5 Highball Exit (17 page)

CHAPTER 38

Fleeing the Sunset went off like a textbook
FBI
operation from the movies. From where Cal was parked near the front entrance, he couldn’t see what was happening back of the restaurant. I went out through the kitchen with Miguel, down the alley at the foot of the stairs to where Tully had pulled his beat-up old pickup in beside mine.

I crouched down among the debris on the floor of his truck and Tully threw a plaid shirt, stinking of gasoline, over me. Gwen was on her cell at the window, watching to see that Cal didn’t move. I was hoping he’d spend a good long time out there in the parking lot guarding nothing. I pretty much believed him when he said he was trying to protect me from Ryan, but I’ve been lied to before.

A block away from the Sunset my cell rang. Gwen said, “He’s still here.”

I slid up onto the seat and checked the rear window to be sure. The street behind us was empty. I was free of the Vachess brothers.

Brian lived in a very upscale development on the north border of the Jacaranda Golf Course, a place where even the help didn’t drive vehicles as beat up as Tully’s. As we pulled into the brick drive, the door of the garage went up so Tully could pull in beside Brian’s Mercedes. The door slid down behind us before the engine was off. We’d all seen too many movies.

Brian’s house was on the thirteenth hole of the golf course. Only a long narrow pond separated his lawn from the tee and Brian and I had often practiced chipping from his lawn to the green. But not tonight.

On the lanai with cold drinks in our hands, Brian pointed to the edge of the pond thirty yards away. “That old reptile suns himself there on my property every day.”

The gator had to be at least twelve feet long and looked more like a plastic replica than the real thing.

“See,” Brian said, gesturing towards a man on the green with a cell phone taking a picture of the gator beside a large white sign that said
TRESPASSERS WILL BE VIOLATED.
“Someone likes my warning. I’ve been asked to remove it by both the golf club and by the homeowners’ association; seems it lowers the tone of the place.”

Tully said, “That big bull is way too large to be around humans.”

“Yeah, it’s time they got him out of here.” Brian leaned forwardto put his glass on the coffee table. “The wildlife people are supposed to be coming to remove him this week. Our association has already had four of his size taken out this year.”

Tully turned to me. “Don’t you go out there until it’s gone, Sherri.”

“How dumb do you think I am?”

He grinned but refrained from pointing to my current situation as an example. Instead he said, “You’ve got the best of it all, Brian, a little nature and a great house.”

The truth was, Tully hated suburban life even more than I did. He thought golf courses were a blight on the landscape and would normally express this view to anyone who would listen. Either he was really grateful to Brian for taking me in and giving me a spot to hide, or Bernice was teaching Tully to play nice. Oh hell, what was I thinking? Bernice and the word nice didn’t belong together.

Brian gave us a small wry smile. “I thought it was a great deal. Way underpriced when I bought it at the top of the market and in another ten years it may even be worth what I paid for it. I should have learned after the tech bubble, but no, there I was just as excited as all the other clowns to jump back into the latest disaster.”

All the regulars at the Sunset had heard about Brian’s adventures in investing and took it as an example of how not to make money. “At least you have something to show for it this time.”

“Yeah, four empty bedrooms and a pool no one uses.” He smiled. “But at least you’re here now.” He rubbed his hands together. “I’m glad of that, but how much trouble is this guy going to be, Sherri?”

I was feeling like prey, stalked and cornered with the hunter moving in for the kill, but there was no way I was sharing that with Tully and Brian. Their reaction would be extreme and violent. “It will blow over, no worries.”

Tully, his brow furrowed in worry lines, asked, “Do you think his brother can control this guy?”

The thing was if Tully heard the wrong answer, he was going to take it upon himself to correct things.

“Sure. In a day or two he’ll be all hot and bothered about someone else.”

“Better be.” Tully leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “If not, I’m going to have a long talk with that boy.”

Which was exactly what I was afraid of. “Do you want me to get a restraining order?” Brian asked.

“You have much more faith in the law than I do. Those things never stop bad things from happening.” I tilted my head towards the gator. “You might just as well go out there and wave a piece of paper at that big boy. He’ll eat you and the paper.”

Brian nodded. “It’s true. They only seem to help after the fact.”

“Cal will take care of Ryan. I just have to stay out of his line offire until he loses interest.” But I’d rather deal with ten drunks than one guy on meth. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll stay in your guest room and away from the Sunset for a couple of days.”

“Stay as long as you like,” Brian said. “I’m happy to have you.” The sound of yapping drew our attention. A small Jack Russellterrier dashed out from the house next door. Darting forward and then stopping to bark, the dog ran to the edge of the pond, startling a heron into the air.

The gator rose from its belly to its legs. “Dinner,” Brian said.

A middle-aged woman ran across the lawn calling, “Benjy, Benjy.” We were all on our feet screaming, “Go back.”

The woman hesitated. “Benjy, come here.”

She ran forward and scooped the little dog up in her arms. Then she stood there holding the dog and staring at the gator. Even the dog stopped yapping and waited for the attack.

The gator paused and then turned and slid into the water. We all took deep breaths and began talking at once.

“Stupid woman,” Brian said and headed for the door. “I’m going over to talk to her.”

Tully slumped into a chair.

“I have to go make some calls,” I said, the first call being to Marley to make sure she didn’t go near the beach house. Even though the dental office was closed for the week, and she was out at the ranch and wasn’t supposed to come into Jacaranda, I didn’t want her to pop into town for lunch and accidently bump into either of the Vachess brothers.

After I called Marley, I ordered Chinese and we ate in the lanai. The weather was changing. There was a feeling of tension in thecharged atmosphere; a sense of waiting descended as the languid feeling of tropical heat was replaced by cooler air. Over the pond a flash of lightning lit up the sky and a cool breeze blew through the screens.

I stood up and gathered the plates. “The weather is going to break at last.” The first big drops of rain plopped on the brick path outside the lanai. “Let’s take in the cushions before it happens.”

During the night, thunderstorms shook the house and woke me from vivid nightmares. I got up and roamed the house in bare feet, thinking of things I had no answers to.

I stood at the living-room window and stared out into the violent night. More than one kind of evil was waiting in the dark for me.

CHAPTER 39

Aunt Kay called early the next morning. Maybe the change in the weather had energized her, or maybe it was the fear of what was yet to come for her, but she was eager to get started.

“We’ll stay well away from the Vachess brothers, but we need to talk to the people who Holly worked with. That will be safe, won’t it?”

“My truck is at the Sunset. I’m not going back there to pick it up so I have nothing to drive.”

“It’s all right, I have. My
PT
Cruiser is in the garage. I haven’t been able to drive it since my troubles began.”

“I’m not going near your place.”

“Fine, but there’s been no sign of anyone watching my house. My neighbor uses my vehicle now and then, when they need an extra car, and in return she takes me for groceries. I’ll see if she’ll drive me to that big Walmart Plaza on Forty-one. You can meet me there.”

Brian and I had to drive around the enormous lot a couple of times before we found Aunt Kay.

“You’re kidding, right?” I considered her ride. “It’s purple.”

“No it isn’t. It’s burgundy.”

“Burgundy and ugly, but a great disguise. Ryan will never look for me inside a great big plum and with any luck, if our paths do cross, he’ll think it’s a hallucination.”

“Such a precious little princess.” Aunt Kay handed me the keys and a piece of paper. “That’s the address of the place where Holly worked before the baby was born.”

I peered in the window to make sure that there was a steering wheel, gearshift and all the other things a car normally has and not just a big pit, while the passenger door slammed behind Aunt Kay.

The Southgate Day Spa was in a small plaza on Tamiami Trail, standing all on its own away from the other stores as if to show it was a class beyond. The large windows were covered in gauzy curtains and the glass door was etched with a tropical design of palm branches so you couldn’t see inside. The door opened into a small waiting area where a perfectly made-up receptionist talked quietly on a phone. Behind her the long line of manicurists, in identical white smocks, looked up expectantly as we came in. Nail grinders and buffers whirred and the smell of polish filled the air. The receptionist smiled and pointed to the gilt chairs lined up in front of the windows.

Aunt Kay plopped down. Six inches of her anatomy overflowed the chair on either side, but she planted her bag on her lap and sat there like this was the kind of place she came to every day.

Beside her, I picked up a brochure off a glass table. Rejuvenation treatments, massages, waxing and airbrush tanning, plus facials, makeup and nails, were all offered by the salon.

“Let’s get a bikini wax,” I whispered and pointed to a picture in the brochure I’d picked up off the table.

Aunt Kay didn’t respond.

I nudged her. “There’s something called a body polish. Funny, I never felt the need to polish my body, but there it is, one more way for me to fall short of someone else’s expectations. ’Course, with your full figure, they’ll have to charge you double, more area that needs polishing.”

She huffed at me and stared straight ahead, so I took it that she wasn’t interested in self-improvement and put the brochure back.

The receptionist was sweet and wanted to be helpful but she’d only been there since Christmas, so she went to find someone who might have known Holly. That person was Kerry, no last name, just Kerry. She was the manager and looked almost perfect, apart from the frown.

Aunt Kay told her about Holly’s death and asked who Holly’s friends were at the spa.

Kerry said, “We don’t encourage staff to get friendly. It leads to cliques and factions and then there are problems in the workplace. It just doesn’t work out.”

Aunt Kay wouldn’t let it go, asking more questions but getting no more information.

It wasn’t that Kerry meant to be unhelpful, it was just that she had noticed very little that was personal about Holly, barely remembered her beyond her work record. Kerry wasn’t interested in anything unless it added to the bottom line.

“Staff come and go pretty quickly here. Mind you, Holly stayed longer than the majority. I was sorry to let her go.”

“Why did you fire her?” I asked.

Kerry jerked back. “I’m not sure . . . I don’t want any trouble.”

“We aren’t here to stir up trouble for you, dear,” Aunt Kay said. Kerry worried her lip. “The wife of a famous producer comes inhere. Holly went on and on about auditioning for him. The man’s wife asked not to have Holly do her nails again. Then Holly got her number from the receptionist and called him at home. We can’t have manicurists that do things like that. Besides, she was eight months pregnant.” As soon as the words were out of Kerry’s mouth, she screwed her lips shut into a hard knot.

I asked, “Did Holly come back with her baby?”

“God no. Why would she do that?”

“You’re right,” I said. “It would have been foolish.”

My cell rang when we got back to the car.

The caller said, “It’s Dan.”

“What’s up?” He didn’t speak. “What is it, Dan?”

“It’s . . . Holly.”

“What?

“I worked overtime this morning. Hung about and checked in with the lead detective, just casual, like I was interested because I found her. I asked about the autopsy.”

I could hear Dan crying. “What did the autopsy show?” It took a while for him to answer. “Holly was
HIV
-positive.”

“Sweet Jesus. Are you sure?”

“Don’t be stupid,” he yelled. I swallowed and said, “What about you?”

“I’m leaving now to get tested. There’s a new quick test they can do. They can tell in under an hour if the antibodies are there.”

“I’m sorry.” What else was there to say? “Dan, did the autopsy say she committed suicide?”

“She had enough pills in her system to kill her twice.” His voice was harsh and low with emotion. “She was never going to wake up.”

“What kind of drugs?”

“Oxycodone.”

“Why that drug?”

“It’s what every suicide I’ve ever been called out for uses.” It sounded like he was struggling to breathe. “I don’t care about Holly.”

After a long silence, he said, “Don’t you understand? I’m scared shitless. The report said that this is a new strain of
HIV
, one that moves quickly and is lethal. Oh my god, I could have given it to Shelly. Goddamn, Holly.”

“Dan, Holly would never knowingly expose you to anything.”

“Yeah, well, what if she didn’t know she had it?”

And that was the kicker. Dan said, “There’s something more.” Why wasn’t I surprised?

“Aunt Kay was right. The autopsy shows that Holly had given birth and the report also said she had a tattoo. I never saw any tattoo on her. It’s new, a picture of wings with the word Angel underneath.”

Lots of people have a tattoo with their kids’ names, but the wings . . . that brought images of heaven. Had Aunt Kay’s instincts been right? Did the wings mean Angel was dead?

“Ask at the hospital if Angel could have been born with
HIV
.”

He moaned. “Dan, do you want me to go with you?” It took a bit of time for him to answer. “No.”

“Call me when you know.” He hung up without replying. Aunt Kay was staring at me as if I was an alien. “Holly was
HIV
-positive.” She was shaking her head, her face white with shock.

“It’s worse than that. Dan said it was a new and lethal strain. The question is does Angel have it? Aren’t pregnant mothers tested for the
HIV
virus?”

We were silent for a moment and then Aunt Kay said, “Who could we ask?”

“I need a computer. We’re going to Brian’s.”

“I was right,” I said, reading the screen in front of me. “Pregnant women are tested at their first doctor’s visit and again at twenty-eight to thirty weeks. Holly would know if she had the virus and she would know if Angel had been born
HIV
-positive.”

Aunt Kay dug her fingers in her wooly hair. “Surely Holly would have told me if she was sick. She knew she could always come home to me.”

“Holly didn’t hint that she was ill?”

“Absolutely not. She could have moved in with me and looked after Angel for herself, but that wasn’t what Holly wanted. She wanted someone to take Angel full-time. She had plans. She was quite upbeat and acting like something good was about to happen.”

“Give me that picture of Angel.” Aunt Kay dug through her purse and handed the paper over.

I took it to Brian’s copier while Aunt Kay stood at the window looking out towards the pond. “Let’s go out, Sherri.”

“There’s a bull gator that lives out there. He’s going to be moved this week but in the meantime I’m not going near the water.”

She put both her hands on the glass and leaned forward. “I don’t see him. Let’s go outside.”

Something was happening with Aunt Kay. She’d been silent all the way back to Jacaranda. It wasn’t just the news about Holly. It was as if someone had turned off a light inside her, as if she were slipping away from me. She was frightening me but I didn’t know what to do.

I went to stand beside her and had a good look along the water. “Okay, but if I see him, I’m ditching you and beating it back inside.”

She clutched my arm with both hands as we made our way along the narrow brick path fronting the lanai. Breathing hard, like she couldn’t get enough oxygen, she stopped often and lifted her face to the sun. “I love this.”

We stepped onto the lawn and she paused. I dug my toes in the thick grass, so lush and deep that it felt more like a chenille bedspread than anything natural.

“Do you know what I’ve discovered in the last sixty years?” she said, still with her face turned skyward.

She didn’t really want an answer so I offered none.

“There’s no such thing as safe. We can’t make anyone safe, not even ourselves. Bad things happen. Cars crash and disease surprises us and no matter how much you want to save someone else it can’t be done. Thinking we can help is just ego saying we know best.”

I watched the water for any sign of the gator.

“I was just afraid of sitting around waiting for the end. I wanted to feel like I was doing something, and then I brought those brothers into your life.”

“Let’s go inside. It’s too hot for you out here.” I tried to turn her around.

She took no notice of me. “Doesn’t matter anyway, only temporary, it all ends the same. There is no happy ever after.”

She looked at me, her face intense, her hands clutching me. “It’s all rabbit’s feet and knocking on wood. And prayer . . . but there’s no one listening.” Her lips quivered.

“Holly’s death has been too much for you. This is shock and depression talking.”

“Or sanity. I tell you, Sherri, I’ve had enough.”

I felt her move slightly. Her eyes widened and she gave a gentle “Ah” of a sigh.

When the fire truck arrived, faster than I thought possible, I said, “She has a heart condition,” and struggled to remember the name. My brain wouldn’t work. “Something Wolfe.”

The rescuer didn’t look up from Aunt Kay. “Does she have medication for it?”

“Yes.”

“Get it.”

“I’m not sure . . .” I left it at that and ran into the house for her purse.

I handed over a vial of pills. “Is she still . . .” I couldn’t even finish the question.

He wrote down the information on the bottle and then handed me the pills. An ambulance arrived. The firefighters carried her towards the ambulance.

That’s when I stopped believing Aunt Kay was exaggerating her heart problems. One more thing I was wrong about.

It had been my week for making mistakes.