Doppelgangster

"Did you see him today?"

"No. But you must know that, since you had him under surveillance."

"Surveillance isn"t like what you see in the movies," he said. "We don"t have the budget or the manpower to cover these guys nonstop. So we don"t know where Danny was between leaving St. Monica"s last night and winding up dead in his cousin Vinny"s wine cellar this afternoon."

"I don"t know where he was, either."

"So what were you and Max doing at St. Monica"s with half a dozen wiseguys last night?" He added, "And why were dressed like that? Both of you?"

"We were trying to fit in. It was a sit-down. Max and I were Lucky"s, um, guests."

"Why did Lucky bring you two to a sit-down?"

"He thought we could help prevent a mob war." Unnerved by Lopez"s stony expression, I said in a rush, "That"s why I"m involved in this. Max, too. To stop anyone else from getting killed. To prevent a mob war. All we"ve done is talk talk to people! Trying to get information and to convince them not to act rashly." to people! Trying to get information and to convince them not to act rashly."

"Trying to get what what information?" information?"

"Trying to find out who"s behind the killings. The Gambellos didn"t hit Danny. Danny said the Corvinos didn"t hit Charlie and Johnny-and Lucky believed him," I said. "Lucky and Danny couldn"t stand each other, but neither of them wanted another mob war, and that"s why they met last night."

"What did they say at the meeting?"

I thought about it. "Actually, I guess Max did most of the talking."

"Oh, good G.o.d." Lopez rubbed his forehead as if it suddenly ached. "We"ll be lucky not to have corpses all over Mulberry Street by tomorrow."

"That"s what we"re trying to prevent! prevent! And as far as I can tell, the Corvinos want to avoid a war just as much as the Gambellos do. But these are jumpy, violent guys who don"t trust each other, so every time someone else gets killed-" And as far as I can tell, the Corvinos want to avoid a war just as much as the Gambellos do. But these are jumpy, violent guys who don"t trust each other, so every time someone else gets killed-"

"You have got got to get out of this." to get out of this."

"And now it"s gone beyond that! Now you"re you"re-"

"Esther, I"m taking you-"

"Listen to me!"

"No, you you listen to listen to me me."

"You"re in danger." I tried to keep my voice calm and rational, not to sound hysterical. It wasn"t easy. "Whoever is behind these murders has targeted you. You"re next. He"s trying to kill you."

"These guys don"t hit cops, Esther," he said. "They"re not geniuses, but they"re smarter than that."

"This one," I said, "is breaking the rules. He"s trying to kill you. You must believe me. You"re in terrible danger."

He frowned. "Who is it?"

"We don"t know yet. That"s what we"re trying to find out! It"s why we"re involved in this."

"All right, now now you"re going to listen to me." He took my shoulders in his hands. "You"re a civilian. Max is a loon. You ignored me after I told you to stay out of this, and now you"ve gotten yourself right in the middle of a very dangerous situation. I"m taking you into protective custody. Max, too, G.o.d help me." you"re going to listen to me." He took my shoulders in his hands. "You"re a civilian. Max is a loon. You ignored me after I told you to stay out of this, and now you"ve gotten yourself right in the middle of a very dangerous situation. I"m taking you into protective custody. Max, too, G.o.d help me."

A little while ago, I was ready to embrace protective custody with open arms, and to drag Max with me. But not now. "Not while this . . . this . . . this person person is trying to kill you! I won"t go! And Max won"t go! He can help you! He"s probably the only one who can help you!" is trying to kill you! I won"t go! And Max won"t go! He can help you! He"s probably the only one who can help you!"

"What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?"

"I want you to listen to me. Just listen." I took a steadying breath and tried to organize my thoughts. "Do you know anything about doppelgangers?"

19.

"Me?" Lopez said, standing in the middle of the bookshop with his hands on his hips. "Me."

"Yes," I said. "Well, not you you you. But your perfect double." you. But your perfect double."

I had done my best to explain what we knew, and what the danger was. I thought I had been methodical and cogent despite my agitation about the mortal danger he was in now. But while I talked, his expression went from impatient, to skeptical, to-at the moment-appalled.

"This . . . this c.r.a.p, c.r.a.p," he said, "that"s all over the floor and the chairs and the bookcases and your hair-"

"It"s in my hair?" Revolted by the thought of doppelgangster detritus in my hair, I started brushing at it with my hands.

"You"re saying it was a supernatural creature that looked and sounded exactly like me?"

"Yes."

"And if I saw it, I"d be cursed with certain death?"

"Yes," I said, relieved he was getting the picture.

"And Max beheaded it to save my life."

"Yes."

"Esther . . ." He shook his head. "What the f.u.c.k f.u.c.k is in the coffee that Max gives you here?" is in the coffee that Max gives you here?"

I sighed. "I"ve seen these . . . these things things. With my own eyes. Lucky has seen them, too."

"Lucky drinks the coffee here, too, doesn"t he?"

"Danny Dapezzo saw his doppelgangst-uh, doppelganger before he died."

"And by amazing coincidence," Lopez said, "Danny shared food and drink with Max the night before."

I blinked. "How did you know that?"

"Wiseguys never do anything that doesn"t involve a ton of food."

"Oh." I said, "But what about Charlie? And Johnny?"

"Charlie was mentally ill, you"re obviously confused about when you saw Johnny, and Max has planted a lot of crazy ideas in your head."

"So you just think I"m a gullible idiot?"

He avoided answering that. "I don"t know much about toxicology. I"ve never worked narcotics. But it sounds to me like Max must be slipping you a whole smorgasbord of hallucinogenics."

"Max isn"t drugging anyone!" I said in exasperation.

He pulled his cell phone out of his jacket. "I"m going to have this place searched."

I thought of the laboratory downstairs. "No!" "No!"

"If there"s nothing here, then they won"t find anything." His voice was professionally soothing as he dialed a number on his phone.

I leaped forward and knocked the phone out of his hand, startling him. "I will not be the cause of you violating Max"s privacy!" Or the cause of Max getting locked up after they found weird things in his lab that couldn"t easily be explained away. Especially not with Lopez so suspicious of him already.

Angry now, Lopez said, "You just told me you watched Max cut off "my" head tonight, and then "I" exploded all over the room! Do you really want to go on another another trip like that, Esther?" trip like that, Esther?"

"I wasn"t tripping!"

"Do you want him doing this to someone else, too?"

"He"s not drugging anyone! Why won"t you believe me?"

"Do you hear how crazy you sound?"

"Yes, I do! Do you honestly think I"d even talk talk to you about this if your life weren"t at stake?" Frustrated, I said, "Max wants to protect you! And me! Why are you trying to blame him?" to you about this if your life weren"t at stake?" Frustrated, I said, "Max wants to protect you! And me! Why are you trying to blame him?"

He bit off whatever he was about to say, got control of his temper, and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he let out his breath slowly and said, "Because Max creating these delusions by drugging you is better than the alternative."

"Which is?" I gasped as I realized what he meant. "Oh! You think I"m crazy?"

He didn"t say anything.

"So either I"m a drugged-up dupe or I"m a nutbag?"

"I"m trying to think of a third alternative, but nothing"s coming to me." He crossed the floor and stooped down to retrieve his phone. Examining it, he said, "It"s dead. Great. That"s the second phone I"ve run through today."

Trying to relieve the tension in the room, I said, "What happened to the first one?"

"I don"t know." He shrugged. "It"ll turn up. But after I saw those photos, I didn"t want to call you from an OCCB phone, and I couldn"t find my cell." He turned the broken phone over in his hands. "I keep this in my desk. It"s prepaid. Anonymous. Useful for work, sometimes."

"Oh." That explained why his call to me a little while ago had shown up on my cell as "Caller Unknown." I said, "I"m sorry I broke it. But I don"t want you bothering Max."

"I"m worried about you," he said. "Seriously worried."

"I"m a lot more worried about you."

"I want you to stay away from Max from now on."

"No, I won"t do that."

He glanced at his watch. "s.h.i.t. I have to go."

"Back to work?"

"I"m following a lead. I"ve got to go meet someone."

"You"re not safe," I said urgently. "Don"t go."

"The city"s on the verge of a mob war, Esther. That"s a very messy thing, and people besides wiseguys will get hurt. I want to get you out of here-"

"And maybe into an insane asylum?" I said sourly.

"-but I don"t have time to fight about it. I"ve got to leave." He started collecting the bladed weapons from the table.

"What are you doing?"

"You sound insane, you"re talking about beheading people-"

"Not people! people!"

"-and chopping off heads is evidently Max"s bright idea. All things considered, I don"t think it"s a great idea for me to leave two swords and an ax lying around here when I go."

"You can"t just take take those! Don"t you have to have a warrant or something?" those! Don"t you have to have a warrant or something?"

"Let"s agree that I"m not taking them as a cop, but as your concerned . . . friend."

"Give that back!" I grabbed the ax and tugged. "You can"t leave us defenseless!"

He used his free hand to grasp my wrist and torque it downward. A sharp jolt of pain made me let go of the ax and stumble. He twisted my arm behind my back and pulled me up against his chest. I was breathing hard and grimacing in pain. He looked angry, sad, and frustrated.

"Either you"re leaving here right now, or else these weapons are leaving." His voice was quiet, his tone unyielding. "G.o.d knows what you might do with them, in your current state of mind."

"Where do you want me to go?" I was angry and frustrated, too. "A psych ward?"

"That"s not a bad idea." He lifted his brows. "Well?"

I lowered my head and tried to get control of my breathing, aware of our bodies pressed together. Aware of how different things were now than they had been only this afternoon. Nothing about this embrace resembled the one we had shared then.

"If you take these weapons," I said, realizing there was a silver lining, "keep them with you. And if you see your perfect double-"

"No, Esther, I"m not cutting off someone"s head." He released me. "But I will take the weapons."

Ax still in hand, he picked up the two swords. "Don"t eat or drink or inhale anything else Max gives you-"