Elizabeth Basque - Medium Mysteries 02 - Silver Lake (11 page)

This was a horrible story, and I had a feeling Garrett wasn’t done. I couldn’t help it, I needed a cigarette. I went to the window and opened it. “Would you mind if I had a cigarette? I asked him. “I’ll blow it out the window.”

At this point, Garrett couldn’t have cared less. “Go ahead,” he said with a wave of his hand.

I lit one up and inhaled deeply. “Then what happened? Please go on.”

“I lost it,” Garrett told us. “My father was dead, and I was grieving, and I was angry. I knew Bella had done it. I didn’t know how, but I was determined to find out. I drove to the house to confront her. I thought of killing her, I was so mad.”

“
I don’t blame you,” Julie said.

“
Yes. The gated driveway was open, no security guards. I ran up the steps and pounded on the door. There was no answer. The door was unlocked, so I went inside, intent on getting the truth out of that bitch.”

I puffed three times on my smoke and stubbed it out on the window ledge, fanning the smoke out.

“What did she say?” I asked.

“
Nothing,” Garrett said. “The house was empty. Bella was gone.”

Chapter Nineteen

“
Gone?” Julie asked.

Garrett glanced at his cell phone. I could tell he was looking at the time. We had been there at least an hour. But I wanted him to finish.

“So, what did you do?” I prompted.

“
What could I do?” he exclaimed bitterly. “The house wasn’t mine. Nothing was. I went upstairs, looking for something to remember my father by.” Mack was surprised at this. “He’d had a portrait done of him a while back. It hung in the upper hallway. It was slashed.”

Simultaneously, Julie and I said, “Ooohhh.”

“That was when I knew for sure,” Garrett went on. “I mean, I realized there was foul play, but that was when it struck my heart. In the master bedroom, all of Bella’s clothes were gone, as well as her jewelry and anything else of value. I did find an old photo of me and my dad, when I was younger. I kept it, and framed it.”

I nodded for him to go on.

“It’s not altogether true that he left me with nothing. I had about a hundred grand. I decided to hire a private detective to help me.”

“
That was a good idea,” I told him. “What did he find?”

“
Well, he did come up with a few things,” Garrett answered. “He found out that the chefs Bella had flown in were really chemists. I gave him more money and told him to dig deeper. But after that, nothing. At least that’s what he said. I paid him a lot more money up front, and he came to me a week later and told me he could no longer work on my case.”

“
That’s odd,” I murmured.

“
I know. I hired another one. Same thing. A few days later, he called, too. Didn’t even have the guts to see me in person. Said he couldn’t help me. By the time the third one I hired told me the same thing, I gave up. The police wouldn’t help, there was no autopsy, and obviously someone was either scaring the P.I.’s or buying them off. By that time, I really was almost broke.”

“
Ask him about the chemists,” Mack said.

I did.

“They were gone,” Garrett’s voice was full of despair. “I couldn’t find them on my own. It all happened so fast, you know? I couldn’t think straight. All of the P.I.s were spooked. I didn’t know what to do.”

It seemed he was finally out of words. Julie and I sat across from him, unable to find any of our own. Mack touched his son’s shoulder lightly, and Garrett did sit up a little straighter. A touch from a ghost doesn’t have to be cold, not when it comes from love. Perhaps I was right. The heart is stronger than the brain.

“I guess I pissed away a little more money. I traveled for a month or so, partying, but also soul-searching. I finally came to the conclusion that my father, however he died, would have wanted me to go on with life. So I did.”

I reached across the desk and patted his hand. “You were right about that, Garrett. You should be proud of yourself.”

“I guess so. It took me four years to find someone suited for me. Lana is the best thing that ever happened to me. And now, you ladies tell me she’s trying to pull something, and your only proof is a bracelet…” He looked out the window in thought. Then he turned to us. “Why would you do such a thing?”

I was taken aback. “I can see how you might be suspicious,” I told him, “but honestly, we’re just trying to help.”

But Garrett didn’t want to hear it. “Maybe you’re working for Bella,” he accused. “I shouldn’t have told you all that.” He rose, and was about to push a button on his phone when his office door opened.

In walked Lana. She smiled at him, but took one look at us and her mouth turned down into a frown. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice cold.

“They were just leaving,” Garrett told her. He crossed the room and kissed her.

Mack didn’t like it at all. It was the first time he’d seen Garrett’s fiancée, and he whooshed over and pushed his hands through Lana. She shivered suddenly.

“I thought I told you to leave Garrett alone,” she said, looking down her nose at me as if I were a dead rodent.

I ignored her. “Garrett, there was one other thing we wanted to tell you…” I didn’t want to tell him about her lover when she was present, but I would if I had to.

“I don’t want to hear it,” he snapped. “I don’t know what you want of me, but let me be clear. No one will ever get the best of me again. I’ve learned my lesson.”

Lana stood next to him, smiling like the cat that ate the canary. “Darling,” she said, taking his hand, “we’ll be late for lunch. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

“No, no, we’re finished here. Miss Ocean, Julie, I would like you to leave now. And don’t come back.”

I knew not to push too much. I would find another time to talk with him. I’d come up with something. “Come on, Julie,” I said as I stood up.

“No,” Mack said firmly.

Again, I forced myself not to look at him. “Another time.” I tugged at Julie’s arm. I didn’t want to cause a scene. Julie let me pull her toward the door.

But Mack was impatient. “Tell him,” Mack said. “Tell him now, before it’s too late.”

“
It won’t be too late,” I whispered. “There’s still time.”

But Garrett and Lana heard me. And of course, what I had just said could be interpreted any number or ways.

Garrett took a long stride and grabbed my arm. “Still time for what? Who are you? Tell me what you want!”

Garrett was intimidating me. Mack was angry with me, he hovered, fuming, arms crossed. For once, I didn’t know what to do.

So, Julie did it for me. She raised her arm and pointed a finger at Lana. “She’s having an affair! We saw her kissing another man! He was driving a car with the logo of a modeling agency on the back window.”

Lana’s face went pale, and then grew red with anger. “How dare you!” she hissed. She pounced toward Julie and slapped her hard across the face.

Julie was about to hit Lana back.
Cat fight,
I thought to myself, but I grabbed Julie and pulled her back while Garrett fought to control his tigress.

A couple of staff appeared in the doorway, curious about the commotion.

“Get them out of here,” Garrett spat, “before I call the police.”

Chapter Twenty

If Mack could have coldcocked the security guard that followed us to our car, he would have. There was another guard watching us exit at the bottom of the parking structure.

“That could have gone better,” Julie said as she gingerly touched her cheek. It was still red from Lana’s slap. I hoped it wouldn’t bruise.

“
I’m so sorry she hit you,” I told her. I balanced the steering wheel with my elbow so I could light a cigarette.

“
You should have given her what she deserves,” Mack growled from the back seat. “I’ve a good mind to teach her a thing or two.”

“
Hmmm,” I said, looking into my rearview mirror at him. He was just an outline, a shadow of himself, or of what I usually saw. His arms were still crossed as if to demonstrate his consternation. The thought of him teaching her “a thing or two” actually had some merit.

I puffed, exhaled out the window. Back on the freeway. “We did get a lot of information. That was thanks to you, Mack. Right? You touched him, and then he told his story.”

“Well, I might be dead but I still have some life in me.” He stared out the window. I could only imagine how he felt. A mixture of emotions; realizing that his son had never abandoned him. Garrett really did try. Anger at the young woman who threatened Garrett now. Garrett’s financial life, and possibly, his physical life, too.

“
Well, we do have time,” I repeated. “The wedding’s about a month away. Surely we can get somewhere by then.”

I realized I was preaching to the choir. Both Julie and Mack were lost in thought. I flipped my cigarette stub out the window with a pang of guilt for littering.

When we got home, the first thing I did was take off my shoes and change into something more comfortable. Julie got a washcloth and wrapped it around some ice for her cheek.

“
She’s stronger than she looks, the skinny bitch,” I remarked. I set about making margaritas. They weren’t my favorite, too sweet for me, but Julie liked them. I poured the ingredients into the blender and switched it on.

Mack was quiet, but it was the kind of quiet that a man has when he’s deadly angry. Dead or alive, angry men made me nervous. I wouldn’t show it, though. I knew Mack would never harm me, no matter how annoying he could be or how mad he got.

I brought Julie a margarita to where she was seated on the couch. “No salt,” I said. “Sorry.”

“
It’s fine,” Julie said, setting the drink down without even tasting it. I tried not to let that irritate me. I sipped my own, and it was pretty good.

“
So, you’re just going to sit here and get sloshed.” Mack’s ghostly figure was back. “That’s ya ansah to everything. Good Christ, woman, how selfish can ya be?”

“
No,” I said, lips pursed. “I’m trying to think. If only Lana hadn’t come in when she did, I’m sure we could have told him what we saw in a more delicate manner.”

“
That Bella must pull a lot of weight,” Julie said. Mack brought himself down to her level and inspected her cheek. The red handprint was fading, but it seemed to make him even angrier. Julie smiled at him and continued, “I mean, who can get someone cremated like that? What did she do to scare off those P.I.’s and even have the coroner in her back pocket to release the body for cremation before an autopsy? It had to have been Bella, right?”

“
Right,” I agreed. “And Lana’s got to be connected with her. How else would she have gotten that bracelet?”

“
We need to let Garrett cool off,” Julie said. “Men need time to process things. Maybe he’ll find out about her cheating on him. At least we told him.”

“
Maybe,” Mack said, “and maybe not.” He rose again. “Julie, I’m sorry about your cheek. You ladies might not be able to do anything right now, but I certainly can.”

He was heading for the door. “What are you going to do?” I asked. “You should wait, Mack. Let things calm down a bit.”

“Why?” he asked. “My son will listen to me, if no one else.”

“
Because you’ll scare him,” I argued.

“
No, but I’m going to put the fear of God into
her,
” Mack called over his shoulder.

“
Wait, Mack!” I hollered.

But it was no use. Mack was gone.

We were both wondering just what Mack planned to do, and although it added tension to an already tense day, neither one of us could think of anything to say.

I got up and went into the kitchen. Those margaritas were pretty good, but I also needed something to eat. Julie came in and together we made some sandwiches.

We took them out onto the patio. A hummingbird zipped over to my feeder and drank, then was gone.

“
It would be fun to watch whatever Mack does,” Julie said, breaking our silence. “I hope he doesn’t go too far.”

“
He’s a wise soul,” I reflected.

“
Yeah, but I’ve never seen him so angry. He’s the type you wouldn’t want to mess with.”

“
I think he’s also the type who would never hurt a woman, though.” I took a bite and washed it down with my drink. “He’s pretty smart. He’ll come back and tell us all about it. You never know, he just might solve all of this himself.”

“
I don’t know,” Julie frowned. “This whole thing is making me uneasy.”

I simply nodded. Things were out of my hands for the moment, but I knew how Julie felt. After learning about Bella, who knew what Lana was capable of? It seemed as if the two bitches were connected, but how?