William Diehl - Seven ways to die

“And make coffee?”

“I put on a fresh pot after I talked to you.”

He started to take off his jacket as she went into the kitchen but she whirled around and said, “I mislead you.”

“That’s not easy to do.”

“I mean, when I said I had some new ideas. That was just a big, fat lie.”

He laughed. “Well, I admire your honesty. I guess I’ll have to give you that ticket.”

She started to pour the coffee but her hand was shaking so hard she spilled some on the counter.

“Oh, damn!”

“Hey, easy.”

He took the pot from her and poured the two cups and she started babbling as she cleaned the counter with a sponge.

“All of a sudden I was alone here, nobody in the building but me and I saw that yellow police tape on Raymond’s door and I, uh, I got scared to death and I’ve been scared to death all day and then it started getting dark and then there are these wolves over in the Park zoo and they started howling-I guess at the full moon, they do that you know-and I, uh, I just grabbed your card and…”

Who the hell put that tape there? he thought. Probably one of McKeown’s boys. He put a forefinger against her lips and stopped her.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Incidentally, that’s an old wives’ tale, about wolves and the full moon.”

“It’s really eerie.”

“I suppose it can be. Particularly if someone you know has just been killed across the hall and you’re alone.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and she turned her head. He stepped forward and put his arms around her, held her close to him and gently rubbed her back.

“It’s okay, let it out. You have a right.”

“I thought I was all cried out.”

“It’ll come and go for awhile.”

He stepped back and she dried her eyes with a dish towel. “God, I must be a mess.”

He thought for a moment then asked: “Have you eaten anything today?”

“No.”

“Well, neither have I and I’m starved. So how about we turn on all the lights in your apartment and I’ll go over and pull down the tape on Raymond’s door. And then we can go grab a bite somewhere. Or am I being too forward?”

“Oh yeah, you’re just all forward and a mile wide. Look, you don’t have to…”

“I don’t have to do anything. I’d love to take you to dinner.”

His cell hummed against his side.

“I’m gonna have to take this. Excuse me for a minute.” He looked at the call window, pressed the button and said, “Hey, Dave.”

“ Ahoki, brother. I hope this isn’t an inconvenient time.”

“Not at all.”

“Your friends miss you.”

“Yeah, I heard the alpha. I’m right up the street.”

“I picked up a couple of nice venison bones this afternoon at the market on Amsterdam.”

“Terrific. Give me fifteen. Oh, I’ll have a friend with me.”

“That’s cool.”

He rang off and turned back to Amelie. “Why don’t you go do whatever you have to do and I’ll turn on the lights,” he said.

“Everything okay?” she asked tentatively.

“Sure. I have to stop for a few minutes on the way to dinner and see a couple of friends. I think you’ll like them.”

She rushed off to the bathroom and he walked around the apartment clicking on lamps. He stopped for a moment at the window overlooking the street. A nice street, he thought, but it will never be the same for her. Then he went across the hall and tore down the yellow crime ribbons, balled them up and stuffed them in his jacket pocket, and went back to her apartment, doctored his coffee and sipped it until she came back.

He noticed, for the first time, that she wore very little makeup. Her skin was flawless and her eyes, cleared by tears, sparkled behind pale eyeliner. She had exchanged the blouse and vest for a red cashmere turtle neck sweater.

She was something. A guilty pleasure in his world of violence, death and paranoia. Perhaps in fairness to her…

“Let’s go,” he said.

He drove west to Fifth Avenue and turned left with the park drifting past them on the right. He turned into the park at 65 ^ th Street, drove to a discreet entrance behind the Wildlife Center and turned in.

She was surprised but said nothing. I’m with a cop working a murder case and we’re going to a closed zoo in the dark and I feel wonderfully secure, she thought. I have no idea what we’re doing here and I don’t care. It’s a giddy experience after a day filled with fear and it feels good.

And she laughed, secretly, inside herself.

He parked, got out and hurried around the front of the car and opened the door for her. As she got out she heard the wolf howl again only this time it was very close by and seemed less mournful. It startled her and Cody took her hand as she got out of the car and smiled.

“Not to worry,” he said and led her toward an open door at the rear of the wildlife complex. A man was leaning against the door jamb awaiting them, his hands in the pockets of his jeans and a large package stuffed under one armpit. He was a little taller than Cody and was wearing a black sweater, its sleeves pushed up to the elbows. He was deeply tanned like Cody and his short, black hair appeared wind-ruffled. He saw Amelie and looked surprised.

“Hi, pal,” Cody said and they gave each other a friendly hug. Cody turned to Amelie and said, “Meet Dave Fox, the best veterinarian on the planet. Dave, Amelie Cluett.”

Fox smiled and shook her hand. “Miss Cluett. What a pleasant surprise.”

“Hi,” she said with a smile. “It’s Amelie.”

“Good. I’m Dave.”

“We grew up together,” Cody said as the vet led them through the Center.

Fox led them to a rear door marked: “Private. No admittance.” Inside there was a dimly lit glass corridor with another door leading to a large, secluded compound, thick with foliage, with a stream coursing through it and a man-made den at its midpoint. It was enclosed by a ten foot chain link fence surrounded by trees, which hid the isolated enclosure from Central Park’s East Drive. As she peered through the glass into the compound, she saw a large gray wolf exit the den about fifty feet away and walk back and forth, staring at them.

“They’ve been restless all day,” Fox said. “Done some roughhousing but mostly he’s been stalking around like that. Very vocal. Y’know, growling and whining the way he does. Then they started yelling about forty-five minutes ago.”

“Yeah, Charley heard them all the way downtown.”

Amelie, who did not fully understand their conversation, stared mesmerized at the big gray who was watching them through golden eyes, his raised nose sensing the air.

Fox handed Cody the brown paper package. “Good shank bones,” he said. “Lots of meat on the shoulder.”

“Good. Thanks.” Cody turned to Amelie. “Wait here with Dave, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna have a chat with old loudmouth there.”

“The gate’s unlocked,” Fox said.

“Okay.”

He went outside the corridor, closing the door behind him, and walked toward the gate to the enclosure.

“Where’s he going?”

“Just watch,” Fox said and then, out of curiosity, “How long have you known Micah?”

She looked at her watch. “About twelve hours. Since this morning. I started out as a suspect, then I became a witness and now? I don’t know what the hell I am now.”

“You ought to be flattered. He’s never brought a guest with him before.”

Inside, Cody opened the gate and entered the big cage.

“Is he going in there with that wolf?”

“Keep watching. That’s the alpha. He was the leader of the pack. His mate is shy. Wary of strangers. She smells you but she’ll be out in a minute.”