Drop Dead Beautiful (31 page)

“I was thinking of flying up to Vegas with you next weekend,” Steven said. “Thought I’d take a look at everything before the grand opening.”

“I’d love that.”

Lucky appreciated having Steven in her life. A half-brother was so much better than no brother at all, and since Dario had been so brutally murdered it was great having found someone she could look up to. Steven was the result of Gino’s one-night affair many years ago with a black woman, Carrie. It had taken Gino a while to accept the fact that he’d fathered a black son who had not appeared in his life until he was an adult, but once Steven had shown up, Gino had rallied and eventually accepted Steven into the family.

Steven was an extremely successful lawyer. Several years previously his wife had been shot and killed in a carjacking, and sometime later he’d married Lina. They seemed to be very happy together, in spite of Lina’s somewhat wild past.

After dinner was served Gino stood up and prepared to make a speech. The room hushed. Someone handed Gino a microphone—he held it gingerly.

“First time I had one of these things stuck in my face,” he joked. “Plenty of guns, never one of these.” Pause for laughter. “Y’know,” he continued, “never thought I’d make it to ninety-five friggin’ years old. It’s a miracle I’m still around, an’ I plan on stayin’ around a lot longer for my family. My unbelievable ballsy daughter, Lucky. My son, Steven, who came into my life late and made it even better. My grandkids, I love ’em all. Then there’s my wife, Paige, she’s the woman who keeps an eye on my drinkin’, gamblin’, an’ womanizing.” Another big laugh from the crowd. “Paige is kinda like a prison guard,” Gino continued, warming up. “An’ believe me, I’ve crossed paths with a few of
them
in my time. Anyway, I wanna thank you all for comin’ out tonight, for supportin’ me and my family. An’ a special toast to Lucky for makin’ this party for me. So drink up an’ have a good old time, ’cause me—I can’t wait t’hit the dance floor.”

Lennie gave Lucky a nudge. “Your turn.”

“I’m not good at speaking in public,” she protested.

“Do your best, sweetheart, I know you can.”

“Guess I’ve got no choice,” she said, taking a long deep breath before standing up and tapping the side of her glass until the room was silent again. A tentful of expectant eyes turned toward her. She hated being in the spotlight; keeping a low profile was much more to her liking.

“Uh, thanks, Gino,” she began. “Your speech was beautiful, and this is quite an occasion.” Her eyes met Lennie’s. He nodded encouragingly. Taking another deep breath, she continued speaking. “So … y’know, ever since I was a little girl Gino never allowed me to call him Daddy, I have no idea why. Then I got to thinking it was because of the parade of women coming in and out of our house, and he didn’t want some little kid running in yelling, ‘Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!’ “ Everyone laughed. “Well … after that I got used to calling him Gino, and I got used to his ways. Hey, you all know Gino, I had no choice.” More laughter. “Anyway, growing up with Gino was a major pain in the ass, so to compensate I decided to become an even
bigger
pain in the ass than him. But anyone who knows us realizes that we finally got together
and made our peace, and since that time Gino has been everything to me. I can’t even begin to tell everybody how great he is, and I’m so
happy
that he’s hitting ninety-five. Wow! Some freakin’ landmark! So Gino,” she said, tilting her champagne glass toward him. “I toast you and everything about you.” A long slow beat. “Oh yes, and thanks … Daddy … I love you, I really do. Happy birthday!”

Glasses were raised and champagne was drunk.

Lucky sat down.

“Perfect,” Lennie murmured in her ear. “You’re a talented woman.”

“It wasn’t that good,” she said modestly. “Just some hokey speech I came up with at the last minute.”

“It was from your heart,” Lennie assured her. “That’s all that matters.”

“You think?”

“I know,” he said, taking her hand and squeezing it tightly. “God, I love you.”

“Right back atcha!” she said, reaching up to touch his cheek.

“Let’s blow this party and go make out.”

“Now?”

“
Right
now. You and me in the guest bathroom. How about it? Just like old times, huh?”

“Lennie …” she began.

“
What?”
he said, giving her the look she could never resist.

“Nothing,” she said, standing up. “So c’mon, move it, Mr. Golden, or are you all talk?”

“That’s my Lucky,” he said, grinning.

“Oh
yes
, mother of your children and sex maniac!” she said, pulling him to his feet. “That’s your Lucky.”

Laughing together they left the tent.

Nursing his fourth—or was it fifth?—tumbler of Scotch, Alex watched them go. Lucky.
His
Lucky. Without her existence things could have been so simple. But with her
around nothing was simple, and nothing was ever enough. Not the endless women, the expensive possessions, his successful career. Three fucking Oscars, and he’d give them up tomorrow for just one night with Lucky. She was his ultimate woman, and yet she belonged to Lennie. And what could he do about that?

Nothing.

Exactly nothing. And the pain of not having her never left him.

“Alex,” Billy said, breaking into his thoughts.

“What?” Alex growled.

“I heard tell you think success has gone to my head?” Billy said, taking a belligerent stance.

“Huh?” Alex questioned, standing up. He hated it when punk actors got in his face—this wasn’t the first time.

“Yeah, you told Lucky an’ she told Venus, who told me,” Billy said, determined to force a confrontation.

“What the fuck is this, grade school?” Alex spluttered.

“No. Reality,” Billy said. “I’m not that green kid you put in his first movie. It’s time you gave me some respect.”

“Respect!” Alex chortled. “You’ll get my respect when you do somethin’ to deserve it.”

Billy’s handsome face darkened. “What?”

“You heard.”

“Fuck you, Alex,” Billy said in a loud voice. “You’re yesterday’s news, an old guy who’s losin’ it. So whyn’t you wake up an’ smell the retirement hittin’ you smack in the face.”

Alex took a step forward and spewed a litany of insults. “You dumb, no-talent, ass-kissin’, fuckin’ boy toy prick. You—”

Before Alex could utter one more insult, Billy hit him square on the jaw. Pow! A direct shot that took Alex by surprise, but not enough to stop him from retaliating. As a Vietnam vet, Alex had a few moves of his own, and he came back at Billy with a vengeance. Suddenly it was on, a full-out fistfight.

Venus, who’d been deep in conversation with Cole and
Rich, jumped to attention. “Oh
my God!”
she screeched. “Somebody stop them!”

And Gino, sitting at the next table, looked on admiringly. “Now
this
is what I call a
party!
” he crowed to Paige. “Trust my Lucky to come up with the right friggin’ mix! This is the best damn party of the year!”

Chapter 48

Max was asleep, once more locked in her prison, when she thought she heard a scratching sound coming from the outside of the boarded-up window.

The sound awoke her instantly. She quickly sat up, got off the bed, and padded toward the window, her heart beating fast. She’d persuaded the freak to keep the shackle off her ankle—the sense of freedom it gave her was quite liberating.

“Anyone there?” she whispered, attempting to peer out, but all she could see was pitch blackness.

“It’s Ace,” a voice whispered back. “Is that you, Max? You in there?”

Relief flooded her whole being. Ace had come to rescue her. Thank God!

“Yes, it’s me,” she answered excitedly. “I’m locked up here.”

“I’m gonna try getting you out,” he promised.

“How?”

“Who knows?” he said in a low voice. “Where’s the freak?”

“I think he’s asleep, but he’s right next door so you’d better be quiet.”

“I’m gonna attempt to pry the boards off the window.”

“What if he wakes up?” she asked, panicking. “He’s got a gun.”

“I know, but we’re better off gettin’ outta here.”

“God, Ace, where have you
been?”
she cried.

“He had me locked up, I only just managed to break out. Okay, here goes,” he said, tearing at the boards with his bare hands. “Wish us luck.”

Almost two nail-biting hours later he’d made enough space for Max to squeeze through. Once she managed to force her head and shoulders out, he dragged her the rest of the way, scraping the side of her body from thigh to chest. She bit her lip trying not to cry out with pain.

It was still night and the blackness was oppressive. She couldn’t see a thing as Ace quickly hugged her. “Let’s go,” he said, his voice full of urgency.

“Where to?” she asked, shivering uncontrollably.

“Anywhere away from here.”

He grabbed her hand and they began to run.

Running, breathing, running, breathing, Max thought her lungs were about to explode, but Ace wouldn’t allow her to stop, even though they were running in total darkness. She kept tripping and falling as they made their way through what appeared to be a heavily wooded area.

“Shouldn’t we try to find the road?” she gasped.

“No,” Ace said. “When he discovers we’re gone, that’s exactly where he’ll start looking.”

“But if we stay in the woods, we’ll be totally lost,” she said, experiencing a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Neither of us knows where we are, and he told me this area is completely deserted, nowhere near anything or anybody.”

“Don’t sweat it,” he said, keeping a firm grip on her arm, supporting her when she stumbled.

“I tried to escape,” she said, breathing hard. “Kicked him in the balls, it didn’t have much effect.”

“That’s ’cause he hasn’t got any,” Ace said, stopping for a moment and bending over. “Jesus! I am
so
fucking hungry.”

“What? He didn’t serve you three-course meals?” she said, squatting on the ground.

“Glad you’ve still got your sense of humor.”

“Trying to keep my spirits up,” she said, shivering. “Where were you anyway?”

“Locked in a stinking outhouse. He dumped me in there and never came back. I could’ve starved to death.”

“You haven’t had anything to eat or drink all weekend?”

“Nope. Sweet that I took a survival course in school.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, we had to survive in the desert on practically nothing for six days.”

“Wow!”

“This time I had a coupla packs of gum in my pocket, must’ve given me enough strength to dig my way out. There was a john over a hole in the ground. That’s where I dug. It took me long enough, but I made it.”

“Does he still think you’re in there?”

“Guess so,” he said, pulling her up. “C’mon, we gotta keep movin’.”

“But I’m so cold and hungry,” she said, still shivering.

“Tell me about it,” he said as they began stumbling through the woods again, Max desperately trying to forget the pain she was in with her side and her ankle. “Y’know,” she muttered. “He told me he let you go, so I immediately started thinking you were part of it, that he’d sent you to lure me into his trap.”

“I might be a bank robber,” Ace quipped, “but that doesn’t mean I’d get involved in a kidnapping plot.”

“He sounded so cool, I thought meeting him would be an adventure.”

“One hell of an adventure this turned out to be. You realize we could’ve both got shot.”

“You don’t have to draw me a map.”

“Listen, Max, I’m not that much older than you, but there’s no way you should go running off with strange dudes. He’s probably one of those sick pedophiles.”

“I’m hardly a child,” she said, tripping over a branch and almost falling. “Ow!”

He caught her by the arm. “What’s up?”

“It’s just that I scraped my side coming out the window, it really hurts.”

“You think
that’s
bad, wait till you see my hands.”

“What’s wrong with them?”

“I told you, I had to dig myself out of that place. Then I had to tear those wooden boards off your window. My freakin’ hands are nothing but splinters and blood.”

“Can I do anything?”

“Just keep moving, we can’t afford to stop.”

“But I’m tired.”

“Max!” he said forcefully. “Suck it up.”

“Okay, okay,” she answered breathlessly. “But what if he finds us?”

“He’s not going to.”

“Then if
he
can’t find us,” she reasoned, “nobody else can.”

“We’re gonna get out of here,” Ace assured her, “so stop with the whining.”

“I’m
not
whining.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

Chapter 49

Monday morning Renee Falcon received a call from a detective. She wasn’t surprised—she’d known it was only a matter of time before she was tagged as one of the last people to see Tasmin Garland before her mysterious disappearance. Only it wasn’t so mysterious to Renee; she’d had to pay a lot of people big bonuses to make sure they kept their mouths shut. And unfortunately that made her an accessory to murder, thanks to Anthony Bonar.

In retrospect, Renee wished she’d called the cops and busted Anthony’s stinking ass. Unfortunately, she was unable to do so on account of the fact that he had too much information about her past, and if she’d given him up, he would’ve spilled buckets about the money she’d gotten out of Colombia and shifted to Vegas illegally, and the murdered croupier whose body was buried out in the desert, and the amount of drugs she’d purchased for her hotel guests’ pleasure over the years.

Damn Anthony Bonar. She wasn’t above putting out a hit on him. What a joy it would be to get rid of him once and for all. Good riddance to a misogynous murderous fuckhead.

She agreed to meet the detective in the coffee shop at the Cavendish. Arriving early, she settled into her usual corner booth, ordered coffee, and picked up a newspaper.

When Detective Diane Franklin walked in, Renee was surprised. “I wasn’t expecting a woman,” she said, checking out the black detective, attractive in a no-nonsense way.