Silent Night Man

“What a mess,” he told the two men. He shook his head. “I bailed him out of jail. He didn’t exactly skip bond, but I’ll forfeit what I put up,” he added heavily. “Two thousand dollars,” he grumbled. “He swore he’d pay me back.” He wandered off, still shaking his head.

An elderly woman with dyed blond hair and wearing a hideous black dress, peered at Tony. She grinned up at him. “You must be that rich friend of Johnny’s,” she said. “He said you owned several islands out in the Atlantic and that you were going to give him one and a yacht, too, so he could get to and from this country.”

“That’s right, Blanche,” Frank said, smiling. “Now, you’ll have to excuse us, we’ve got an appointment. We’ll see you at the funeral.”

“I sure would like to see that yacht,” Blanche added.

Frank took Tony by the arm and propelled him out into the lobby.

* * *

They were sitting in a good Italian restaurant fifteen minutes later, having given in their order.

“I can’t believe it,” Tony said furiously. “His own family! Not one of them seems to be sad that he’s dead!”

“He was nothing but trouble to them,” Frank replied. “He didn’t work, you know,” he added, shocking Tony, who’d already had a few shocks. “He told the government people that he had a bad back and he fed liquor to two vagrants who signed sworn statements that they’d seen the accident that crippled him. He convinced his doctor and got a statement from him, too, and talked a lawyer into getting him onto partial disability.” He shook his head. “But it was barely enough to live on. He pestered his relatives for handouts. When he got arrested for stalking, this last time, he talked Ben into posting his bond. I warned Ben, but he said John had promised that his rich friend would pay Ben back.”

“I’ve known John since high school,” he told Frank. “You’ve known him since junior high. He was a good man.”

Frank paused while the waiter served them appetizers and ice water.

“He changed,” Frank said quietly. “More than you know. You only saw him on holidays, while your foster mother was still alive, and hardly at all in the past couple of years. I saw him constantly.”

“You’re trying to say something,” Tony murmured, eyeing the other man.

Frank toyed with his salad. “He made friends with some members of a gang a few months ago,” he said. “It really thrilled him, that he could kick around with people who weren’t afraid of the law. He hated cops, you know,” he added. “Ever since the arrest for stalking, when he went after—”

“Yes,” Tony interrupted him. “That Millie creature!”

“Creature!” Frank sat back, shocked.

Tony was beginning to feel uncomfortable. “She caused John to kill himself, remember?”

“Who told you that?”

“John did. He sent me a letter. Left me a letter.” He pulled it out of his pocket. It had arrived the day he got the news that John was dead, obviously having been mailed in advance of the suicide. “He said she tormented him…hell, read it for yourself.” He pushed it across the table.

“I can imagine what’s in it,” Frank said. He ignored the letter and finished chewing a bite of salad. “He accused women of teasing him when they were only trying to get him to leave them alone. Millie was more kindhearted than most—she kept forgiving him. Then when she refused dates, he started telling tales on her to her coworkers.” He glanced at Tony, sitting stiffly, still unbelieving. “You’ve seen Millie. Now, you tell me, does she really look like the sort of woman who’d lie in wait at John’s apartment wearing a French maid’s costume with a bottle of champagne in one hand and a champagne flute in the other?”

“It would be tough to imagine,” Tony had to admit. “Still, mild-looking women have done crazier things.”

“Yes, but Millie’s not like that.” Frank’s face softened. “She sat with your foster mother when she was dying in the hospital, before you could get home. She was there every night after work.”

“Sure, you’d defend her, when you did a threesome with her and John!” he snapped.

Frank gaped at him. “I beg your pardon?”

The other man’s reaction made Tony even more uncomfortable. He fiddled with his water glass. “John told me about it.”

“Oh, for God’s sake!” Frank burst out. “I’ve never done a threesome in my life, much less with Millie!”

“Maybe he made a mistake with the name,” Tony mumbled.

“Maybe he made a mistake telling you lies about me,” Frank shot back. “I’d give anything to have Millie notice me! Don’t you think I know how little I have to give to a woman with her brains? She has a degree in library science. I barely got out of high school. I’m a bouncer,” he added heavily. “A nobody.”

“Stop that!” Tony said immediately. “You’re not just a bouncer. It’s a rough job. It takes a hell of a man to do it.”

“I’m sure there are guys in New York City who place ads hoping to get hired as bouncers in bars,” Frank said sarcastically. “Here in San Antonio, it’s not exactly the dream job of most men.”

“You’re sweet on Millie Evans, so you’re defending her.”

“I’m sweet on her, all right. If the competition wasn’t so stiff, I might even try my luck. That’s what made John crazy. He couldn’t stand the competition, either. He knew he’d never replace that other guy Millie’s been in love with for six years.”

“What other guy?” Tony asked carelessly.

“You.”

It was as if time stopped and everything went around in slow motion. Tony put his fork down and looked across at Frank as if he’d gone mad. “Excuse me?”

“Do you think Millie needed courses in criminal justice to be a librarian?” Frank asked drolly. “She took those courses because your foster mother had told her you were taking them, in addition to your regular college classes, so you could get your degree faster. It was an excuse to be around you.”

Now, horribly, it made sense. He hadn’t even questioned her presence in the classes.

“Great,” Tony muttered. “The murderer of my best friend thinks I’m hot!”

“She didn’t kill him. But no jury would have convicted her if she had,” Frank persisted. “He got her fired, Tony. He went to her boss and told her that Millie was hanging out in bars to have sex with men for an audience. He told that to three of the library’s richest patrons, one of whom sat on the board of directors for the library. They demanded that she be fired.”

Tony watched the other man warily. “And how do you know it wasn’t true?”

“Because I went to a friend of mine at the local precinct and got John’s rap sheet and showed it to them.”

Tony was feeling ill. “Rap sheet? John had a rap sheet?”

“Yes. For fraud, defamation of character, petty theft, three charges of stalking and a half dozen other charges. I got a statement from the last woman he’d stalked, a receptionist for one of the dentists John went to. She swore in court that John had threatened her life. He convinced a lawyer that she was lying and produced a witness who heard her bragging that she’d get John arrested.”

Tony waited for the rest.

“The gang members testified in his favor and got the case thrown out of court. A couple of weeks later, the receptionist was raped. Nobody was ever caught or charged.”

Tony leaned forward. “Don’t tell me John was mixed up in that!”

“He never admitted it,” Frank replied heavily. “But I knew he was. A few months later, one of the gang members was pulled in on a rape charge and he bragged to the arresting officer that he could get away with it anytime he liked. He had alibis, he said. Turned out they were also members of his gang. Sadly for him, on the second rape case, the new gang member he bragged to was wearing a wire. He’s doing hard time now.”

“But John wasn’t like that,” Tony protested. “He was a good man!”

“He was sick,” Frank said flatly. “He utterly destroyed Millie’s life because she didn’t want him. Even his relatives apologized to her for what he’d done. There are still people who go to that library who are convinced that Millie has orgies down in the basement, because John told them she did.”

“I can’t believe it,” Tony said to himself.