Sweetie's Diamonds (40 page)

She heard the men pass by the door on the way to David's room.
 
“Sit here,” she said to David as she helped him to the bed.
 
“Wait just a second.”
 
She then went to the door and quietly opened it a crack.
 

The men were just going into David's room.
 
Three seconds later she heard shouting and Tuff stormed back into the hallway, followed by the other men.
 

“He tricked you, you fool!” Tuff said.
 
“Find him.
 
Search every goddamn room!
 
I'm going downstairs to look.”
 

Diane shut the door and went back to David.
 
“Quick, David, let's get under the bed!
 
Hurry!”
 
It was a king so there was plenty of room.
 
Once they were underneath, she reached up and pulled a loose sheet down so that the space between the box springs and the floor was covered.
 
They could hear doors opening and closing up and down the hall as the men searched for the missing boy.
 
Finally, the door to their room opened.
 
Diane held her breath as she heard footsteps enter, circle the room, move to the bathroom, then back and out the door.
 
She waited a few moments and then whispered, “Okay.”
 
They slid out from under the bed.
 

“Are you all right?” she asked.
 

David nodded.
 

She went to the door and once more opened it a crack.
 
The men had finished searching the rooms in the hallway and were now heading to other parts of the house.
 
She shut the door and turned back to her son.

“Now we have to find a way to get downstairs without being seen,” she said.
 
“Got any ideas?”

David pointed to the window.
 
It was on the opposite side of the house than his had been.
 
“Try that,” he said.
 

Diane went to the window and pulled back the drapes.
 
She could see the Port-O-Johns down below and several people milling about waiting for their turns to use them.
 
She unlatched the window and opened it.
 

“There's a trellis attached to the wall,” she said.
 
It was made of metal and covered with vines.
 
She took hold of the top strip and tried to shake it.
 
It was sturdy and strong.
 
“David, I think we can climb down this thing.
 
Can you do it?
 
Are you strong enough?”

He nodded even though he wasn't sure.
 
He still felt woozy and a little nauseated.
 
The excitement of the escape, though, had activated his adrenaline supply and this was doing him a world of good.
 

“Then let's do it,” she said.
 
“You want to go first?”
 

“It doesn't matter.”

“You go.”
 

He stood by the window and put one leg out and over the sill.
 
He found a foothold on the trellis and then swung his other leg out.
 
The breeze of the night air felt good and it helped to invigorate him even more.
 

“Can you do it?” Diane asked.
  

“Yeah.
 
Come on,” he answered as he worked his way down the ladder-like structure.
 

Diane watched him go a ways and then she said, “I'm throwing my heels out, watch your head!”
 
She removed them and tossed them out the window, not caring if she hit anyone other than her son.
 
Then she, too, put a leg over and out the window, and began the descent.
 
It was much easier than she had expected.
       

“Look up there!” someone shouted.
 

Great, she thought, they'd been seen.
 
Oh well, it couldn't be helped.
 
She just hoped that none of them were security men.

“Hey lady, you need help?” someone else called out.
 

No, but it was damn chilly, she realized.
 
After all, she was wearing very little.

By the time David got to the ground a group of men and women were standing in a group watching the whole thing.
 
When they saw the lanky boy and the older woman in lingerie above him, they put two and two together and got five.
 

A man patted him on the back and said, “Nice work, kid.
 
I like ‘em older, too.”

“What's the matter, kid, did her husband interrupt you?” another fellow asked.
 

A woman said to her date, “You know, that happened to me once.
 
I had to climb out a hotel room and I almost broke my neck!”

Diane got to the ground and hugged David.
 
“We made it, honey!” she cried, and the small crowd applauded.
 

Now they had to find Eric Gilliam and get off the grounds without being caught.

E
ric Gilliam watched the men take Nick Belgrad toward the parking lawn and was confident that his new friend would make it out of the property all right.
 
He went back inside to the Grand Hall to find that the staircases were still unguarded.
 
Was Diane upstairs?
 
Did she make it?
 
Did she find her son?

Gilliam glanced around to see if anyone might notice and then decided to ascend the stairs.
 
He got to the second floor landing when he heard angry voices on the level above his head.
 
As the men descended the stairs, Gilliam recognized one of the voices to be Emo Tuff's.
 
He quickly reversed direction and took the steps two at a time but he was too late.

“You!”
 

Gilliam froze at the foot of the stairs and looked up.
 
Emo Tuff and another man were above him.
 

“Hi, Emo, what's going on?” Gilliam attempted to ask, oozing innocence.

“Don't move,” Tuff said.
 
He and the other guard hurried to the bottom floor and then, on Tuff's signal, the guard drew his Heckler & Koch and pointed at Gilliam.
 

“Hey, Emo, what's the idea?” Gilliam asked.

“Raise your arms,” Tuff ordered.
 
Gilliam did so and allowed Tuff to frisk him.
 

“Do you do this to all your guests?”

“Shut up,” Tuff said.
 
“Where's the girl you came with?”

“I don't know.
 
I was just looking for her.
 
Maybe she went to the potty.”

“She's Dana Barnett, isn't she?”

Gilliam did his best to act put out.
 
“What?
 
Dana Barn—are you mad?
 
Dana's dead and you know it.”

“Is she, Mister Gilliam?”

“Look, where's Aaron?
 
I can't believe I'm being treated this way.
 
You
do
know who I am, Emo, or have you lost some of your marbles?”

Emo grinned, turned away from Gilliam, and then swung back with a lightning right hook that sent Gilliam to the floor.
 
At that moment, Aaron Valentine entered from one of the corridors, followed by another security man.
 

“Did you find the girl and her kid?” he asked, ignoring his guest on the floor.

“Not yet,” Tuff said.
 
“But this wise guy is trying to act like a big star and get preferential treatment.”

“Go find them,” Valentine said.
 
“I'll deal with him.”
 
As Tuff left the room, Valentine turned to the other security man, told him to stand in the archway and prevent any guests from entering the Grand Hall.
 
He then turned to Gilliam and said, “Eric, I'm disappointed in you.
 
I thought we were friends.
 
Now I see that you're conspiring with that
woman
.”

Gilliam sat up, rubbing his face.
 
“I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, Aaron,” he said.
 
“As for your man Emo, I'm speaking to my lawyer in the morning.
 
Jesus, there was no call for an assault.”

Valentine told the guard with the gun to call for backup and then addressed Gilliam again.
 
“I'm afraid you won't be speaking to
anyone
in the morning, Eric.
 
You've crossed me and I don't like it.”

Gilliam tried to stand but the guard clubbed him hard on the shoulder with the gun butt.
 
The sickening snap of Gilliam's collarbone echoed in the Hall and the actor screamed in pain.
 
He fell to the floor and writhed in agony.
 

“You fail to see how serious I am about this, Eric,” Valentine said.
 

Gilliam sucked in air and gritted his teeth.
 
After a moment he was able to spit out words in broken sentences.
 
“Who do you think you are, Aaron?… The fucking godfather of porn?…
 
Have you finally joined up with your mafia family?… You can't get away with this!”

Valentine knelt and spoke softly to his victim.
 
“You should know by now that I deal with unpleasant problems by doing something equally unpleasant.
 
Now I regret I must handle you the way I should have handled you those many years ago when you didn't renew your contract with me.”

“You going to kill me, Aaron?… Is that it?… I'm not some obscure, unknown runaway that made a few loops… The heat'll come down on you so fast that you won't know where your ass is.”

“Oh, don't worry, Eric.
 
We'll make it look like suicide or something.
 
No one will have a reason to suspect me or any of my men.”

“Fuck you, Aaron,” Gilliam groaned.
 

“And to think I'm the one who gave you your start in this business,” Valentine said.
 
“So ungrateful.”
 
Two more security men came in and approached the group.
 
Valentine stood and spoke to them.
 
“Take him to the warehouse and wait for me and Emo.”
 
The two new men grabbed Gilliam by the shoulders to pull him up, causing the actor to yelp with distress.
 
His damaged shoulder appeared misshapen.
 

Once he was on his feet and supported by the two brutes, Gilliam recovered from his pain enough to ask, “Aaron, there's one thing I have to know.”

“And what's that, Eric?”

“Did you kill Angela?”

“Angela?”

“My
sister
.
 
Did you have her killed?”

Valentine shook his head.
 
“Of course not.
 
Ask your friend Dana.
 
Angela disappeared when she did.”
 
He nodded at the guards and they pulled Gilliam toward the front door.

“You fucking murderer!” Gilliam shouted.
 
“I'll see you in hell, you bastard!”
 

When they were out the door and the room was silent once again, Valentine wiped his hands on his tunic and sighed.
 
He then turned, went back to his party, and pretended to enjoy himself as if nothing had happened.

D
iane and David peered around the house into the back yard.
 
The number of people in attendance had doubled and the party was at peak performance.
 
The music seemed louder, the revelry more intense, and the inhibitions were gone with the wind.