Chapter 37
I chewed on my salad and let Carl think about what I said for a while. His silence was telling. “Something wrong with your meal?” I asked. “Not hungry?” I pointed to his plate.
He shook himself out of his thoughts. “N-no, no. I’m s-sure it’s good.” He grabbed a fork and stabbed a tomato.
“Okay. As I was saying, that’s my biggest lead. If I can get this guy to come forward, I might be able to procure a warrant and do a search. Oh, so you know, I was robbed, just like I thought I would be.”
Carl was looking uncomfortable. “Y-yeah? The jade’s gone, huh?”
“Yup.” I started on my bisque.
“Y-you’re gonna get it back, right? That thing cost me a f-fortune,” he said.
“You will, I promise you that.” And a whole lot more.
We were silent as we finished our appetizers. After the main dishes arrived, I asked, “You know, you never told me much about growing up. What was that like? Are your parents still living?”
His face went dark, his mouth rigid. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Interesting.That time, there’d been no hint of a stammer.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.” I cut into my baked ziti. It melted in my mouth.
Carl relaxed. “I-it’s okay. I just, you know, s-sometimes it w-w-was difficult.” His stammer was back.
“I can understand that,” I offered. “I never knew my real parents, as you know.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “You’ve n-never told me where y-you grew up, just that i-it was in North Georgia.”
And that was a good thing. There was no way I’d be sharing anything like that with him, not anymore. “Yeah, I know.” I smiled at him, and he rolled his eyes.
“Fine, be secretive.”
You should talk.
“Yeah, I’m evil like that.” I refilled our glasses with wine, and lifted mine in a toast. “To secrets. May they never be found out.” Carl looked at me with an unreadable expression, but I just smiled.
He clinked his glass against mine, and we both drank the burgundy liquid. “Mmm, that’s good,” I said.
“Yes, it is,” he replied. Carl was a lightweight when it came to alcohol, so I knew he’d be getting tipsy soon. I waited until we were halfway through our meal, and on our third glass of wine before starting in with more questions.
“You got any relatives around?” I asked casually, playing with his feet this time, and rubbing the back of his hand with mine where it lay on the table.
“Yes. N-no.” He shook his head, trying to clear it, probably. “I th-think I’m getting d-drunk.”
“You’re fine,” I said. “So, yes or no, to the relatives?” I lifted his hand and sucked on the middle finger.
Carl gasped. “Shit! What are you doing?”
“You know what I’m doing. Answer the question, hon. Yes or no?”
“Huh? Oh…yes, I have a-an…uncle.”
Yes.“See him often?”
“W-what? No! H-hate…his gluts, I mean guts,” he replied.
Good, he was starting to slur his words.
“That’s too bad,” I said, now sucking two fingers into my mouth, licking them with my tongue.
“You can’t d-do…st-stop it, Felix.” He pulled his hand away.
“Why? You never shy away from being intimate in public, no matter what people think.”
He drank some water. “N-no. It’s just, y-you’re confusing me, and I’m f-fuzzy. I think we’re done h-here.” Carl stood, weaving slightly. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
I watched him make his way unsteadily to the back of the restaurant. If nothing else, the dinner had been very revealing.
I beckoned the waitress and asked for the check. The meal was over, but we were leaving earlier than I thought. I sent a quick text to Tyler that we would be at Carl’s place in less than an hour, and he should leave now.
Carl returned just as I placed my cell phone back in my pocket. The waitress brought the check and I paid with my credit card, leaving a hefty tip. “I think it’s time I take you home, hon.”
“Okay.”
I stood and ushered Carl before me out the door, my hand at the small of his back. I hailed a passing taxi. I opened the door for Carl and moved to get in, but he stopped me.
“Thanks, Felix, for a w-wonderful meal, and the c-company. I don’t th-think I’m up for anything else, though. R-rain check?” His green eyes looked hopefully up at me.
“I’ll call you soon,” I replied, and blew him a kiss before closing the door. I gave the cabby his address and waved them on.