"Yes, it is. When I was at Skidmore, Maria and I used to hike all the mountains around here." Kate spanned the area with her arm as she talked. "You should see the lake from the top of the mountains. It is magnificent to see it stretching out below you. We would always carry food and drinks in our backpacks and have lunch on top of whichever mountain we were climbing."

"Weren't you afraid of getting lost?" inquired Rod, holding her tighter against him.

"No. We got to know the mountains fairly well, and most of the trails have been marked by the Adirondack Mountaineers Club. Also, at each trailhead, there is a wooden box with a sign in sheet inside. Each night each box is checked, and if people have not signed themselves back in, a rescue team is organized to find them." Kate turned toward him, kissed him and said, "I hope we can go for a hike someday. When I sit on a peak, I feel so harmonious with the sky, the mountains, the lake, all of nature."

* * *

On their way back to the townhouse, they stopped in a small bar on a side street off Broadway for a nightcap. The bartender asked them, "What can I get you, folks?"

Rod ordered a gin and tonic for himself and a glass of Chardonnay for Kate. The bartender served them, and then went to the other end of the bar, which extended the whole length of the small narrow room to serve other patrons. The bar was filled with young men and women drinking and talking.

Kate glanced up at the large mirror behind the bar and saw that her hair had been tousled by the wind on the lake. After a few minutes, the bartender returned. "You look like nice folks. In the summer we get lots of tourists."

"I guess you can call us tourists," Rod replied, winking at Kate.

"But during the rest of the year, we mostly get kids in here." The bartender continued talking as he removed the dirty glasses and wiped across the surface with a cloth. "Kids with red and green hair and rings in their noses and in their navels. Do you know how they tip me? After they leave, I find dollar bills neatly foiled into little squares with packets of coke inside."

Kate who had only been partially listening now gave him her full attention. "What do you do with them?" she asked.

"I immediately flush them down the toilet," he replied and then shrugged. "But what else can I do? I'm working here nights to pay my way through law school. The bar is crowded most nights. I don't know who leaves them. Many of these kids have wealthy parents; if you even stare at them too long, they threaten lawsuits." Looking apologetic, he added, "We do try to card them, but many of them carry fake ID's.”

Kate was unusually quiet until they reached the townhouse. Once they were inside, she kicked off her tan loafers with so much force they flew across the room. Then she angrily announced that if those kids think that they are going to spoil Saratoga, they better think again. "I feel so indignant when I think about what drugs are doing to this country." Picking up her shoes and pacing around the plants, she expounded, "I remember a conversation about children I had with a senior editor. He told me about his twenty-eight-year-old daughter coming to him and telling him she didn’t know how to say no to her three-year-old daughter. The editor said all he could think of was what had he done as a parent to his daughter that she couldn’t say no to her child.”

“Well, at least his daughter recognized she had a problem,” answered Rod, trying to refrain from smiling.

“Why are you smiling?” Kate demanded.

“I realize you’re upset, but you look so pretty stomping around these plants in your bare feet. All I can think of is Jane and Tarzan.”

Kate started laughing as Rod reached for her. “Let’s go to bed. We can’t solve anything tonight.”

“Me, Jane,” she said, breaking away from his arms and running toward the bedroom. Rod, grinning, followed her.

* * *

The next morning Rod followed her into the bathroom. He removed her robe, and they stepped into the shower together. He shampooed her hair and lovingly caressed her body with shower gel. She in turn massaged his back and chest with soap.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too, Rod."

They made love as the water from the shower head cascaded over them.

"I can't wait for this job to be over where we can be with each other forever," Rod said.

They dressed, and then Rod ran out and returned shortly with donuts. Kate had made coffee for them. They sat at the small kitchen table and ate.

"Kate, your grandmother told me you came to Saratoga early to work on a story. What are you pursuing?"

She related to him what Bob had told her, Guy's accident, and the information Maria had given her about the plane crash.

"Do you have to do this story?" Rod asked, looking worried. "You're a good writer. I read some of your stuff on microfilm at a library."

"Thanks, but I do have to. I can't put all the pieces together yet, but I will. I think you learned last night how I feel about drugs."

"Yes, but this sounds dangerous. You could get hurt." Rod picked up the empty coffee cups, walked over, and put them in the dishwasher.

"I promise I'll be careful and not do anything stupid," Kate replied as she wiped off the table.

"I still don't like your going after this drug thing." Rod insisted and asked, "What are you going to do next?"

"I am going to try to go to the horse sales and nose around." Then giving him a penetrating stare, she asked, "Can you tell me what you're truly doing here?"

"Kate, you're going to have to continue to trust me. I've told you everything I can. I have to go, but please watch yourself. I'll meet you on Friday afternoon at the Sheraton."

Monday morning Kate called Maria and asked if they could meet for lunch. Maria replied that she didn't have a lot of time but agreed to meet her at Pal's in Saratoga.

When Kate walked in, Maria lifted up her arm and waved from a table in the rear of the crowded restaurant. Maria had already ordered a diet coke and a veggie pita sandwich. Kate told the waitress she would like the same.

"Rod is here. I'll be bringing him to your wedding."

"I can't wait to meet the man who has captured your heart. Kate, you are positively glowing."

Blushing, Kate responded, "I guess it does show, but I need to ask you something." Looking extremely serious, Kate continued. "As long as I've know you, I've never asked you this because I always figured it would hurt your feelings."

"Go ahead, ask me. I promise you won't hurt my feelings."

"Maria, do you know someone on a personal level that – well, you know, could be connected to the Italian Mafia?”

Maria howled with laughter. Almost everyone in the small restaurant turned toward them and stared. “Kate, you’re too much. I can’t believe you’ve been wondering about that probably since we were freshmen in college, I bet. But why are you asking me now?”

Slightly embarrassed, Kate said, in a low tone, “It’s these drug rumors I’m tracking down. I’m having a hard time getting anywhere.”

After Maria managed to stop laughing, she declared, “The truth is I do have a great uncle who plays cards a little and bets a few numbers. I suppose he has been going in and out of the back rooms of restaurants since he was a teenager. There’re not many of his generation left. I feel certain people tolerate him out of nostalgia. I’ll see what he has to say.” And then she added, “All I seem to have time for lately are your everyday murders.”

* * *

Kate returned to the racetrack to find Mose. Giving two dollars to the cashier in the ticket booth, she walked through the turnstile and went directly to the paddock area. She saw him leaning against the same fence.

"Mose, you're just the man I want to see."

"Hi, Kate, what's up?" he asked.

I was wondering if you're going to the horse auction." Kate asked, standing before him.

"I sure am. I go every year to help out. Why?" he asked, studying her.

"I was hoping that since it's by invitation only, you could get me in."

"Maybe I can, but I have to know why," Mose responded.

Looking directly into his dark eyes, she announced, "I'm a reporter doing a story on horse racing, and I want to see what goes on at the sales."

After knocking the cold ashes out of his pipe on the fence, he replied, "I don't know if I totally believe you, but since Highwayman likes you, I'll get you in. Meet me a little ways down the block from the place."

"Thanks," Kate said, turning to leave.

"Oh, and dress up. It's a black tie event," Mose called out as she was disappearing into the crowd.

* * *

Kate had a benign ambivalence toward clothes. Her job usually kept her in jeans and boots, but she had wanted to look good for Maria's wedding. Going shopping in her favorite boutique, she had purchased two dresses. She took them both out of the closet where she had hung them and laid them on the bed. One was a midnight navy colored silk dress with a scooped out back and jewel neckline. It had a matching organza jacket with long sleeves and a large collar, highlighted by rhinestone buttons. The other one was a little black dress with spaghetti straps.

Thinking that she couldn't wear the blue dress because it was for the wedding, she decided to wear the black one she had bought for the rehearsal dinner. The telephone on the nightstand rang, and she answered it. It was Maria.

"I spoke to my Uncle Gus," Maria explained. "He said there's something going on, but the Italians aren't involved in it. In fact they are furious, for they consider New York as their territory. It's something to do with drugs, but that's all he knew about it. Gotta run. See you Friday."

That's odd about the Italians, Kate mused as she showered. She stepped into the little black dress and pulled it up over her rounded bottom. She took her hair out of its pulled straight-back ponytail and let it fall voluptuously to her shoulders.

* * *

As she stepped out of her car at the appointed place, Mose chuckled and said, "What a transformation you've made."

"Turn around, Mose. You look pretty spectacular yourself, black tails and all."

As they walked down the sidewalk, Mose explained, "Once I get you inside, I have to go to work."

"That's fine. I'm going to mingle with the crowd, that's all."

With Mose holding her arm, they walked into the large building. It had a tall podium for the auctioneer and a runway for the horses, surrounded by floor space with seats and a gallery. Just like in the Miss America contest Kate thought. Walking around alone, she took a glass of champagne and some hors d'oeuvres from a waiter dressed in black tie and tails. A large movie screen was being lowered from the ceiling to show the horses that weren't being brought to the auction floor.

With a bang of his gavel, the auctioneer started. Moving quietly among the horse owners and bidders, Kate listened and watched attentively. It seemed to Kate that more syndicates than individuals were buying horses. She was also hearing languages that she believed to be Russian and Chinese.

She walked up to two men standing side by side. "That is a beautiful Arabian you just bought. Are you going to race her in Saratoga?"

One of them answered her in foreign accented English, "After she's trained, we can race her at most of the tracks. Are you here to buy?" he asked, glaring at Kate.

"No, I came to enjoy the ambiance," Kate answered and moved on.

Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of someone. She quickly turned in time to see what she thought was Rod's back. She felt sick. Is this why he came to Saratoga? she thought. Isn't that great. I fell in love with a drug dealer.

Toward the end of the auction, Mose found her. "Are you ready to go? I must be getting old. I can't take these late nights anymore."

She nodded.

"Are you all right? You look flushed," Mose asked with concern in his voice.

"I'm fine. Let's go."

As they were walking back to her car, Kate asked, "How did you come to spend your life at the racetrack?"

"When I was a little kid, my father was a blacksmith at the track. I started coming with him," Mose explained. "I fell in love with the horses, and I guess the excitement around the track, too."

"Are most of the horses always sold to syndicates instead of individual owners?" queried Kate as they reached her car.

"You noticed that too," Mose responded, looking quizzically at Kate. "No, most of the time, it's the opposite. Are you writing something besides a run-of-the-mill article on racing?"

After glancing around to make sure no one was standing close by, Kate answered, "Yes, I am. I'm going to be telling . . ."

"No, don't tell me." Mose interrupted. "I think I'll be better off not knowing."

Kate told Mose goodnight and thanked him for taking her.