Trifecta

by Pam Richter

  "Come here, Robin," Julia said, looking around for him, but he was right beside her. She wanted to defuse the situation with the dog first, so she kept petting Bruno, talking softly to him. She put one hand on Robin too, trying to get the dog to accept him by linking her and Robin together through touch.

  "If I tell the dog to attack, he will," Quijada said, ominously, as though he had read her thoughts. His deep voice sent shivers down her spine. "I want to know exactly what you were doing on my property."

  Julia was trying to formulate some kind of lie. She felt Robin pulling her arm behind her and doing something to her hand on her left side. Something scratched her finger. It felt like a ring. And Robin started talking, very quickly.

  "We didn't mean to trespass. You've lived in this area a long time, Aaron. And we're trying to get a feel for it. You know that property down the road that's for sale? Well, Julia and I just got engaged, and we're seriously thinking of buying."

  Julia gazed at her finger in shock. The diamond was so large it had to be fake. She wondered how Robin could have thought far enough ahead to come up with a plausible lie that would disarm Quijada in case they were caught. And to bring a beautifully crafted ring that looked so real.

  "Congratulations," Quijada said in a mechanical voice.

  "So if our tramping around in the undergrowth up on the hill bothered you, we have to apologize," Robin went on. "But we're anxious to find a place. And of course, my parents are thrilled about the engagement and have been encouraging us to search around in Bel-Air."

  Julia looked at Robin with admiration. Mentioning his famous father couldn't hurt. In fact, the way Robin was linking her to his family was a genius move.

  Robin, she noted with irritated amusement, was taking advantage of the situation. He had put an arm around her, pulled her close to him, and kissed the top of her head. She could feel it. He was rubbing the side of her arm affectionately with the hand he had around her shoulders.

  Julia held out her left hand and smiled at Quijada, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

  "Very lovely," Quijada said. "And I'm glad. It fits my own plans perfectly."

  "How's that?" Robin said.

  "There could be a tragic lover's quarrel," Quijada said. He smiled evilly. "I love to make up plots. This one would make a very sad movie. A murder/suicide over the terrible, heartrending breakup. It all fits very nicely."

  "I don't know what you're talking about," Julia said, but she did. Quijada was murderously angry at Robin, but couldn't go after him because his family was so well known. Quijada wanted them both dead.

  "Lets go," Quijada said. "As they say in the really deplorable B movies, we have some unfinished business to attend to. I'm kind of glad it turned out this way. I'll get to watch the action. And direct."

  Robin's arm was still protectively around Julia, and he wasn't giving up. "We'd love to come visit this evening, Aaron, but we're expected to meet friends in a short while. We will be sure to include you in our wedding plans, of course."

  "Stuff it," Quijada said shortly. He turned and said something in Spanish to one of the guards. All three men, including the dog, started forward toward Julia and Robin, to herd them back toward his house. They didn't have any choice. Two guns and a killer dog.

  "If we make a run for it, there's a good possibility they won't shoot us in the back," Robin whispered to Julia.

  "Stop whispering and move along," one of the guards said in a mean, guttural voice.

  Julia shook her head and whispered, "He'll let the Bruno go. He'd probably love to watch the dog maul you."

  It seemed there was an echo from behind them, right after she spoke. "Don't let the dog go."

  Everyone turned around. A man was standing behind Quijada and his two guards. He had a gun pointed at Bruno. Julia knew immediately it was the policeman that Robin had hired to protect her. He was short and stocky and appeared to be about fifty years old, with sparse iron-grey hair. His legs were spread wide, in a shooter's stance. He looked like an immovable tree stump, or a fire hydrant. The relief Julia felt was so immense her knees almost buckled.

  "I'd have to shoot the dog, first, and that would be a shame," Thomas McQuery said in a conversational tone. "Such a beautiful animal, who's just protecting his master."

  "Who are you?" Quijada asked. He seemed perfectly unruffled, but Julia knew he was probably thinking that he had the man outgunned. She almost felt like she was in a gangster movie. The whole confrontation seemed like a crazy, surreal dream, here in this rich and beautiful residential area.

  "Police Officer Thomas McQuery," he answered. "I would advise you to hold on tight to that leash. I would also like to get the registration, and a look at the license-to-carry, for the guns your friends are holding."

  "They're perfectly legal," Quijada said.

  "Well now, I'm going to take your word for that, Mr. Quijada. If you tell your guards to put the guns down on the ground. Then Mr. Chavier and Ms. Monay will leave. Cause it looked like your associates here were threatening my two good friends. Otherwise, I'd have to make out police reports and take you all downtown for questioning. It would be time consuming and a gigantic hassle, which I certainly wish to avoid."

  McQuery sounded amiable and calm, but his air of authority overrode the conversational tone. Julia had no doubt he would use his weapon.

  "That won't be necessary," Quijada said. He was suddenly speaking in rapid-fire Spanish and the guards slowly and reluctantly put their guns down in the roadside and stepped away from them.

  Robin still had his arm around Julia. He guided her around Quijada and his guards until they were beside Thomas McQuery.

  "Back up slowly and go to Julia's car," McQuery told Robin. "I'll hold them here till you leave."

  "I'm not leaving. He might set the dog loose," Robin said very softly.

  "Then I'll shoot the dog," McQuery said. "Go now. I'll be fine. Wait for me on Sunset Boulevard. If I don't show up in ten minutes call for backup."

  Robin was still hesitating.

  "Get out of here," McQuery said roughly. "Take care of your girl."

  Robin nodded at McQuery, and then Julia and Robin backed up until they were against the car. Julia could see Quijada's black eyes staring with hatred. She pulled the keys out of her jacket pocket and handed them to Robin with shaking fingers. No way was she going to drive. She felt faint and wondered if the sick feeling was from the terror of seeing Quijada again, or caused by her pregnancy.

  CHAPTER 26

  Robin took the keys from Julia's fingers and opened the driver's side door. She got in and slid to the passenger side. She waited while Robin stood watching the men in the street for a while. Then he got in too.

  "The tires will probably be slashed when I come back for my car," Robin said as he started the engine. "But it's better to do what McQuery says. He's had lots of experience in these kinds of things."

  They drove past the tableau in the roadway; one man solidly planted in the middle of the street holding three men and a huge dog at gun point.

  "Was Quijada really serious about the murder/suicide, or just trying to scare me?" Julia asked as she turned her head, watching the standoff until they went around a curve and the odd scene was lost to view.

  "Quijada would try to make it look like I killed you, first. Then committed suicide. Maybe take our bodies back to my cabin at Lake Arrowhead and arrange them so it would appear as if we had a nasty, bloody fight. That's what they planned before. Juan Carlos admitted it."

  Julia shook her head. "Unbelievable. He's way off the mainstream of normal reality."

  "It's worse than you think. Juan Carlos was promised a piece of the action when he broke into my cabin last time. Quijada told Juan and Mike to tie you up and rape and torture you. Before they killed you. They would have forced me to watch. Quijada wanted a video of the rape, to satisfy some perverted hunger. He not only wanted us dead, he wanted to ruin our reputations, with a sordid depiction of our deaths."

  Julia sa
t there in shock. "I knew Quijada was despicable. But that's beyond belief."

  "Delusions of grandeur," Robin said shortly. "He thinks he can get away with anything. But he'll get a strong and gritty dose of real life when he's arrested. And it won't be long."

  Julia nodded at Robin's profile and looked down at the ring on her hand, trying to dispel ugly thoughts of murder and torture. The ring was so beautiful. And it fit perfectly. She sighed and took it off. "That was quick thinking, about the ring," she said, holding it out to him.

  "I got it for you." Robin took a brief glance at her and smiled. "Looks like it fits perfectly."

  "I can't accept," Julia said immediately, still holding it out. "Even a fake ring with this beauty and craftsmanship is very valuable."

  This was not the right time and circumstance to give her the ring, but now that she had it he would never take it back. It annoyed him to think she could believe he'd give her a fake ring. "I'd rather you kept it. Even if it's so fake it turns your finger green, promise not to throw it away?" he added, a little anxiously.

  "Oh, never. It's the most beautiful simulation I've ever seen. I really do love it, Robin. It looks like a sparkling flower. Or a snowflake. I don't care if it's fake." She polished it with her shirt and held her hand up, admiring the thick band of intertwined hearts and roses and the beautiful imitation diamonds.

  "Yeah. Fake as my cheating heart," Robin said rather drolly. He was looking at her oddly.

  Julia laughed. The way he said it was funny, but she didn't like joking about something that had hurt her so badly. She looked at him quickly, saw him laughing too. "Well, it will be a good reminder for me."

  "Yeah. Is it real or is it Memorex? Is it a mechanic, or a slimy lying lawyer? What's behind the third door? The lady or the lion?"

  "How profound," Julia commented with some amusement. "But thank you. I promise to keep the ring." She looked down so he couldn't see her face. "I'm glad we're talking again. I really do like you, Robin."

  "I know," Robin said gently and very softly. "And I like you."

  Julia felt tears welling up in her eyes. Damn, the pregnancy was playing havoc with her emotions. She turned and looked out the window so he couldn't see the moisture in her eyes. She blinked rapidly, hoping a tear wouldn't fall. He might notice if she had to wipe it away. It was black night outside and very quiet. She wished she could stay in the car forever. Safe with Robin. The thought of going back alone to her hotel room was a bleak idea.

  "I do like women," Robin said.

  "Yes. Well, that's what I understand now."

  "Yeah. And I mean the whole gender. I love little three- year-olds. Beautiful and arrogant teenagers. Or the shy, awkward ones. And the wonderful mothers. And grandmothers. I think I love them best of all. With their kindness and wisdom, and soft wrinkled skin."

  No wonder she had cared for him, Julia thought sadly.

  "I date a lot of women," Robin went on. "Always looking for the special one who'll make me forget all the rest. So I don't waste time. Not their's and not mine."

  This was it, Julia thought sadly. The kiss-off. The irrevocable brush off. It was the final good-by. He was trying to justify his womanizing ways so she wouldn't take it personally, but damn, even after all this time, it sure hurt like hell. The ring was a farewell gift. And Julia realized she couldn't be angry any more, which had just been a cover up to hide the pain, which was now descending with a force that took her breath away. Julia squarely faced the fact that she loved Robin and the feeling was not reciprocated.

  "Sometimes I sleep with women that I like and who like me." Robin was speaking in a monotone, looking straight out the front windshield. "I can't really excuse my behavior. But I'm a young healthy male. I was always afraid I wouldn't meet the special woman I hoped to find someday. It would be such a waste to pass up something as wonderful as sex, for something I felt might never materialize."

  "Your dream woman?" Julia asked, trying hard to keep from breaking out in tears. She was also thinking it wasn't fair. Robin could carouse around with lots of women, but women were expected to stay chaste and wait, perhaps in vain, for their knight on a white horse. Julia knew, for her, the knight had come and gone, even though he was sitting right here beside her.

  Robin nodded. "You understand my reasoning?"

  The awful thing about it was that Julia did understand, perfectly. He proclaimed that he wanted to meet someone who would be the ideal woman for him, so he could give up all the rest. But he wasn't holding his breath. He would enjoy his life, even if he never found his paragon of womanhood.

  "Of course. It's good of you to explain it to me," Julia said stiffly.

  "I don't think you really do understand."

  "Oh, yes I do," Julia said. "And you're right. Not to waste time with women who are wrong for you."

  "If you have no experience, you have no basis for comparison."

  "And you're very experienced," Julia commented wryly.

  "Enough to know exactly what I want. Uh...my experience was accumulated in a careful manner."

  He was saying he had practiced safe sex, Julia concluded. And that experience had paid off, making him an extraordinary lover. Julia found herself a little angry at his attitude, though. He wasn't facing the fact that he would never find that perfect woman. She didn't exist. And catting around would become a way of life. He didn't want to admit that he liked abundant sex with different partners because it was an unaccepted and unorthodox way of life.

  It was sad because Julia had always wanted one man to grow old with. For a few wonderful hours she had believed it would be Robin. Those hours had been the happiest in her lifetime.

  There was one instance in which Robin had not practiced safe sex. And she was glad.

  "I've always wanted children. One man will suit me just fine," Julia commented a little shortly.

  "My attitude exactly."

  But that wasn't his attitude, Julia thought. Unless she was misinterpreting him entirely. Maybe he really was looking for the perfect woman. But he would probably set his standards far too high for any one woman to meet.

  They reached Sunset Boulevard and parked the car on the side of the road, sitting in silence for a while, waiting for Thomas McQuery. Julia wished she could stare at him now that she knew that her time was strictly limited. Robin said he didn't waste time and she wanted to memorize his face. He was still the most attractive man she had ever seen. Which had been the reason she had decided he was a degenerate, so long ago, when she had first seen him in the impound yard. He had been scruffy, with a slight growth of beard, dusty jeans and no shirt. She had been so attracted, right then, she decided he must be a rogue. Now it seemed like a curse. One that would never go away.

  "I could sit here forever," Robin said contentedly as he leaned his head back against the seat rest, looking at her through half closed lids. She was surprised because it was exactly what she had been thinking earlier. He was still looking at her oddly.

  "I have deep reservations about taking you to the final interrogation of the men who murdered your brother. It will be hard to listen to. You'll have to be strong tonight. I'm afraid it might be painful."

  She took a deep breath and nodded. "I want to go."

  "I knew you would," Robin said. "It'll put an end to all the speculation. But it might leave you with some terrible nightmares."

  Julia nodded, and rubbed the ring with the soft material of her black shirt. She could almost see dark sparkles in the shadows.

  Julia was sitting alone in a small dismal room. The walls were comprised of cinder block in an awful shade of bile green and the bare ceiling had acoustical tile and harsh florescent lights. There was just a scarred, four legged wooden table and a few straight backed folding chairs. It was the place for viewing another room through a large one way mirror in the wall opposite her. No one was in the other room yet. She had a strange sense that this was all unreal. It was exactly like the rooms she had seen on T.V., with the cop actors watching an
interrogation.

  Julia took the ring out of her purse. Robin had told her to put it away while she was in the police station because some unsavory character might think it was real. Before it had been dark, in the street and in the car. Here in the harsh florescent lighting she could really study it. Robin said he got it because it made him think about her, and she wanted to see why.

  It was definitely unusual, delicate but heavy, and extraordinarily beautiful, almost an antique setting.

  Then Tony walked into the room where Julia was sitting."Hi, Julia." He was smiling with that wide leprechaun grin.

  "Tony," Julia said surprised, slipping the ring on her finger without thinking. The last time she had seen him was at the cabin at Lake Arrowhead. "It's nice to see you again."

  Tony took a chair and sat down at the table beside her. "It shouldn't be long now. Robin asked me to come and sit with you. He didn't want you to be alone when you watched this."

  "Why can't he be in here?" Julia asked.

  "He and Jay reopened the murder case. Really, Robin did all the work. He's not pushy, as you know, but the day after you left California he was at Cedars-Sinai Hospital with mug shots of Juan Carlos, asking all the hospital personnel if they recognized him. There were some good breaks. He presented all the evidence to the D.A. and forced our office to reopen the investigation just last night. We think Juan Carlos will break and incriminate Aaron Quijada. Maybe tonight."

  "Unbelievable," Julia said. She was dumbfounded. Robin must have been working awfully hard so she could get justice for her brother.

  Tony nodded. "That's why he didn't go to Boston immediately. You didn't know?"

  Julia shook her head.

  "Robin never says anything. He's been working night and day with the prosecutors in our office. So he'll be in the interrogation room, too, since he found all the evidence. See, we're not telling Juan Carlos he's been fingered as the unknown orderly who went into your brother's hospital room and sabotaged the life support machinery. Not yet, anyway. Because when that comes out, there's no way we're willing to plea bargain with him. Right now Juan Carlos thinks he's going to be charged with attempted burglary and assault only, if he incriminates Quijada in the drug trade. We've been letting him stew for a while." He pointed at the still empty room they were looking into.