Paranoia (Michael Bennett #17)

CHAPTER 75

I GOT INTO the office pretty early. Juliana seemed to be back to her old chipper self. She was a godsend in the mornings. She stayed on the younger kids to make sure they had packed everything they needed for school, helped me make breakfast, let me leave for the office early, then took everyone to Holy Name.

Juliana said Sister Sheilah told her this was the longest streak of everyone being on time she could ever remember. That was an absolute jab at me. I did have a tendency to run a little late, at least when it came to getting things done in the morning. I didn’t think Sister Sheilah always noticed, but now I knew she really did keep some kind of ledger. I had suspected it when I was a student at Holy Name and she was a brand-new teacher. To Sister Sheilah’s credit, she never held my morning tendencies against any of my children. In fact, she was one of the best supporters and advocates for kids I had ever known. Not that I would ever admit that to her.

By the time I sat down at my desk, Walter Jackson was already working quietly in his office. I knew if he didn’t come out with a pun or joke, he was probably working on something pretty important. I took advantage of the quiet time.

I laid out everything we’d discovered about Antonio Deason. Which wasn’t all that much. Not that it necessarily mattered, but he had had pretty good grades when he was at the University of Miami. That was just one of many pieces of the puzzle. I was trying to figure out how a good college student would turn into a drug kingpin. He’d barely known his father, who’d spent his last years in prison.

Frankly, if Antonio had talked to us the first time Trilling and I went to his apartment and had some reasonable alibis, he might not still be on our radar. But it was the way he had so easily detected our surveillance attempts that made me consider him a potentially serious player on the drug scene. Not many organizations can afford to have people conducting counter-surveillance. Counter-surveillance requires trained people. Not just someone recruited off the street. Someone with some smarts who understands what cops or other drug dealers do when they try to follow someone.

It was a mystery that I intended to solve.

Trilling wandered into the office about an hour after me. He was still early according to his schedule, but late compared to his usual arrival time. I glanced up from my desk and he nodded. We exchanged quick greetings and he sat down at his desk.

Something was off. My young partner was fidgety as opposed to his usual dead calm.

I said casually, “What’d you get up to last night?”

Trilling was quick to answer. “Um … ah … nothing really. Why?”

“Just curious. Why are you so antsy? Your new girlfriend giving you problems?”

Trilling flinched. “Mariah’s not my girlfriend.”

“No? Then why’d you bring her over for dinner?”

“Let’s call it an error in judgment. I’m not used to women paying attention to me.”

“Sounds like you guys might have had a fight.”

“No, in fact I’m supposed to see her later. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

I wasn’t sure why he was so worked up. I didn’t want him to think I was prying. But I was interested in his life, and I’d been happy to see him with a date.

“Everything okay?”

Trilling surprised me by sort of blurting out, “Look, Juliana came to my apartment last night. I swear nothing happened. I introduced her to my roommates.”

I focused on the last part of his statement. “All five of them?”

“She was fine with it. She appreciates what I’m doing.”

I chose my words carefully. “The world didn’t end. Juliana’s a smart girl and she understands people. She’s got very good in-sights.”

But Trilling was still upset. “I was trying to find a way to let Juliana know I wasn’t right for her. She told me I hurt her feelings by bringing a girl to dinner. I screwed up and I know it. I should have at least given her a heads-up before bringing Mariah over to your house. I don’t have that much experience with women. They’re confusing.”

I said, “Tell me about it.”