Lovers & Players (50 page)

Yes, that was it. Who was there to refute her story?

Famka.

Ah, Famka. Perhaps it would be wise to bring Famka in on it. Not as a full partner–after all, it had not been Famka’s idea, it was hers. However, with Famka involved, her story would have back-up, making it worth all the more.

Big bucks,
Sonja thought.
That’s what America is all about–big bucks.

Detective Rodriguez had experienced a busy night. A high-profile murder always increased the pressure to get the case solved as fast as possible. As if it was easy. The way the jerks in the mayor’s office were screaming for action was no big help.

Solving a murder case was like assembling an intricate jigsaw puzzle. You put it together, piece by piece, until suddenly the picture is clear and everything else falls into place.

Max Diamond producing Mariska’s box at one a.m. was a big help–although Detective Rodriguez would have preferred to receive it at a more civilized hour, and certainly earlier in his investigation. Over the last several days he’d had very little sleep, so after hitting the sack at midnight, he had not appreciated being awoken at one a.m. on Thursday and summoned to Max Diamond’s apartment. Then there was the murder of Irena to consider. After listening to Max’s story, he’d dispatched a crime-squad team to Brighton Beach, then got himself there somewhere around three a.m.

Now it was nine in the morning and, after being up all night, he had Mariska Diamond’s killer in his sights.

Soon…very soon…he’d be the department’s hero.

And why not? He’d worked damn hard on this one.

‘Hey,’ Chris said.

‘Hey,’ Jett responded, as they exchanged an awkward hug. ‘Uh…thanks for last night,’ Jett continued. ‘Guess you kinda saved me from myself. Sorry I was such an asshole. Dunno what I was thinking. It was a big mistake–it won’t happen again.’

They were standing on the sidewalk outside Red’s house, neither of them looking forward to going in.

‘I don’t see you carrying a bag,’ Chris remarked.

Jett pushed his hair out of his eyes. ‘A bag?’

‘L.A.,’ Chris reminded him. ‘Remember? I booked you a ticket to come with me.’

‘Oh, yeah.’ A beat. ‘Uh…listen, Chris, thanks for the offer, but I can’t go. Y’ see, last night—’

‘I know all about last night,’ Chris interrupted. ‘Max called me. I went over to his place and heard the whole sorry story.’

‘Is he destroyed?’

‘Do you
want
him to be?’

‘No way. I got nothing against Max. I wish I knew him better.’

‘That ain’t gonna happen, little bro’. Not when you tell him he’s exactly like Red.’

‘Oh,
shit,
’ Jett said, shaking his head. ‘I didn’t mean to say that.’

‘Then why did you?’

‘’Cause he punched me out, called me a loser,’ Jett explained. ‘I couldn’t hit him back–I would’ve floored him. Guess I tried to hurt him with words.’

‘Right,’ Chris said. ‘So you steal his fiancée, then tell him he’s exactly like the father we all hate. Right on, little bro’. That’ll really make him like you.’

‘Fuck!’

‘Yeah, fuck. Let’s go in.’

Red watched from an upstairs window as his two younger sons entered the house. Lady Jane was already in the library. He’d told Diahann not to come up until he buzzed her to do so.

Now he was waiting for Max to arrive, and the moment he did–let the party begin.

M
ax got to the house on 68th Street ten minutes after his brothers, thanks to the woman in the parking garage who’d attempted to detain him.

He didn’t care that he was late, he didn’t care about anything much any more. Except Lulu–and who knew if she was even his?

Irena could’ve told him, but Irena was no longer around to answer his questions.

Who would have thought that one week could totally change a person’s life? His business was back on track. His personal life was pure shit.

The butler opened the front door and he walked straight through to the library.

Lady Jane Bentley was sitting stiffly on one of the leather couches, while Jett and Chris stood by the window. Chris immediately came over to greet him. ‘Tough night, huh?’ Chris said, in a low voice. ‘Did you get
any
sleep?’

‘Not much,’ he replied, noticing Jett over by the window and wondering if his younger brother would have the balls to speak to him. ‘Where’s Red?’ He turned to Lady Jane and repeated the question.

She shrugged in a noncommittal way. ‘I’m sure he’ll be here.’ Then she added, ‘In the future your father and I will be going our separate ways. I thought I’d tell you before you read it in one of the columns.’

Chris raised his eyebrows. ‘When did
this
happen?’

‘You know what Red’s like. He was always a selfish man, never cared about anyone except himself. I can’t change him, no one can.’

This did not exactly answer Chris’s question, but he figured he’d let it go. Lady Jane was no prize, she walked around as if she had a poker shoved up her Chanel-clad ass.

‘Where is he?’ Max asked impatiently. ‘If this is a repeat performance of the other day, I’m leaving, and this time I will
not
be coming back.’

‘Ha!’ Red boomed, appearing in the doorway. ‘Didn’t expect me to make it, huh? Well, here I am. Good morning to all of you.’

The old man seemed particularly cheerful, as if he’d recently been privy to some excellent news. He was dressed for the occasion in a blue pin-striped suit, crisp white shirt and bright red tie. At seventy-nine he still had a full head of iron-grey hair and today it was plastered back in what he obviously considered a fetching style. His faded blue eyes were alert and crafty, while a very pleased-with-himself smile hovered on his thin lips.

Red Diamond was obviously in a very good mood indeed.

Max Diamond was not. ‘Why are we here?’ Max demanded, surreptitiously cracking his knuckles.

‘Patience,’ Red replied. ‘That’s a quality you’ve never possessed.’ He cleared his throat, then turned his attention to Lady Jane. ‘Where are the refreshments, woman? Call the maid, for God’s sake.’

Lady Jane threw him a cool look. ‘I am no longer running this house,’ she said frostily. ‘Or perhaps you chose to forget that.’

Ignoring her, Red picked up the phone and buzzed the kitchen, ordering coffee, tea, soft drinks and cookies to be sent up immediately. ‘I enjoy a cookie in the morning,’ he announced, as if anyone cared.

Chris stepped forward. ‘While you’re enjoying your cookie, I have a flight to catch,’ he said. ‘You mentioned over the phone something about the true story behind my mother’s plane crash. What did you mean by that?’

‘Christ!’ Red grumbled. ‘Don’t any of you have any goddamn manners?
I
called this meeting in
my
house, and
I
will conduct the order in which it takes place.’

‘Order?’ Max questioned. ‘I didn’t realize we were in a boardroom.’

‘There will be things I say today that concern all of you,’ Red said. ‘If you want to hear them, sit down and shut up.’ He picked up the phone again and buzzed somewhere in the house. ‘Get up here,
now
!’ he commanded.

‘I thought I should inform you that I’m arranging Mariska’s funeral for early next week,’ Max said. ‘For Lulu’s sake I’d appreciate it if you could show some respect and be there. I presume you do
know
that four days ago Mariska was brutally murdered?’

‘How could I
not
know?’ Red rasped. ‘It’s all over the goddamn newspapers. Including my photo, and a bad one at that.’

Standing by the window, Jett didn’t move. He regretted comparing Max to this despicable human being, this psychologically flawed excuse for a father. It was no surprise Red had managed to turn Edie into a pathetic drunk, she was the only one to have survived the horror of being married to such an abusive bully.

He had a strong urge to leave while he could. But something kept him there, a need to hear exactly what the old man had to say.

‘I’m going to be eighty in two weeks,’ Red announced. ‘Eighty years young.’ He chuckled at his lame attempt at humour. ‘Never thought of myself as old, and I’m sure you’ll all be delighted to hear that I’m healthy as a goddamn thirty-year-old. Took a physical, and I might not look it, but my body is stronger than it’s ever been. Good peasant genes, inherited from my dumbass father, the loser granddaddy you were lucky enough never to know.’ He paused to light up a dark-coloured cigarette, indulged in a short coughing fit, then continued: ‘I’ll start with you, Max, my eldest son. My eldest moron. You’re not that smart, you just think you are. However, you managed to build yourself a mini-empire–an empire I almost took away from you with a couple of well-placed phone calls.’ Once again he chuckled. ‘You must’ve learned
something
from me, ’cause you managed to save your ass by calling in the goddamn Japs.’

‘No thanks to you,’ Max said, thinking how much he’d like to smash his bigoted and egocentric father in the face.

‘You got enough money,’ Red continued. ‘You don’t need any from me.’

‘Is that what you called me here to tell me?’

‘No,’ Red said. ‘Stick around, it gets a lot better than this. But first I’ll move onto Chris, who thinks he’s Mr Hollywood instead of some paid shyster with a big gambling problem.’

‘I’m not interested in your opinion of me,’ Chris said, choking back his anger and frustration. ‘Try telling me about my mother.’

‘Ah…’ Red sighed. ‘The lovely Olivia. Such a beauty. Such a
sad
story. Foolish of her to divorce me. If she’d stayed around she’d still be with us today.’

‘What do you mean?’ Chris asked, his heart pounding.

‘You should’ve asked your step-father when he was alive,’ Red answered, plucking a Kleenex from a box and noisily blowing his nose. ‘Your mother’s plane crash was no damn accident. Peter Linden–her lousy choice of a second husband–handled certain clients who could take care of anything he wanted done. And since Mr Linden had the hots for some movie-star tramp, it seems your mother had become an inconvenience. So he arranged to get rid of her, freeing himself to marry the movie star, which of course he did.’

‘
What?
’ Chris said, dumbstruck. ‘How do you know this?’

‘Tough shit for Peter, though,’ Red continued, exhaling a stream of dark smoke into the room. ‘Six weeks after he married the movie star, the two of them got into a fatal car accident on their way to Palm Springs. I’m sure you heard about it.’ A long ominous silence. Then: ‘Funny how shit turns around and hits you in the face, isn’t it?’

The door opened and two maids wheeled in a trolley of refreshments. They were followed by Diahann, who stood hesitantly in the doorway.

All eyes turned to stare at the transformation of Red’s dowdy housekeeper. She was quite beautiful, in an understated way.

‘You all know Diahann,’ Red said, beckoning her to come into the room. ‘Housekeeper Diahann.’

She entered the library reluctantly, not sure
what
to expect, although it was patently obvious that Red had
something
in mind.

Lady Jane Bentley glared at her, while the two maids left quickly, eager to get back to the kitchen and report what was going on. Diahann sat down on the edge of the couch, as far away from Lady Jane as possible.

‘Now let me see,’ Red said, enjoying every moment he spent with his captive audience. ‘We’ve established I’m in perfect health, and that’s the good news–not for you, I’m sure–but good news for me. However, I’m certain you’ll all be glad to know that I
am
getting older, and one day I will not be around to keep a watchful eye on you.’ A beat. ‘That’s a joke.’ Another beat. ‘Nobody’s laughing. Too bad.’ He swivelled his head towards his former paramour. ‘Jane,’ he said, ‘I have considered your request for the exorbitant and quite ludicrous sum of thirty-five million dollars, and after no thought at all, I have deemed it unacceptable. Therefore, on the condition that you and all your possessions are out of my house by six p.m. tonight, I am prepared to generously offer you one million dollars for the time you spent boring me to death. This is a one-time offer, and I suggest you accept it. Because if you refuse it, I can assure you that I will have you forcibly removed from the premises. Then you can try
suing
me for the settlement you’re after. I’ll have you tied up in court for the rest of your dull life. I can promise you that you’ll never see a penny, so once again, I suggest you say yes to my offer.’

‘You
bastard
!’ Lady Jane hissed.

‘Not the first time I’ve been called that,’ Red said with a nasty chuckle. ‘And
speaking
of bastards—’

Diahann’s head snapped up. ‘Stop!’ she said.

‘Excuse me?’ Red retorted.

The two of them had everyone’s attention.

‘No. Go ahead,’ Lady Jane sneered. ‘It’s time they heard about—’

‘Shut the fuck
up
!’ Red said menacingly, angry eyes glaring at her. ‘This is none of your goddamn business. You snooped into my private papers and that cost you a lot of money, so be smart for once and stay quiet.’

‘Well, I—’

‘Did…you…hear…me?’ he said, in ominously measured tones.

Lady Jane closed her mouth.

‘Jett,’ Red said, turning to look at his youngest son. ‘How’s
your
mother? Still drinking herself into a stupor every night?’

‘You gotta figure somebody made her that way,’ Jett muttered, determined not to be intimidated by his bullying father.

‘I suppose you’re intimating that it was
me
,’ Red rasped. ‘News flash–it wasn’t. Edie was a nympho, fucked anything that had a dick. The gardener in Tuscany, the chauffeur in the South of France, two of my business acquaintances—’

‘Why are you doing this?’ Chris interrupted. ‘Does it make you feel like a big man? Because in our eyes, believe me, you’re
not
.’

‘Thank you, Chris, for reminding me that I digress. I must get to the
real
reason we’re all here.’ A long meaningful pause. ‘Money. Inheritance. Moola.
Cash
. Right, my happy little family?’

The room was silent.

Jett thought about his mother and felt tears prick the back of his eyelids. Shit! Mustn’t cry. No way. It wasn’t manly. Red had told him that when he was three, shortly after paddling his ass with a leather belt, the sharp-edged buckle drawing blood.

‘Jett,’ Red said. ‘I’m opening you a bank account. In it I will deposit five million dollars. Can’t have your brothers being so far ahead of you. Competitive spirit, that’s what you need. Double the five mill in five years, and there’ll be more where that came from. And if
one
cent is spent on drugs, you’ll find the money will mysteriously vanish.’

Jett found his voice. ‘I don’t want it,’ he said. ‘You can keep your money.’

‘I called you a fuck-up not a fool,’ Red said crisply. ‘You have twenty-four hours to reconsider. Talk to your brothers. They’ll advise you.’

Lady Jane stood up. ‘You make me sick,’ she said, trembling with fury.

‘Everything makes
you
sick,’ Red said. ‘Especially sex.’

‘I’m leaving,’ she said grandly.

‘I suggest you stay,’ Red said, holding up an authoritative hand. ‘I’m about to reveal exactly why I summoned you all here. Surely you don’t want to miss that? You could call it a surprise ending.’

‘While we’re playing truth games, how did
my
mother die?’ Max asked, determined to get to the real story. ‘Did somebody arrange
her
death too?’

‘Sorry to disappoint you,’ Red replied calmly. ‘Rachel had a congenital heart problem. Died of natural causes in her sleep–leaving
me
to take care of you. Rather inconsiderate of her, don’t you think? I sure know how to pick ’em, don’t I?’

‘
You
didn’t take care of me,’ Max said heatedly. ‘I had a different nanny for every day of the week. I never
saw
you, unless it was with a leather strap in your hand. Or unless you were
raping
one of my girlfriends.’

‘Boo-hoo,’ Red jeered. ‘Poor little rich boy. If
you
couldn’t satisfy your girlfriends,
somebody
had to.’

Max made a move toward Red. Chris quickly restrained him.

‘
Someone
left their balls at home,’ Red taunted. ‘You wanna punch me out, go ahead.’

‘Whatever you have to say, say it
now,
’ Chris said. ‘Otherwise we’re leaving.’

Red nodded. ‘You’re right. Why prolong this meeting of no great minds? And, Chris, I might say, if you can conquer your gambling addiction, there’s a strong possibility you could amount to something after all. I like the way you’re trying to take charge here, protecting your brothers. It’s quite touching.’

Watching the interaction between Red and his sons, Diahann felt sick. How could there be so much tension in one room–and why did Red Diamond hate his sons with such a passion?