Sweetie's Diamonds (38 page)

“Why does he want you here?”

She sighed and looked at Gilliam.
 
He nodded to her and she answered, “I have some diamonds that once belonged to him.
 
The Rabinowitzes fenced them for me.”

Belgrad said, “I figured it was something like that.
 
A guy like Valentine probably holds a grudge.”

“Speaking of Valentine,” Gilliam said, “he's looking at us.”
 
The other two casually looked toward Valentine's throne and saw that the big man was eyeing them and speaking to Emo Tuff.
 

“We better split up,” Belgrad said.
 

“We're going to try and get upstairs in the house,” Gilliam said.
 

“Good.
 
See what you can find out and let's meet back here in an hour.”
 
Belgrad shook hands with them, making it appear as if he we were one of Gilliam's fans, and then he walked away.
 

“Come on,” Gilliam said to Diane, pulling her toward the house.

B
efore the party began, Emo Tuff had entered David's room and removed the light bulbs from all of the lamps.
 

“Sorry, David,” he had said.
 
“Can't have you signaling any of the guests from the window.
 
I'll leave you with a candle on the table there and you can still watch TV, but no lights.”

Since then they had left him alone.
 
David knew that a guy was stationed outside his door—if he tried to open the window and shout to someone on the ground, he'd be heard.
 
At this point it would have done little good anyway.
 
So far no one had appeared on his side of the mansion.
 
The party activity was directly in back, in front, and on the opposite side of the house where the portable latrines were set up.
 

Nevertheless David opened the window and stuck out his arm.
 
There was a weak breeze, but was it sufficient to deliver his messages?
 
It was certainly worth a try.
 

David gathered the tiny pieces of paper containing his SOS and dropped a few out the window.
 
They scattered in the wind and fluttered away into the darkness like confetti.
 
He waited a little while and dropped some more.
 
Ten minutes later he let loose with the third and final batch.

D
iane followed Gilliam into the back parlor of the house where yet another bar had been set up.
 
Most people were outside but there were a few who had chosen to lounge within the walls of the palace.
 
Beyond the parlor was a game room, a large dining room, a screening room, the kitchen, and what was referred to as the Grand Hall.
 
This was the first room guests encountered if they came in through the front door.
 
From there dual circular stone staircases led to the second floor.
 

The Grand Hall was empty except for two security men standing at the foot of each staircase.
 
Gilliam approached one of them.

“Hi,” he said.
 

“Good evening, sir,” the guard said.
 

“I'd like to show my date Aaron's collection of erotic paintings upstairs.
 
May we go up?”

“Sorry, sir, the second and third floors are off limits during the party.”

“Aw, come on, you know me, don't you?
 
I'm Pete Rod.
 
Aaron and I are good friends.
 
I come here a lot.”

“Sorry, Mister Rod.
 
I can't let you up unless Mister Valentine accompanies you.”

Gilliam shrugged.
 
“Okay.”
 
He turned to Diane and said, “Come on, honey, I guess we have to go complain to Aaron.”
 
He took her arm and led her out of the Hall.

“What now?” she asked.
 

“Let me think,” Gilliam said.
 
They went back through the house to the parlor, stopped to get two more drinks, and went outside.
 
“Let's circle the house and take a look at the windows.
 
Maybe he's up there and we'll be able to see him.”

“Okay,” she said.
 
Arm in arm, they strolled past necking couples in the shadows.
 
In other dark corners of the grounds they noticed guests using coke spoons and smoking pot.
 
A tent with flaps covered a space strictly reserved for an orgy, already in progress.
 
When Diane peeked inside, a woman beckoned her to join them.
 

“No thanks,” she said and quickly closed the flap.
 

The party was obviously becoming more and more decadent.
 
Gilliam said, “By two o'clock it'll be like ancient Rome.”

They went to the side of the house where the Port-O-Johns were located and looked up at the house.
 
The windows were dark.
 
“Let's try the other side,” Gilliam suggested.
 

On the way they passed two girls looking at a tiny piece of paper.
 
“Who the hell is David?” one of them asked.
 

Diane perked up and said, “Excuse me, can I see that?”

One of them handed the note to Diane and said, “We found it over there on the ground.
 
There's a whole bunch.”

Diane felt her heart rate increase as she recognized her son's printing.
 

David Boston is a prisoner upstairs on the third floor!—Help!

“Eric,” she said breathlessly, “we've
got
to figure out a way to distract those guards and get upstairs!”

D
avid had an idea.
 
If he were to get his heart pumping fast but not enough to hurt himself, perhaps he could fake an attack.
 
They'd have to supply him with medical attention.
 
They wouldn't let him die, would they?
 
It wouldn't be a pretty picture for Aaron Valentine if a kid died during one of his parties.
 
Then, as they escorted him out of the room, he'd make a break for it.
 

It just might work.

He left his position by the window and stood by the bed and nightstand where the call button was located.
 
He figured that if something really did happen to his heart, he'd be right there to punch the button.
 

David began to run in place, slowly at first, and then he increased the speed until he could feel his heart thumping in his chest.

D
iane and Gilliam met Belgrad at their rendezvous and showed him David's message.

“I found one, too,” Belgrad said.

“He must have managed to get them out one of the windows,” Diane said, “but we couldn't figure out which one.
 
I think it's on the other side of the house.
 
At any rate, we have to get upstairs.”

“There are two guys guarding the staircases,” Gilliam added.

“Then those two guys need reasons to leave their posts,” Belgrad said.
 
“What's inside the house?”

“There's a bar in the parlor leading to the back yard,” Diane replied.
 
“Beyond that it looked like, what, Eric, a screening room?
 
Dining room?”

“Yeah, several places where Aaron entertains guests.
 
The kitchen's on the first floor.
 
I don't think there are any bedrooms.”

Belgrad stroked his beard.
 
“Are there a lot of guests in the house?”

“No,” Gilliam answered.
 
“Not many at all.”

“All right, I'll cause a diversion at the bar in the parlor,” Belgrad said.
 
“I'll bet those two security men come to see what's going on.
 
That's when you make your move.
 
You'll need to be ready because there won't be a large window of opportunity.”

“What are you going to do?” Diane asked.

“I'll make a nuisance of myself and hopefully they'll throw me out.
 
I'll get my car and park it outside the gate.
 
And I'll wait for you.
 
If you don't show up in another hour, I'll leave.”
 
He told them the name of his hotel.
 
“I'll go there and wait to hear from you if we don't connect.
 
I'll assume that if I don't hear from you by tomorrow morning that something went wrong.
 
In that case I'll call out the cavalry.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Gilliam said.
 
He held out his hand for Belgrad to shake.

“Thank you for helping us,” Diane said.

“My pleasure.
 
I just want the scumbag who killed the Rabinowitzes.”

“If I were to make a wager,” Gilliam said, “I'd say it was Emo Tuff, the guy with the eye patch.”

“Yeah, I've been checking him out,” Belgrad said.
 
“My sources told me that he's someone on the police ‘watch' list but so far they've never been able to pin anything on him.
 
He's suspected of everything in the book, including murder.”

“I
know
he's a murderer,” Gilliam replied.
 
“I can't prove it, but I just know.
 
You know?”

“Yeah.
 
Look, I'm going to go do my thing.
 
Good luck getting upstairs.”

“Be careful,” Diane said.
 
“Try not to get hurt.”

He winked at her.
 
“Don't worry about me.”
 
Belgrad walked away and went into the house.

“Come on, we better get in position,” Gilliam said.
 
They followed Belgrad into the parlor but kept moving through the house, past the screening and dining rooms, finally stopping to hug the wall just beyond the Grand Hall.
 
A drape had been pulled apart and tied on opposite sides of the archway, allowing them to huddle in the bunch of fabric adjacent to the wall.
 
Gilliam peered through the drape and saw that the two men were still standing firm.

Meanwhile Belgrad approached the bar and asked for a rum and Coke.
 
When the bartender gave it to him Belgrad asked, too loudly, “Why did you do that?”

“Sir?”

“Why did you spit in it?”
 
He purposefully slurred his words and staggered.

“I beg your pardon?”
 
The waiter was puzzled.

“I saw you!” Belgrad yelled.
 
He pointed at the bartender and addressed the other guests in the room.
 
“This bastard spit in my drink before he gave it to me!
 
I saw him do it!”

“Sir, please lower your voice,” the bartender said.
 
“I did not spit in your drink.”

“The hell you didn't!”

A security man standing outside the parlor came in and approached Belgrad.
 
“Sir, you're going to have to calm down.
 
I'm sure he didn't spit in your drink.
 
Perhaps you've had a little too much…?”
 

“Oh shut up!” Belgrad said, belligerently.
 
Then, without warning, he tossed his drink into the security man's face.
 
“I think you've had too much, too!”
 
He laughed obnoxiously as more guests looked into the open door to see what the commotion was.
 
Belgrad set the empty glass down on the bar and waited for the moment he knew was coming—the guard finished wiping his face and lunged at him.
 
Before the man's hands made contact with him, Belgrad let loose with a right hook that sent the guard flying backwards.
 
A couple of women screamed and a man shouted, “Hey!”