Sweetie's Diamonds (39 page)

Belgrad turned back to the bar and with a sweep of his arm knocked a row of clean empty glasses to the floor, shattering them.
 
“Oops!
 
Somebody made a mess!” he shouted and laughed hysterically.
 
By then the guard had recovered and spoke into his headset.
 
He then got on his feet and threw a bear hug around Belgrad in an attempt to restrain the unruly guest.
 

Diane and Gilliam watched the two staircase guards react to the call for assistance in the parlor.
 
One of the men said, “I'll go.
 
You better stay here.”
 
The guard nearest to them walked toward the archway.
 
Gilliam threw the drapery over their bodies as he went past.
 

“What now?” Diane mouthed.
 
There was still a man obstructing the passage upstairs.

Belgrad allowed the guard to wrestle with him for a few seconds and then he made his move.
 
He slammed his right elbow into the guard's stomach and then back-kicked the man in the kneecap.
 
The guard yelped in pain and released Belgrad.
 
By then the staircase guard had come into the parlor and rushed at Belgrad.
 
Belgrad bent his body just enough to avoid the man's outstretched arms and at the same time grab hold of the assailant's waist.
 
Using the guard's forward momentum, Belgrad swung the man around and slammed him into the bar.
 
Now guests were running out of the house.
 

“Why don't you guys crash your own party?” Belgrad slurred.

The noise of the fight could be heard all the way in the Grand Hall.
 
The remaining guard spoke into his headset.
 
“Is everything all right?
 
Do you need me?”
 

Gilliam looked at Diane said, “Shh.”
 
He left her there and rushed into the Grand Hall.
 
“Hey,” he said to the guard.
 
“They need your help in there.
 
Some guy's gone crazy!”
 

The sole security man followed Gilliam through the archway, leaving the staircases wide open.
 
Diane emerged from behind the drape and quickly ran up to the second floor.

Gilliam entered the parlor and watched in amusement as the three guards attempted to subdue Belgrad but the hairy man was too slippery for them.
 
Still maintaining the fiction that he was drunk, Belgrad managed to slither out of their grasps, deliver a punch, and spin around to break another piece of furniture.
 

Finally, the first guard said, “Aw, to hell with this.”
 
He drew his gun, a Heckler & Koch semi-automatic, and pointed it at Belgrad.
 
“Freeze, asshole.
 
I mean it!”

Belgrad stopped moving and slowly held up his hands.
 
“Gee whiz, fella, there's no reason to get personal,” he said.
 

At that moment, Emo Tuff entered from the back yard, followed by Aaron Valentine.
 
Tuff said, “What the fuck is going on here?”

The first guard kept his gun on Belgrad.
 
“This guy's had too much to drink,” he said.

“Frisk him,” Tuff ordered.

One of the other guards patted down Belgrad and found the Browning.
 
“The guy's carrying!” he exclaimed.
 
He held it out to Tuff, who took it and examined it.
 

“Who are you?” he asked Belgrad.

Belgrad shrugged.
 
“I'm the fiddler on the roof.
 
Don't you recognize me?”

“He's a cop,” Valentine said.
 
“Throw him out.”

“I'm not a cop,” Belgrad said.
 
“But throw me out anyway, it's a lousy party.”

The three guards took hold of Belgrad and forced him out of the parlor toward the front of the house.
 
Tuff started to follow but Valentine stopped him.

“He was talking with Eric and that girl earlier.
 
As soon as you get rid of him, find them,” Valentine ordered.

Tuff nodded and went after the men.
 
Outside the front door he emptied the Browning of its ammunition, put the bullets in his pocket, and gave the gun to one of the guards.
 

“Don't give it back to him until he's in his car and out the gate,” Tuff said.
 
He turned to Belgrad and warned, “I don't ever want to see you again.”
 

“But can we still be friends?” Belgrad asked sweetly.
 
The guards roughly escorted him to the parking lot.

U
pstairs, David had run all he could.
 
He felt dizzy and had to sit on the bed to catch his breath.
 
His heart pounded furiously and he thought he might have overdone it.
 
He didn't want to
really
have a heart attack!

Suddenly the pain ripped through his chest and he gasped for air.
 
It was like the night in the field when he ran away from Emo Tuff.
 
He couldn't breathe.
 
His lungs wouldn't cooperate no matter how hard he tried to inhale.
 
He was unable to take in the amount of oxygen his heart needed to sustain the exertion.
 

Don't faint!
he willed himself.
 
Take it easy!

But the shadows crept in from the sides of his vision.
 
At first he thought he didn't have his glasses on but when he felt his face, they were there.
 

David knew he should call someone, and quickly.
 
He reached for the call button, but as he did so he slipped off the bed to the floor.
 
As darkness overcame him, David wasn't sure if he had pushed the button or not.

D
iane went down the second floor hallway, listening at doors and softly calling David's name.
 
She found a massive library full of books but devoid of humans, an art gallery that displayed numerous photographs and paintings of nudes and other erotic works, and rooms that served as offices.
 
A corridor hidden behind a curtain led to what Diane presumed to be Valentine's private study and master bedroom but the door was locked.
 
There were two other bedrooms on the floor and both were empty.
 
Satisfied that her son wasn't on this level, she made her way back to the staircase and ascended to the top floor.
 

As soon as she was on the landing she saw the security guard sitting outside one of the doors in a long hallway.
 
The corridor was lined with several wooden doors, much like a hotel.
 
Guest bedrooms, she thought.
   

Could that be David's room?
 
The one where the man was posted?
 
It made sense.
 
How could she get him away from there?
 
She moved around a corner so that he wouldn't see her and considered her options.
 
She could approach him and try to talk him out of leaving his position.
 
She could break something on the stairs and perhaps he'd go to investigate but she would still have to get past him on the way down.
 

To hell with it, she thought.
 
She'd worry about getting out once she had David.
 

All of a sudden she heard a bell ring, much like a telephone.
 
The guard looked up and turned his head toward the door.
 
He stood, knocked, and called a name.
 

Did he say “David”?
 
Diane peered around the corner and watched him closely.
 

The guard took a key out of his pocket, unlocked the door, opened it, and went inside.
 
Diane held her breath.
 
Was this her chance?

The man came running out of the room with a look of panic on his face.
 
He was speaking rapidly into his headset as he made his way for the stairs, but he had left the door open.
 
Diane flattened herself against the wall as he passed her on the landing and descended the stairs, two at a time.
 

It was now or never.
 
Diane ran down the hall and looked in the room.
 

“David!” she cried when she saw the unconscious boy lying on the carpet by the bed.
 
She closed the door, knelt beside him, and took his arm.
 
She felt a pulse and muttered, “Thank God.”
 
She shook him and gently patted his face.
 
“Wake up, David, it's mom!
 
David!”

His color was pale but she could see he was breathing, although it was shallow.
 

“Please, David, wake up!”

She shook him again and the boy seemed to stir.
 
“David?
 
Can you hear me?”

“Mom…?” he whispered.
 
He inhaled deeply and his eyes fluttered.
 

“Oh, David, thank God!” she cried as she raised his limp torso to her chest and hugged him.
 
Then she remembered they had to get out of there—fast.
 
“David, can you get up?
 
We have to get out of here.
 
Can you do it?”

“Mom?”
 
He was attempting to focus on her.
 
Diane realized that his glasses were on the carpet beside them.
 
She picked them up and gently placed them on his head.
 

He could see her now.
 
“
Mom
?”
 

The wig.
 
She laughed for a second and tore it off.
 
“Sorry, it was a disguise.
 
Yes, it's me!”

“How did you get in here?”
 
His voice was weak and fragile.
 

“Long story.
 
Listen, David, we
have
to get out.
 
They'll be coming any second.
 
Can you stand up?”

“I'll try.”
 
He put a hand on her shoulder to support himself as she helped him up.
 
He leaned against her and took another deep breath.

“Gosh, David, I'd forgotten how tall you are,” she said.
 
“What happened, did you have an attack?”

He nodded.
 
“Let's go.”

“Are you sure?”

“We have to, don't we?”
 

She walked him to the door, opened it, and peeked into the hallway.
 
So far, so good.
 
“Hurry,” she said.
 

He was barely able to keep up with her.
 
She held on to his waist and let him lean into her as if they were in a three-legged race.
 
Just as they made it to the landing she heard voices below, and they were growing louder.
 

“Damn,” she muttered.
 
“Quickly, David, this way!”
 
She took him back down the corridor and could now hear the men on the stairs between the second and third floors.
 
She tried the first door on the opposite side of the hall from David's room and was relieved to find it unlocked.
 
Diane pulled her son inside and closed the door just as Emo Tuff, David's guard, and another man stepped onto the landing.
 

It was another bedroom, probably one used for guests.
 
Apparently someone currently occupied it, for there was an open suitcase on the floor, clothes were thrown about, and the bed was unmade.
 
The inhabitant was thankfully not there—most likely at the party, Diane thought.