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“WOULD YOU SLOW DOWN?” asked Ito. I was weaving through traffic, heading west on the 10. “Cannonball” by the Breeders was on, and I was in a mood.
“I’ll start over,” I said without taking my eyes off the road.
“I meant the car,” she stated, her eyes also glued to the freeway. “We’re not in pursuit of anyone.”
It took me a minute, but yeah, she was right. We weren’t in actual pursuit of anyone. I was just impatient. I took us down from ninety miles an hour to the normal seventy-five for the 10. “Where was I?”
I had been going through my theory since we got into my car. She had no longer been needed at the crime scene. It belonged to the feds’ anyway. And Kemble was happy to see me go.
“Two months ago,” she answered, her eyes still on the road.
“Right. Right. Something happened two months ago. You know what happened two months ago?”
“I’m assuming you’re going to tell me, Jimmy.” She pointed at a car that I was gaining on too fast.
I switched lanes and said, “Edward stopped taking money.”
“I know that. I saw the evidence.”
I nodded. “Yes, but why? Why did he stop taking the money? I think it’s because maybe he got caught.”
She frowned, but I didn’t answer the unasked question.
“You know who also needed money? You don’t have to guess. I’ll tell you.” I changed lanes again, moving farther to the left. “Patrick. Patrick Beverly also needed money. Lots of it. And I think he went looking for it in the same way Edward did.”
“Patrick tried to funnel money out of his parents’ finances?”
I nodded, trying to suppress a smile at my cleverness. Nobody likes a gloating clever person. “Appearances aside, he’s not a dumb rich kid. He made some bad deals and owed people money. He couldn’t go to his parents because they would find out what he was doing. So he went into their accounts. He goes in and he spotted a problem.” I braked hard to avoid tapping the bumper of a Honda Civic.
“I told to you to slow down.”
I waved in agreement but kept going, excited. “The problem is, if he could find Edward’s siphoning of funds, some accountant just might do the same thing. Because Edward did it first, he, in fact, spoiled Patrick’s plan.”
Ito raised an eyebrow, turning to me. “Patrick kidnapped himself?”
I paused. “What a way to step on my line, but yes. Patrick came up with this idea.” I nodded as I kept talking. “It’s sort of diabolical. He’d get the money he needed, but, of course, he couldn’t do it alone. He got Edward to help.”
“How?”
“The evidence that you got? It was also leverage.” I shrugged. “Edward didn’t want to do this. The moment I met him, he didn’t like me. He resented me. And yet he wasn’t lying when he told me that he was the one who had recommended me to the Beverlys. And Matty.”
“Because it was Patrick’s idea.”
I made a face. I didn’t like this next bit. “Agent Alexander was right, but not about who. We were hired because we were idiots.”
Ito shook her head. “You’re not an idiot.”
I took my eyes off the road to nod a thanks to her. “In order for their plan to work though, they needed one other person.”
“Bad Benny?”
“They needed someone else to be the bagman at the parking lot for the exchange. This way Edward would have an alibi because he would be with the Beverlys.”
“How can you be so sure that Benny was the only other kidnapper? Patrick gave a description.”
“Sure, sure,” I said sarcastically. “Patrick couldn’t possibly have made that up?”
“Jimmy,” she warned.
“What? He’s the only person alive who can describe the other guy. Because I can’t. I was hit from behind. Disorientated. And the diamonds? Hidden behind the couch? If there was someone else, an actual third man, he killed Benny over the diamonds and then just left?”
“He ran out of time. Someone heard the argument.”
I shook my head. “No one heard the argument. I bet whoever called it in wasn’t a neighbor.”
Ito said nothing.
“The crime scene was a setup.” I stole a glance at her. “The call to the cops. The diamonds behind the couch. We were meant to find them. Benny was a loose end. The diamonds were a loose end. Now all of them are tied up.”
“Patrick?”
I nodded. “It all blew up in his face. When Matty decided to tackle Bad Benny — ”
“Are we really calling him that?” she muttered, but I continued.
“When Matty knocked down Bad Benny, Patrick saw it all going wrong and he couldn’t let that happen. He owed money to dangerous people. So he got out of the car, took me out, and stabbed Matty.”
Ito stared at the traffic ahead of us for a long time.
I went over the highlights again. “Patrick desperately needed money. He didn’t go to his parents because he didn’t want to look like a failure. His ex-girlfriend told me he was armed and paranoid.” I paused. “OK, she didn’t say he was paranoid and didn’t say he carried a knife...”
Finally, she said, “Do you have any evidence?” She looked at me. “This all sounds circumstantial...” She shook head, turning her attention back to the highway.
She was right, of course. I didn’t have any evidence. But I knew I was right. I could feel it in my bones. Everything just fit together. I exited the 10 and got on the 1, heading north toward the Palisades. I put on a grin. “OK, you got me. I’m a little light on evidence. But...”
“Jesus, Jimmy,” she said under her breath.
“No, no. I got this. Patrick’s going to confess. Or he’ll slip up. And boom! We got him. You slap on the cuffs, and we go out for dinner. My treat.” I looked at her, but she didn’t meet my eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up to the gate of the Beverlys’ home. The FBI were gone, but there was a feeling of the house was still under siege. The guard in the little shack didn’t even bother to get off his stool. With a small, suspicious shake of his head, he seemed to remember me from the weekend when the FBI had to stop his boss from strangling me.
I tried a smile and hooked a thumb over at Ito. “She’s a cop,” I said, as if that was the password.
“Oh, yeah?” he said. He put his phone aside and stood, then pulled at his belt and leaned down, peering deeper into my car.
I looked over at Ito, who was staring ahead, seemingly over this whole encounter.
“Hey,” I said. She turned to me. “Come on.” I nodded encouragingly. “Do your thing.”
She took a deep, annoyed breath and pulled her badge off her waistband to show the guard.
He chewed his cheek. “I’ll have to call.”
“Yep,” she replied.
“Wait here,” he told us as he stepped back into his shack.
“As if we were going someplace else, right?” I snorted.
Ito said nothing.
The guard was on the phone for longer than anyone needed to be to announce a visitor. As I watched him talk, I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. “What is taking them so long?” I was ready to get this show going.
That question seemed to pique Ito’s interest. “Well,” she mused, “if you’d done something wrong, wouldn’t you hesitate to invite a police officer into your house?”
She was coming around to my way of thinking. I couldn’t help but smile. “Sort of like inviting Dracula into your house.”
Ito gave me a sly look.
The guard put the phone down. With a cold look on his face, he pushed a button and the gate went up.
The front door to the mansion opened as I pulled the car around. Instead of the butler and his crisp, white shirt, there stood a hulking giant of a man. Well over six feet tall, with blond, shaggy hair, a craggy face and green eyes. He looked well muscled in his black suit. As we walked closer, I could see a tattoo on his neck, mostly covered by the white shirt. He wasn’t someone you brought home to your parents.
“Hey there,” I said. “Aren’t you intimidating?”
I slugged him in the shoulder and felt nothing but brick.
“Jimmy,” warned Ito.
The giant lead us through the house and out into the pool area, where Robert and Eva were waiting. He sat in the shade under an umbrella, wearing sunglasses and a light blue golf shirt with khaki pants. The butler, in his crisp, white shirt, handed him a lowball glass with probably very good whiskey in it, which explained why Incredible Hulk, Junior had answered the door. The butler departed, passing us as he went back into the house.
Eva was over by the pool, wearing a white wrap with linen pants, topped off with one of those large, floppy hats. She was barefoot and held a glass of white wine in her manicured and jeweled hand.
“Good afternoon,” I said, pulling off my sunglasses.
“Can I get you two anything?” asked Eva.
“We’re here on an official matter,” I answered using my I-mean-business-voice.
“Official? Sounds serious,” Robert replied, not a little sarcastically.
Ito leaned toward me. “Take it down a notch.”
“And what business do you have?” asked Robert. “Was the check not big enough?” He took a sip of whiskey.
I had no idea. I hadn’t looked at the check yet. Looking from Robert to Eva and back again, I said, “I was hoping to speak with Patrick.”
A moment of silence.
Robert said, “That’s not possible.”
“And why is that?”
“He’s not here,” replied Eva.
My heart skipped and started pounding. I swallowed. That wasn’t right. He had to be here.
“Where is he?” Ito asked, frowning.
“He left,” Eva said simply.
“As you might imagine,” Robert explained, “his experience was quite traumatic. After giving his statement to the FBI, he didn’t feel he could get the help he needed here in Los Angeles.”
There was a buzz in the back of my head. Robert wasn’t telling me the truth.
“And the FBI was OK with that?” asked Ito in disbelief.
Robert said to her, “We assured them he would be a great witness. Once they apprehend the last kidnapper.”
“Where did he go?” I asked. “Because I have some questions for him.”
“Under what authority?” asked Robert.
“We’d rather not say,” said Eva with a sniff.
I turned on her. “You’d rather not say?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“It’s for his own protection,” she said. That was the truth. “He’s afraid. There is still someone out there that hurt my son.” And that was a lie.
“They’re hiding him,” I said to Ito, then turned to the Beverlys. “You’re fucking hiding him.”
The giant stepped closer to me. In the fallout from this latest development, I’d all but forgotten he was here with us by the pool. I could hear him sucking in air through his nose. I glanced up at him.
“I’d like you to meet our new head of security,” Robert said. He put his glass down with a thunk on the glass tabletop. “He’s from Eastern Europe. He doesn’t speak much English, but he comes highly recommended.”
Ito stepped forward. “All right. OK. Enough fun and games.” She glanced at the Beverlys’ new head of security. “Even you know the word ‘cop’ so back off.”
To his credit, the big guy looked at Robert, who nodded slightly, and then took a step back.
“Where is Patrick?” Ito asked again.
“Why do you need to know?” said Eva, raising her wine glass to her lips.
“Why? Because he’s a witness,” she replied.
“A killer,” I corrected. “He’s a killer.”
Ito’s eyes darted to me. “Not helping,” she said from between her teeth.
Robert stood up. “When it’s time for him to testify, of course, he’ll come back to America — ”
“America?” I said. “He’s not even in the country?”
Ignoring me, Robert finished, “You have my word.”
“Your word? Are you kidding me?” I looked at Ito in desperation. “They’re covering it up! Patrick killed Matty. He killed Edward. Maybe even Benny.” I looked at the new head of security. “Or were you the one who took care of that loose end?”
The big man grunted and stepped closer to me. His eyes were daggers.
“Step back,” ordered Ito, as she put her hands on her hips. It didn’t go unnoticed that the move emphasized her service weapon on her hip.
Big Man rocked back on his heels, crossing his arms.
“I think it’s time you leave, Mr. Cooper.” Robert Beverly nodded to Ito. “Detective.”
“No, no. Not yet,” I said. I couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. It was supposed to all unravel for them. I looked at Eva. “What happened the night I found him? Did he come clean? Did he explain everything and you just had to fix it?”
Eva’s voice broke. “He’s my son,” she said.
“Eva,” Robert cautioned her.
“Please,” I said. “I know you love your kid, but this isn’t right. This isn’t — ”
But once again, Eva was as unfeeling as stone. “You’ve been asked to leave, Mr. Cooper,” she replied. Her eyes were wet, but her face was steel.
I felt Ito’s hand on my arm. It started with just a touch, but then became a pull.
“Let’s go, Jimmy,” she said quietly.
I didn’t even feel my feet on the ground as I headed back into the house.
Robert shouted a parting threat at my back. “Keep your mouth shut, Cooper, or there’ll be a defamation suit so big your grandchildren will be still be paying for it!”
Ito led the way out of the house. I didn’t dare slow down. The head of security made sure to stay right on my heels, looming large behind me. Maybe if I had been a bigger man or had paid any sort of attention to Dad when he taught me some fighting moves during his action hero days, I could’ve taken this guy.
Spoilers: I’d still have gotten my ass kicked. The guy was huge.
The Beverlys’ front door closed behind us in a very final way.
Ito was halfway to my car when I snapped. “That’s it?! You’re going to let them kick us out?”
She turned to me, a weary expression back in her eyes. “There’s nothing I can do here, Jimmy. Unless they’re going to admit anything — ”
“Then let me get them to admit it!” I pleaded.
She paused and looked right at me. “They told us to leave. I have no probable cause to go back in.”
“They’re paying everyone off! And where they can’t...!” I shook my head. It couldn’t end like this. “What about Matty?”
Ito put up her hand. “All of this is built on circumstantial evidence. Without hard proof, their lawyer would — ”
“You mean my mom?” I jabbed back.
She paused. “Yeah. I guess I do.”
“What would she do?” I took a breath and faced facts. “She’d get any indictment tossed. The prosecutors would look like idiots.”
Ito nodded. “Sounds about right.”
It sounded exactly like what would happen.
“And prosecutors famously don’t like looking like fools,” she said.
I mustered a quiet, “Fuck.” I looked up at her. “So that’s it then? It’s all over? They won?”
Ito looked at the house and then at me. She gave a slight shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe? Money goes a long way, but it’s not forever.”