Sexy Girls (10 page)

^{“Yes, we need to, Stevie.”}

^{I made a decision. “If the will is genuine and the beach house is ours, let's go to Rehoboth.”}

^{Cyndie was still distracted. She asked, “When did you say Edie was arriving?”}

^{“Tomorrow afternoon.”}

^{“How's she getting here?”}

^{“I agreed to pick her up at the airport at two-thirty.”}

^{I thought about Andi for a minute and asked Cyn, “What will happen with Andi's body. Do you know?”}

^{“I don't know. Let's ask her attorney.”}

^{“Okay, well, let's see, tomorrow is Wednesday. We'll ask Hines what we can do for Andi.”}

^{It was the stream of tears running down Cyn's face that caused me to hug her again. She hugged me back, tightly.}

^{“Cyn, don't worry, we'll get through this.”}

^{“Oh Stevie, thank you.”}

^{Cyn turned to face me and whispered, “I love you, but I trust you even more, Stevie. I know you will find out who killed Andi.”}

^{I said, “We'll do it together, with Edie's help.”}

^{Cyndie asked if she could sleep in my bed, instead of the guest room where she had slept since she arrived. I agreed. She said, “Thank you. I'm so scared; I don't think I'd ever get to sleep.”}

 

^***

^{Sleep we did, falling asleep as soon as we got into bed. Then, I had my recurring dream.}

^{I am back in that mountain cabin, high above Tucson, Arizona, and it is nine years earlier. I wake in the middle of the night needing the bathroom; I drank too much wine. When I finish flushing and washing, I walk to the kitchen and grab a bottle of chilled water from the refrigerator. I drink deeply. The very different women, in the rooms to my right and to my left, play on my mind.}

^{What does it all mean? What should I do? I struggle to understand.}

^{I walk to the entrance of the second bedroom. The door is closed. I pause to think again. I should turn left and head back, but I usually go right, as the attraction is too strong.}

^{I slowly turn the handle and push the door open. The faint, blue glow of starlight provides ethereal light in this room and on the gorgeous angel-come-to-earth that appears before me. This young, little beauty sleeps soundly on the right side of the full-sized bed. As if she knows I'd come here, the covers on the left side are turned down, inviting me to join her. She is lying flat on her back, and her beautiful very dark hair is spread out all around her pillow. Her arms are on top of the covers on either side of her body with both palms facing down. Her breathing is the sweetest and only sound I hear. She is so tranquil and at ease.}

^{I walk to the bed, kneel down and give Edith a soft kiss on her forehead. For a brief moment, her mouth forms in to a slight, adorable smile and her eyelids move. It looks like she whispers my name, like she senses me there.}

^{Somehow, I resist my heart's desire. I almost accept her silent offer. I imagine sliding into bed next to her. But, every time something, perhaps my intuition, tells me not to do it. Our time has not yet arrived.}

^{Instead, I stand up and take in this angelic creature for a long time and then leave her to heavenly dreams.}

^{I quietly close the door behind me and walk back across the hall, returning to the opened door from where I started.}

^{The atmosphere is different in this bedroom. The amber outdoor lights provide much more illumination. The highway facing windows bring in the occasional sounds of passing vehicles. A violated, fair-haired angel is in the large bed, deeply sleeping too, on her side. Like the petite beauty in the other room, this woman's very long blonde hair is tossed all over her pillow and face and shoulders. In contrast, slumbers of the lady in this master bedroom are tormented. The covers are off her body and her small white nightshirt is raised above her hips, showing her badly wounded behind with its red marks of abuse. Her face expresses the pain and trauma, and her arms are tight and close to her body. I walk to the bed and cover her with the sheet. I kiss Andrea on her forehead and the hint of a smile crosses the innocent face of that naughty, reckless gift from God.}

^{Then, for the next to last time, I see myself getting into bed with Andi. I lift her left arm and place it on my chest so we can have the physical contact we both crave. I pray and let my thoughts go where they may.}

^{And, then, I always remember Edie's haunting words; “I know you need to go, but stay in touch with us.”}

^{I woke in the dark, just before my alarm, and realized things are forever changed. Andi is dead. Eve and Dee Dee are gone. Cyndie will not be the one. But, there is another modern girl. Edie McCall is coming to me. Will we find love? Is this our time?}

 

 

^{A few minutes time later the alarm went off. The clock displayed red numbers; 6:05 a.m.}

^{Cyndie said, “God, it's early, but I feel so good, so rested.”}

^{“I'll be right back.” I slipped out of bed and went into the kitchen.}

^{I'd get some breakfast for us and then share it in bed. After the coffee was made, I poured us each a cup. I filled the tray with the mugs, fruit and yogurt and returned to the bedroom. I placed the tray on the bed between us. Then, rejoined Cyn in bed.}

^{“Cyn, how are you?”}

^{“Much better. Thank you for being with me last night.”}

^{“I'm glad I was.”}

^{“I slept great too, the first good sleep I've had in over three months. Somehow, I even forgot about Andi. But, I still can't believe it. Stevie, why did it happen?”}

^{“I don't know.”}

^{Then, I got out of that warm bed and headed to my shower.}

^{Cyndie was dressed and in the kitchen by the time I finished my shower. She wore black bike shorts, a black tank top and sandals. She took a shower too - in the hall bathroom - as her hair was damp.}

^{Before I left for work, we decided to contact Andi's attorney, Walter Hines. Cyndie broke the tragic news to Hines and the shock was so great that he paused for a minute before he spoke again. When he did, he gave short and clear replies to our questions. He said that Andi wanted to be cremated. She also didn't want a funeral or a memorial service. Instead, Andi wanted her ashes to be scattered on the beach in Rehoboth.}

^{We could do that. Hines planned to contact my former girlfriend, Eve, and work out the particulars of handling Andi's body. Cyn let Hines know that Robert Grayson was out of the country, and we didn't know if he had heard of Andi's death.}

^{Hines did confirm that Andi had changed her will and did name Edie, Cyndie and me as beneficiaries. We had inherited the beach house. As far as Hines was concerned, Andi's soon-to-be-ex-husband, Robert, did not have any claim to the Rehoboth home. Also, Hines told Cyn that he would pass on that information to Eve and would work with her to resolve Andi's estate.}

^{Cyn paused, asked Walter to hold a moment, while she relayed his messages. That's when I asked to speak to Walter directly.}

^{I introduced myself to Walter and said, “I, for one, am not convinced all is as it appears on the surface.”}

^{Hines replied, “What do you mean?”}

^{“It all worked out so convenient for Robert Grayson. He was able to divorce Andi and save a half million dollars in the process. Plus, I don't know why he didn't bring the police into it or investigate it himself. It's not his reputation that would be hurt. He actually destroyed Andi's reputation by divorcing her and trying to prove she was at fault.”}

^{“Do you have any proof?”}

^{“No, not really, I don't, yet.”}

^{Hines asked, “What do you want me to do now?”}

^{“Nothing right now, Walter. Notify Eve about Andi's will, but don't push for a settlement of her estate, yet. Give me some time, say two weeks to investigate. Okay?”}

^“Sure.”

^{I gave the phone back to Cyndie. Cyn informed Hines that she, Edie and I were headed to Rehoboth for a few days. She made an appointment with Hines for the following Monday afternoon to go over everything and make arrangements for Andi's remains.}

^{When Cyndie got off the phone, she smiled and said to me, “Go to work, Stevie and I'll pack what we need.”}

^{“Why don't we take both cars? Edie might have a different schedule than us.”}

^{“OK, I'll ask her when she arrives.”}

^{Cyn came up close, hugged me, and started speaking in a little girl's voice. “Would you let me drive your Blue Baby?”}

^{“Well, if you ask nicely.”}

^{“Please?”}

^“Okay.”

^{“Fine; it's a deal.”}

^{So, it was settled. I drove the Miata to Philadelphia and parked it in my spot underground, beneath Two Liberty Place.}

 

^***

 

^{I had a productive half-day in the office. My partner, Jimmie Spiare, traced the second call Andi made from her Colorado hotel room and found out that she called a woman named Sarah Hostel. She lived on Rodeo Drive in Fort Collins. I called her phone number again and once again left a message on her answering machine.}

^{At 1 p.m., my cellphone rang.}

^“Hello.”

^{“Mr. Garrett?”}

^“Yes.”

^{“This is Wanda Solano. I'm a waitress at
Nico's
restaurant in Fort Collins. Eileen told me to call you.”}

^{“Yes, thanks for calling, Wanda. Do you want me to call back to save on the long-distance charges?”}

^{“No, don't worry; I'm using the restaurant's phone. Nico can afford the call.”}

^{“Okay, well, I'm interested in a table you served a week ago Saturday night, May 22.”}

^{I then filled in Wanda with all the details that I knew, leaving out only Andi's death.}

^{“Yes, I remember the party. They caused quite a scene.”}

^{“How so?”}

^{“Well, first, your friend, Andi is it, was a very-good looking woman, with a great body and long blonde hair. She squeezed her size 6 body into a size 2, white mini-dress. She wore big heels and had a big chest. Oh, yeah, she knew how to walk and display herself. Every man in the place was watching her every move.”}

^{“She's a model.”}

^{“Well, that explains it.”}

^{I asked, “Who else was with her?”}

^{“After she was seated, a thirty-something, big muscular guy with curly-blonde hair and a petite younger dark-haired woman arrived together and sat at her table.”}

^{“What do you remember about dinner?”}

^{“They were talking a lot, but tended to shut up when I came to the table. The blonde seemed agitated and wanted something from the other two. I heard the guy say to her a few times, 'You're crazy.' The little brunette didn't say a lot, but blondie told her something like, 'How could you do this to me?' and the brunette only laughed back at her.”}

^{“Do you know the other couple?”}

^{“No, I haven't seen them again. I live down in Loveland and don't spend a whole lot of time in Fort Collins. But, the guy looked familiar from somewhere. I'm not sure where.”}

^{“Okay. Wanda can I ask you one other favor?”}

^{“What's that?”}

^{“If you ever see either of them again, please call me.”}

^“Okay.”

^{I placed a call to the Grayson Agency and spoke to Robert Grayson's secretary. Surprisingly, she made an appointment with him for me; the following Tuesday, at 9:30 a.m, once I returned from the beach, but, more important, once he returned from Mexico.}

^***

^{By 1:30 p.m. I had wrapped up things and said my goodbyes in my office. Now, I stood in front of one of the security gates at Philadelphia International Airport. A thin, short, dark-haired beauty walked through the tunnel directly toward me.}

^{She ran the last three steps, embraced me and said, “Oh, Stevie, tell me this didn't happen.”}

^{“I wish I could.”}

^{Edie McCall wore black; a simple above-the-knee cotton short-sleeve dress and sandals. Her very dark brown hair was longer and loose, trailing down her back. She clutched a wad of slightly-damp tissues in her right hand, a wide-brimmed black hat in her left hand, and her small purse was on a long strap over her left shoulder.}

^{Edie is a striking, 33-year-old woman with exotic beauty due to her maternal grandmother's Mexican-American heritage. Despite the tragedy we faced, Edie looked gorgeous and glowed in good health.}

^{Edie gave me a very long, passionate kiss that moved me. I didn't realize at the time how much I was affected.}

^{Edie held my hand the whole way to baggage claim as she struggled to stop her tears. Somehow, Edie recovered by the time I lifted her suitcase from the baggage carousel. I forgot on what level I parked the Miata in the parking garage, but found it on my first guess.}

^{As we began our ride south, I gave Edie an overview of the past few days, Andi's will and our beach plans. Thirty minutes later we pulled off I-95 onto Naamans Road and stopped at our first red light.}

^{Edie had been pretty quiet during the ride, so I was surprised when she asked, “How far is it to your home?”}

^{“About four miles; we'll be there in ten minutes.”}

^{“So, how's Cyndie taking Andi's death?”}

^{I said, “It's very tough. She's scared and we don't have a clue who killed Andi. That's why Cyn wanted to get away from Philadelphia for a few days.”}

^{“Stevie, it is really shitty. Andi was a good person and wanted a great life. She had some issues, but, shit, we all do. She didn't deserve this at all.”}

 

^***

 

^{Edie's arrival sprung a new flood of tears as the memories of Andi and thoughts of her lost opportunities overwhelmed them and me. After thirty heartfelt minutes I suggested we should decide; to leave before our emotions wore us out, or stay and begin our trip the next day. My interruption broke the sadness spell and the two ladies looked at each other and agreed - we would go - now.}

^{I continued to marvel at our luck. We had a perfect weather day; eighty degrees and sunny - not a cloud in the sky. I packed the SUV with our suitcases.}