The Darkness - Jason Pinter [82]
photo come from?"
"I think I know," Jack said. "But I need two things to
confirm it."
"What are they?"
The Darkness
233
"First off, I need you to find out one thing for me
online. I don't have access to it, but either you do or
know someone who does."
"What do I..."
"And the second thing," Jack said, looking me dead in
the eyes, "is that I need to talk to Paulina Cole."
31
I stood in the middle of Rockefeller Center with my
hands in my pockets, watching people go about their day.
The sun was bright and there was just a wisp of breeze.
A tour group passed us by, clinking and clanking as
the binoculars and cameras jangled about their necks.
There were lots of tour groups always walking about this
area, and they would often look at me in my work clothes
like I was some sort of alien species. These people didn't
seem to believe that anyone actually lived or worked in
Manhattan, that we all just bused in day after day and
wandered about starstruck, wondering when we might
run into Derek Jeter or Sarah Jessica Parker on the street.
I think they believed only celebrities and homeless people
lived in the city.
I watched the corner of Fifty-first Street, knowing
that's the direction she'd be coming from. Paulina wasn't
too keen on meeting me up by the Gazette, partly because
she didn't like to move for anybody and partly because
when she left the paper she was thought of just about as
fondly as Mussolini.
"Parker?" Paulina Cole said. She had just rounded the
corner and was staring at me like I'd just thrown a pie at
The Darkness
235
her from across a crowded room. She was wearing black
leather boots and a knee-length skirt. Her hair was recently done, and I hated to admit it but she looked pretty
good. "You'd better have a damn good reason for calling
me up to the Hard Rock Cafe."
I'd heard Paulina refer to Rockefeller Center by that
moniker before. And she didn't mean it as a compliment.
To her, this neighborhood was a tourist mecca, drastically
overpriced, and as close to real New York as the Hard
Rock was to being the real Arnold Schwarzenegger. "I
expense my cell phone bill and cab rides, and if you keep
calling me I'll have some explaining to do when the
finance department reviews it."
"Nice to talk to you, too, Paulina," I said. "Thanks
for coming."
"Don't thank me. I came because you said you had
more information about my daughter."
"Yeah...you might want to sit down."
"What, you think whatever you have to tell me is going
to make me suddenly pass out in your arms or something?
Get over yourself, Henry. Nothing surprises me anymore."
"Well, I don't want to tell you what to do. But there is
news."
"Did you find the man?" Paulina said. She said it like
she'd expected us to do so all along. There was no appreciation in her voice. Whatever, that wasn't quite her style.
"No. But we know where the photo came from. The
one of your daughter at the beach."
"How did you find it? Where did it come from?"
"Well, I'll let the person who figured it out tell you all
about it. Hey, Jack."
Paulina whipped around to see Jack O'Donnell standing right behind her. He had a massive smile on his face,
236
Jason Pinter
and he was standing close enough to her that he could
almost tickle her nose with his beard.
"Hey, Cole," Jack said. "Long time. How's the exhusband and your kid?"
"You've got to be kidding me."
The surprise in Paulina's voice proved that Jack
O'Donnell was the last person she expected--and
wanted--to see.
The reporter stood there, looking like she wanted to
kill Jack, kill me, then tear our bodies to pieces.
Instead she merely said, "You've got to be fucking
kidding me."
"I am neither kidding nor fucking you," Jack said.
"But I am going to help you."
Paulina's face contorted, as she sneered at Jack. I stood
there wondering if this was a good idea. But Jack insisted
that this meeting take place. He said it wasn't a vendetta,
and it wasn't because he needed to get even with the
woman who nearly ruined his career. He said it was
because it was the