I was his fiancée. But do I merit so much as a footnote?
Be careful what you wish for, sweetie-pie. Yolie flipped a newspaper page and then sighed in disgust. Where do these yokels get their information? Austin has lost a self-sacrificing missionary Self-sacrificing, my ass. Those surgeries he did in Central America on all those kids with cleft palates were all about his precious image.
You dont know that for sure. I went with him on lots of those trips.
And you never doubted his motives?
He was a doctor with valuable skills. I just assumed
When are you ever going to wake up? Pierce was so aware of appearances, Yolie continued. When I started gaining the weight, he was on me all the time about it, taunting me about other women, wanting me to do liposuction. All he ever cared about was making money and getting his name on the front page while squiring some stick-thin stacked bimbo around.
Very conscious of her C-cup boobs that Pierce had enhanced, Rosie glared at her.
Sorry.
He taunted me because of my low-class background, Rosie said.
Looks like he finally played his little games on the wrong woman.
So, who do you think killed him? Rosie asked.
Lots of people probably werent exactly thrilled with him. But to kill a person with a knife, youve got to get up closeand get ugly.
There was that guy who sued him because he wasnt thrilled with his penile implant.
Not to mention Pierce had four wives, and God knows how many other women. And thats just his sex life, which wasnt really all that hot, now was it? But who stabs a lousy lay? I mean, why bother?
Yolies analysis was making Rosie increasingly uncomfortable.
And then do you ever wonder why Pierce was so hard to get to know? Yolie continued. Remember how he used to have to control every damn conversation? When we went out to dinner, we always had to discuss some bullshit story hed read in the New Yorker instead of real life. Intelligent conversation, he called it. Whatever it was, it was impersonal as hell, and he had to be in control. I was married to him for a lot of years, and I dont think I ever really knew him. Do you ever wonder if there was anything therebeneath his external glamour? It was scary, in a way.
What are you saying?
You dont just get murdered for no reason. What if there was some dark secret in his past? Or a secret vice or addiction? I mean, why was he always as closedup as a damn clamif he wasnt hiding something?
Thats so melodramatic.
Hey, getting your head nearly chopped off is pretty melodramatic. Yolie stabbed a fingernail at a front-page article. It says right here he grew up in Beaumont. He never said a damn thing about Beaumont to me. Did he ever talk about his childhood to you?
Rosie shook her head. But then, shed never talked about her childhood, either.
So, hes either a blank disc or there are plenty of secrets on the old hard drive, Yolie said. He had a quick temper and a sharp tongue and the endearing quality of abusing his women when he was in a certain moodat least verbally. That we know. Then theres the drinking. Not to mention his mysterious disappearances.
Are you going to the memorial service?
Ive got a son by the arrogant bastard and no alibi. Of course Im going! In situations such as these, appearances are everything.
Alibi? Rosies heart jumped to her throat and began to thump.
The cops are going to want to know where everybody was if his killer doesnt walk into the police station and hand them the bloody knife. Except for talking to you on my mobile, you and Ive got zip for an alibi.
Rosie shivered so hard her teeth chattered. At least you werent actually there! Youve been happily divorced from him for years. Thats hardly a motive.
I hated the son of a bitch. Does that count?
I, on the other hand, ran out of his brilliantly lit mansion braless and pantyless on the night he died. Anyone, a neighbor, a jogger, might have seen me. What if he or she misinterpreted what he saw? What if the cops find my bra and panties?
Then your underwear is hanging out in plastic Baggies. Call Joe. First thing Monday.
Feeling too hot, Rosie got up and dived into the pool. She didnt come up until her lungs were burning for air.
If Michael had her underwear in plastic Baggies and he found out about Carmen, which he would if he hung around at all, hed nail Rosie just to get revenge.
Unless she solved the murder for him.
Six
A former linebacker for the University of Texas A&M, Joe Benson loomed behind his polished mahogany desk like a sleek, dark bear who looked slightly embarrassed to find himself all dressed up in a three-piece power suit. He had hooded black eyes, heavy brows and a strong jaw. His glossyblack hair might have curled if hadnt been clipped so close to his scalp. Not that his hushed office, his attire or his military haircut were enough to dispel Rosies feeling that he wasnt quite tame. Still, at least he was sober.
So, how long have you been living with Yolie? he asked, his curious voice oddly soft for so large a man.
Control. This man was into control. Just like Pierce had been.
I dont see what that has to do with
Right. Its just that shes such a great woman. His eyes lit for a second or two at some forbidden memory before he caught himself.
Yolie told me you two used to date before you married Bridget and adopted Jennifer.
Did she now? His smile was quick and a little uneasy. Then his cheeks reddened and the smile vanished.
No way would Rosie repeat what Yolie had said on the matter.
I never could figure out whether he was attracted to me or to my big house and money. Hes extremely ambitious, you see, but then thats what makes him good at what he does.
Well, no hard feelings. Bridgets great, and Yolies like a sister to me now, Joe said, a little edgily.
Bridget was an ice cream heiress with a large fortune. Joe was her fourth husband. Yolie said Bridget, who seemed all fluff, had had him sign an airtight prenup.
Yolie mentioned you were in some sort of a jam.
Wellnot yet. Hopefully, not ever.
If I were you, Id trust her judgment. Whats wrong?
Without further preamble, Rosie told him about her involvement with Austins front-page murder victim. She repeated a few of the most damning things shed said to everybody about her revenge fantasies. Joes frown deepened when she told him about her bra and panties.
When she finished, he propped his big brown hands together and leaned forward. Rule number one. Dont say anything to the police unless Im there.
But dont they have the right to question me?
He held a finger against his lips and shook his head. You let me worry about doing right by the police, little girl. All you need is rule number one.
Little girl? She was forty. Not that she was about to admit her age.
But
At his dark frown, she fell silent. She hated it when terrified patients and their families kept asking her the same questions over and over again.
I dont like it that you know Nash, whos in charge. Or that he took the call about your missing granddaughter. You dumped him, you said. Judging from the time frame, hed already been at the scene. Obviously, he was suspicious. He could be holding a grudge.
From high school?
Did you kill the good doctor? Joe asked, his eyes boring into her, which gave her a worse feeling than when hed pinched her.
Of course not!
You just told everybody in this town you wanted to.
I was joking.
A lot of people are going to think its odd that you saw him the same night he was murdered. Thats quite a coincidence. Cops dont like coincidences. Neither do juries.
Rosie squirmed as droplets of perspiration tickled her spine. If I had stabbed him, trust me, I would have aimed a lot lower.
Benson winced. I wouldnt share that with anybody else. Understand? After her nod, he sucked in a long breath. So, is there anything more you think you should tell me before we call it a day?
Again she remembered being panicked in her Beamer that night, racing past the fancy houses carved into the limestone cliffs and oak trees of Westlake Hills, each fake palazzo more outrageously posh and ridiculously overdone than the last onemock Tudors with skylights, Tuscan villas constructed out of plywood.
Any little detail? A car parked out back? A cigarette butt on the drive? Anything?
She remembered how shed heard something in the next room when Pierce had been about to make love to her. Shed made him go check it out, so she could run. But why load Benson down with too much information?
There is something? he said, seeing through her.
Not really.
He insisted that they go over everything again. Their meeting went fifteen minutes longer than the designated hour, but he never hurried her. Why would he, at his hourly rate? He simply listened, nodding thoughtfully from time to time, looking increasingly dissatisfied as she repeated her story. Once in a while he jotted a note to himself.
She finished with a question. Is it okay if I go to his memorial service?
He sat up straighter and shook his head. I think you should be as inconspicuous as possible. Do what you normally do. Dont change your habits. Dont act too interested in this case.
Thats going to be hard.
Go to work as usual. Since you werent in his life on a regular basis before his death, I wouldnt go to the service. Oh, and watch your mouth from now on. And Id avoid reading the papers.
How could she act like she wasnt involved, when she was? Pierce had deliberately drawn her into his life again. Why? Had he been afraid? Had he known who was in the next bedroom? Had he known he was in danger? Had he been protecting her? Himself? Or had he really wanted her? Was that why hed been so angry when shed accused him of using her in his marriage battles?
When Joe pushed back his chair, she got up silently.
He came around the desk and took her hand. She felt lighter, somehow, after talking to him. It was as if shed seen a priest and confessed.
Her relief was unwarranted. So far, hed done nothing but listen. But then the most important emotions in peoples lives were often based on illusions, like her messy relationship with Pierce.
She let Joe pat her hand even though she wanted to yank it away. You tell Yolie I said hello, you hear? And call me first thing when Detective Nash contacts you.
You really think hell
With any luck hes got the murder weapon and the murderer behind bars as we speak.
But if he doesnt
Sooner or later hell send a man with a badge to knock on your door. When he does
Rule number one, she replied meekly, even as she wondered if she should wear gold beads to Pierces memorial service.
No, severe white cuffs against black would have just the right stark touch; as would her two-carat, fake-diamond ring. No way could she appear ringless around all his ex-wives, who had so many carats they could barely lift their hands.
If only all the rest of my clients were as obedient as you, Joe said.
She smiled, and he grinned as if he was very pleased with himself.
No sooner had Rosie stepped out of the firms offices than she was rethinking Bensons advice.
Not go? Shed never forgive herself if she didnt go to Pierces service.
Rosie was shaking her head back and forth as she observed Yolies reflection.
Okay, sweetie. You win. Yolie looked glum as she replaced her red frilly dress in the closet and pulled out a sober black one.
Good decision, Rosie said. You did say that, in situations like this, appearances are everything.
Yolies scowl deepened at being bested with her own words. She looked very cross indeed as she unzipped the more conservative choice and stepped into it.
Happy? I look like a nun now, she growled as she turned toward Rosie. A F-A-T nun. I wish youd be as smart as me and do what Joe told you to do.
I dont see why I shouldnt go to Pierces memorial service. I was engaged to him!
Not something to brag about, sweetie! And its just too damn bad for you everybody in this burg knows it.
And I was there at his house right before
Thats the point! Nobody is supposed to suspect that, you obsessed idiot! You need to lie low. Book a session with Nan or maybe catch a movie.
Rosie guessed now wasnt the time to confess shed just canceled her session with Nan because it conflicted with Pierces service. And she didnt plan to make any more appointments, either.
Where had therapy gotten her, anyway? She was forty, single, a slumlord, and now possibly a murder suspect. It was time she realized she was a grown-up in the big, bad world, time to come to grips with the fact she had to fly solo.
I want to know who killed him. I feellike since I was there, Im somehow responsible. Maybe I should have looked around downstairs. Maybe I could have prevented
And what if you had? Then youd be in a cardboard box today, about to be sprinkled on your favorite mountaintop, too.
You could have a small point, Rosie conceded.
So, lets look at this from the bright side. You got what you wanted. Hes dead. So, forget about him. And quit reading all those newspaper stories.
I have this feeling Ive missed something, and that I should make it right.
Let it go. Let him go. Use that overdose of compassion and curiosity you were born with on your patients. Folks who stick long noses into hot flames get nose hairs singed.
Right, Rosie said, looking down at her watch. But if you dont hurry, well be late.
Youre still going? Did you hear anything I said?
When she straightened and began buttoning the white cuffs of her black dress, Yolie let out a howl. Lady Long-nose, you bought a new dress! You did!
Fortunately, Darius and Todd honked from the drive just then, distracting her. Yolie raised the window and hollered down to them to hold their horses, shed come when she was damn well ready.
So, you finally convinced them to go, Rosie said.
Not easy, let me tell you. Theyre as hardheaded as their father. Would you button my neck? As she turned her back to Rosie, Yolie began spritzing her golden hair so that it stood on end. Pierce was hardly the saintly father the papers made him out to be. But how would it look if his sons didnt go?