Hangman (3 page)

A
S LONG AS
Decker was in the city—about twenty miles from his front door—Rina made reservations to meet for dinner at one of the many kosher restaurants along Pico Boulevard. They left her parents’ house at six, and a half hour later, they were in a booth, sipping glasses of Côtes du Rhône. Although Peter wasn’t a big talker, tonight he seemed unusually subdued, so Rina was happy to carry on the bulk of the conversation. Maybe Peter was hungry. She figured he’d join in when the mood hit. But even after polishing off his rib steak, fries, and salad, he remained quiet.

“What’s going on inside that cranium of yours?” Rina finally asked.

“Nothing.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“See, that’s where you females mess up. Whenever we men don’t talk, you ascribe it to some deep inner meditation we’re having with ourselves. In my case, I was thinking about dessert—whether it was worth the calories.”

“If you’d like, we can split something.”

“Which means I eat ninety percent.”

“How about we forgo the desert and just have some coffee. You look a little beat.”

“Do I?” Decker stroked his red-and-gray mustache as if he was thinking of something profound. While his facial hair still retained some of its youthful, fiery color, his head hair was more white than orange, but there was still plenty of it.

He smiled at his wife. Rina had changed to a deep purple satin dress that she kept in her mother’s closet. Although she was way too religious to ever show cleavage, the neckline did accentuate her lovely throat. He had given her a pair of two-carat diamond studs for her forty-fifth birthday and she wore them every chance she got. He loved to see her in expensive things, even though with his paycheck, that didn’t happen very often. “I guess I am a little tired.”

“Then let’s just go home.”

“No, no. I could use a cup of coffee.”

“Okay.” Rina touched his hands. “You’re not just tired, you’re bothered. What happened this afternoon?”

“I told you. Everything went smoothly.”

“And yet you remain perplexed.”

Decker chose his words. “When she talked to him…she appeared confident…clearly in control.”

“Maybe she was with you around.”

“I’m sure there was some of that. And he was contrite, so she had a certain amount of free rein. I don’t know, Rina. She was bossy almost. When they had lunch, she did most of the talking.”

“You could hear them?”

“I could see them. She clearly dominated their conversation.”

“Maybe when she gets nervous, she talks.”

“Could be. Before we met him for lunch, we spoke a few minutes. All of a sudden she started shaking and broke out in a cold sweat.”

“So there you go.”

“But there was something else, Rina. If I didn’t know any of the backstories, I would have sworn she was acting flirtatious at lunch—downright sexy. Something was strange.”

“What’s so strange? She likes him.”

“He beat her up six weeks ago.”

“She knows what he is and there’s still something about him that she finds attractive. She makes poor choices. That’s what got her into the situation to begin with. No one told her that she had to visit him in jail and have sex with him without birth control.”

“She’s not a stupid girl, Rina. She’s a conscientious mother and she’s an emergency care physician.”

“Like all of us, she has positive aspects and some blind spots. In Terry’s case, her weaknesses are harmful.” She leaned forward. “But like I said this morning, Peter, this isn’t our problem. You were hired help. She paid you money and you did your job. How about letting go?”

“You’re right.” Decker sat up and kissed her hand. “We’re out to dinner and you deserve a noncomatose husband.”

“How about some coffee now?”

“Coffee would be great!” Decker grinned. “I’d even go for dessert.”

“How about the peach pie?”

“Peach pie, it is. Dare we order it with vanilla ice cream or whatever frozen concoction they make up to simulate the real deal?”

Rina smiled. “Sure, let’s go crazy.”

THE CELL PHONE
went off just as the car had crested the 405 freeway and began to dip into the San Fernando Valley. Mountains on either side made reception spotty. Since Decker was driving, Rina took the phone from his coat pocket.

“If it’s Hannah, tell her we’ll be home in about twenty minutes.”

“It’s not Hannah. I don’t recognize the number.” She depressed the on button. “Hello?”

There was silence on the other side. For a moment Rina thought she lost the party, but then she saw that the phone hadn’t disconnected.

“Hello?” she tried again. “Can I help you?”

“Who is it?” Decker asked. When she shrugged, he said, “Just hang up.”

“Sorry.” The voice was male. He cleared his throat. “I’m looking for Lieutenant Decker.”

“This is his cell phone. Whom am I talking to?”

“Gabe Whitman.”

It took all of Rina’s effort not to gasp. “Is everything all right?”

“Who are you talking to?” Decker asked.

“No,” Gabe said over the phone. “I mean I don’t know.”

“Who
is
it, Rina?” Decker said.

“Gabe Whitman.”

“Oh Lord! Tell him to hold on.”

“He’ll be right with you,” Rina said.

“Thank you.”

Decker maneuvered the car onto the freeway shoulder, turned on his hazard lights, and took the cell. “This is Lieutenant Decker.”

“I’m sorry to bother you.”

“No bother. What’s going on?”

“I can’t find my mom. She’s not here and she’s not answering her cell. My dad isn’t answering his cell phone, either.”

“Okay.” Decker’s brain was whirling a mile a minute. “How long has it been since you’ve spoken to your mom?”

“I came back to the hotel around six-thirty, seven. We were supposed to go to dinner. She wasn’t here. Her car isn’t here, her purse isn’t here, but she didn’t leave any note or anything. That’s not like her.”

Decker’s stomach dropped. His watch said it was almost nine. “When was the last time you spoke to her, Gabe?”

“Around four. You were already gone. Mom said that everything went well. She sounded fine. She said she wanted to run some errands and she’d be back around six. I don’t know if I’m overreacting, but with Chris, I just don’t know.”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m at the hotel?”

“In the room?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay. Gabe, I’m turning around and I’ll be there in about a half hour. Leave the room and wait for me in the lobby. I want you in a public place, okay?”

“Okay.” A pause. “The room’s okay…I mean like nothing was disturbed or anything.”

“That doesn’t mean that your dad can’t suddenly show up. It wouldn’t be good for the two of you to be alone.”

“That’s true.” A pause. “Thanks.”

“No thanks necessary. Just walk out that door and don’t look back.”

Fifteen minutes later, Decker pulled his Porsche into the valet lot. The parking attendants were different from the ones who had been here in the afternoon. When they asked how long he’d be staying, Decker told them that he didn’t know.

The resort hotel was fifteen acres of lush plants and tropical foliage set at the foothills in Bel Air. The evening air was sweet from night-blooming jasmine with a hint of gardenia. Broad-leaf palms, ferns, and flowering bushes lined stone walkways and draped over the edges of a man-made lagoon populated with ducks and swans. Decker and Rina crossed over a bridge, glancing at the lake as the birds glided by.

Decker faced her. “Why don’t you take the car and go home.”

“Hannah’s at a friend’s house. I can wait.”

“I don’t know if I want you around in case Chris pops in. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“How about if I wait in the lobby?”

“Would you mind? It may take a while. If I don’t find her right away, I’m going to have to do a search of the hotel.”

“It’s not a problem unless they kick me out.” She paused. “What are you going to do with Gabe? You don’t know what’s going on. You certainly can’t let him stay here by himself even if he was of age.”

Neither of them spoke.

Rina said, “He can stay with us.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I don’t think you have any choice.”

“He has a grandfather living in the Valley.”

“Then contact him in the morning. One night with us won’t make a difference.”

“You really are Earth Mother.”

“That’s me,” Rina said. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, et cetera, et cetera. Emma and I had a lot more in common than just our last names.”

ALTHOUGH THE ACTUAL
hotel was series of connected low-profile, pink stucco bungalows topped with a Mediterranean red-tiled roof, the lobby was a stand-alone building. Through the window, Decker could see the registration desk with a uniformed woman flipping through files, an empty concierge desk, and a suite of traditional furniture facing a stone fireplace. One of the beige chairs was taken up by a lanky adolescent—
The Thinker
done by Giacometti. He and Rina went inside and the thin kid looked up, then stood up. Decker tried out a reassuring smile. “Gabe?”

He nodded. Good-looking kid—an aquiline nose, strong chin, a mop of dirty blond hair, and gem-quality emerald eyes that sat behind a pair of frameless glasses. Not much bulk, but he had the same kind of wiry muscle that his dad had as a teenager. He appeared to be grazing the six-foot mark.

Decker held out his hand and the boy shook it. “How are you doing?” The kid shrugged helplessly. “This is my wife. She’s going to wait here for me…or for us. Still haven’t heard from anyone?”

“No, sir.” He looked at Rina as much as he did at Decker. “I’m sorry to drag you down here. It’s probably nothing.”

“Whatever it is, it’s not a problem. Let’s take a walk back to the room.”

The woman at the registration desk looked up. “Is everything all right. Mr. Whitman?”

“Uh, yeah.” Gabe forced a smile. “Fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Gabe nodded quickly. Decker turned to Rina. “See you in a few.”

“Take your time.”

Decker and his charge went outside into the cool misty air, neither of them speaking as they walked. The pathways looked different at night than they had in the daytime. With the artificial colored lighting slipped between the plantings, the entire complex looked surreal, like a movie set. Gabe twisted and turned from one garden to another until they came to the bungalow he shared with his mother. He opened the door, flipped on the light switch, and the two of them stepped inside.

“Just like I left it,” Gabe said.

And not too different from when Decker had left. The flowers that Chris had given Terry had been put into a vase and sat on the sofa table. Donatti’s Scotch glass lay in the sink of the bar. The trash had been cleared and the living-room sofa had been folded out into a bed, a room service breakfast menu and a few chocolates left on a silver tray. Water on the coffee table and music coming from a Bose stereo system, the station set on classical music.

“You sleep here?”

Gabe nodded.

Decker walked into the bedroom. Terry’s bed had also been prepared. “Were the beds turned down when you arrived here at around six?”

“No, sir, they came in later. Around eight.” A pause. “I probably shouldn’t have let them in, huh.”

“It doesn’t matter, Gabe.” Decker studied the room. There were a lot of clothes in the closet and a small safe. Decker asked the boy if he knew the combination number.

“Uh, not to this one. But I know the code she usually uses.”

“Could you try to open it?”

“Sure.”

Gabe punched in a set of numbers. It took him a couple of tries, but eventually the door opened. It was loaded with cash and jewelry. Decker said, “Do you have anything to transport the valuables in?”

“Why?”

“If your mom doesn’t come back, you can’t stay here alone.”

“I’ll be all right.”

“I’m sure you can take care of yourself, but I’m a cop and you’re a minor. I’d be in violation of the law if I let you stay here alone. Plus, under the circumstances, I wouldn’t want you alone even if you were eighteen.”

“Where are you going to take me?”

“You’ve got a choice.” Decker rubbed his temples. “I know you have a grandfather and an aunt that live in L.A. Would you feel comfortable calling either of them up? I’ll be happy to take you over there.”

“Is that my only choice?”

“You could spend the night at my house and hopefully things will work out in the morning.”

“That would be my first choice. I’d way prefer that to my grandfather. My aunt is nice, but she’s a little ditzy. She’s not much older than I am.”

“How old is Melissa?”

“Twenty-one…a very
young
twenty-one.”

“All right. So this is what we’ll do. You go home with my wife. I’m going to stick around here for a while and try to figure out what’s going on.”

“Why can’t I stay here with you while you try to figure it out?”

“Because it may take a long time. It’s best if you go home with my wife and let me do my job. I’ll catch you in the morning. If your mom comes home, I’ll call you right away. And if you happen to hear from either your mother or father, you call me right away, so I’m not spinning my wheels. Fair enough?”

The boy nodded. “Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.” Decker pulled out a notepad. “I have your mom’s number. I’ll need your dad’s number and your cell number.”

Gabe rattled off a series of number. “You know that my dad changes phones all the time. A number might be working one day and disconnected the next.”

“When was the last time you spoke to your dad?”

“Let me think. Chris called me Saturday morning…around eleven. He’d just landed. He told me he was at the airport and was meeting with Mom tomorrow.”

“And you said?”

“I don’t really remember. Something like…cool. Then he asked me how she was and I said she was fine. It was like a two-minute conversation…which is pretty typical for us.” Gabe bit his lip. “Chris doesn’t really like me. I’m an annoyance, something that stands between him and Mom. He rarely talks to me unless it’s about my music or my mom. But he’s forced to deal with me because I’m what links him and Mom together. It’s really messed up.”