The Bad Always Die Twice (29 page)

Over the phone, Nikki had suggested that Thompson be available. When Nikki was escorted poolside at twelve-thirty on Wednesday, sure enough, Thompson was there. In nothing but a pair of swim shorts and surfer-boy sunglasses.

Nikki wondered if this was supposed to be some form of bribery.
I’ll let you see my hunky boyfriend, nearly naked, if you won’t squeal on me.
The thought amused Nikki, but she was smart enough not to bring it up. Especially since, from where she was standing, the offer might be tempting.

“Something to drink, Nikki?” Edith asked. She was lying on a chaise lounge, in a bright blue bikini, in all her fiftysomething lumpy-bumpy glory. A big straw hat and sunglasses shaded her face.

Probably catching Nikki trying hard not to look surprised, Edith waved her over to a chair beside her. “I hope you’re not offended by my state of undress. You already know all my deepest, darkest secrets. I couldn’t feel any more exposed than I already do, so what would be the point of covering up?”

Nikki smiled. She had to give Edith credit; she was a tough, resilient woman. And brave. Nikki admired her. She admired her so much that she prayed the questions she had for her and Thompson wouldn’t lead to a call to the police. Because if—when—Nikki found Rex’s killer, she was going to call Detective Lutz and hand over all the information she’d gleaned over the last three weeks. She’d never wanted to do the police’s job. She just wanted to make sure it was done right.

“I’m not offended in the least.” Nikki smiled, taking a seat in the comfy chair and setting her briefcase beside her.

Thompson rolled onto his side and propped his head up with one hand. Tanned and cut, with pecs to make a girl’s heart go pitter-pat, Nikki had to force herself to look out over the glistening blue water of the pool.

“I’m glad you came, Nikki,” Thompson said in that sexy manvoice of his.

“You are?” She glanced back, trying to keep her gaze off his muscular chest.

He was sort of smiling, which worried her. She hadn’t told anyone but Stanley and Oliver where she was going. What if Edith and Thompson
had
killed Rex? What if they intended to kill
her
? Heaven only knew whose bed
she’d
wind up in.

“Thompson,” Edith said, her tone a warning.

He reached out and took her hand and brought it to his lips. It was so sweet. So sincere.

“No, Edie, you need to let me speak.” He sat up, letting go of her hand. “I can’t stand the idea that someone might think you could have killed a man.” He looked at Nikki. “Edith never could have killed Rex; if she could have, she’d have done it years ago. But I could have.”

Nikki had a million questions on the tip of her tongue, but she realized from the look on Thompson’s face that she needed to keep her mouth shut and just listen.

“That day I walked into Edith’s bedroom, the day of the party, when I saw Rex walking out, I swear to God I could have strangled him.” He clenched his hands into fists. “I wanted to go after him, but Edie stopped me.”

“I insisted I’d handle Rex myself. I didn’t want Thompson involved in any way. I
had
handled it,” Edith said firmly.

“But you and Thompson argued?” Nikki asked.

Edith nodded. “After Rex left, Thompson and I did have an argument. It was probably the first argument we’ve ever had. Certainly the worst. He wanted to go to the police. I just wanted to let Rex go and be done with him. Forever. I wanted to get on with my life. Is that so terrible?”

“Not so terrible,” Nikki murmured.

“And it should have been over and done with, after that,” Edith went on, bitterly. “But then Rex got himself killed. What an idiot. I don’t know who did it, but I still think it was one of those hussies he was always sleeping with.”

Nikki glanced at Thompson, trying to figure out the best way to question him. She didn’t want to just ask him where he went Saturday night, if it wasn’t to kill Rex. She decided to work backward. Part of the key to the case was how Rex’s body had gotten in Jessica’s bed. What if Tiffany had killed Rex and then Thompson had cleaned the mess up for
her?

“Okay.” Nikki folded her hands on her lap. “Rex was killed Saturday night. Where, we don’t know yet, but I have an idea. I found his rental car. Well, I didn’t
find
it, but I tracked it down. And I know where it was seen Saturday night around the time he was killed.”

“You’re kidding,” Edith murmured.

Nikki looked past Edith, to Thompson. “You didn’t go to your casting calls that Monday. Why? I need the truth. And I have to confess to you, I already know that you put your condo up for sale and requested a passport.”

“We’ve been talking for months about selling his condo,” Edith interjected. “Ever since you sold this monstrosity.” She hesitated, then looked at Thompson. “But why didn’t you make those casting calls, dear? Where were you all day?”

Nikki kept her gaze fixed on Thompson. He looked at Nikki, then slowly turned his attention to Edith. She couldn’t read his face. Was he afraid? Apologetic?

“I had some things to do. I didn’t want to spoil the surprise, Edith.”

“The surprise?” Edith asked, obviously uncomfortable.

Nikki hoped it wasn’t a dead Rex.

“I . . . put some stuff in storage, you know, to clean up the condo. We’d been talking about me doing that, Edie. I can account for every minute. I talked to plenty of people that day. And I . . . I went shopping.”

“Shopping?” Edith said it aloud; Nikki just mouthed it.

“The surprise isn’t ready,” he said, almost sounding like a kid.

“What surprise, Thompson?” Edith asked, a tremor in her voice.

He exhaled and hung his head. “I didn’t want to tell you this way.”

She sounded scared now. “Tell me what?”

Nikki held her breath.

He raised his head. “Tell you that I love you.” The words tumbled out of his mouth. “And that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t care about Rex. I don’t care about my career. All that matters is you, Edie. I was so sorry about our fight. I wanted to make it up to you. I was at Cartier’s that Monday.”

To Nikki’s shock, he pulled off his sunglasses and went down on one knee on the patio. He took Edith’s hand. “So, will you marry me, Edith? Will you be my wife?”

Edith gasped.

Nikki gasped.

“M . . . marry you?” Edith asked shakily.

“I wasn’t even sure, the day I bought the ring, how we could marry legally. With Rex still alive and all. Then, he really was dead.” He took a deep breath. “I wasn’t going to ask you until I had the ring. It’s being sized. I pick it up Friday. We have reservations at Spago.”

Edith took her hand from Thompson’s and stroked his cheek. “You bought me an engagement ring?”

“That Monday. I felt so bad about our argument. I’d already made up my mind to ask you. I just decided that weekend that it was time.” He looked down at his bare foot, and then up again, still on his knee. “So will you, Edie? Will you marry me?”

Edith threw her arms around him and Nikki turned away as they kissed. This was her cue to leave. But she couldn’t. Not yet.

“I still have some questions, Thompson,” she said, after giving them a moment.

He sat on the chaise next to Edith, his arm around her.

Nikki tried to mentally tick off all the unanswered questions concerning him. “The passport?”

“I wanted to take Edie on a honeymoon. To Greece. Rex never took her on a honeymoon and she’s always wanted to go to Greece. But I didn’t have a passport and sometimes they take forever to get these days. So I figured I better apply. I didn’t know how soon she would want to get married. If she said yes.”

They kissed.

“Okay, so where did you go Saturday night when you left the party?”

“He had to go back to his condo,” Edith explained. “There was a kitchen fire in one of the condos on his floor. He had to check his place for smoke damage.”

“There was no fire in the condo,” Nikki said. She’d been in his condo. She’d spoken to his broker; he’d never said a word about a fire in the building. It wasn’t something you told clients, but brokers exchanged that sort of information amongst themselves, for gossip’s sake, if nothing more.

Edith looked up at Thompson.

“And then there’s the problem with where you go on Thursdays,” Nikki continued. She felt like a jerk for ruining Edith’s special moment. But these things had to be said. Thompson had to account for his whereabouts in order to be removed from her list of suspects. If Thompson had a dark side, better for Edith to know now.

“What’s she talking about? You’ve had voice lessons on Thursdays for as long as I’ve known you.” Edith pressed her hand to his bare chest. “Tell her, Thompson. You have voice lessons on Tuesdays
and Thursdays
.”

He hung his head. “Tuesdays, but not Thursdays.”

Nikki waited.

“Thompson?”

The handsome young man’s eyes teared up.

“Thompson, what’s wrong?”

“I didn’t want to tell you, Edie, yet. I didn’t want you to . . . to think less of me.”

“Think less of you? I don’t understand.”

He turned her hand over in his, rubbing it. “I have a daughter,” he whispered.

“What?”

“It happened a long time ago. When I first came to Hollywood. She’s almost ten.”

“You have a
daughter?
” Edith whispered.

“It was just a . . . a one night thing. I got drunk and I had sex with this girl I met in a bar and . . . and she had a baby.” He made no attempt to wipe away his tears. “She’s . . . my . . . Mandy.” He stopped, took a breath, and started again. “Something went wrong when she was born. Oxygen was cut off to her brain. My beautiful little girl, she’s severely disabled.”

Tears welled in Nikki’s eyes. There was no way Thompson Christopher was this good an actor. He was telling the truth....
Wow. A child. I never saw that one coming.

“Mandy lives in a private hospital in Santa Monica,” he went on. “The night of the party, the hospital called. She was very sick, Edith. They were afraid she wouldn’t make it. They’ve said all along she won’t live to adulthood.”

Edith clung to his hand. “Oh, Thompson,” she breathed.

“So you were not at Ramirez’s office Saturday night?” Nikki asked. “You didn’t see or talk to Tiffany?”

“Tiffany?”

“Tiffany Mathews. The waitress you used to work with at Kitty’s Diner.”

He frowned. “Of course not. I haven’t seen Tiffany in ages. What does Tiffany have to do with this?”

Nikki shook her head. “Nothing, apparently. Tell me where you go on Thursdays,” she urged, already guessing the answer.

“Thursdays are my day with Mandy. We spend every Thursday together. I . . . I don’t know if she can understand me, or . . . or even hear me, but I read to her. We read on Thursdays. We talk. We watch movies. She likes Disney movies.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tears ran down Edith’s plump cheeks. “Why did you not ever tell me?”

“Because I was ashamed. Not of Mandy, but of the fact that I had a child with a woman I didn’t know.”

“You pay for her medical care, don’t you?” Nikki asked.

He nodded. “It’s expensive. I couldn’t make enough money on my own. That’s why . . . why . . .”

When he couldn’t say it, Nikki finished for him. “Why you always date older, rich women.”

“Yeah.” He looked into Edith’s eyes. “I was using those women because I needed their money. It’s not that I didn’t care for them, but . . . but I never felt anything for them like what I feel for you.” “I do love you, Edie, and I’ll do anything for you, anything, if you’ll say you forgive me. If you’ll marry me.” He hesitated. “But I can’t give up Mandy. Or my responsibility for her care. I just can’t.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to, darling.” Edith kissed one of his cheeks and then the other and then his mouth.

This was definitely Nikki’s exit cue. She rose, taking her briefcase. “I’ll get your signature on this paperwork another day, Edith. Thank you. Both of you.”

“But . . . but you still don’t know who killed Rex, do you?” Edith asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“No,” Nikki said, walking away from the pool. “But I know where to find out.”

On the way to the office, Nikki considered calling Jessica to tell her about the turn of events at Outpost Estates, but she decided against it. Hopefully, Jessica would be at the office and she could fill her in there before she had to meet a potential client at her home in Bel Air at three.

Instead, Nikki called the car rental company and asked to speak to Ray. She was put on hold. Heading out of Outpost Estates, she marveled at the story Thompson Christopher had revealed. It was too crazy, too heartbreaking, to be made up. She’d get the details from Thompson later, but she knew they would all pan out. She knew that come Friday, Edith March was going to be flashing a big fat diamond from Cartier. She was happy for Edith. Even for Thompson. But all she could do now was eliminate them as suspects in Rex’s death. She still didn’t know who had done it.

While she was on hold, her phone beeped. She had another call coming in. She let it go to voicemail.

“This is Ray, how can I help you?”

Nikki identified herself as Detective Nikki Smith of the LAPD and launched into her questions concerning Rex’s rental car.

“Nope. Nothing in the car, Detective. I’m looking at the report right here in the computer. We note if something was off. Damage, or something left inside. Why’re you asking?”

“I’m not at liberty to say,” she explained, using a little of Victoria’s
tone
. “But you definitely received the car?”

“I signed off on it, so, yeah. Definitely.”

“Do you recall what the person who turned it in looked like?”

“Damn, Detective. We got a lot of cars comin’ in and out of this lot in a day. That was weeks ago.”

“Male? Female?” she asked. “Maybe a pretty blonde with a southern accent?” She was grasping at straws.

“I’m thinking, Detective. No, not a woman. I remember the car. Brand new Mercedes, white. Sweet ride.”

“Yes, that was it.”