Free Gold Coast Blues by Marc Krulewitch

to stretch out on the chaise. I studied her profile as she gazed out the window. Any sign of anguish had vanished. Now she just looked pouty.
    “The thieves broke in to a storage facility? Don’t they have to compensate you?”
    “They have to investigate first—like insurance fraud. It takes time.”
    “Have you investigated Doug’s staff? Didn’t that place have security cameras?”
    “If the police started asking questions, the thieves would’ve sold it at a deep discount and still pocketed a lot of cash. I didn’t care if I had to pay for it.”
    “So they were going to sell it back to you one bottle at a time?”
    “The one bottle was supposed to be a test to see if they really had my Mouton Rothschild.”
    “You think they’ll call again?”
    Margot sat up and faced me. “Can you help me get the wine back?”
    “Unless the wine has something to do with the missing girl, Tanya, I’m not interested.”
    “But I’ll pay you!” she shouted, once again startling me. “You can have a bottle as payment!” I didn’t respond. She calmed down. “I did it again,” she said. “I had no right to talk to you like that.”
    “I don’t like wine.”
    “Keep it as an investment! I’ll give you two bottles. That’s forty thousand dollars in a commodity that has given double-digit returns the last ten years.”

    Forty thousand was a hell of a lot of money, about four times my net worth. The rich have been getting richer the last thirty years. I dared to predict their future looked bright and would include insanely expensive wines.
    “If I can find your wine in the process of finding Tanya, I’ll do what I can. But the girl will be my first priority for as long as it takes.”
    Margot jumped out of the chaise, ran behind the love seat, then wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you, Jules,” she said and kissed my cheek.
    Her weird behavior canceled out how nice her touch felt. “Margot, you need to chill out! I really don’t know what I can do for you.”
    “Yes, yes, I understand,” she said, although her voice remained ridiculously upbeat. For some reason she seemed to have a lot of faith in me.

Chapter 13
    The Audi sedan merged onto Webster Avenue as soon as I walked out of Margot’s building. I didn’t think much of it until I reached my 1983 Honda Civic and heard the tires squeal as the Audi executed a sharp U-turn and pulled up to me. The window lowered and I saw Amy angling toward me over the passenger seat. “Let me give you a ride. Get in.”
    I leaned through the opened window. “You’re following me?”
    Amy frowned. “Oh, don’t make a big deal out of nothing. Just get in and hear me out.”
    The sharpness in her voice put me off, but I did as told. Amy pulled another U-turn and we headed east. “So what the hell are you doing following me?”
    “I know you think I’m a nut but I’m supposed to be involved in this investigation. It’s just the way I am. There’s a puzzle that needs solving and I want to help.”
    “I told you, I work alone—”
    “But it’s not about you, it’s about me. It’s what I want to do—what I have to do. So many innocent young women are taken advantage of. Tanya Maggio’s energy is calling me. I’m not sure she’s alive anymore and the least I can do is offer my skills to make sure she’s found and someone is brought to justice.”
    “You expect me to understand what you just said?”
    Amy pulled over near DePaul University. “Haven’t you ever felt a calling, something you have to do—even if you can’t explain why and nobody understands you?”

    “What? You think I get respect? Most people don’t know private investigators exist outside of movies. They think I’m joking. But, yes, I’m drawn to it.”
    “Because you’re reckless. You don’t give a damn.”
    “About what?”
    “About anything. You’re like me. If something turns you on, you check it out to find what’s behind it. Doesn’t matter what others think.