Coffee & Crime (48 page)

Not minding the question, Lily shrugged. "Sure, I guess." Then she grinned like the bad seed that she was. "But I killed him for the money." Casually, she pointed with her gun. "Turn right, we're almost there."

Lily directed me along back roads, then back to Highway One and then off again. I guessed we were in Malibu, but it could've been further north. Finally we turned off the highway onto a road that led us through winding canyons. I reduced my speed because I only had my headlights and the watery moon to guide me.

If the beach had been a great killing spot, the hundreds of acres of undeveloped canyons was better. Eventually a curious hiker would discover my remains after the coyotes had feasted on me. News helicopters would buzz overhead filming as much of the grisly scene as possible. My death would be a headline for a day or two, and then

people would go back to the latest details of their favorite reality show.

I saw the occasional gate closing off entry to some movie mogul's or hedge fund millionaire's estate with access roads that trailed off into the blackness. But it wasn't a neighborhood where people kept tabs on one another. People who lived in these canyons wanted isolation from the masses, urban sprawl and ordinary life. Should a murder or two happen behind twenty-foot gates, that wasn't their business.

Lily nudged me with the gun. "Slow down." I slowed the car to a crawl and we came upon a gated wall that protected a stunning house poised on a cliff to my left. Lily pointed with the gun. "In there."

I turned and nosed the car up the drive. At least I'd die in style, in a beautiful house on a hill, overlooking the canyons. If the murder were grisly enough they might even make a movie about it. I wondered who would play me. "What is this place? Who lives here?"

Lily buzzed down her window to open the wrought iron gate with a clicker. The gate slid open silently. Solar lights lined either side of the long driveway that led up to the estate, as though lighting the way to the heavens. The tires thumped over custom pavers, and I parked the car at the entrance. Stepping out of the car, I spotted Lily's Mini parked by the garage.

Lily snatched the keys out of my hand and shoved the gun in my back. "Inside."

We walked up four wide marble steps to the front door. Solid oak, highly polished and inset with a stained glass window. In her short time in L.A., Lily had certainly learned to live in style. She unlocked the door and pushed me inside.

Even though facing certain death, I couldn't help but ogle the house. It was open, enormous and had walls of windows that looked out on the canyons. Everything was white on white, giving it a feel of cool detachment — as though the owner were above it all.

Lily marched me through to the rear of the house until we dead-ended at a sunroom that faced the canyons — a bank of French doors led out to a balcony which certainly provided a breathtaking view. "Whose house is this?"

Lily growled at me. "Do you ever stop with the fucking questions?"

"What's the harm in telling me? I'll be dead soon anyway, right?" My throbbing face made me feel like I was already half-dead. I shrugged at her. "If you're going to kill me the least you can is answer my questions." Lily stood like a stone and I wondered if the wiring in her head had short circuited. "And on the topic of what's the harm in telling me
—
what is your beef with me? Stealing the diner didn't hurt George, it hurt me."

Lily kept the gun trained on me but seemed in no hurry to kill me. Quietly she said, "Because he loved it. He loved the whole stupid idea of going into business with you. All his plans." She smirked. "The guy had all this money and homes and cars and all he wanted was that stupid-ass diner." She waved the gun around a little too freely for my tastes. "Droning on about you and how he'd have been proud to call you his daughter. You're so brave, so smart, so determined." She glared at me. "He had the nerve to tell me I should try to be like you."

Tears bloomed in my eyes and I missed George anew. "He said that?"

She scowled. "But did he ever try to find my mother? And help her? Did he give a flying fuck that we barely had food to eat? And she was such a loser she wouldn't even try to find him. Said it was too late for a second chance." Lily rolled her eyes and fanned her arms out at her sides. "Can you believe that shit? She was as stupid as he was."

I fanned out my arms and shook my head. "Wow, really? I see what you mean, you destroyed what he cared about to make him as miserable you were, right. And what better way to get back at George than to screw Jake. That must've flipped him out."

Lily looked flat-footed for a second then recovered with a sneer. "Jake was useful. He kept me in the loop, and he didn't suck in bed. So?"

Her response confused me — Jake hadn't been part of her plan, just a happy coincidence. I looked around the room and snapped my fingers. "This is Jake's house. No wonder he had to embezzle funds." I smirked. "What's he going to say if you bloody up his beautiful white home?"

Lily looked down her button nose at me. "What makes you think Jake is coming back?"

"Because it's his house."

She looked at me in disgust. "You really do suck at this detective thing." My response was a blank stare. She flapped a hand at me. "Now that he's in custody, the feds are all over him. They've been after him for a while too." She swept her arm around the room. "This place and everything in it will end up in an auction. He'll never step foot in this place again."

I nodded and grinned. "So, you kept Jake in line by threatening to go to the feds?" I winked. "What'd you do, put a bug in George's office, break into his files? You must’ve done something to find out what George was up to. Or did Jake do that for you?"

Lily smiled smugly. "Like I said, I have my ways."

I nodded in whole-hearted agreement. "You sure do. That whole brownie switching thing. Emptying George's injectors. Putting your boyfriend up as a false witness. Forcing Jake to sic the cops on us. You definitely covered everything."

Lily's smile turned to a glare. "What are you going on about? Jake never did me any favors. Except keeping his mouth shut. Which he really did for himself because he wanted George gone too." Then she realized she'd said too much and glared at me. She circled around me, keeping the gun trained on my chest and opened the balcony door. "Enough of this crap." She pointed the gun. "Out there. Now!"

The wind wailed, and when I backed onto the balcony, it sounded like a freight train hurtled straight for us. My hair whipped at my face and eyes like a thousand razors and my heart pounded with anticipation. I glanced over the balcony railing — if I went over the edge, there'd be little left for the coyotes. A body bag wouldn't be necessary because a zip bag would do the job. I inched toward the exterior wall, trying to get clear of the railing.

"Stop moving," Lily said like a petulant child.

I flicked a gaze over the railing again. "Just trying to avoid an accident."

Lily laughed and snorted. "You crack me up Scotti. That's the whole idea girlfriend. You're going to have an accident. Poor Scotti, she went over the railing and crashed onto the rocks below." She mocked me with a sad face. "Too bad she was too nosey for her own good. If only she'd minded her own damn business!"

I kept inching away from the railing. If I could keep her talking, maybe I could get back to the doors. "Is that how your story goes? Got it all worked out have you?"

Her anger was replaced by a kind of euphoria — as though her dreams were finally coming true. "It'll only be scary for a few seconds. There won't be enough time to feel any real pain."

I pushed my back harder into the exterior wall. What was the deal with Lily and balconies? "Look Lily, you don't want to do this. I get it, you've been hurt by a lot of people. And I'm sorry. But you can still get away. And I'll help you. I'll transfer all the reward money into your account. And the inheritance money too. And I've got about $70,000 that I was saving for the diner but hey, I'll give that to you too." I grinned at her. "What do say?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

I nodded my head. "Absolutely. That's two hundred grand. I know it's not the millions you hoped for, but it's not chump change either, right?" I kept inching. " All we need is a laptop to do the transfer. It'll take five minutes maybe ten tops. After the transfer is done, you can tie me up and leave me here. No one will think to look here. It'll be days before they find me. By then, you'll be hundreds of miles away." I nodded eagerly. "You could even be in Europe by then."

Lily sneered and pointed the gun in a two-handed stance. "Get your ass back over to that railing now." The wind gusted, whipping her hair into her eyes and face but not enough for me to break for it. "Do you hear me?"

I shook my head slowly. "Make me."

Her voice pitched high and whiny. "I'll shoot you right here then."

At that point Lily had held me captive for almost three hours and it dawned on me that she was stalling. She was a nasty little bitch but I didn't believe she had the nerve to pull the trigger. If she really wanted to kill me she could've done it several times by then and hadn't. At heart, Lily was chicken but as long as she had the gun she was dangerous. My best chance was to bait her into coming closer so I could tackle her. I edged closer to the doors. "You're not going to shoot me."

Lily smirked. "I'm not?"

I don't know how authoritative I looked with a head the size of a watermelon, but I did my best to act confident. "If you were going to shoot me, you would've done it at my house." I shook my head. "If you think I’m going to make this easy for you, then you’re wrong. You want me dead, you'll have to throw me over or shoot me, I won't help you." I smirked. "But the thing is, you don't have the nerve to do it. And we both know it."

Lily screamed like a coyote and pulled the trigger. Fire surged through my hip. Stunned, I lifted my shirt and stared at the blood oozing out of the rip in my jeans. "You bitch! Do you know how much I paid for these jeans?"

Lily stared at the gun as though shocked that she'd pulled the trigger. It was now or never. I lunged at her and managed a half-ass tackle around her legs. Not great but good enough to take her down and skitter the gun across the balcony floor.

Lily and I wrestled to get the advantage. Lily scratched. She bit. She pulled my hair. Screaming and flailing legs and arms, she was like a crazed animal ready to fight to the death.

The pain only pissed me off. I pummeled her ribs until her hold weakened and I could throw her off me. As soon as I scrambled to my feet, Lily leapt onto my back, using a fistful of hair as a rein, and she rode me like a pony.

It felt like my scalp was being ripped off my skull, and I screamed. Then rammed my elbow upward and caught her in the jaw. Her grip loosened, and she slid down my back but still held on. With everything I had, I drove my heel down on her foot. Lily screamed and let go. She fell back against the railing, swayed but caught herself before going over.

A few feet away, the gun lay on the other side of the balcony, and I dove for it. Coming down hard on my hip, I groaned and reached for the gun. Lily kicked me hard in the ribs. I heard the crack, and the pain surged through me like a taser. My hand closed around

the gun. I sucked in a deep breath, got another jolt of searing pain, and pushed off the floor. Spinning on my heel, I slammed into Lily, sent her sprawling, and she landed on her back.

Struggling to my feet I trained the gun on Lily. "Thank God, for Pilates." I panted hard and fast. Blood and sweat ran into my eyes and I used my sleeve to wipe my face but it didn't help.

Lily lay on the balcony floor, propped on her elbows and panting. "What are you waiting for bitch? Do it."

I panted so hard my lungs burned. And every breath was like a knife to my side. "I'm not going to shoot you."

She sprung to her feet and charged me. "Then you're one stupid bitch."

But I danced away from Lily's tackle, as any waitress dances away from near collisions a hundred times a day. "Aha!" I cried sending a searing pain through my side. Clutching my injured ribs, I spun on her, but Lily was gone. "Where are you?"

My heart pounded. The wind screamed. Hair lashed my face. I made a full circle limping turn
—
no Lily. Peering through the open French doors, I saw no one waited, crouched and ready to pounce. The wind gusted, pushing me forward like an invisible hand leading me toward dead. I screamed. "Where the fuck are you?"

My insides turned to jelly when I realized Lily had gone over the railing. Slowly, I limped to the railing and looked down to the canyons. A hand grabbed my ankle. I screamed and ducked into a crouch to keep from going over. Lily hung onto the bottom of the railing with one hand with a death grip on my ankle with the other. With clumsy fingers, I pried at her hand. "Let go, you crazy bitch!"

Lily tightened her grasp and dug her fingers into my a boot. "Help me! I don't want to die. Please."

We locked eyes. Human being to human being. If I helped her back to safety, she'd only come after me again. If I let her die, I could never live with myself. No matter how much she deserved it. Neither was a choice I wanted to make.

The wind gusted harder, and my thigh muscles strained when I tried to stand. Every muscle in my body trembled, ached and screamed with pain. How the hell would I pull Lily up over the railing? I had a bullet wound, a cracked rib, and probably a broken