Blood Defense

SIXTY-TWO

It was almost nine o’clock by the time Alex and I got to Brent’s house-a small, older Spanish style that was on the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. Michelle stayed behind at Alex’s place to man the computer in case we needed information.

Alex drove slowly as we passed the house. There was a new-looking black Audi in the driveway. I wrote down the license plate. Alex parked a few houses down, then called Michelle, gave her the license-plate number, and walked her through a program that would give us the owner of the car.

“It’s his,” Alex said when he ended the call. “Did you see any lights on when we drove by?”

“Yeah, at the back of the house.” The front of the house had a large picture window. The drapes were closed, but I thought that was probably the living room. By process of elimination, I figured the room that was lit was probably the bedroom. “When do you think Tomas will get here?”

“Might be a couple of hours. It’ll take a while to round everyone up. He said he’d call when they were on their way.”

In the meantime, Alex and I worked on our good-cop-bad-cop plan for questioning Brent. Periodically, we drove around the block so I could see whether the lights were still on. When we circled at ten thirty, I saw that the house had gone dark. “Ten thirty? Seriously? Damn, those aides lead boring lives.” I didn’t like the idea of waking him up. That’d guarantee a hostile reception right out of the gate. I’d hoped to at least start out with the friendly approach.

Alex sighed. “I know. But Tomas and his guys should be here soon. When this Brent guy sees his team, losing some beauty sleep will be the last thing he’ll want to bitch about.”

It was a quiet street with almost no traffic, and most of the residents parked in their own garages. I made a mental note of every car that was parked on the street: a red MINI Cooper, a black Altima, a white Explorer. Only one-the black Altima-hadn’t been there already when we showed up, and I’d seen the driver go into the house four doors down from Brent.

We were slouched down in our seats so the neighbors wouldn’t see us-a position that didn’t do a thing to help my bored, sleepy condition.

So when a silver Prius pulled to the curb a few houses past Brent’s, it took me a few seconds to focus. I sat up a little higher and peered over the dashboard to see who got out. But two minutes passed, then five. No one did. “Do you want to check-”

“Already on it.” Alex was texting. “I’m having Michelle run the plate right now.”

A few minutes later, his phone buzzed. He read the screen and his eyes widened. “It belongs to Aubrey Miles.”

We exchanged a look. “Shit. Can you check with Tomas for an ETA?”

“I can try.” He texted again.

Two minutes later, the driver got out. I couldn’t see a face; the figure was dressed in black sweats with the hoodie pulled up. “Too small to be Aubrey.” As the figure rounded the car and headed down the sidewalk, I caught a glimpse of the face. “Edie?”

“Sure looked like her. And she’s trying to keep it on the down low.”

“A booty call?” That would explain the late hour and the way she was hiding under a hoodie. I appreciated the symmetry of the playboy politician’s wife getting it on with his aide. I sank back down and turned to watch as she walked past the front door and turned left at the side of the house. Probably heading for the back door. I grabbed my cell phone and tapped in all but the last number for Alex’s cell. “I’ve got to see what’s going on. I’ll just stay back and look. If anything seems dicey, I’ll call you.”

Alex started to protest, but I didn’t give him a chance to argue. I slid out of the car and moved as fast as I could without running. When I got to the side of the house, I checked the street to make sure no one was watching, then followed the path Edie had taken and tiptoed toward the back of the house. I stopped at the edge and peered around the corner just in time to see Edie use a key to open the back door. My heart started to beat faster as I thought about what that meant.

This was more than a booty-call relationship. If she had a key, then she and Brent were pretty damn tight. There was a good chance they had been together when Aubrey called on the night Paige died. Still, that didn’t mean she knew what was going on, what Aubrey had done-or what he’d asked Brent to do. I crouched down below the windows and moved toward the back door.

The top half of the door was glass, and I saw that it opened onto the kitchen. I could see Edie inside. She was heading toward the area I’d pegged as the bedroom. I took hold of the doorknob and slowly twisted. It was open. My pulse was racing now. This was a bad idea. I didn’t know what I was walking into. But I’d come this far. If it turned out to be just a hookup, I’d sneak back out the way I came. And hope none of the neighbors saw me and called the cops. My throat felt tight as I called Alex. When he answered, I whispered, “I’m going in.”

“No, wait-”

I ended the call and moved inside in a low crouch, deliberately leaving the door open for a fast exit.

As I passed through the kitchen, I saw Edie. Her back was to me, and she was standing in front of a closed door. I crouched down and hid behind the wall that separated the small dining area from the hallway where she was standing. She paused, her left hand on the doorknob. As I watched her, I noticed that the right side of her sweatshirt was sagging. It pinged a vague alarm in my head.

She turned the knob and opened the door slowly, then took two steps inside. As she reached into her right pocket, I finally realized what that sagging pocket meant. Without thinking, I launched out of my hiding place and sprang toward her. I shouted, “Stop!” just as she pulled out the gun. Startled, she turned toward me, and I rammed into her. The momentum sent us both flying. As we crashed to the floor, the gun went off. The sound of the shot exploded through the house.

I heard Brent scream from the far side of the room. If he jumped into the fray to help her, I’d be dead meat. I had to get that gun. I looked up, hoping she’d dropped it when we fell. No such luck. It was still in her hand. But she’d reached up to break her fall. Her arms were still outstretched. I jumped on top of her and tried to jam my forearm into her neck as I reached for the gun, but she twisted away and threw me off. I saw her start to bring her arm down, putting the gun into firing range. In desperation, I slammed my body into her. She fell back, but she still had the gun. I tried to grab her arm, but my hands were now slick with sweat. They slipped off as she yanked her arm away.

I latched onto her again and pulled myself up, toward the hand that held the gun. She tried to push me back and make room to put the gun between us so she could fire at me, but I held on. As I reached up again to grab the gun, she tried to slam it down on my head. I pulled away at the last second, but I didn’t dare let go of her. The blow landed hard on my neck. The force of it choked my windpipe, and I saw stars. Brent shouted something, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. Was he calling to Edie? Frantic now, I clawed at her face. She screamed as my fingers found her eye sockets. Finally, I managed to seize the hand that held the gun. I banged it hard, once, twice, three times. Her hand flew open, and the gun skittered across the floor.

I had one hand jammed against Edie’s throat and the other latched onto her flailing arm. I was about to climb over her to get the gun when I heard footsteps pounding toward the bedroom. Alex pulled me away. In one deft move, he flipped her over, yanked her arms together, and zip-tied her hands behind her.

When I stood up, I saw that Brent was staring down at Edie, his face white. His whole body was shaking. He spoke in a voice that was choked, hoarse. “You-you were going to kill me? Why? I’ve done everything for you-”

Edie, seated on the floor, struggled against Alex’s restraining arm as she whipped her head back and forth. She let out a shriek that sounded like a crazed animal and bucked against Alex, her eyes wild, features twisted in a snarling grimace. Alex shoved her to the floor, facedown. I turned to look at Brent, trying to make sense of what he’d said. “You killed Paige and Chloe… for her?”

Brent’s gaze was fixed on Edie, his face slack, numb. “No. But I…” His face crumpled. “Edie, why? I never would have-”

Edie screamed, “He did it! He did it all! He killed Storm!”

“To protect you, Edie!” Brent shook his head as tears filled his eyes. His voice was choked. “Because I love you!”

I looked from Brent to Edie. And realized I’d had it all wrong. I began to put it together. “Brent?” His eyes briefly flicked up at me, then settled back on Edie. “When Aubrey called you that night, he said Paige was freaking out. He wanted you to go calm her down, keep her from calling the cops. But you never went, did you?” Brent shook his head. “Probably not the first mess you had to clean up for him, was it?” Brent didn’t answer. But he didn’t have to. I knew I was right. “You told Edie you weren’t going to do it again-”

His gaze still fixed on Edie, Brent broke in. “He wasn’t worth it, Edie. He wasn’t good enough for you. Why couldn’t you see that? He doesn’t love you. I do! I’m the one who loves you!”

Edie was breathing hard, but she was silent. I pressed on. “So she went instead. Did you know she’d killed those girls?”

Brent’s body sagged as he shook his head. “Not at first. She told me no one answered the door. But after Storm came out and said…”

Said that we knew Paige was the target, Edie saw it was all about unravel, so she told Brent he had to stop us. “Did Aubrey tell you the real reason why Paige was freaking out?”

Brent finally looked at me, his expression confused. “He got in a hassle with some guy. Paige was coked up, acting crazy.”

I shook my head. “No. It was because he’d just killed that guy. And Paige saw it all.” Brent’s mouth opened, his lips moved, but no words came out. And that told me even more. If Brent didn’t know, neither did Edie. “So Edie went there thinking Paige was just another affair. She’d go talk Paige down, maybe promise her a little hush money.” I looked at Edie, who’d gone quiet. “Isn’t that right, Edie?”

Edie glared at me with a crazed expression; then she gave her body a violent twist, arching her back in an effort to break free from Alex’s grip. Alex tightened his arm around her neck and she stopped, her chest heaving. She spoke in a low growl. “That fucking whore! She would’ve called the cops! After all those years of sucking it up, looking the other way, eating his shit, his lies. All for nothing-because of that stupid little piece of trash? No! No way in hell!”

Edie began to sob. It was a harsh, ragged sound-ugly and raw.

Brent watched her, the agony on his face like a gaping wound.

At that moment, I heard heavy footsteps running along the side of the house. The cavalry was here. Edie, lost in her collapsing world of misery, didn’t seem to notice. But Brent did. And as he looked up, I saw something shift in his expression. Before I could figure out what it meant, Brent lunged across the room and grabbed the gun off the floor. Tears streaming down his face, he raised the gun, his eyes fixed on Edie.

I reached out to him and screamed, “Brent! No!”

But Brent never even looked up. He stared down at Edie as in one swift move, he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

The blast rattled the windows. Wet clumps of blood and brains splashed the walls. I stood staring, unable to speak, my hand still reaching toward him. Tomas and his men came running in; their heavy footsteps echoed like thunder in the small house. Then, in the distance, I heard the thin wail of sirens.