She raised an eyebrow at him. “Yeah, right. What happened, you get laid last night?”
“Don’t be crude, darlin’. Let’s just say my carnal needs have been satisfied for the present.”
“Thank the Lord. Meanwhile, back here on earth, guess who rolled into town today?”
“I can tell you who rolled in the hay...” He twisted the end of an imaginary moustache and wiggled his eyebrows.
“Stop. Too much information. Gloria DiAngelo is back in Miami, and my sources tell me she’s at the Demons’ complex as we speak. I’m thinking you might want to take a ride over with me and pay the young lady a visit, hmm?”
Will’s face got as sour as the pickle he was now crunching. His tone was dry and his words measured. “Your sources? Now just who would your sources be?”
“C’mon Will, not this again. I got feelers out all over that place. What difference does it make who gives me my information. I don’t shake you down every time one of those bimbos of yours calls in with a tip, do I?”
“Sands, right? He’s a regular wellspring of information. He’s set up his own investigation and he’s using my partner to carry it out.”
Daggers flew from Karen’s eyes. “If it was your neck, you’d be trying to save it, too. Now what do you want to do? Sit around and beat up on Kyle Sands again? Go back and forth about him while our other leads dry up and disappear?”
“You make a rightous argument.” All the anger was gone and the positive Will was back in place.”
The rapid transition was out of character for her partner and Karen was skeptical about the reason for it. He had a bad temper and wasn’t easily appeased. She wanted to believe it was because last night was exceptionally good for him and he was less uptight than usual, but she sensed that he knew more about what was happening between her and Kyle than he was divulging. Is it possible he’s giving me rope that he can use to hang me in the end?
“Hey, what’sa matter, partner? I’m giving you your props here. Don’t zone out on me now. Let’s throw off the gloves and go find out what’s going on with the disappearing trainer.” Mr. Nice Guy, alias Will Kaufman.
“Gloria,” Luke Arnold called. “You got some visitors. I stuck them in the conference room.”
“I’m in the middle of wrapping a sprain. They’re gonna have to wait.”
“I wouldn’t make them wait too long. They’re cops.”
“Uh-oh,” James Lundy leered. “You been doing something you shouldn’ta been?”
She jerked the bandage tight and the running back winced out loud.
“Hey! Fuck! What’s that shit about?” He gasped.
“You’ll be lucky if you’re hobbling by Sunday, you make remarks like that while I’m working on you,” she said as she yanked at the ankle again. “There’s no joke here. These guys are still snooping around after who killed Jessica, and I’m so not into them breathing down my neck. I don’t know why they’re hassling me, anyway. I got nothing at all to tell them.”
“Hell, they been rousting everybody, so don’t go taking it personally.” He tapped her on the nose and winked. “You don’t got anything to hide do you, babe?”
“Keep it up, asshole, and you’re gonna find yourself crawling till some time late next season,” she glared, rolling her eyes upward. “They just keep hammering away so’s you feel so guilty, no matter if you know something or not.” She shook her head in disgust.
“You just gotta deal with it, Glory. Kyle needs all the help he can get right now. If we don’t show up for him, well, everyone knows what can happen to his life.”
“So just look at it as doing your part in getting us to the playoffs.” He watched her for a moment, and then said, “So long’s you tell them the truth, you got nothing to worry about, right?”
“Yeah, sure. I guess so. Well, stay off that foot and keep the ice on it.” She tried for a smile and patted his foot. “I’m gonna be moseying over to the sheriff and putting in a good word for our boy Kyle.”
“You do that, babe.” He winced as he lowered his feet to the floor and eased himself off the table. “You do that.”
When she walked into the conference room, Will Kaufman stood and nodded to her. “Ms. DiAngelo. we were sorry to hear of the loss of your loved one. Please accept our condolences. Why don’t you just have a seat over here next to Detective Brandt.” He pulled the chair out and indicated she should use it. Karen stared at the trainer, but didn’t move a muscle. When she was seated, Will pulled a chair over for himself and sat facing her.
“Officers... Nice to see you again.”
“Now how about we cut the crap and talk about you and Jessica Benson.”
“What do you mean me and Jessica?”
Karen cleared her throat, feeling anger building, but
trying hard to stay in control. “We’ve heard some rumors and wanted to check them out with you directly, maybe clear the air a little.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you’re trying to get around to her reputation or some such, yeah, she played around. But anyone could tell you that and probably has. So where do I come in here? I have nothing to add.”
Karen stared hard at her, then stood up, her voice cold and words measured. “Listen to me, Ms. DiAngelo. I’m going to give you one chance to tell us what was going on between you and Jessica Benson. If we don’t hear the truth — and I warn you we already know most of it — you’re going find out what one of our spacious jail cells looks like, from the inside. You have one chance, lady, take it now and start talking to us. Understand?”
Gloria averted her eyes and concentrated on her hands. Without looking up, she asked, “What do you know?”
“We know what we fuckin’ know, awright?” Will blurted out. “We got no patience for games here. Answer my partner’s question—and don’t ask any of your own.”
She squirmed in her seat, and finally, ignoring his warning, said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What do you want to know from me?”
“That’s it,” Karen spat. “You’re under arrest. You have the right...”
“Stop, no. I’ll tell you about me and her. I didn’t kill her. You gotta believe that. I was crazy about her. We had a little ‘thing’ going. I mean, like, who didn’t have something going with Jess, you know? She got around. Heck, she was always up for a good time and so was I. I’d never been with a woman before, but she taught me real good. She took me to places no guy ever has, that’s for real. It was like dying and going to heaven.”
Will raised his hands in the air waving for the trainer’s attention. “Yo! Hey! I don’t wanna hear the details of your sex life here. Just move along with the story, huh?”
“Believe me, I never would never hurt Jessica. She was good for me and made me feel good. Of course, I do prefer men, but, well, you know, I was having a dry spell in that department and she made me not care.”
“Stop already. We get the picture. But why didn’t you just tell us this in the first place? Why’d you run outta town and make us have the coach pressure you into coming back?” Will gave an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders.
“Nah. I don’t think I’m buying this package. Sooner or later we were bound to find out about your little romp. If you’re so torn up about losing her, why’d you withhold valuable information from us? Why didn’t you tell us about Arnold and her fighting in the parking lot?”
“There’s more to it than that.” Gloria put her forehead into her hand, running her fingers through her hair.
Karen’s eyes were wide, her posture tense. She pleaded, “More to it? More to it? Do we have to beat it out of you or what?”
“Yeah, like maybe you know something about the substance abuse problem she had. You have anything to do with that—or do you know someone who does?” Will asked.
“Look. I’m clean. I swear I haven’t done any drugs at all in a long time. I stopped a long time before she was killed.
“I guess I kind of hooked her up when
we first started getting it on. She used, and was always looking for a supplier. When I was first with her we did just about everything that we could get hold of.
“I thought I could keep her interested in me by getting her drugs. She was so wild. But she found out my source and worked out her own discount. I’d already gotten off the crap, but I was still hung up on her. She used to tease me with stories about what she was doing to him in exchange for the stuff. We used to get off on it.”
Karen snapped to attention. “Jesus,” she breathed. “He? You know who the dealer was?”
“Sure. Dr. Feelgood.”
Will cocked his head and asked “Dr. Feelgood?”
“Fraga. Good old Doc Fraga. I’m sure you’ve heard about him, huh? All these cops crawling around here like snakes. You must have heard plenty. Jess had a way of getting under peoples’ skin. She wrapped that pervert around her little finger so hard she had him filling bags with shit for her. Cocaine, Ecstasy, Xanax. You name it, he had it and she got it.”
“This is bullshit,” Will shouted. “You withheld evidence that could be key to this case, lady. I’m gonna book you for obstruction of justice. That’ll fix your ass up real good...”
“He might have murdered Jessica,” Karen interrupted. “What’s in your head? You say you were crazy about her, but you sure don’t act like it. How could you not have said anything about this?”
“You couldn’t be further off. Fraga’s sure enough a scum bucket but he’s no murderer. All dressed in his million dollar designer suits and strutting like the man. Do you know how that degenerate got off on Jessica?”
“Is this relevant?” Karen asked.
“I dunno. Why don’t you decide. Like, this is really sad, but Jess used to get a hoot out of it. He used to have her lay down on an examining table and he would run his hands all over her body and whack himself off. She’d force him to go down her and spank him when he did. He couldn’t have anything like normal sex. She told me he wanted to watch me and Jess do it, but no way I was gonna get into that scene.”
Karen looked tired. She sat back down in her chair, shaking her head.
“Yeah, pretty sick, I know.” She looked at Will and gave him a wicked wink. “How about you, you getting off on this, Detective? I’ve seen you looking at me. Maybe you wanna make some kind of a deal?”
Will moved toward Gloria. Karen jumped up, putting herself between them, fighting the urge to smack the woman herself.
No one spoke for a moment, and then, “Wipe that smirk off your face,” Will shot. “Know this when I tell you, honey, you’re on pretty fucking thin ice right now...”
Seeing that Will was well past the point of reason and wanting to keep the session on track, Karen broke in on him. “If you know anything more that you haven’t told us, get it out now. My partner and I hate going backwards to go forward, and that’s where we’re finding ourselves here.
“Ms. DiAngelo, I want you to think hard, real hard, and make damn sure you’ve told us everything. And then you better go to church and pray that the trail doesn’t lead us back to you a third time!”
Gloria sat sulking A solid minute went by before she finally spoke. “I wanna find out who killed her, too. How about Luke Arnold?”
“What about him?” Karen asked.
“He’s a real creepo, and he was always watching her, looking like he wanted to devour her. I even saw him arguing with her right outside in the parking lot the night before she was killed. Now that guy is screwy enough to have murdered her. Forget the doc, and for sure forget Kyle. I wanted to tell you about it the first time you talked to me. But you were so locked onto Kyle, you got me really nervous and I just wanted to get the hell away from you. I didn’t kill her and I really didn’t think I could help you find out who did. But I know I should’ve said something sooner. At least about Arnold. I never should have left Kyle out there like this, but honest! That’s all I know.”
Karen eyed the woman apprehensively. She wasn’t sure Gloria had told the full story yet, but it was clear she wasn’t going to give them anymore today. “You sure there’s nothing else you’re leaving out? Like my partner said, you don’t want to see us come back again.”
“That’s all. I told you everything. I swear it!” Karen sat in the car and looked at Will.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I guess. I feel like I need a hot shower and lots of soap, though.”
“Yeah, this just keeps getting uglier. Looks like our victim was doing everyone in town. Kinda like the high school whore who spreads her legs for the football team. Only this bitch didn’t limit her appetite to the team! Or even to just men. I sure as fuck wouldn’t have walked outta the room, though. That DiAngelo is one hot number!”
“Can you just try to focus here, Will? This isn’t about your fantasies. We can at least collar Fraga on the drugs if we work it right, then hit him between the eyes on the murder.” Karen added, “I don’t think he even has a clue that he’s a blip on our radar right now, so we can probably catch him with his defenses down. And we’re gonna have to give that ding-dong Arnold another shot. I can’t help but think he’s holding something back.”
“More possibilities than we can shake a stick at, huh Kar? You must be relieved that we’re finding out about all these diversions from your friendly old quarterback.”
She didn’t like the way he was looking at her. A little chill ran down her neck. It took her a moment to recover, then she glanced toward the ignition. In a very low voice, she said, “Let’s get out of here.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I n South Florida there is no such thing as unseasonable heat. Tropical weather is as common in winter as in the summer, and that was so even before scientists identified a hole in the ozone layer. Though December was nearing an end, Kyle Sands felt the practice field might as well have been a furnace.
The Coach showed no mercy and was ruthlessly overworking the players. Everyone was fighting shredded nerves and hair-trigger tempers. The defense was hitting harder than necessary and the offense was hitting back. Tempers exploded. A couple of times players had to be pulled apart to stop them from killing one another. It was a bad time for everyone and there were no signs it would be getting better any time soon.
Kyle’s breathing was labored — too many downs, too many hits, and too many aches. His offensive line kept screwing up and he was left uncovered and feeling like he had a target painted on his chest. He hadn’t had a chance to speak with Karen and as a result took more than one sack because his thoughts were on her and not on himself or his game.
Utley came prancing onto the field, looking like his uniform was air-conditioned. Kyle grimaced as he limped over to the bench where James Lundy sat. Lundy was out of uniform, wearing his usual basketball shorts and tank top. A damp towel hung from his neck and Kyle noted his heavily wrapped ankle and the crutches by his side.
“What’s the prognosis?” he asked as he sat beside his friend.
“Sprain, man.”
“X-rays?”
“Yep.”
“How bad? You going to be able to play Sunday?”
“Fuck, yes. You think I’m gonna let this take me out of the hunt? I’ll deal with it.”
“Don’t push it. You’ll end up sitting out the playoffs.”
“Mind your own sweet self, white boy. I planning on running at least three TDs in this week’s game. Just make damn sure you don’t go screwing it up. I got records to break this season, and when that’s done I’ll take care of healing myself.
“And speaking of your screw-ups, let’s talk about your miserable life, huh? You eating your Wheaties and keeping your nose clean?”
Kyle gave a feeble chuckle. “Ha. Got nothing better to do with my time.”
“Yeah, maybe. But I saw the way you been looking at that detective chick. You like to live dangerous, dawg.”
Kyle cuffed James’ arm and said, “You’re subtle enough.”
“Yep, subtle, that’s me
. I know you well enough to know when you got some woman running through your brain, right, white boy? You got that look now. Don’t take Einstein to figure who it is.”
“So you’ve decided it’s Karen, huh?”
James winked and pointed at his buddy. “Karen, yo? See what I’m sayin’, man? Karen. Last I heard it was Detective.”
“Well, keep your theories on the down-low, okay, man? I’m serious. Anything even sounds like friendly, much less romantic, would put both her and me up shit creek. Fact is, and I’m not trying for the pun here, but it could send me up the river.”
“How bad you got it for her, Kyle?”
Kyle ran his hands through his hair and shook his head. “Real bad.”
“Happened fast.”
“Nah. Only as fast as a bolt of lightening. And now I’m dancing on shards of glass.”
“She feel the same?”
“I’m hoping.”
“That partner of hers gets wind of this and you both be slop for the pigs.”
“True.”
James winced, and stuck his bandaged foot into a tub of ice that sat on the ground beside them. Looking down at his ankle, he said, “I sure didn’t need this shit.” He gave out with a painful moan and adjusted himself on the bench. “You hear Gloria’s back?”
“Yeah. Saw her for a couple of minutes, but she didn’t seem to want to stick around and visit with me.”
“She wrapped my ankle. I got some interesting news for you.”
“Talk.”
“You a man of few words today. Make it easy to hang with you. Uh, I don’t mean in the literal sense. It’s a figurative statement.”
“Stop editorializing and get to the fucking point.”
James half-chuckled, and said, “Chill, dawg. Lady Gloria got called out of the training room when she was wrapping me. On business. Po-lice business. Seem they finally come around to talk to her again.”
Kyle hissed out, “Yes! You know which cops?”
“No, but there was some nice irony going on there. Arnold the one who came to get her. You do not want to be in the same room with those two when this shit be done with.”
The Mystery of Jessica Benson Page 16