Sweetie's Diamonds (43 page)

“We're twins, aren't we, Sweetie?
 
You have to pull through!”

Sweetie didn't say anything.
 
Sweetie didn't move.
 

Diane expected to find blood on her clothes, the way she had that night, but there wasn't any.
 
She was still wearing the gaudy bra/panties/garter belt outfit and was drawing a great number of stares from other hospital visitors.
 

“Here, I brought you something,” Belgrad said, handing her a bag from the hospital gift shop.
 
Inside was a large, white knee-length T-shirt decorated with candy canes.
 
It was meant to be a sleep-shirt.
 

“Oh, thank you,” Diane said.
 
“You'd think I was sitting here naked from the way people are ogling me.”
 
She slipped it on and covered herself, feeling immensely less vulnerable.
 

“Any word?”

“Not yet.”

Belgrad looked at his watch but didn't mention how late it was.
 
He could see that Diane was terribly upset and it reminded him of his own personal baggage.
 
Like him, the woman had a past that had exacted a price from her, both spiritually and emotionally.
 
He knew this was so, simply by looking into her eyes.
 
She was damaged and he empathized with the destruction he saw.
 
He had gone through analysis for years and at the very least he understood why the demons of his own history fueled what he did for a living today.
 
He worked on the edge of danger and death because that's what it took to confront the devils and face his fears.
 

He wondered if Diane understood it, too.
 
His gut feeling told him that she didn't have a clue.
 
It was too bad that he found her damnably attractive.
 
Or was it?

A man wearing a white coat emerged from the swinging doors, looked around, and focused on them.
 
He came over and asked, “Mr. and Mrs. Boston?”

“I'm Mrs. Boston,” Diane said.
 

“I'm Doctor Crane,” the man said.
 
He was probably in his late thirties, good-looking, fit.
 
He sat in a chair beside them.
 
“David is fine,” he said.

“Oh, thank God,” Diane muttered.
 
She put a hand to her mouth and the tears flowed.

The doctor held up his hand and warned, “But he's not out of the woods.
 
To tell the truth he's had a terrible strain on his heart.
 
The aortic regurgitation that he's experienced in the past is much worse.
 
We've got him on oxygen and a sedative, and he's going to need rest.
 
I'd like him to stay in the hospital for at least twenty-four to forty-eight hours so we can observe him.
 
I don't think there're going to be any problems but I want to make sure.
 
Cardiac arrest is a distinct possibility with Marfan syndrome, but I suspect you know that.”

She nodded and took a tissue from her purse to wipe her face.
 

“I understand you're not residents of California?” the doctor asked.

“That's right.”

“Then I suggest as soon as you get home that he see his doctor.
 
I think the time has come for him to have that aortic valve repaired.
 
You'll find he'll be able to live a much fuller life once that's done.”

“Thank you, doctor.
 
Can I see him?”

“Sure.
 
Try not to excite him.
 
I've already told him that he'll be here overnight and possibly tomorrow night.”
 

Belgrad said to her, “You go on.
 
I'll wait here.”
 
Diane stood and went with the doctor back into the treatment area.
 
David was lying with an IV in his arm and an oxygen mask on his face.
 
His eyes were open and they brightened when he saw her.

“Honey, how do you feel?” she asked, putting a hand on his forehead.
 

“Okay,” he said through the mask.
 

“You're going to have to stay here a while, is that all right?”

He nodded.
 

“I'll bet you're exhausted.
 
Get some sleep.
 
I'm probably gonna go to a hotel and I'll be back to see you tomorrow.
 
Okay?”

He nodded again.

“Don't worry about those awful men.
 
They don't know you're here.
 
You'll be safe.
 
And our new friend Nick will be watching out for us.”

David nodded once more.
 

She leaned over to kiss his forehead.
 
“I'm glad you're okay.
 
We're gonna get through this.
 
And I want to say, well, I want to tell you that I'm sorry this has happened.
 
It should never have involved you.”

Tears welled in his eyes.
 

“And I'm sorry about your father,” she continued.
 
“You know it wasn't me that did that, don't you?”

He nodded as a drop rolled down his cheek.
 

She kissed him again.
 
“I love you.
 
Feel better.
 
I'll see you tomorrow.”

Belgrad gave her a comforting hug when she returned to the waiting room.
 
“Thank you,” she said.
 
“For everything.”
 

“Do you have a place to stay?” he asked.

She shook her head.
 
“I was staying with Eric.
 
Where do you suppose they took him?”

“I don't know.
 
We really should try to find him.”

Diane got an idea.
 
“The warehouse.
 
They probably took him there.”

“The one in Santa Monica?”

“Yes.
 
If it's still there.”

Belgrad said, “His company's warehouse is still there, all right.
 
I did a lot of checking up on Valentine before I came out here.
 
Let's go take a look.”

I'
m in the hospital in Los Angeles.
 
I asked the nurse for a piece of paper to write on because I don't have my journal with me.
 
Mom's got it in Nick's car.
 
He helped us and he seems like a good guy.
 

I'm really tired and I'm going to sleep in a minute but I wanted to write down some thoughts before I forget them.

Mom came and rescued me from Aaron Valentine's mansion.
 
I got very sick and something bad happened to my heart.
 
I might need an operation soon.
 
Despite all that, this has got to be the most exciting day of my life.
 
Mom was incredible.
 
She was like some kind of superhero.
 
I couldn't believe that she climbed down that thing outside the window at Valentine's house.
 
And then she whacked Emo and those other guys with that umbrella and they fell into the swimming pool.
 
I was really out of it but when we were in the car being chased on the freeway, it was right out of a movie.
 
I remember some of it.
 
I think Mom fired a gun.
 
She's really brave and I'm proud of her.

I don't care if she was a porno actress.
 
She's the best Mom in the world.

T
hey stopped by Gilliam's house in Van Nuys just to make sure he hadn't escaped from his captors and gone home.
 
Diane got her hopes up when she saw the Porsche in the driveway beside her Malibu.
 
She let herself in with the key he had given her, but as she feared, found no one at home.
 
How did the car get there?
 
While pondering that puzzle, she took the opportunity to change into blue jeans and a blouse and then rejoined Belgrad in the Lexus.
 

“I take it he wasn't there?” Belgrad asked as they drove away.

“No.
 
How did his Porsche get here?”

“I imagine they brought it here.
 
If anything happens to Mister Gilliam then they can claim he left the party.”

Belgrad pulled into a gas station a few blocks away from Gilliam's house.

“Are we out of gas?” Diane asked.
 

“No, there's something I need to do,” he answered.
 
He popped the trunk, got out of the Lexus, and took a moment to examine the scrapes and scratches the car had sustained during the chase.
 
He shrugged and then went around to the rear of the vehicle.
 
Diane got out and joined him as he removed a five-gallon plastic container for gasoline.
 
She noticed that there was also a crate of empty Coke bottles and a pile of rags.

“What's all that?”

“For emergencies,” he said, winking at her.
 
He swiped his credit card in the gas pump and began to fill the container.
 
Diane, puzzled, picked up one of the empty bottles.
 

“I don't understand,” she said.

“You will later.”
 
He topped off the container, sealed it, and placed it back in the trunk.
 
“Ready to go?” he asked.

They got in the car and took off for Santa Monica.

D
arren Marshall had to drive the thirty-five miles back to Midland to check into a hotel.
 
Garden City was such a wasteland that there weren't any commercial hotels in sight.
 

He had spent the rest of the day in Glasscock County attempting to track down Manuel Delgado, the man the librarian had told him about.
 
There was no phone number listed in the tiny Garden City directory, so Marshall obtained a rough sketch of the surrounding areas from the woman and an approximate location of the Barnett ranch.
 
A barbed wire fence lined Highway 33 North and there was supposed to be a break in it “seven or eight miles” from the center of town, where a cattle guard and a dirt road jutted off to the left.
 
Marshall drove ten miles on the highway but never found the turnoff she mentioned.
 
Since the sun had set and visibility was nil, Marshall figured he might have better luck during daylight hours.
 

He was beginning to wonder if he was on a wild goose chase.

“Y
ou think David will be all right?” Diane asked.

“Sure.
 
He's in good hands,” Belgrad replied.
 
“Has he ever been in the hospital before?”

“Yeah.
 
He doesn't like it much.”

“Who does?
 
But he knows the ropes.
 
He'll be fine.”

“I hope so.
 
I'm worried.”

They drove into Santa Monica and headed west, closer to the ocean.
 

“Have you thought about what you're going to do back in Illinois?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean eventually you're going to have to go back and face the music.
 
You're wanted for murder, you know.”