The Bad Always Die Twice (27 page)

Nikki was almost to the bottom of her glass. She wondered if she was going to need another. “Okay, so what
do
I do now?”

“You eat your wild boar ragu, of course,” Victoria said, sipping her margarita. She was obviously pleased with herself. “And then we pay a call on the grieving widow.”

Chapter 22

E
dith received Nikki and Victoria on her back patio the next afternoon. When Nikki called to say that Victoria wanted to stop by and express her condolences, Nikki could tell Edith was torn between not wanting to be questioned further by Nikki, and wanting to be able to say that Victoria Bordeaux had paid her a personal call. In the end, Edith went with the bragging rights.

Shondra showed them onto the patio. The sun was shining and it was another incredible day in Southern California. “Ms. Victoria Bordeaux and Nikki Harper,” she announced.

Nikki gave her a wink as Shondra walked away.

“Edith, dear.” Victoria opened her arms.

Victoria was dressed in a calf-length black skirt, amazing knee-high boots that looked like they had come out of the riding ring, and a pearl-gray short-sleeve sweater; pearls around her neck, of course, and big Jackie O sunglasses that were absolutely adorable on her petite face.

“It seems foolish, in these circumstances, to say I’m sorry.” Victoria kissed both of Edith’s cheeks as she embraced her. Real kisses, not air kisses. “But I am.” She stepped back. “For all of it. The whole darned mess.”

“Thank you so much.” Edith pressed her lips together. “Please, sit down and join me. Thompson couldn’t be with us.”

“Voice lesson?” Nikki piped in.

“Voice lesson.” Edith indicated that they should have a seat at the table. “I’ve got lemonade, but we can have something stronger, if you prefer.”

“Lemonade is perfect.” Victoria took a seat first, Edith and Nikki followed.

“From our own lemon trees,” Edith added, nervously. She lifted a glass pitcher and began to pour lemonade into glasses of ice.

“Thank you so much.” Victoria took a dainty sip. “Divine,” she declared. She took another sip and then pushed the glass away.

Nikki could tell by the look on her mother’s face that she was about to launch into some sort of speech. Nikki had asked to let her question Edith herself, but she knew in her heart of hearts that there was little chance of that.

“I truly did come to offer my condolences, Edith. And I genuinely am sorry for what Rex has done to your life. Before and after his death. Both of them,” she added. “But in truth, I came because I’m concerned for
you
, now that I’ve learned some details of Rex’s death. And I understand he really is dead this time. My Nicolette saw his body herself.”

Nikki saw no need for that detail, but it was too late now. She took a gulp of lemonade.

“You’re concerned for me?” Edith asked. She didn’t even try her lemonade. She knew she was in the hot seat.

“I am.” Victoria nodded her regal chin. “Because, honestly, it doesn’t look good, Edith. We all know that chit Jessica didn’t kill him. She had no motive. And if you kill a man, you don’t drag him into your own apartment and then call the police. You dispose of the body. Or you set up someone else to take the fall.”

Edith just sat there looking at Victoria. Victoria kept talking. “The police
always
look at the wife, dear. In the end, it’s nearly always the wife who’s done the bastard in. Pardon my French. You saw
Twice Shy,
didn’t you?” she asked. “I played the widow, Melissa.”

Edith nodded.

“And look what happened to her.”

“Mother, there are no firing squads anymore,” Nikki said, feeling compelled at that point to interrupt. “We execute humanely, by lethal injection.”

“Untrue, Nicolette.” Victoria turned to her, indignantly. “Utah still gives its citizens the right to death by firing squad. Ronnie Lee Gardner.”

Nikki wondered where on earth her mother gleaned information like that. Somewhere in all the magazines, she imagined. “I’m sorry for interrupting,” she apologized. “Go on with what you were saying to Edith.”

“Yes.” Victoria turned in her chair. “As I was saying, I’m concerned. And that’s why I came to you. I know that you knew that Rex was still alive.” She held up a finger, indicating Edith was not to speak. “You called the Sunset Tower Hotel on Friday, October first, and left a message for him. For ‘Mr. Atlas.’ You knew he was alive, Edith.”

“How did you—” Edith looked at Nikki, then back at Victoria. “So what if I did know? I didn’t kill him, Victoria.”

“No, but you lied to the police. You told them you didn’t know he was still alive.” She moved closer to Edith. “Not that anyone would blame you.” She looked right at her, big sunglasses to big sunglasses. “So if you didn’t kill him, you need to come clean with me and tell me exactly what happened that weekend. And then, perhaps, I can help you out of this mess.” She sat back, folding her hands neatly in her lap.

Edith looked at Nikki, then back at Victoria. “I don’t understand how this is any of your business,” she said, sounding as if she might burst into tears.

“It’s my business, dear, because my daughter has made it her business, for whatever reason.” She fluttered her hand. “The reason doesn’t matter, at this point. What does matter, dear, is why you lied.”

Edith hung her head. “Why do I feel so awful? I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t create this mess.”

Victoria patted Edith’s hand. “There, there. Give yourself a moment.” She pushed Edith’s untouched glass toward her. “Have a drink of your lemonade. Should I have Chessy or Shondra bring us some vodka?”

Edith took a drink of the lemonade and slowly set down her glass. She removed her sunglasses and rubbed her red eyes. “You don’t know what it was like being married to him, Victoria. The lies, the cheating. It was an embarrassment. And what could I do? Divorce him? I’ve never been anything
but
Rex March’s wife.” She was quiet for a moment. “So, was I glad when that plane went down and the police told me he was dead? I’m ashamed to say I was. For the first time in my adult life, I was going to do what
I
wanted. I was going to live for me. And then Thompson came along . . .” She smiled bittersweetly. “I know you think it’s ridiculous, a woman my age with a man like him, but I love him.”

“You don’t have to tell me about a ridiculous love,” Victoria said. “I’ve been married nine times, Edith. But we’ll save that for another conversation.”

Nikki couldn’t resist a smile. How her mother could be so compassionate and at the same time so . . .
Victoria,
she didn’t know. She had this way about relating everything to her own experiences; the crazy thing was that it usually made sense.

“Did Rex call you when he arrived in town?” Nikki asked.

“Of course not.” Edith ran her finger along the rim of her glass. “I was always suspicious of the plane crash because there was no proof, you know. No body. He always said he wanted to go out with a bang.” She gave a humorless laugh. “Like everything else, his bang was fake.” She exhaled. “But I didn’t know for certain that he was still alive. He never contacted me after the plane went down. Then . . .” She hesitated.

“Spit it out, dear,” Victoria suggested. “You’ll sleep better tonight.”

Edith exhaled again. “Friday, the day before the party, I got a call that my credit card had been used to rent a car at the airport. You know, it was one of those automated calls from the credit card company. There was nothing wrong with the card, but they were just checking to be sure I had used it. My assistant, Anita, took the call. When she asked me about it, I told her I would take care of it.” She made a fist. “I just
knew
in my gut when she said it was a rental car that it was Rex.”

“So Rex rented a car at LAX Friday, October first.” Nikki wanted to be sure she had all the facts straight. She’d be checking on this whole car rental thing.

Edith nodded. “He thought he was being clever. Rex always thought he was clever, but he wasn’t. He rented the car at a kiosk, but I closed his credit card accounts when he was supposedly killed. So instead of using cash, the cheap bastard put it on my credit card. He thought no one would ever check.” She shrugged. She was wearing a pretty lavender tunic and gray slacks with pearls à la Victoria around her neck. She’d dressed for the visit. “He probably would have been right if it hadn’t been for the random call from the credit card company.”

“So how did you find him?” Nikki asked.

“I just guessed where he would stay. He always took his chippies to the Sunset Tower Hotel. Girls. Young girls. The ones barely of legal age. Never adult women. Women like me.” Her voice broke.

“Put your sunglasses on, dear.” Victoria handed them to her. “The sun is bad for crow’s feet.”

Edith gave a little chuckle as she slipped on her glasses.

“So you called the Sunset on a hunch,” Nikki said.

“Yes. I asked for Mr. Atlas’s room. He always checked in as Mr. Atlas.” She glanced at Nikki. “A tribute to his overinflated ego.”

Nikki nodded, but didn’t speak.

“So I asked for Mr. Atlas and, lo and behold, I find that he
has
checked in. Probably wearing one of those stupid disguises he used to use. He didn’t answer the phone. Who knows who he had in his room with him,” she said bitterly.

Edith took another drink of lemonade before she continued. “I suppose Rex eventually got the message that Mrs. Atlas had called. He didn’t call me back, but the next day, Saturday, the day of the party, he let himself in at the front gate.”

“He tried to use an old security code,” Nikki injected. “The one you were using at the time of the plane crash.”

Edith looked at Nikki. “How did you know—”

“Not important, Edith,” Victoria interrupted. “Go on with your story.”

Edith hesitated, then surrendered and continued. “I didn’t know how he got in until Monday, when the security company called. At that point, it no longer mattered. Rex just showed up in my bedroom suite the afternoon of the party. I was alone. Thompson was in his own suite. Rex startled me half to death. I don’t know how he got in without any of the staff seeing him. There was a lot of confusion that day, because of the party.”

“So you argued?” Nikki asked.

“Yes, we argued! He tried to sweet talk me, but I wouldn’t let him touch me. I was just praying Thompson wouldn’t come in and do something crazy, like kill him.”

Victoria looked at Nikki and raised eyebrow.

“Thompson didn’t kill him, Victoria,” Edith said firmly. “It’s not that I wanted Rex dead. I just wanted him out of my life. Permanently. And I told him that. He said he hadn’t meant for me to ever know he was alive. He came back to see Ramirez. Apparently, there
were
money issues.”

Victoria looked at Nikki. Nikki kept quiet.

“Rex said he was leaving the next day and that I would never see him again, if I would just wire him some money every few months.” She looked up at them. “Honestly, I was willing to do that to get rid of him. I couldn’t risk losing Thompson. Not for Rex.” She folded her hands in her lap. “Rex asked me to wait a month and then fire Ramirez and find a new lawyer. Of my own choosing. I was to get all the residuals and then just send him half. It seemed fair enough. And then, of course, he asked that I not tell anyone, not even Thompson, that he’d been there. Or that he was alive.”

Nikki thought about what her mother’s manicurist had said about overhearing an argument with a man that was not Thompson. But Shondra had said Edith had argued with Thompson and that he’d left in a huff and not come back until the party. Nikki decided to follow a hunch. “But Thompson saw him.”

“Yes. As Rex was leaving. I kept Thompson from going after him, but we had a terrible fight.” There were tears in her eyes again. “I was so afraid when he left on his motorcycle like that, that he was going after Rex. That he would do something terrible.” Realizing suddenly what she had said, Edith pressed both hands on the table. “Thompson did
not
kill Rex. He would never kill a man. Not even for me,” she murmured.

Victoria looked directly at Edith. “Be entirely honest,” she said. “Did you follow Rex? Did you kill him?”

Edith surprised Nikki by laughing out loud. “No, I didn’t kill him. There was no need. He didn’t want anyone to know he was alive. He was too pleased with all the publicity his
death
had created. He was too proud to ever want his fans to know that he duped them. No,” she said with what seemed like complete honesty. “As long as I sent the money to his love shack in Tahiti, I was certain I would never hear from him again.” She opened her arms. “So there it is. My confession. Please tell me you believe me, Victoria. I need to know that you know that I’m not a killer.”

Victoria took one of Edith’s hands in both of hers and smiled her gorgeous smile. “Believe me when I say I hope you didn’t do it.”

Chapter 23

B
ack at her real estate-turned-P.I.-office, Nikki learned that getting the information on the car Rex rented at LAX was far easier than she expected. Calling as Edith’s assistant—who was still enjoying her new grandbaby in Tulsa—she learned that Rex had rented a white Mercedes 350 SL on that Friday. The creepy thing was, it was returned to the airport on Sunday. On time. There was no record of who returned it, but the guy she talked to assured her it was clean, with no belongings left inside. Surely he would have mentioned it if there had been blood on the seats. He didn’t say anything about the police. Just to be sure she hadn’t missed anything, Nikki got the name of the attendant who had received the car that Sunday.
Ray
had called in sick, but Nikki made a note in her BlackBerry to call him on Wednesday.

Nikki also found out from a call to Julius, whose number was now in her cell, that even though Rex didn’t check out, he left no suitcase or articles of clothing in the room . . . except for a large lady’s hat. Julius dug it out of lost-and-found and his girlfriend identified the chapeau as the one that the Pretty Woman had worn the night she served Mr. Atlas.