In Cold Blonde (12 page)

The five most expensive items on the Bel Air Regent Hotel room service
menu were:  Iranian Ostera Caviar, three hundred and sixty-five dollars an
ounce; Lobster Thermador with Wilted Baby Spinach, sixty-five dollars; Crispy
Duck Confit with Sautéed Fingerling Potatoes, Smoked Mushrooms and Wild
Mushrooms, fifty-five dollars; a twenty-four ounce Rib Eye at fifty-two dollars
and finally, Duo of Foie Gras with Scented Wild mushrooms a paltry forty-five
dollars.  

Of course, the
most
expensive things on any restaurant menu are
the wines and the Bel Air Regent room service menu was no exception.  So Adam
also ordered the priciest wine, a six hundred dollars bottle of Chateau Margaux
’89 to wash it all down.

Adam watched Susie gobble up the caviar.  And that’s exactly what it
looked like.  He’d never seen anyone enjoy something so much.  It was
a far cry from her reaction when she first saw the jet-black pile of fish eggs.

“I’ve never had caviar,” she said staring at the caviar warily. 
“Why would anyone want to eat fish eggs?”

“Because they’re good.  Here, let me make you one.”  Adam
picked up a cracker, doled out a small scoop of caviar, added a little chopped
onion, chopped egg and a dollop of sour cream.  He handed it to her; she
took it cautiously but made no motion toward her mouth.

Adam smiled.  “They don’t charge hundreds of dollars an ounce
because it’s bad, Susie.  Go ahead, you’ll love it, I promise.”

She closed her eyes, slipped the cracker into her mouth and took a
tentative bite. First her eyes popped open, then a smile spread as the
miraculous mixture of salty eggs, crunchy onions, sour cream and egg engulfed
her taste buds.  “Oh, my God,” she said, her mouth still full.  “This
definitely does not suck.”

“Told you.”

She closed her eyes relishing the flavor.  Only one word could
describe her reaction, ecstasy.  And watching her bliss was thrilling for Adam. 
His wife Emily was a spoiled bitch who grew up in Beverly Hills and had probably
been spoon-fed caviar as a baby.  Nothing seemed to delight her any
more.  She’d seen it all, done it all.  She was totally jaded.

But not Susie.  She was like a kid with a new toy and Adam was
surprised how much pleasure
he
was getting from Susie’s happiness. 
 Then he had an epiphany.

“Come work for me.”

“What?”

“Now that I’ve found you I don’t want to let you go.  If I get you a
job with one of my clients who knows when I’ll see you again.  I want you
all to myself.”

Alice looked at him and smiled provocatively.  “What kind of job do
you have in mind?”

“No, I’m serious.  I’ll train you to become an agent.  You’re
smart, beautiful, and ambitious; you would make a fantastic sports agent.”

Alice realized he was serious.  “You’re offering me a job?”

“Not just a job, a career.  You could make enough money to order
caviar whenever you liked.”

She threw her arms around him.  “Yes, I’d love to; Adam, thank you
so much.”  She kissed him.

“Of course,” he said slipping his hand under the robe, rubbing his finger
on her nipple,   “we’re going to need to spend a lot of time together
while I train you.”

“I suppose I could stomach it,” she said, nibbling his ear.

“And I travel a lot, all over the world.  You’d need to come with
me.”  His hand moved to her other breast. 

She purred. “Sounds exhausting, but I’m game.” She kissed his neck.

Then Adam realized something.  “I can’t believe it, I’m hard again.”

“Then I guess we’re just going to have to do something about that,” she
said, slipping off her robe.

“Four times in one night!” Adam reached past her to put down his glass of
wine.  “Okay, I’ve haven’t had sex four times in one day since college. 
Whoops…” his hand hit her purse, knocking it to the floor.  It landed
upside down, spilling most of its contents.    “Shit, I’m sorry,
I’ll get it.” 

“No!”  Alice blurted, leaping off the bed.  “Let me.”

But she was too late, Adam picked up the purse revealing a pile of purse
detritus – including the Colt Vest Pocket .25. 

“Is that a gun?”

“Yes,” she said, picking it up.  “A girl can’t be too careful these
days.”

Something else caught Adam’s eye; he picked it up.  “And a scalpel,
what’s this for?”

Alice said the first thing that came to mind.  “They’re great for
getting stains out of clothes. Just scrape them off and good as new.” 

“What a great idea.”  Adam looked at the blade.  “Guess you
spilled some red wine recently, this blade is filthy.”

Colin Wood’s dried blood, Alice thought.  She’d meant to wipe it off
when she got back to the apartment after killing him, but forgot. 
Shit.  “I spilled wine on a sweater the other day, worked like a
charm.”  She took the scalpel from him, dropped it in the purse along with
the gun. 

Adam reached into the pile to help her refill her purse, coming up with a
Platinum American Express card.  He stared at the name, confused.  It
said Colin Wood.  “What the hell?”

Alice looked up.  Fuck, she thought, Colin’s credit card.  She’d
stolen it as a souvenir to go along with the card she stole from Zachary Stone and
forgotten to take it out of her purse. 

Adam stood up, the Platinum card clutched in his hand.  He glanced
at the TV remembering the news report of Colin’s murder.  His face clouded
as pieces of an impossible puzzle tried to fall into place.  When he
looked back at Alice, she had the gun pointed at him. 

“Where were you last night between midnight and 2:00 a.m.?”

“I was in the Havoc parking lot killing that pig, Colin Wood.”

Ryan and Syd exchanged astonished look. 

Then Kathy Tuttle laughed.  “Just kidding,” she said.  “I was
home, asleep like almost everyone else in L.A.”   They were standing
in the Tony Roma’s manager’s office.  Kathy Tuttle was beautiful; jet
black hair, blue eyes, sex appeal that sizzled through her low cut,
tuxedo-style waitress uniform and an effusive personality. 

Ryan asked, “Can anyone confirm that?”

“Sure, the guy who sits in this office, Cameron, the manager.  We’ve
been dating about six months.”

Syd made a note to confirm the alibi.  “We understand you got a
check from Colin’s father for half a million dollars three years ago,” Syd
said.  “With all that money, why are you working as a waitress?”

Kathy
laughed.  “Because the money’s gone.  I spent every last penny and
then some.”

Kathy took a pack of cigarettes out of
her pocket, tapped one out.  “You mind if I smoke?”  She lit up
without waiting for an answer, opened a desk drawer and pulled out an ashtray. 
“I was poor all my life and had this list of things I would buy myself if I
ever hit the Lotto, which was stupid because I never even played the Lotto. 
Then Colin rapes me, and deep down I wanted to send that prick to jail, but then
his father offered me all that money, and well, I sold out.  Half a
million dollars, I mean,” she looked at Syd.  “What would you have
done?”  Then, without waiting for an answer, she went on.  “Exactly,
it was a no brainer, right.  I mean all that money!”

“Irresistible, absolutely,” Syd said and shot Ryan a look.  Ryan had
explained his ex-wife’s idea for keeping the money to Syd on the drive
over.  Syd hated the idea but had kept her feeling to herself, for the
time being. 

“So I bought shoes, clothes, a new car – a red Mini if you must
know, went to Hawaii, Vegas – Vegas was a huge mistake; I lost thousands
playing blackjack.”  Kathy breathed in a lung full of smoke, shook her
head.  “I was, in a word, incredibly idiotic.  Wait, that’s two
words, isn’t it?”

“Money is the ultimate temptation,” Ryan said, the resonance not lost on
him.  “Could you tell us more about what Colin Wood did to you, about the
rape itself?”

Kathy eyed him suspiciously.  “Why?  I told you I didn’t kill
him.”

“His father suggested the murder might have been self defense,” Syd
said.  “Maybe he picked up a girl in the bar, tried to force himself on
her and she killed him protecting herself.”

Kathy sucked in another lung full of smoke.  “I wouldn’t know about
that,” she said.  “He raped me in my apartment and it was a slow motion
sort of rape, not groping me in a car.”

“I don’t understand,” Syd said.

“We met at a wrap party for this movie a friend of mine worked on and
Colin was there. We talked, he was charming and all, but I drank too much, and
he offered to drive me home.  When we got there, I invited him in for a
drink, to be polite you know; I never sleep with a guy on the first
night.  We had some wine, made out for a little while, and then I asked
him to leave because I had to get up early.  He said he’d come to bed with
me, and I said no; I’d just met him.  Please leave.  He didn’t budge,
just kissed me again.  So I kiss him back then said, now I’m going to bed,
goodnight.  But he doesn’t move, just pulls me to him and kisses me
again.  He’s trying to wear me down, you know,” she said to Syd. 
“Just keep making out until I fuck him to get rid of him.  But I’m not
that drunk and now I’m starting to get mad.  I tell him to leave. 
Instead, he tried to kiss me again, but I’m not playing anymore and I turn away
from him.  That pisses him off; he calls me a prick teaser and tears at my
clothes, forcing my legs open and that’s when the son of a bitch raped
me.  When he’s done, he pulls his clothes back on and actually asked for
my phone number.  Can you believe it?”

“Did you go to the police?” Syd asked.

“Almost.  I mean, I was going to but Jenny, that’s the friend I
called after he left, suggested going to a lawyer first.  She’d been
through a similar situation and the cops made it all sound like her
fault.  She said date rape was almost impossible to prove, especially
since I invited him into my apartment, and I needed a lawyer to protect
myself.  So we call her uncle, he’s a lawyer down in Orange County, tell
him the story, give him Colin’s name and he says he wants to check a few things
out and he’ll get back to me.   He calls back the next day, says we
could go to the police if I want, but he thought if we threatened a lawsuit, we’d
collect a lot money.”

“Just because Colin was an actor?” Syd asked.

“Well, a date rape charge can certainly be a career killer, and Colin’s
father was rich, so he’d probably be willing to step up to save his son.  But
my lawyer also said Colin had been in trouble before for the same thing.”

“Date rape?” Ryan asked.

“I guess; I never heard the specifics.  It happened a long time ago,
in high school, I think. My lawyer had heard some rumors, thought we could
pressure Colin and his dad.  And he was right.”  She stubbed out her
cigarette.  “The case was settled after just a couple of phone calls.”

 “Sounds like he had something to hide,” Ryan said, cutting his eyes
to Syd.  “Did you talk to the lawyer when you got Kathy’s phone number?”

“No, he was out of town.  His assistant gave me Kathy’s number.”

Ryan checked his notes.  “I’m going to call Nick Wood and ask
him.”  Ryan found the number, pulled out his cell phone and dialed. 
After a moment he frowned, “Voice mail,” he said to Syd.  Then he spoke
into his phone, “Mr. Wood this is Detective Ryan Magee; something has come up
and I need to talk to you immediately.”  Ryan left his number and hung up.

“You know it’s kind of funny,” Kathy Tuttle said.  “If I had pressed
charges and Colin Wood was sent to jail three years ago, he’d still be alive. 
Ironic, huh?” 

“Damn it, Adam, you’ve ruined everything.” 

“What?  I don’t understand.”  He held out the Platinum card. 
“How did you get this?  Did you kill Colin?”

She nodded. 

“And you’re going to kill me?”

Any thoughts of sparing Adam were dashed now.  How could she build a
life with him once he knew she was a murderer?  There will be no happy
ending tonight.

His eyes went from the gun to her face.  “Are you?”

Another nod.

“Why?”

And then she realized her previous mistakes.  Colin Wood and Zachary
Stone died without knowing why.  Stone was happily walking to a restaurant
to meet a hot blonde.  Wood was getting a blowjob from the same hot blonde.  
What good was revenge if the victim doesn’t know retribution is at hand? 
Well, Adam would know.   

“Look at me Adam, really look at me.”

He did. This was Adam’s first brush with death and, while some people
report an almost supernatural clarity giving them time to react, Adam’s usually
nimble brain ramped to slow motion.  Panic swept through him: his vision
narrowed, his heart pounded, he could barely catch his breath.  “Don’t
kill me, please.  Take my wallet, my watch, anything you want.  Just,
please, don’t kill me.”

How pathetic, Alice thought.  How could I have been in love with
such a pussy?  “Don’t beg, Adam.  Concentrate.  Look at
me.  I need you to remember.”

“Remember what?”

“Me.  Alice.  Alice Waterman.”

Adam’s mind was glue.  Alice Waterman?  Who the fuck was Alice
Waterman?  And then he remembered.  It was Blake’s eighteenth
birthday and they wanted to have a little fun.  They’d gotten a bottle of
Rohypnol, the date rape drug, from Blake’s older brother.  Colin had
noticed how that loser Alice Waterman was always following Adam around like a
puppy dog.  She wasn’t very pretty but she did have decent tits and word
was, she put out.  So they came up with this stupid plan to get her
drugged up, and play around with her a little bit.  But it had gotten out
of hand.  Way out of hand. 

The woman in front of him was a beautiful blonde.  Alice was a
mousey brunette.   He looked at her trying to remember Alice’s
face.  Nothing. 

“Do you remember the bus trip we took together senior year?  The
field trip to the Getty center?”

It’s amazing how an incident can mean so much to one person and nothing
to the other.  Alice fell in love with Adam on that two-hour trip. 
He had absolutely no memory of it.  But he was staring at a woman with a
gun leveled at his head so he said, “Yes, of course.”

She smiled, sadly.  “No, you don’t.”

He deflated. “No, I don’t.”

“We sat next to each other.  We talked.  You were very nice to
me.  You told me you were an only child, that you always wanted a
brother.”

He remembered their conversation in the bar earlier.  “And that’s
why you said you always wanted a sister.”

She nodded. 

Adam was starting to get his bearings now, his brain finally kicking into
gear.  He had to talk his way out of this or she was going to shoot him. 
And a successful agent is nothing if not a great salesman.  “Look, Alice,
I am so sorry for what happened in high school.  I never meant to hurt
you.  But you can’t deny that something happened between us tonight,
something wonderful.” 

“It did,” she said.  “I felt it, too.”

A ray of hope lit a corner of Colin’s brain.  “So that’s all that
matters.  Us.  You and me.  Fuck Colin Wood.  I’m glad he’s
dead.  I won’t tell anyone you killed him, I swear.  Put down the
gun, let’s talk and try to figure this out.” 

“Ever wish you had a time machine, Adam?”

“What?” 

“A time machine, like in the movies.  I do.  And I always go
back to the same moment in time.  I’m sitting on the quad that day in high
school when you came up to me and asked if I wanted to go to a party.  I
saw Colin and Blake behind you, these evil grins on their faces.  Deep
down I knew it was too good to be true.  But I was such a sap, and so in
love with you I ignored all the warning bells and said yes.  That’s my
destination, Adam, that moment my lips formed the word
yes.
  If I’d
only said
no,
you wouldn’t have drugged me.  You wouldn’t have
raped me.  I wouldn’t have spent all those years locked up in that hell
hole.”

“I want to take that time travel trip with you,” Adam said.  “Because
if I could, I never would have let Blake talk me into asking you in the first place.”

“It was all Blake’s idea?”

“Yes, absolutely.” Then something occurred to Adam.  “Is he, I mean,
have you killed him, too?”

“No, not yet.  He’s on my To Do list for tomorrow.”

My To Do list for tomorrow.  She said it as matter of fact as saying
she needed to pick up a gallon of milk.  This woman is absolutely nuts, Adam
realized.  And if he didn’t get that gun away from her, he was
dead.   “Tell you what, this is all Blake’s fault anyway, right? 
I mean he talked me into asking you over that night.  So, let me help you
kill Blake.  Let me prove to you how much I care about you.”

 Interesting idea, Alice thought.  She cocked her head,
weighing Adam’s commitment.  “You would do that for me?  Help me kill
Blake?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Commit murder?”

He was willing to say whatever he had to.  “Yes.”

Alice was starting to enjoy this.  He was like a puppet on a
string.  Ask a question that he thinks only has one answer and watch him
perform. “Do you love me, Adam?”

Just the slightest hesitation before he said, “Yes.”

“Are you willing to spend eternity with me?”

“Yes.  Eternity.”

“Good.  But you go first.”  She pulled the trigger.

The Colt Vest Pocket .25 made a delicate POP and sent a 6.4mm bullet at 815
feet per second into Adam’s left eye.  The POP of the gun was not much
louder than a champagne cork being popped, a sound that would certainly go
unnoticed in the plush hallways of the Bel Air Regent Hotel.  But because the
45 grain bullet had a soft tissue route into Adam’s brain, it inflicted maximum
damage as it shredded the septum pellucidum, corpus callosum and a good part of
the cerebrum.

Alice watched Adam’s lifeless body crumble to the ground.  Poor Adam,
she couldn’t blame him for lying to save his life, but she did wish he’d gone
out with a little more dignity.

Tears fell as she looked at the lips that had kissed her, the arms that
had held her and the hands that had caressed her.  Tonight was a night she
would cherish for the rest of her life.  Right up until the moment she’d
had to kill the only man she ever loved.