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"That was a good idea. So where did you go after that?"
"To see the sister."
"What’s her name?"
"Chésará Rollins."
Chésará lived on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. None of that suburb shit for her. When I arrived at her building, a doorman met me. He announced my arrival and asked Miss Rollins permission to send me up. She consented to see me and I was on my way.
She opened the door wearing a blue silk robe, "Hello, Mr. Simmons." And as near as I could tell, nothing on under it. "So you’re Gee’s private detective. I’ve been expecting you."
"Can I come in?"
"Of course. Please make yourself at home."
"Thank you, Miss Rollins. I’ll try not to take up a lot of your time. I just have a few questions to ask you."
"I’m all yours," she said, locking her arm in mine and leading me into the living room. She led me to the couch and sat next to me. "Tell me what I can do to help." She looked a lot like her sister. Only her look was soft and playful. Not the hard edge her sister had. Jett would be losin’ his mind right about now. As a matter of fact, I was having a hard time maintaining my composure, and her hand on my thigh wasn’t helping.
"When was the last time you saw your brother, Miss Rollins?"
"The week before last. He was on his way to Gee’s house."
"He come by here often?"
"Often enough. Maybe once or twice a week."
"Jake like to travel much?"
"Jake, no. He never went anywhere. Unless you call goin’ to Jersey traveling."
"Has he ever been gone this long before without you or your sister hearing from him?"
"No. Like I said, Jake is over here at least once or twice a week, and he calls just about everyday. I think Gee is right, that bastard she calls a husband had something to do with it."
"What makes you say that?"
"If you ever met Chilly, you’d know what I mean. He’s an asshole. I wish Gee could get away from him."
"I guess you don’t like your brother in-law much."
"That’s a good guess. But hate him would be more like the truth of the matter. The way he treats Gee is terrible. I wish he were dead."
"Okay. Other than that, any reason why you think Chilly is involved?"
"When Jake left here he said he was goin’ to see Chilly. Then he disappeared. Chilly is, well, —, he’s a drug dealer, but I guess you already know all of that."
"Your sister did mention that."
"I’m sure Gee told you alotta stuff. I know I would tell you anything you wanted to know. You married?"
"No." I smiled and she licked her lips. "I’ve never been married."
"Good for you."
"Do you have any idea what your brother was goin’ to see Chilly about?"
"No, Jake never talked to me much about what he was doin’. I always thought that all those computations and calculations was pretty boring stuff. I like things, and men, that are a bit more exciting in my life."