When he got back on, Nikki said, “Careful there, Rook. You’ll give yourself another nosebleed.”
She arrived with coffee that even she admitted was no match for his and a bag of warm Zucker’s bagels seeing their first sunrise. “I figured I’d stay downtown this morning so we can go visit Cassidy Towne’s editor right when the publishing house opens and then head up to the precinct from there.” She saw something come across his face and said, “What?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t know we’d be going to the publisher together, that’s all.”
“You don’t want to come? Rook, you want to come everywhere. You’re like a golden retriever with a Frisbee in your mouth the moment you hear car keys.”
“Sure, of course, I want to go. I’m just bummed I didn’t make more progress. It’s still a FEMA site back there.”
She brought her coffee and a gouged-out sesame bagel half to the office for an assessment. “You’ve hardly made a dent.”
“Well, I got started, and then got on the computer and got caught up working on my Cassidy Towne piece.”
Nikki looked at his monitor, where the Big Lebowski screen saver was engaged—a floating image of the Dude’s head on a bowling ball. Then her gaze drifted to the radio-controlled toy helicopter on the desk. She put her hand on the fuselage. “Still warm,” she said.
“The bad guys don’t stand a chance with you, Nikki Heat.”
They had a half hour before they had to leave for the publisher, so Nikki began collecting loose papers off the floor. Rook found a home for the helicopter on the windowsill and said, as casually as he could make it sound for a man who was fishing, “Must have been bizarre seeing your old boyfriend like that.”
“Blew me away, is what it did. Of all the gin joints, you know?” And then she said, “So you think he was one of Cassidy’s conquests, do you?”
“What? Huh, I hadn’t thought of it.” He turned away quickly to scoop pens back into his souvenir mug from the Mark Twain Museum. “Is that what you think?”
“Don’t really know. Sometimes it’s nice to take someone at face value.” She looked at him, and he turned away again, this time on paper clip patrol. “It was a different side to hear about Cassidy, helping someone out like she did for Pet.”
Pet. Rook concentrated so he wouldn’t roll his eyes. “Well, from what I saw of Cassidy, she was tough but she wasn’t a monster. But I wouldn’t say she was altruistic, either. I’m sure by helping Pete learn the ropes she was also building a relationship with a TV insider on a solid foundation of ‘IOU.’ ”
“Did she have anybody who you would call a close friend?”
“From what I saw, no. She was wired to be a loner. That’s not to say lonely. But her downtime was spent with her flowers, not people. Did you see the porcelain plaque screwed into her wall by the French doors? ‘When life disappoints, there’s always the garden.’ ”
“Sounds like Cassidy spent a lot of her time coping with disappointment.”
“Still,” he said, “you can’t fault a person whose passion is for helping living things. Albeit vegetation.”
Nikki hefted a pile of recovered papers and evened the corners by tapping them against her tummy. “I don’t know where you want these filed, so I’ll just make stacks on your credenza. At least you’ll be able to walk around in here while you play with your toy chopper.”
He worked alongside her, chucking anything that was broken into the kitchen trash can he had put in service. “You know, I like this little bit of shared domestic activity.”