Sea Change

“I arrest, they prosecute,” he said.

Kelly Cruz looked at Jesse’s Virgin Mary.

“Drinking problem?” she said.

“Yes.”

“How long you been sober?”

“I haven’t had a drink going onto a year,” Jesse said.

“Miss it?”

“Yes.”

“My husband was a drunk,” Kelly Cruz said.

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“You divorced?”

Kelly Cruz nodded.

“Know where he is now?”

“No,” Kelly Cruz said.

“How are the kids?”

“Good,” she said. “Two boys. We live with my parents.

My father’s a good father for all of us.”

Jesse finished his Virgin Mary and gestured for another one.

“No wonder you got a problem,” Kelly Cruz said. “You’ll drink a lot of anything.”

“Vitamin C,” Jesse said as the bartender set the new drink in front of him.

“Why do you suppose Willis Plum sent the videotape of his daughter to Darnell?”

Jesse shook his head.

“He’s way past anything I understand,” Jesse said.

“Maybe he thought it would embarrass her,” Kelly Cruz said.

Jesse nodded.

“Maybe he was sending it to her, you know, dismissing it by returning it,” Kelly Cruz said.

“Blondie Martin says it was addressed to Darnell.”

“Maybe he did it because he’s a whack job,” Kelly Cruz said.

“Not such a whack job that he flew up there and left a paper trail with the airlines,” Jesse said.

Kelly Cruz drank some bourbon.

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“You going home tomorrow?” Kelly Cruz said.

“Yeah. Paperwork’s done. I’m supposed to take him back with me.”

“Got anyone waiting?” Kelly Cruz said.

“My ex-wife,” Jesse said.

“You have an ex-wife waiting for you?”

“We’re trying to rework things,” Jesse said.

“How’s that going?”

“So far,” Jesse said, “so good.”

“Plum girls are home, staying with their mother,” Kelly Cruz said.

“Good,” Jesse said.

“Think anything good will happen to them?” Kelly Cruz said.

“Probably not,” Jesse said.

“Father’s gone,” Kelly Cruz said. “They’re with their mother.”

“Who is not a real lot better than their father,” Jesse said.

“No,” Kelly Cruz said.

“You did a hell of a job on this,” Jesse said.

“I know.”

“A lot of it on your own time, I suspect.”

“Some,” Kelly Cruz said. “On the other hand, I met a nice marina manager, and a very fine private pilot.”

“Good,” Jesse said. “I’m glad you profited from the experience.”

Kelly Cruz finished her drink and stood.

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S E A C H A N G E

“Got a date with the pilot,” she said. “It’s his turn. The marina manager has already profited from the experience.”

Jesse stood. He left his Virgin Mary half consumed on the bar.

“Thanks, Kell,” he said. “You’re a hell of a cop.”

She turned toward him and gave him a light kiss on the mouth.

“You’re pretty good at the job yourself,” she said. “Good luck with the ex-wife.”

“And you with the pilot,” Jesse said.

Kelly Cruz stiffened her upper lip over her teeth and did an imitation of somebody. Bogart,

Jesse thought. Maybe.

“Ain’t a matter of luck, blue eyes,” she said, and picked up her purse.

With her left hand she patted his cheek. He put his hand over hers for a moment. She was wearing a really nice perfume. They stood for a moment like that, then she took her hand away and he stood and watched her walk out of the bar.

If there’s luck involved, it’ll be the pilot’s.

2 9 1

62

I t was cool and rainy in Paradise. The boats were gone. The harbor was back to its normal maritime clutter. Jenn had made a meatloaf, and baked two potatoes. Jesse had tossed a salad. They sat now at the small table in the kitchen and ate supper together. Jenn opened a bottle of Riesling.

“Aren’t you supposed to have red wine with meatloaf ?”

Jesse said.

“I think with meatloaf you can have what you want,” Jenn said.

“That’s one of the good things about meatloaf,” Jesse said.

“Another being that I know how to make it,” Jenn said.

S E A C H A N G E

The apartment was quiet. Through the open door to the balcony they could hear the rain fall.

“I think we’re doing good,” Jenn said after a time.

“Yes.”

“How are you?” Jenn said.

“Good.”

“And that hideous case is over,” Jenn said.

“For me,” Jesse said.

Jenn nodded.

“Do you actually know what happened?”

“Sort of,” Jesse said.

“One thing I wondered ever since you told me,” Jenn said.

“Why did the twins tell you it was what’s her name? Kimmy something?”

“Kimmy Young,” Jesse said.

“If they had made up a name, or told the truth, you might never have figured it out.”

“That’s right,” Jesse said.

“You think at some level they did it on purpose?”

“Probably.”

“Because they wanted you to figure it out?”

“Probably.”

“And stop it,” Jenn said.

“Which I did,” Jesse said.

“Do you know how Florence died?”

“Sort of,” Jesse said.

Jenn waited.

“For whatever reason, after all this time,” Jesse said, “Flor-2 9 3

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ence decided to stop being Daddy’s girl. They had some kind of confrontation about it. The old man never quite says. And she went off and made the video with her sisters and sent it to him.”

“Some kind of perverted kiss-off,” Jenn said.