Carriage house except Thad had the option of parking in the garage space and entering his office space without going outside, a convenient feature in inclement weather or if you did not wish to have others watching your comings and goings. Not a problem for Thad but soon after her arrival, Detective Ellioto caught Thad sweeping and hosing down the courtyard.
“Good morning,” Mr. Hamilton.
“Buon Giorno,” (Good Morning) he bowed to her in the courtly gesture of the old country.
“Una Bella Giornata,” (A Nice Day) she smiled
“But Detective Ellioto, are you planning to rain on my parade,” he smiled
“Nothing but good news for you today, Mr. Hamilton, and a request!”
“I could never refuse a lady, especially one with a big, how you say, weapon!”
“Some would say, gun, or in the home of my ancestors, pistola,” she smiled, pointing a make believe gun/finger toward Thad and blowing on the end.
“Nice shot, you got your man,” he said.
She was wondering what type man he was. She had looked up his file and there was no record. She ran him through Dunn & Bradstreet and discovered that he was the President of Child Cosmapolis and an officer in Mid-West Engineering. A rather strange combination of businesses she thought, engineering and kids, but then this guy seemed to have some diversity about him. And, he was very adorable as well. She didn’t see a ring and he appeared to be living alone except for visitors during the day; he was quiet otherwise. She liked his voice, the cadence was unique and the pattern definitive; it was soothing and seductive.
There was something in his background that seemed to raise a question, perhaps of little interest to the untrained eye, or maybe she was just too jaundiced by the job and the people who made up her routine. She checked him thoroughly, there was nothing on the record. It was spotless, politician clean. Princeton graduate, Vietnam Veteran, single parent. Dunn & Bradstreet gave the historical business history, nothing but success.
What was it, she wondered, that she could not answer about this seemingly perfect guy? And then it hit her, how had he earned a living upon his return to the states after his tour in Nam? Looked like he married almost immediately, apparently fathering a child just before he went into the service because the record indicated that the child, Mio, was two when he returned and married. Christ she thought, why am I haranguing this guy? Poor bastard, goes to war, comes home, finds the kid and takes care of business. What else? The record doesn’t show that he was turning any great big bucks early on when he got back, had this immediate family, the wife isn’t working, and he has some entry level job at Citizens Fidelity Bank, making little or nothing. Get off it, she told herself, that’s the story; they got by!
“The good news is the Department doesn’t want me on cleaning duty, and since we are on stake out here, they have authorized me to pay you for the use of this studio, plus we need the garage,” Ellioto said.
“Hey, some say that if you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem, and the only problem I can see with this arrangement is that you will have access to my bedroom just off the garage!” he said coyly.
“Are you suggesting that I might jump…” she let the line go as she blushed at her rather brash remark.
“I’m suggesting that the door is always open!” Thad said enjoying the banter.
“I’ll keep it under surveillance.” she said.
“You and your biga pistola,” he feigned the heavy Sicilian accent.
They had each other in the cross hairs. The life of a police officer has many limitations not the least of which was the lack of access to a normal social life. The hours long, the contact with the public, especially for the detective, runs typically to fringe and lower class, prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, addicts, fencers, thieves and murderers. Not the kind of people a decent person wants to hang out with, much less start any kind of relationship.
Of course everyone knows the stereotype. The cop in the movie, lots of friends, gets all the girls and goes home each and every night to Mama Leonie. Not true. And especially out of character for a female, seeking intimacy and not just a quick roll in the sack. Detective Ellioto thought this one might just play. She loved his sense of humor and self-deprecating manner. He seemed to be the kind of man into himself, confident but not cocky; definitely not an ego type nor did he seem to be a womanizer. Yes, she thought this guy had some things going for him. But the cop thing may be a problem, she thought. Some men are intimidated by it, some men just don’t want the hassle of having the lady they love coming home at any and all hours, hanging out with sleaze. Come to think of it she really didn’t blame them, or like it either!
In her heart she knew that the time was near when she would have to make a decision about her career, or her need for love, deep fulfilling intimacy and the hope for a family. This career had come as an afterthought. It was a time when all branches of government were on heightened alert to hire more females. Her goal had been to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation but after college she had no interest in any more schooling. Sixteen years and a large student loan portfolio was enough. She had thought that the police department job might lead to an administrative job or some form of teaching which she loved to do and was qualified. But it had gone in another direction because she was very smart, aggressive, and politically on the right track to a job as a detective. The Mayor needed those numbers to come in just right, in order to continue to be the darling of those whose job it is to make life miserable for politicians who are not sensitive to the rights of all groups and gender.
She had seriously thought of going into the security business. Working for a firm, or even going out on her own, contracting with all forms of business in need of private investigative and security police. It was a great business, fewer hours, more money and certainly less danger. But was that the reason she had only given lip service to it? The action, the danger gets into most cops blood, the thrill of the chase, catching the bad guy, proving people wrong. She didn’t think it was all those things, but there she was. But not as before.
LOUD KNOCKING AT THE DOOR
“Mr. Hamilton, sorry to bother you at this hour sir,” the man was half pushing his way through the door.
Hamilton was still groggy from being awakened from a sound sleep and erotic dream of Detective Ellioto…his business jumping beneath a Terry cloth robe.
“I’m Detective Donohue,” he showed his badge to Thad. “May I come in?”
“Sure Detective, let me get some lights here,” Hamilton fumbled.
Donohue followed.
“Coffee Detective,”
“Just water, thanks.”
“Where is Detective Ellioto…is there some problem?”
“Mr. Hamilton, it is my duty to advise you that anything you say,”…
My God Thad thought, does this thing never stop? Maybe Ellioto was correct when she said that most people stay away from tainted property because it always seems to rub off. All Thad could think of at this hour was getting back to bed, but now this policeman was reading him his Miranda rights.
“Look, Detective Donohue, I have been very cooperative during this investigation
