Boyd moved closer and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. She was touched, because she really didn’t think he was the type to do that with too many people.
“I know it’s hard, but I just want to make sure we’ve got our bases covered.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“What for?” His voice was gruff when he asked. “For having feelings? Please. Even Danny over here has feelings and believe me, he’s very superficial.”
“My ass, your face. A match, Richie.”
Kelli laughed. Both of the detectives smiled. Holdstedter winked at her. “I knew there was a smile in there somewhere. Now and then you have to dig for ’em.”
“How about new people in their lives? New neighbors around here or new coworkers?”
Kelli looked over at Jason’s place. “Only one I know of is Jason Soulis.” She pointed to the great gray house across the street.
Boyd looked, and for just an instant she saw a shark’s smile on his face. “Now, that ain’t his car, is it?”
“Oh, please. No, that’s Tom Pardue’s car.” He said the name at the same time that she did, and she looked back at the detective. “You know him?”
“Oh yeah. We’re old friends. We’ve been buddies for years.”
Holdstedter chuckled and shook his head. “You know, I think you should put him on your Christmas card list, Richie.”
Boyd’s eyes narrowed for a second and he nodded. “Or maybe we could pay him a visit sometime.” Then he shook himself and looked back at her. “So, does Pardue visit this Soulis guy a lot?”
“No. I’ve never seen him over there before.”
“Bet he ain’t selling Girl Scout cookies.” Holdstedter crossed his arms and looked at the car as if it were guilty of a dozen crimes, merely by being associated with Pardue.
“How long has Soulis been in town, Ms. Entwhistle?”
“If you’re Boyd, I’m Kelli.”
“How long, Kelli?”
“Around two weeks, I guess. Since the early part of October.”
The two detectives nodded in unison. “Well, isn’t that interesting.” Boyd’s question was rhetorical. He reached into his coat and pulled out a cigar. “You mind?”
She shook her head. “I like the smell of a good cigar.”
“How do you figure?” Holdstedter was looking at Boyd, his smooth brow wrinkled in thought.
Boyd lit his cigar, filling the foggy air with plumes of the aromatic tobacco. “Two weeks. We’ve had a lot of things happening around here for the last two weeks.”
Thinking back on that gave Kelli a case of the heebie-jeebies. A lot really had happened in the last fourteen or so days. Enough that she found herself wondering what had happened to her entire world in that amount of time.
Boyd and Holdstedter stared at the Camaro and nodded, saying nothing for several moments.
“Would you guys like some coffee or something?”
“Hmm? Oh, no. But thanks.” Boyd looked at her. “Listen, not that you’re a nosy neighbor or anything, but have you met that Soulis guy?”
“What the hell kind of name is Soulis, anyway?” Holdstedter scratched idly at his chiseled chin. “Sounds like a stage name for a bad magician.”
Kelli laughed again. She thought it was weird herself.
“Scottish, I think. I read about a castle over there where they burned a Lord Soulis for witchcraft.”
Holdstedter looked at Boyd as he answered; a smile grew on the taller detective’s face. “Since when do you read?”
“Since your mother stopped putting out.” Then Boyd got a horrified look on his face and looked toward Kelli. She was too busy laughing to pay much attention.
“I can’t believe I said that in front of you.” His eyes were wide and his face plastered with apology and shame.
“No, please,” she waved aside his horrified look. “I needed that.”
“Yeah, so did Danny’s mom.”
“You’re a bad man, Boyd.”
He nodded and smiled. He had a nice smile under all that gruff. “That’s what Danny’s mom always said.”
“Okay, one more mom joke and I’m gonna open up with the Whalen comments.”
“Okay, okay. You win. I’ll leave your mom out of this.”
“Smart move.”
“Besides, your sister’s better in bed anyway.”
Kelli laughed again. It was good to laugh. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like.
VI
Tom walked around the side of the mansion and shook his head. He was proud of his house. He had a damned nice place. He could have fit about seven just like it inside the place he was circling.
Jason Soulis said he wanted to see him, and so here he was. Soulis was his favorite kind of client; he didn’t make demands and he always paid upfront. So now and then he could make a house call for that sort of customer.
It was just a pain in the ass when they weren’t where they said they would be. He went around to the back of the mansion, marveling still at the dark gray walls and the high gloss of the marble. He didn’t figure he could make the sort of money that would be needed for a house this fine without pimping every single bitch on both college campuses. Not that he wouldn’t be willing to, of course.
The back of the house overlooked the Cliff Walk, and he spotted Soulis over near the edge. The man was dressed in the sort of style that only worked for filthy rich people: He looked casual, but the clothes all had a fit that was too perfect. There was a chill in the air, but not much of one. Soulis was decked out in a suit and a greatcoat and gloves.
He stared out at the ocean as Tom approached. Before he was within ten feet of the man, Soulis waved to acknowledge his presence. “It’s a beautiful day here.”
Tom shrugged. It was a shitty day as far as he was concerned, but the customer is always right, unless, of course, he was wrong.
“I have a fondness for the ocean, Mr. Pardue. Forgive me my trifles.”
“You wanted to see me, Mr. Soulis?”
Soulis reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a thick envelope. “For tonight.”
Tom made the money disappear. He didn’t bother counting it. He had no doubt in his mind that Soulis would take offense, and something about him was intimidating. He didn’t like that feeling. He was used to being the one who intimidated just by being there. Soulis couldn’t have cared less if Tom were waving a gun in his face. That was the feeling he got from the man.
“Thank you.”
“Do you like Black Stone Bay, Mr. Pardue?”
“Yeah. It’s home.”
“Indeed. It’s starting to feel that way for me as well.”
“So, Maggie hasn’t given you any troubles?”
Soulis finally turned to look at him, one dark eyebrow raised in a question. “Should she?”
“No, no, I just like to make sure everything is going the right way. I wouldn’t want you dissatisfied.”
“She has proven to be everything I expected.”
“Good. That’s good.”
“You have excellent tastes in ladies.”
“Maggie’s something all right.” He would never think of her as a lady, but if Soulis wanted to, that was his choice.
Soulis stared down at the waters, his eyes watching the waves shatter themselves against the rocks.
“Do you suppose there is any way to survive the waters here in the bay?”
“Yeah. Don’t fall in.”
Soulis smiled thinly. “No doubt.”
“Was there anything else I could do for you, Mr. Soulis?”
“One more thing, actually. There is a policeman who’s caught my attention: Brian Freemont.”
The name meant nothing. “What about him?”
“I would like you to post his bail.”
“I thought you said he was a cop.”
“He is. He just isn’t a very good one.”
“What’s he in jail for?”
“He is currently incarcerated for pulling his firearm on two other police officers.”
“That’s gonna be an ugly bail to post.”
Soulis held out a much, much thicker envelope. “That should suffice.”
Tom managed not to whistle. Soulis would have thought it rude and classless. Around Soulis, Tom wanted to look like he was in the big leagues. He wasn’t, he just wanted to be.
“There anything else?”
“Yes. Let him sit a bit. I don’t want him getting out until sunset.”
He didn’t ask questions. He knew better. Jason Soulis probably wasn’t the sort of man who liked to have questions asked. The money went into his pants pocket.
“Mr. Pardue?”
“Yes sir?”
“Do I have to warn you about disappointing me?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Good. Have a nice day.”
Tom left, part of him offended by the casual dismissal and part of him happy to go. Soulis was a scary man and he didn’t even try to be that way. It was power; the man had power and in abundance. He doubted there was much of anything Soulis could want and not get. Someday he intended to be in the same position.
VII
Maggie met with Jason Soulis and spent the night again. He was as imaginative as ever, and she was thoroughly sated.
Unfortunately, he was not. She lay back as he moved over her, his mouth starting at her feet and moving slowly, languidly up her legs, preceded by his hands.
Her skin felt feverish. Her breaths came in gasps. His tongue lapped at her flesh, his teeth nipped at her skin, his nails drew lines of sweet fire across her nerve endings. Her hands clenched the sheets, pulling at the tough silk and stretching it out of shape.
“God, Jason . . .” She whined; there was a point where pleasure bordered on pain and she had reached it. He kept going, crawling up her body, his mouth on her inner thigh and then higher, his hands sliding across her stomach, her ribs, moving to her breasts.
He was merciless and she hissed in pleasure, moaned in agony. And still he kept going. His body slowly worked over the contours of hers, his hands and mouth traveled everywhere, sliding over her front and sides and back as he explored.
He used her. She returned the favor. Enough was enough, and she decided to get inventive right back. He kissed. She bit. He scratched, she clawed. He thrust, she arched. He tasted, she drank. He bruised, she cut. Well before they were finished, both had begged for mercy and been granted none.
Finally, she solved a mystery. The taste she had in her mouth when all was said and done, so familiar but not common. It was blood. She drank his and he drank hers. It was intoxicating.
When the sun was almost up, she rose from his bed and dressed hastily. Her body still felt feverish, and she was in a daze. Jason watched her stand and move about, and smiled at her.
“Find a safe place, Maggie. Be with someone you can trust for the day.”
“Why?”
“Trust me on this if nothing else. Find a safe place. Come to me tonight, when you want your questions answered.”
Exhausted, elated, and nearly delirious, she nodded her head and left his house. The glow of the coming dawn seemed too bright to her eyes and she drove quickly, trying to keep her calm.
“Damn. I gotta start getting some sleep. This is crazy.”
The roads were mercifully devoid of people. The trees were alive with the watchful eyes of crows. She found herself noticing the birds at nearly every corner, all of them intent on her, staring as if she were a succulent morsel of food.
Maggie pulled into the parking lot and barely avoided hitting another car parked in the space next to hers. The world was swimming and swaying by the time she got out of the car and started for her apartment. The courtyard seemed miles longer than it should have.
She was almost home, almost safe, when the ground lurched under her feet and she fell. The darkness was complete and silent and blissful.
Chapter 14
I
Ryan Harper wet himself when the gun pushed up against his face. It was a big gun, and he knew good and fucking well that Tom Pardue would use it on him in a heartbeat if he didn’t get what he wanted.
“Tom?” His voice was subdued for obvious reasons. “Want to tell me what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong is that all of my money is gone, Ryan.” He’d never seen Pardue looking anywhere near this pissed off. “All of it. I got nothin’ left and I’m feeling a little like killing someone. So you tell me who has my money, and I will pick that person to fucking kill instead of you.”
“Tom, I don’t know who has your money.”
“Listen carefully, Ryan. Listen like your life depended on it.” His teeth were bared and the acne scars on his face were glistening. Pardue’s eyes were wide and furious. “You have five hours to find out who has my money, or I’m going to come back here and make you sorry we ever did business together.”
Tom Pardue was not the smartest man in the world, but he had the good sense to know he wasn’t. Ryan had helped him launder a lot of money over the years and been paid for it. That also meant that Ryan was one of a small handful of people who knew how much Pardue was really worth and who had access to information about where he kept his life savings.
“Tom, listen to me. I didn’t take your money, you know that, okay? I don’t need to take your money and I’m not stupid enough to have you wanting me dead.”
“That’s why you’re still alive, buddy boy. That’s the only fucking reason.” Tom’s eyes were absolutely murderous. “You find out who did. That’s all. You fuck this up, I fuck you up.” He emphasized his words by running the business end of the pistol along Ryan’s jaw line.
“I’ll do what I can, Tom, but I’m only human.”
“Be better than that. Be better than only human. You understand me?”
Ryan nodded.
“Good, because I’ve seen that little skirt you’re with. She won’t much care for you when I’m done. Shit. Do ya one better. You get this right, or you won’t much care for her when I’m done, either. You get me?”
“Yeah, I get you, man. Just chill, okay? Just be calm. It’ll work out. I’ll find out who did it.”
Tom put the gun into the back of his pants and stepped back two paces. Ryan let himself hope he might live through this.