Black Rose

labyrinth of retail hell. I have mall fear. So I thought, hey, Wal-Mart. At least everything’s all under one roof. I can get the kid taken care of and get... what the hell was it? Laundry soap. Yeah, I need laundry soap and something else, that I wrote down...” He dug in his pocket, pulled out a PDA. “Here.”
    “Well, I’ll let you get to it then. Don’t forget the wrapping paper, ribbon, a big bow, and a pretty card.”
    “Hold on, hold on.” With the stylus he added the other items. “Bow. You can just buy them ready-made and slap it on, right?”
    “That will do, yes. Good luck.”

    “No. Wait, wait.” He shoved the PDA back in his pocket, shifted the box. His green eyes seemed calmer now and focused on her. “I was going to get in touch with you anyway. Are you finished in here?”
    “Not quite.”
    “Good. Let me grab what I need, then I’ll meet you at the checkout. I’ll help you haul your load out to your car, then take you to lunch.”
    “It’s nearly four. A little late for lunch.”
    “Oh.” He looked absently at his watch to confirm the time. “I think time must warp in places like this so you could actually spend the rest of your natural life wandering aimlessly without realizing it. Anyway. A drink then. I’d really like to have a conversation about the project.”
    “All right. There’s a little place called Rosa’s right across the way. I’ll meet you there in a half hour.”
    BUT HE WAS waiting at the checkout. Patiently, from all appearances. Then insisted on helping her load her bags in her car. He took one look at what was already stacked in the back of her Durango and said, “Holy Mother of God.”
    “I don’t shop often, so when I do I make it count.”
    “I’ll say.”
    “There are less than three weeks left till Christmas.”
    “I’ll have to ask you to shut up.” He hefted the last bag inside. “My car’s that way.” He gestured vaguely toward their left. “I’ll meet you.”
    “Fine. Thanks for the help.”
    The way he wandered off made her think he wasn’t entirely sure just where he’d parked. She thought he should’ve plugged the location into that little personal data thingy he had in his pocket. The idea made her chuckle as she drove over to the restaurant.

    She didn’t mind a certain amount of absentmindedness. To her it simply indicated the person probably had a lot in his head, and it took a little longer to find just what he was after. She’d hadn’t hired him out of the blue, after all. She’d researched Mitchell Carnegie and had read or skimmed some of his books. He was good at what he did, he was local, and though he was pricey, he hadn’t balked—overmuch—about the prospect of researching and identifying a ghost.
    She parked, then walked into the lounge area. Her first thought was to order a glass of iced tea, or some coffee. Then she decided, the hell with that. She deserved a nice glass of wine after such a successful shopping expedition.
    While she waited for Mitch, she called the nursery on her cell phone to let them know she wouldn’t be back in, unless she was needed.
    “Everything’s fine here,” Hayley told her. “You must be buying out the stores.”
    “I did. Then I happened to run into Dr. Carnegie at Wal-Mart—”
    “Dr. Hottie? How come I never run into hunks at Wal-Mart?”
    “Your day will come, I’m sure. In any case, we’re going to have a drink here and discuss, I assume, our little project.”
    “Cool. You ought to spin it out over dinner, Roz.”
    “It’s not a date.” But she did pull out her lipstick and slide a little pale coral on her lips. “It’s an impromptu meeting. If anything comes up, you can give me a call. I should be heading home within the hour anyway.”
    “Don’t worry about a thing. And, hey, you’ve both got to eat sometime, somewhere, so why not—”
    “Here he comes now, so we’ll get started. I’ll fill everyone in later. Bye now.”
    Mitch slipped into the booth across from her. “This was handy, wasn’t it? What would you like?”

    She ordered a glass of wine, and he coffee, black. Then he flipped open the bar menu and added antipasto. “You’ve got to need some sustenance after a shopping safari like that. How’ve you been?”
    “Very well, thanks. How about you?”
    “Good, now that the book’s out of my hair.”
    “I never asked you what it was about.”
    “A history and study of Charles-Pierre Baudelaire.” He waited a beat, noted her