Beautiful Girls (2 page)

^{At that time, my throat had tightened and I couldn't speak. Now, I felt haunted by those words.}

 

^{Los Angeles, California, Monday, October 18, 2004}

^{My plane touched down on a California runway just a few minutes late at 4:45 PM west coast time. Edie was waiting for me outside the LAX security gate. As usual, she saw me first and rushed towards me. Fortunately, I caught sight of her a second before she jumped to hug me. Edie's tears began again. We didn't know what to say or do except hug for many minutes. It felt so good to hold my beautiful little woman. If only it had been under different circumstances.}

^{Our careers had kept us apart for four months due to Edie's erratic filming schedules and my demanding investigations. When you've been separated from a loved one that long, those first minutes bring your memories of them up-to-date with reality. Of course, I was wowed by Edie, as I always am when I'm around her. She is a striking woman with exotic beauty due to her maternal grandmother's Mexican-American heritage. She is also petite and we must look funny together as a couple because I'm eleven inches taller than her. And, it always seems a greater height difference when she isn't wearing heels, which doesn't occur too often. Edie brings out my protective instincts even more as she appears to be a mature woman in an adolescent's body; I never want to let her go.}

^{She wore black; a simple, above-the-knee, short-sleeved, cotton dress, and sandals. Her very-dark brown hair was longer and loose, trailing down her back; she knew I liked it that way. She clutched a wad of slightly damp tissues in her right hand, and her small purse was on a long strap over her left shoulder.}

^{Despite the tragedy we faced, Edie looked gorgeous and glowed in good health. However, something was a little different from our last time together in June. I noted she'd gained a few pounds; they looked good on her, as I always wondered about her eating habits. Some of the gain was in Edie's chest. It was definitely larger.}

^{As we started walking towards baggage claim, Edie moved ahead of me onto the automated walkway. It was then, under the skylights and bright fluorescents. Edie turned a certain way and leaned against the moving black rubber handhold. I noticed the belly bump. That was not just normal weight gain.}

^{I closed the three steps between us and put both of my hands on Edie's belly. Our eyes met. I smiled. She smiled. Then, we hugged and kissed so long that we tripped at the end of the hundred-yard walkway.}

^{I pulled her to the side of the airport wing and we sat side by side in chairs at one of the gates.}

^{“Oh my God, Edie.”}

^{“Are you OK with the surprise?”}

^{“Sure, I am. But, why didn't you tell me?”}

^{“I wanted to surprise you and I didn't want to change our wedding plans and none of our plans to get together worked and…Are you mad at me?”}

^{“Yes, I'm mad, madly in love with you.”}

^{Putting on a very serious face, Edie said, “Stevie, I must keep our baby…”}

^{I put my right index finger to her lips. “Of course you are. Don't even think otherwise. I just wish you had told me sooner.”}

^{“I know. I'm sorry. Oh, Stevie, I didn't expect this to happen. I mean, I wanted it to happen, but it was earlier than we wanted and I thought I had screwed up our plans. I didn't know what to do.”}

^{“How far along are you?”}

^{“Four months, of course.”}

^{“Oh sure, of course you are.”}

^{“So, how has the pregnancy been?”}

^{“Really good. I'm so happy and feeling good. I only had a little morning sickness at the beginning. But, now, I love to eat. I didn't start to really show until a week or two ago. I just wish the filming had ended earlier so we could have got married last month or even earlier.”}

^{“Oh, Edie. This is amazing news! What a surprise!”}

^{“Are you OK with this?”}

^{“Yes, please believe me; we just need to make sure everything's OK, that you're OK. Have you been seeing a doctor?”}

^{“Yes, several times and all is going fine. I'm eating right and haven't had alcohol or caffeine since I did the pregnancy test two days after I flew back west. I'm taking my special vitamins and getting sleep. Oh man, am I sleeping. It's like all I do. I got so tired in Vancouver. All I did was work, eat and sleep. I've already gained seven pounds.”}

^{“I thought so, that's what caused me to look at you closer.”}

^{“I know, I'm getting fat.”}

^{“No, you aren't. Don't think that. This is not the time to diet.”}

^{“I know. I want you and a healthy baby. I'll do anything to make that happen. But, I can't fit in my wedding dress anymore. That's what Bambi and I were going to do today, get it let out so I can squeeze into it. Bambi was so happy for me, for us. She wanted me to tell you. In fact, I'm surprised she or Tawny didn't call you.”}

^{“They both know, knew?”}

^{“Sure did. But, I made them promise to keep it a secret. As I only told them a month ago and told them I wanted to surprise you when you got here.”}

^{“Well, you sure did that. Oh, Edie. We're going to have a baby! We have so much to do.”}

^{Then, I realized the tragedy that we faced. “Oh, my god, Edie, why did this happen to Bambi, Troy and Lisa?”}

^{Edie sniffled and said, “I don't know. I can't believe all this is happening. Where are Dad and Tawny?”}

^{“I don't know. Where do we go from here?”}

^{“Home. I mean, let's eat first. I'm starving and you must be hungry, too.”}

^{“OK. Yeah, let's go eat.”}

^{Edie said, “After dinner, we'll go to the mansion. We'll stay in my place; the pool house. The police took the bodies away a few hours ago after they finished all their photos and stuff. They said they'll keep the reporters off the property; I hope that's true. Let's talk about what we should do next.”}

^{I said, “OK,” and thought,
that's my partner!}

^***

^{I drove Edie's royal blue BMW. The ride was first filled with talk about our baby, our marriage and our future. We agreed the wedding had to be postponed, for now, but only until this tragedy was solved. We agreed we had a thousand people to call and things to do to stop everything that was supposed to happen in five days. We agreed that being together was all that mattered, and we agreed never to let such a long time separate us again.}

^{My head was spinning with all the news. That morning I was working in Philadelphia, wrapping things up so I could fly to the wedding in L.A. on Friday with my cousins, Christian and Hannah, and their families. Then Edie's phone call changed everything. Now, thirteen hours later I was in L.A. going to dinner with my pregnant fiancée and our wedding was indefinitely postponed. But, I was very happy to be with my little woman, and I knew I really needed to be here for her, too.}

^{We were a team again. We were a team that worked well together. We knew it and liked the feeling. And, we knew our team was about to go through some tough challenges.}

^{Once we entered the freeway the conversation about us ended and we started thinking about Edie's family and the House of Gabriel. We agreed our future would start when this nightmare ended.}

^{“Stevie, let's eat at
BLD
. It's a cool restaurant off Beverly Boulevard. You'll love the food.” I thought we both could use some time to regroup and discuss our next steps, so I said, “Sure.”}

^{Edie directed me there. We exited off I-10 onto La Cienega Boulevard. We continued north on La Cienega and turned right onto Beverly. After a mile and a half, Edie pointed out the restaurant on the south side of the road. I parallel parked into a curbside spot, fifty feet past the entrance. Edie stayed in the car while I checked out if we could get a table right away. There were two couples ahead of me at the hostess station. I turned and watched Edie while I waited in line and I could see her making a series of short phone calls.}

^{I had to pinch myself; I was really here in L.A. with my beautiful fiancée, my beautiful, successful fiancée, my beautiful, successful, pregnant fiancée. And, we were in love, but, we were frightened and overwhelmed and I was thinking about who killed Bambi, Troy and Lisa. I had to go over these events with Edie as soon as we were seated, while it was still fresh in her mind.}

^{The couples ahead of us were waiting for a delayed, third couple to arrive. After they moved to the bar, I learned that we could be seated right way.}

^{I said, “My fiancée and I will be right in.”}

^{As we entered the restaurant, Edie said, “
BLD
's initials stand for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner – the name alone tells you this place is all about the food.”}

^{I could tell. The décor was very simple yet inviting. Simple so that you can focus on what's important, the food.}

^{Edie recommended the Tuesday night special, fried chicken, and that's what I chose. Edie went vegetarian and selected strozzapreti pasta with goat cheese and grilled vegetables. I also selected an appetizer of steamed mussels, while Edie ordered a fresh vegetable salad. I think I made out best.}

^{The fried chicken breasts came with collard greens, cornbread and a heap of cheese grits. The chicken was juicy and spiced right. I loved the grits and collard greens; both were first time side dishes for me. Edie loved her pasta. The food was so good we had the chef come out so that we could personally compliment her. My glass of California Chardonnay wine tasted buttery, our coffees (decaf for Edie) and dessert (raspberry sorbet for me and a warm peach crisp for my fiancée) were great.}

^{We had a witty, very competent server named Fern. She would frown if she didn't like what we were considering on the menu and would say, “Yummy”, if she liked our choices. Our selections received Fern's praises.}

^{Over coffee, Edie asked, “Do we really need to go back to the mansion, Stevie?”}

^{“Are you scared?”}

^{“I sure am, aren't you?”}

^{I said, “Yeah, a little. What did the police say they are doing?”}

^{“Well, they were all over the property, asking me a thousand questions, making me explain what I knew, you know?”}

^{“Sure. But, are they going to watch the place?”}

^{“Yeah, I think so.”}

^{“Who's the detective?”}

^{Edie said, “Umm…I can't remember. Oh, yeah, he gave me his card. Here.”}

^{I looked at it and it read,
Lieutenant Peter Lomita
. I stopped and smiled as memories flooded back from nine years earlier in 1995. Lomita was the detective on the case of Sid Gabriel's murder.}

^{“What is it, Stevie?”}

^{I pointed to the card and said, “Do you recognize that name?”}

^{“No, why should I?”}

^{“He was the detective on Andi's case when Sid was shot.”}

^{“Really?”}

^{“Yeah, remember, we met him at the airport, the morning they found Andi's car.”}

^{“Oh, that's right. I do remember him, now.”}

^{“I'm sure he remembers us. I should speak to him as soon as possible. I'll call him from the mansion.”}

^{After dinner we moved to a booth in the bar area and watched the final innings of a baseball playoff game. We continued to talk about our next steps. We also continued holding each other. Edie couldn't get enough of my touch. From time to time, she shivered and cried.}

^{“Stevie, I just want to run away with you for a while.”}

^***

^{For a second time in my life I drove to the House of Gabriel in the midst of a tragedy. We arrived a few minutes after nine o'clock. From the front of the estate all seemed unchanged from my vacation the year before. The media were nowhere to be seen. The backyard showed tragic differences. A police car and a tech van sat at the end of the driveway. Yellow police tape marked off the entrances to the garage, both the double car doors and the rear, outside staircase. Bright light poured out of the garage apartment's second floor windows. More tape surrounded an area of the lawn about two feet off the patio.}

^{Officer McBride met us as we exited the BMW. We introduced ourselves and he checked his clipboard. We must have appeared on the approved list of names as he moved aside to let us pass. McBride was a strong redheaded six-footer. My guess is that he was a recent academy graduate and wanted to do nothing wrong on this, his first murder case, even though his duties were to guard the scene of the crime.}