Looks to Die For (2 page)

“No, honey, everything’s fine. No monsters, just these nice policemen.” I smiled bravely and tried to keep my lip from quivering. Jimmy had put on his old superhero pajamas tonight so he could fight any monsters who showed up in his room, but who knew that they’d take this form?

“Jimmy, sweetie, can you do Mommy a favor?”

He stepped back from the railing and eyed me carefully — even at five, he wouldn’t commit until he knew the dimensions of the request.

“Go to Mommy and Daddy’s room and give Daddy a little shake. Tell Daddy that Mommy needs him to put on a robe and come down.”

Jimmy ran off so quickly that I wasn’t sure if he’d taken it in or was simply fleeing to hide under his covers. Slowly, I turned to the cops again, but they were muttering to each other. Detective Shields glanced at his watch and said, “I don’t like this. In two minutes you go up.”

“Lemme go now. No way the guy’s coming down.”

Shields nodded, and the two of them headed for the staircase, clambering quickly up the steps two at a time, their smooth-soled shoes slipping on the Italian marble. At the top landing they stopped short, peering at the hallways that headed off in three directions. Reese turned to glare at me as I dashed up the stairs behind them.

“Where do we find him?” he growled.

Trying to catch my breath — lost to anxiety, not exertion — I didn’t answer.

“Which of these damn hallways?” he bellowed.

“Our bedroom’s to your right,” I said, gasping. Then, not meaning to scream, I did anyway. “Dan!” I hollered.

From down the hall, my husband appeared at the bedroom door, his blond hair rumpled, his face blank from interrupted sleep. He hadn’t bothered with a robe, just a pair of sweatpants, and he took a moment to register that there were two cops approaching him. When he did, his deep blue eyes widened and he blinked hard.

“What’s going on?” he asked groggily.

The cops moved closer, surrounding him as effectively as two people can.

“You’re Dr. Daniel Fields?” asked Shields.

“Yes, I am. May I help you?” His refined accent grew more refined as the cops leaned in. Even bare-chested, he maintained his dignity. A well-toned, well-tanned chest can do that for you.

“Well, doc, you can come down to the station house with us. Right now. Quietly,” said Shields, with a hint of threat in his voice.

“Would you like to explain why?”

Shields took a moment to answer, digging his toe into the fringe of the Persian rug, then looking at Jimmy, who had slipped out of the bedroom and was edging closer to his dad.

“We need you for questioning,” Shields said, discreetly not elaborating while one scared Superman stared wide-eyed at him.

“And it can’t wait until morning?” Dan asked.

“No. Now.”

“Help me out here, gentlemen. I don’t have any idea what this is about or why you need to talk to me.” Dan sounded composed and reasonable, as if he were sipping Chablis at his Princeton eating club, not confronting two LAPD cops.

Jimmy anxiously rubbed his hand over the big S emblem on his chest. But the shield wouldn’t protect him, and neither would Reese.

“You’re wanted for questioning in the murder of Theresa Bartowski,” he said bluntly.

“I don’t even know who that is. Why would you want to talk to me?”

“She’s also known as Tasha Barlow.”

Not the slightest wave of recognition crossed Dan’s face. “Is this a former patient of mine?” he asked.

“We can discuss it all downtown,” Reese said.

“No, let’s discuss it here. Or better still, why don’t you call me at my office in the morning? I’ll pull out my patient records and do whatever I can to help you. But right now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to bed. I have surgery scheduled for seven
A.M
. and I’m not eager to stay up all night talking.”

Reese and Shields exchanged another look, and with a move too quick to allow either reaction or resistance, Reese whipped handcuffs out of his back pocket and snapped them on Dan’s slender wrists. “You’re under arrest in the murder of Tasha Barlow,” he intoned. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in —”

“What the hell are you doing?” Dan’s voice, suddenly shrill, warbled through the hall.

“— a court of law. You have the right —”

“Get these off me!” Dan staggered back, holding his arms outstretched like oddities that no longer belonged to his body. Trying to spin around and make his case for release, he accidentally slammed his handcuffed wrists against Reese, who hastily stepped back and reached for his gun. Shields had his weapon drawn the moment his partner was touched, and it was trained on Dan.

Jimmy began wailing, a high-pitched, hysterical sound that perfectly mimicked what I was feeling. I rushed over and swooshed him into my arms, running down the hall with him, past the staircase, away from the police and guns, and into his room, which, even infested with monsters, seemed safer than where we had been. In a single motion, I slipped him into his bed and tucked in the covers, murmuring, “You’re fine, honey. Everything’s going to be fine.” He stopped crying, more from surprise at suddenly finding himself under the cozy sheets than from any deeper comfort I’d supplied. I yearned to crawl in next to him and hide my head under his pillow. But as I stroked Jimmy’s tear-streaked face, I could hear Dan’s plaintive voice from down the hall calling, “Lacy? Lacy?”

My heart banged so furiously that I could hear the pounding in my ears. I’d been a G.I. Joe–banning, Second Amendment–doubting citizen long enough that the simple sight of a gun scared me beyond all reason. Having two of them aimed at my husband blasted me into total terror. I sat down on the bed trying to hide my shock. Jimmy lay suddenly still, as if monsters might be a welcome diversion from the real-life drama. His eyes were closed and his breathing placid, as if he had willed himself to sleep.

I pulled myself together and hurried back down the long hallway to the group in front of our bedroom. The cops’ guns were back in their holsters, and Dan, still bound at the wrists, was trying to reason with Shields.

“I have to get dressed,” Dan was saying quietly. “If you take off the handcuffs, I can be quick.”

Shields looked skeptical for a moment but then nodded. “Okay, I’ll give you three minutes to put on some clothes. But we’re keeping you within eyesight. The door stays open so we can see you.”

He nodded at Reese to unlock the cuffs, and the detective reached for the key reluctantly. “You want me to call for some backup to surround the house?” he asked, still holding the key. “Don’t want him escaping while he’s pretending to look for his Calvins.”

“I think we’re under control,” Shields said.

But Reese pushed into the bedroom before Dan. “I’ll just wait in here.”

I stepped closer to Dan and touched his elbow. “What’s happening?”

He turned around to look at me, and his face was tightly controlled, giving up nothing. “I have no idea. But apparently I’m going downtown with these fellows.”

“Do you know what they want? Do you know who that woman is? Does this make any sense?” I asked, my questions tumbling on top of each other.

“No,” said Dan, one firm negative covering it all. Then calmly, “I’ll have to straighten it out.”

“How do you straighten it out when they’ve
arrested
you?” I asked, practically screeching.

Dan picked up my panic, and anxiety briefly flickered over his face. “You should call Jack,” he said, meaning Jack Rosenfeld, family friend and attorney.

“Good idea.”

We filed into the bedrooom together, and feeling awkward under Shields’s gaze, I tripped clumsily against the edge of the rug. But I steadied myself, picked up the cordless phone on the night table, and dialed Jack’s house. An answering machine beeped, and I left an urgent message for Jack to call me as soon as possible. I started to stutter out more details but then realized I couldn’t figure them out myself.

When I hung up, Dan had pulled on crisp khakis and a navy blue polo shirt and was heading into the bathroom.

“Just a minute,” Reese said. He pushed into the room ahead of Dan and jerked his head back in surprise, momentarily staggered by the gleaming marble and brass fittings of our high-tech bathroom. I used to cherish each fancy fixture, but now I couldn’t care less. If it would only make the cops leave, I’d gladly trade my Kohler commode for an outhouse.

“A lot of windows in here,” Reese called back to his partner, staring up at the arched glass ceiling.

“I’m not trying to escape,” Dan said mildly. “I need to use the bathroom.”

Reese peered out one of the oversized windows, contemplating the two-story drop. Then he sauntered to the other end of the bathroom. “What’s through here?”

“The spa.”

Reese opened the sliding door, and the wall of mirrors on the other side reflected his astonishment as he took in the huge Jacuzzi whirlpool and natural-wood hot tub. “Nice setup you’ve got here,” he said acidly. “I’ll just wait on this side while you do your business.”

The bathroom door clicked shut, and I edged toward the bed, reeling from this bizarre alternate reality in which I’d suddenly landed. Shields kept his back to me, not encouraging conversation, and I rubbed my finger back and forth on the duchesse quilt. If I were dreaming, would I be able to feel the silk fabric sliding against my fingers? I blinked hard a few times and then the bathroom door opened again to reveal Dan back in handcuffs, with Reese at his elbow.

“We’re ready,” Reese said.

Shields nodded. “Let’s go.”

Dan took a few steps toward me. “Will you come with me?” he asked. His hooded eyes held mine, needing me.

I thought of the kids down the hall, asleep. Jimmy would likely wake up again, which meant that if I left, Grant or Ashley should be warned.

“No, she won’t come,” Reese said. “It’s not a party. No extra room in the squad car.”

“I’ll follow in my own car,” I said with sudden certainty, his hostility solving my quandary. “Where are we going?”

“Downtown,” he snarled.

“There’s really nothing for you to do down there, Mrs. Fields.” Shields spoke flatly but without anger, the senior man getting the job done. “But here’s the address if you really want to go.” He handed me a card, and as I glanced at it, the partners soundlessly whisked Dan out of the room. From the hall, I heard my husband calling, “Lacy!”

“I’ll be there, honey!” I hollered. “I’ll follow you and be there.”

I raced to Grant’s room, then, remembering that he needed a night’s sleep before the test, I moved on to his sister’s sanctuary. Fourteen-year-old Ashley, curled up under the flowing canopy on her bed, didn’t move when I burst in, so I shook her gently, telling her that Daddy and I had to run out and she needed to get up if Jimmy called. Only half awake, she didn’t ask any questions, and before she could think of any, I sprinted downstairs, slipping into the Lexus and pushing the button for the garage door to open. I gunned the car down the block and by the second stop sign — where I definitely didn’t bother to stop — I had the squad car within sight. I felt a surge of relief that at least the night wouldn’t end with my turning back.

The cop car was going fast but not recklessly, no sirens blasting or lights flashing, and I managed to keep the red taillights within easy view. They knew the neighborhood, winding their way through the dark streets without any hesitation. I kept expecting the squad car to stop suddenly and pull a U-turn in the middle of the road. I’d look in the window and see the faux cops laughing uproariously at getting away with a prank like this. Maybe they represented a medical fraternity doing a grown-up form of hazing. Or they had the starring roles on
Cops 911
, that new Fox show shooting on a nearby soundstage. We’d watch the tape tomorrow and laugh, and Dan would sign the waiver so the episode could air.

But the car kept going steadily forward. We turned onto Sunset Boulevard and suddenly, even at midnight, the traffic was thicker. A red Ferrari slipped in front of me, but I could still track the cops, and when we all turned onto the highway, the Ferrari zoomed ahead and I inched closer to the unmarked LAPD car. As I drove, a name kept repeating over and over in my head.
Tasha Barlow. Tasha Barlow. Tasha Barlow.
I waited for some bells to ring, but got resounding silence. I’d been married to Dan since we were kids just out of college, long enough to read his facial expressions pretty accurately, and nothing had registered when he’d heard the name, either. If this wasn’t all a joke, it must just be a case of mistaken identity. Dan was right. The whole mess would get cleared up as soon as he got to headquarters.

From my car phone, I dialed Jack Rosenfeld again, got the same message, and this time left my cell phone number, too. If only I knew his. I flicked on the radio to an all-news station, wondering if I might hear something about Tasha Barlow. But no, just more of the usual — mud slides in Malibu, a loss for the Lakers, and a Brinks truck overturning on the 110 freeway and spilling a million nickels on the road. How to get rich in L.A. I turned the radio off, and when we exited the highway, I focused on negotiating the now unfamiliar back streets.

After some fast turns, the cops pulled into a spot marked
POLICE VEHICLES ONLY
, and I realized we had arrived at headquarters. Of course I didn’t see any place to park, so I rolled down the window. “Okay if I leave it here?” I shouted to Shields, who was pulling himself out of the passenger seat of the squad car.

“No, ma’am. Police cars only. You’ll have to find parking around the other side of the building.”

Instead of dumping the car and telling them to tow it if they damn well wanted, I drove off and wasted five minutes cruising around the ugly block, squeezing my car into a too-small space in front of what had once been a deli and was now a boarded-up store-front. Courage is not exactly my middle name, but I hardly thought about the unsavory characters lurking around as I slammed my car door shut and clicked the remote lock. I started running back to the station house, my shoes making an eerie, clinking sound against the broken sidewalk. I looked down and realized that in my haste to grab footwear as I left the house, I’d slipped into a pair of purple snakeskin Manolo Blahnik mules with high, spindly heels. My Wild Berry Chanel–manicured toenails peeked through the open toes. Above the ankles, I was still wearing pale pink Lycra workout gear. Charging down the street in this getup, I was probably pretty safe — anybody would assume that some pissed-off pimp was chasing me.