Bosom Bodies (Mina's Adventures) (20 page)

“Nice shirt.” Diego had been holding two steaming mugs of coff
ee inches from her nose the whole
time. H
e h
anded her one, sat the other mug on the coffee table and walked away before she could say a word.
When he returned
,
he
wore
a shirt, baby blue, her favorite color. Focus Mina, focus. “I guess you have a message for me regarding—Angelina?”

He sat next to her, picked up his coffee,
leaned back and
crossed his bare feet on the coffee table, “She was arrested yesterday.” He sipped his brew.

“Arrested? All right. T
ell me more, how did it happen
? Did she resist? Where did they find her?”

“Margo, your friend from West Coast Software, parked her car in perfect view of the complex surveillance camera. When Angelina and a young boy threw a brick through the rear window of Margo’s car and ran off with the dumbbells
,
they were caught in the act by the cam. With
DeFiore
showing up less than five minute after the fact, and a good pic of Angelina’s license plate, he had them picked up in within an hour.”

“Angelina has
a car?”

Diego put his hand under Mina’s
chin and forced her to face him.
“Are you for real? I’m telling you about Angelina breaking into your friend’s car and stealing Ginger’s precious dumbbells, and you are concerned about Angelina owning a vehicle?”

“Because she had me believe she didn’t and needed a ride from me. Okay, I see you
r
point.
So what happened then?” She
stopped herself short of calling Angelina a liar. Mina, the cheater.

“The kid is a minor who did the deed for
twenty bucks
and has nothing to do with anything aside being a stupid kid.
DeFiore
had the dumbbells
X
-rayed hoping to get some answers, and…”

“And? Come on, you are teasing me.”

“And nothing. They are plain dumbbells with a coat of fancy pink paint.”

“No gold, diamonds, drugs?”

“No, sorry.”

“What now?” she asked.

“
DeFiore
is hoping Angelina’s associates are going to pull up tents and move elsewhere before she spills her guts in exchange for a deal. He is also convinced they are going to let you be.”

“Huh, you know what’s bugging me? How did Angelina f
i
nd out about the
dumbbells?
I don’t recall talking about it, so someone else must have known. You think maybe the gym owner?”

“No, I think it’s much closer to home.”

“To whose home?”

“Mina, think really hard
.
”
H
e seemed to have moved closer to her
. S
he felt his body heat through the shirt fabric on her arm. “Angelina went to retrieve the dumbbells the minute she got the info
. T
hat’s why she did such a poor job, no planning.
W
ho did you talk to between your arrival at West Coast Software at noon and the time you spoke to
DeFiore
?”

“
I spoke to Margo on the phone. S
he was in bed. I said hello to Paco
,
and then got in the car with Adams to go see
DeFiore
. Well
,
I spoke to you in the morning, but not about the pink dumbbells.” He rolled his eyes and scooted a little closer. “At the police department it was like
a
desert
ed
city
.
Adams chatted with some old cop
. T
hey looked at photos in the cop’s office
,
and I sat sta
ring at the clock on the wall. T
hen I got lucky, heard Sam laughing and went into her office for a while until she got a call or something and—Sam—I…” She turned to look at Diego, his eyes on her, sucking her in. “Oh, my God, I told Sam.” The simple truth hit her hard
. S
he used her right hand to stop the shaking of her left holding the mug.

Diego
took
the coffee cup from her hands, set it on the table, then put his arm around her shoulders. “Mina, it’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“Sam? She is a
policewoman
. I trusted her and—oh, my
G
od, now I remember, about Ginger. She spoke to me as if Ginger was alive and well
,
and she wanted to know if I returned the dumbbells to Ginger. Ginger was already dead, a horrible death. Why Sam? What’s wrong with her?”

Diego held her, moved the box of tissues closer and handed h
er a handful. She blew her nose;
she felt like dirt. So much for good intentions. God was punishing her.

“Oh, my God, where is Sam now? Is she in prison?
DeFiore
arrested her? Is that why he is in such a bad mood? Maybe he liked her a lot, huh?”
Why was Diego so calm? Did he already know all of this? Was he a good cop or a bad cop?

“I don’t know where Sam is, they need solid proof before they accuse her of being dirty. I’m glad you remember the conversation
. Y
ou need to share with
DeFiore
. An
d you were right about Ginger. S
he was a good person
.
Barbara used her. Ginger grew up in foster homes
. T
hat’s why she wanted to help African orphans
,
and that’s how she had connections in that country. Barbara convinced her to use the seven hundred and fifty thousands dollars she stole to buy blood diamonds. I assume she promised Ginger she would give her a cut to use for the
o
rphans project. Perhaps Ginger didn’t totally trust Barbara and wanted to make sure all the details were in place before she turned over the diamonds
. T
hat’s where you come in, except you don’t have anything or don’t know that you have it. Regardless. Be glad for Ginger’s merciful death.”

“Merciful death? What cruel person are you? She was a beautiful, healthy person, she didn’t need to die.” Mina sat up and moved away from the couch, she felt like the whole world had gone mad.
Merc
iful death
? H
onestly
?

She needed air
;
she was suffocating. Europe looked better by the minute. Mina slid open the patio door like she did the evening before and walked outside. The sky was blue, the color of Diego’s shirt. The color of Br
ian’s eyes. She had it coming. W
hatever w
as going to
happen, she asked fo
r it. Her grandmother was right.
God was punishing her. Maybe she should go to mass. She didn’t even know where there was a Catholic church in Newport Beach.
And Christmas was around the corner.

The rain had left a false sense of cleanliness in the air
. S
he breathed deeply. What now? She revisited in her mind all the bits and pieces she learned from Diego. He said diamonds. He
never
ever mentioned diamonds in any specific way before, just now. And
DeFiore
got mad when she said she was at Diego’s. Maybe
DeFiore
no longer trusted hi
m. M
aybe something happened. When Diego reached over and touched her shoulder, she jumped.

“Mina, sh
ush
.
”
H
e hugged her in spite of her struggling. “I know what’s going through your mind. I’m on your side, but don’t take my word for it. Ask
DeFiore
. Let me explain about the merciful death
remark. N
o, I’m not being cruel. The people who had Ginger were about to do terrible things to her, God granted her a sudden death. In my book that’s a merciful death from the highest source.”

“You believe in God?” She was stunned.

He shrugged
.
“It doesn’t matter what I believe, we all pick and choose our beliefs according to our needs. Let’s go in, please. Today is the last day I have the use of the car, maybe we could shop for your Christmas tree.” While talking
,
he steered her
toward the living room and
locked the patio door behind him.

“If you knew about Ginger’s diamonds, how come you never mentioned
them
? You acted like you were clueless.”

“Mina, I didn’t wa
nt to influence your thinking. H
ad I mentioned diamonds your mind would be trying to picture w
here Ginger would hide jewelry. These are
n
’t those kind of diamonds. T
hey may not even sparkle at
this stage. They may not be cut.
I don’t know. Stop tormenting yourself
. W
h
o knows? If Ginger suspected fou
l play
,
she could have used your name just to muddle the trail.”

Mina stood there in his white shirt, her heart and soul fighting with her brain. Why must life be so hurtful? She needed to
put on
some real clothes
,
and she needed to make wiser decisions.

“About the Christmas tree?” Diego asked.

Christmas tree shopping would get them out in public, better than staying there
,
and she would not be coming back to his condo ei
ther. “Sounds like a great idea.
I’m going to my place to get dressed.”

He nodded, smiled
,
and she knew he hadn’t bought her cheerfulness for a nanosecond.

The place shone glossier than a magazine cover. Maybe the night rain played a role in all that brightness or maybe the Christmas ornaments did. Everywhere Mina looked, she found trees, decorat
ed or not. Plants, potted, silk
or dried. A place like Roger’s Gardens was a pleasure to visit any time of the year, but the Holidays were to this earthy paradise what anniversaries
we
re to marriages.

It wasn’t Mina’s first visit to the upscale nursery. Her mother liked to stroll under the ready
-
to
-
plant
,
multi
-
gallon trees and listen to the gurgling of the do
-
it
-
yourself
,
garden fountains.

Such a long time ago.

Christmas in October was one of this dreamland
’
s
popular
promotions,
and indeed every year the place would be fully decorated and stocked at the beginning of October. It was now a week before Christmas
,
and
seventy-five percent
of the leftover holiday merchandise was on sale
. T
hat was the good part
. T
he bad part? Very little remained to choose from.

Diego walked around the live Christmas trees section, touching the branches, feeling the pine needles between his fingers.

“Wh
at
are you doing that for?” Mina asked.

“Trying to figure out the degree of dryness. How tall a tree do you have in mind?”

“I dunno…this is the first tree I’ve ever purchased. My very first Christmas tree. I’m so excited.”

She grabbed his arm with both hands and tapped her feet in an impromptu dance
. S
he could hardly contain herself and felt like a kid. Her joy reflected in Diego’s smiling eyes.

“Sh
us
h
,” he said, “we are attracting attention.” But she could tell he was catching her festive mood. “Are you doing the
presepio
?” he asked.

Presepio?
She hadn’t heard that word in years. Diego
had
to be Italian.

“No, I don’t have anything
,
not even the
N
ativity. Tell me the truth
. A
re you Italian?”

He stepped closer, tilt
ed his head and stared at her. T
hen he lifted his hand to her face, the tip of the index and the thumb nearly touching, “
T
his much
.
”
H
e smiled.

“I knew it, I kn
ew it,” s
he chanted.