I wasn’t sure what she was referring to. Us? Was it over between us? “What do you, I mean, I don’t, what?” I said. The steam was still pouring out of the shower.
“All this trouble,” Sarah said. “Is it over? Can you promise me that it’s over?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes,” I said. “It’s over. It’s going to be up to Trixie now to figure out what she’s going to do. I…I thought I was doing the right thing, figuring out where she’d gone, finding out what really happened, and maybe that was stupid. But now that she’s been arrested, it forces things to a head. She’s got a lawyer, she’ll have to work things out. I guess,” and I paused a moment, and then said, “I’m done with it.”
Quietly, Sarah said, “You have to be.”
“I know.” I heard her say “Fuck” under her breath. “It’s Colby, coming this way. I’m surprised he could find his way to the Home! section.”
“He probably caught the scent of cookies.”
“He looks pissed.”
Then, in the background, I could hear Colby asking, “That him? I want to talk to him. He can’t jerk me around this way.”
“I’ll see you tonight, okay?” Sarah said.
“Yeah, that’ll be nice,” I said.
“Let me talk to him,” Colby demanded.
“Bye,” Sarah said, and hung up.
For the first time in a very long time, I felt good, as though a weight had been lifted off my chest. I took a couple of deep breaths, then thought about how to welcome Sarah home. I’d pick up some steaks, buy a bottle of wine, give the kids some cash to go out for pizza and a movie and—
The phone rang.
The shower still running, waiting for me. I wondered whether there was any hot water left by now.
I grabbed the receiver and said, “Hang on.” I ran into the bathroom, reached past the curtain, and turned off the taps. The mirror was completely fogged. I ran back to the phone, put the receiver to my ear, and said, “Sorry, hi.”
“Mr. Walker?”
“Yeah, I just had to turn off the shower.”
“Where’ve you been? There was something on the radio. I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“Excuse me?” The voice seemed familiar, but at the moment, I couldn’t place it.
“I’ve been calling you for a couple of days now. Haven’t you listened to it? Did you get it?”
“Look, I’m sorry,” I said, “but who is this?”
“Brian Sandler. Oh my God, are you kidding me? Haven’t you listened to the file?”
Sandler. From the health department. The one who wanted to roll over on the Gorkins and the ones he worked with who were on the take.
“Mr. Sandler, of course, I’m sorry. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been through in the last couple of days.”
“Yeah, well, you wouldn’t believe what I’ve been through the last couple of days, either.”
“Okay, look, just start from the beginning. What’s this about a file? What are you talking about?”
“Is your phone secure?”
“What? What are you talking about? Of course my phone’s secure.” But then again, I thought, it might not be. Flint might have had the line tapped, thinking Trixie might call me, tell me where she was.
Fuck it. “It’s fine,” I told Sandler. “What is it?”
“I emailed you a file. A recording, of a conversation.”
“What conversation?”
“Me and my boss. Ellinger, Frank Ellinger. I got this digital recorder, left it on in my jacket pocket, went in and saw him, got him to say stuff. I’ve got him admitting to the payoffs from the Gorkin lady and others, letting shithole restaurants stay open even when they don’t meet minimum standards, that kind of thing. It’s all there. Listen to it. You’ll see. You just have to make it clear that even though I make it sound like I’m going along with it, it’s me trapping him, you understand? You have to make that clear when you do your story.”
“Hold on, Sandler. I’ll check it out. I’m sure it’s good stuff. Let me have a listen and we’ll go from there.”
“Let’s meet again, at Bayside Park. We can meet there at nine tomorrow morning. You listen to it, you come and see me, we’ll get these fuckers.”
“Okay, okay, that sounds fine. Let me get some numbers from you.” I opened up the bedside table drawer, found a pen and a piece of paper. “Where can I reach you?”
Sandler gave me his cell, work, and home phone numbers. “Just listen to it, okay? It’s legit. You need to get these guys, and these crazy Gorkin women. I can’t live with this shit anymore, you know?”
“I hear ya.”
“Ellinger, I think he was suspicious at the end, you know? Like he thought I was up to something, so you gotta move on this fast. He might talk to Mrs. Gorkin or something, you never know.”
“Okay, okay. Just calm down. I’ll listen to the file, meet you in the morning.”
“Just listen,” Sandler said, and hung up.
I sat on the edge of the bed a moment, then went into the bathroom and turned the shower taps back on.
Just as I figured. No more hot water.
But there was plenty more waiting for me.
31