Coffee & Crime

by Anita Rodgers

  Lily came up behind me and poked me with the gun. "What are you doing?"

  Trying to maintain my composure I said, "You told me to get dressed. I'm getting clothes obviously."

  Lily grabbed me by the hair and I whelped. Then she shoved me toward the bed. "Wear those."

  Wincing, I rubbed my scalp. "But those are date clothes. Not the right kind of outfit for a kidnapping."

  Lily stared at me for a minute as though confused. Then she waved the gun at me. "Just put the damn clothes on! Now!"

  She paced like she was amped up on drugs or adrenaline, or both. Either way, I couldn’t push my luck. I held up a hand and nodded. "Okay, okay." Under the pretense of modesty, I kept my back to Lily. Keeping my robe on, I pulled on my jeans, switched on the tracker with my thumb and tucked it into in my pocket. I dropped the robe and pulled the top on over my head — fluffing the skirt so the outline of the tracker wouldn't show. "How did you get into my house?"

  Lily snickered. "I walked in."

  When I spun toward Lily, her gun arm went rigid and aimed at my heart. I froze and held up my hands. "What I mean, is how did you get through my gate?" Keeping my eyes on the gun, I bent slowly and pulled on my boots. "You didn't climb over the wall, did you?"

  Lily laughed. "Who needs to climb over a wall when the gate is wide open?"

  I zipped up my boots and cursed under my breath. "Damn it Zelda."

  Lily grabbed my arm and shoved me. "Quit stalling, get moving."

  I walked as slowly as possible to the living room, scanning for a weapon or an escape route, but my cozy little house wasn't a fortress against intruders. If I survived, it would by my wits. And I didn't feel particularly witty. I prayed that somebody was monitoring the tracker, and Ted would be alerted somehow, but it was a long shot at best.

  Lily seemed unsure of her next move, and we stopped in the middle of the living room. I turned to her because if she was going to shoot me, I wanted her to look me in the eye while doing it. I'd be dead but at least I could leave Lily with an image that hopefully would haunt her for the rest of her life. "You going to shoot right here or did you have something more creative in mind?"

  Sudden rage seized Lily, and she punched me hard in the face. I went over the coffee table and landed on my back — head bouncing off the floor and dancing stars in front of my face. Lily toed me in the ribs. "Get up!"

  Unfocused and shaking, I used the coffee table for support and struggled to my feet. Blood oozed from my nose, and I put the back of my hand to it to staunch the bleeding. It hurt like a mother and I groaned. Already, my head pounded. "I think you broke my nose."

  Like an angry nun, Lily pinched my face with her hand. "Quit whining, or I'll do it again." She waved her gun at the suitcase and bag at the open front door. "Get rid of that stuff."

  With Lily's fingers dug into my arm, I stumbled around the coffee table and walked on wobbly legs to the front door. "There's no closet in here — only in the bedroom."

  Lily spotted my keys on the console table and grabbed them. She waved them in my face. These yours?" I nodded and even that hurt my head. She nodded at the suitcase and bag. "Grab those and get outside."

  I picked up the bags, and Lily shoved me through the door. My heart thumped like a kettle drum. "Where are we going?" It would be worse for me if she took me away from the house. "What do you expect me to do with these?"

  Lily said nothing and pushed me toward my car. She made me open the trunk and load my bag and suitcase inside. Then she forced me into the car to drive it slowly to the back of the property while she held the gun to my head. When the car was hidden from view, Lily pitched the keys over the fence into Marge's yard. I hoped Daisy would find the keys and take them to Marge, who'd come check on me. But after the keys thudded to the ground, the night was still.

  My mind spun looking for another breadcrumb to leave for Ted, but the tracker seemed to be my one and only crumb. If it still worked, if anyone noticed, if Ted was alerted. Too many ifs and I didn't like my odds.

  Lily shoved me toward the open gate. "Get moving."

  A small hope welled inside me. Lily was jumpy and in too much of a hurry to think things through. She'd left the house lit up, the music on, and the tub full. When Ted got there, he'd know something was wrong and poke around. He'd find my car, make some calls, and try to track me. For once I prayed he actually had me under surveillance.

  I glanced back at Lily. "Where are we going? Are we walking?" I wanted her to keep her eyes on me and not the house. "Must be nearby."

  Lily stepped closer to me, grabbed me by the hair and pushed the gun into my ribs. "Shut the fuck up and do what I tell you."

  She pushed me through the open gate without noticing the clues she left behind, and that was exactly what I'd hoped she'd do.

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Lily pushed me toward a car parked on the street. Not her red Mini Cooper, but a blue sedan that looked like thousands of others on the streets and freeways of L.A. She forced me into the driver's seat and got into the passenger seat. My nose had stopped bleeding, but I could feel my face swelling as it throbbed. "What happened to the Mini?"

  She tossed the keys in my lap. "Drive."

  I pulled the seat forward as far as it would go because I'd have to kiss the windshield to see. "Are you sure you want me to drive, my focus ain't so hot what with the broken nose and all." Lily glared at me. I held up my hand. "Okay." I buckled up and turned the ignition. When I checked the rearview mirror, I spotted Marge walking Daisy. If I tapped the horn to get Marge's attention, would Lily shoot me out of reflex?

  "What are you doing?"

  I glanced at Lily. "Adjusting the mirrors." When I looked again, Marge and Daisy were gone. I sighed, put the car in gear, and pulled away from the curb. I drove slowly and kept my eyes on the road. "Where to?"

  Lily cackled and angled in her seat so she could watch me. "This is the last drive of your life. How about you enjoy the ride while it lasts?" I said nothing and continued to drive straight. When Lily noticed we were headed for the back of a building she screamed, "Turn right!"

  And so it went. I'd drive until Lily told me to change directions. If she had a plan, only she knew it. There'd been plenty of opportunities to kill me in my house, yet she hadn't. Why? Too hard to look me in the eye and blow me away? Shooting a person was vastly different from feeding them poisoned food. Lily was a coward, and she'd believed I was one too. But I hadn't crumbled in fear as she expected, and it threw her off her game. I suspected she didn't know what to do with me. And that was a small advantage that might keep me alive.

  Hoping to spot a tail, I checked the rearview mirror. Naturally, since I needed help, law enforcement hadn't the slightest interest in me, and I could've speeded with wild abandon without being stopped. Stupid ideas ran through my head, but each involved hurting innocent people or myself. The only two weapons in my arsenal were cooking and talking. Since I couldn't bake her some poison brownies, I said, "What's your beef with me, Lily?" I kept my eyes on the road and my speed steady. "I thought we were friends."

  Lily sneered. "Besides you turning me in to the cops?"

  I shook my head. "No, you had a beef with me before that." I shot her a sidelong glance. "Otherwise you wouldn't have gone after my diner. Which, if you don't mind my saying so, was where you blew it. If you'd left it alone, I might've backed off." I chanced another look at her. "Everybody was hassling us like crazy and I was ready to give up. Then you made it personal. Why?"

  Lily chewed on her lip and thought for a while. "It wasn't about you. It was about him."

  I scanned the road and wondered where all the cops were when you needed one. "Who? George?"

  Quietly she said, "He screwed me over. So I screwed him right back."

  I nodded, hoping it would encourage her to open up to me. Trying to sound sympathetic I said, "Because he found out you weren't his daughter? He threatened to expose you?"

  A cop car pulled up in the lane next to me. M
y heart flip-flopped. The cop flicked me a look, nodded, then sped away. Lily watched the cop car disappear ahead of us and chuckled. "You'd have been dead before he could question you." She leaned across the seat and jabbed the gun in my ribs. "What's makes you so special anyway?"

  I flinched and bit back a yelp. "Who said I was special? I'm not special."

  Lily leaned back and waved the gun casually. "That's right, you're not. Look at you. You're just a waitress who makes brownies for rich guys. Who cares? I'm hotter than you are."

  I nodded. "Yes, you are." I flicked a look at her. "You're a beautiful girl."

  She smirked. "But you've got Ted drooling all over you — and he's way out of your league. George buys you a restaurant because you're some pathetic foster kid?" She smacked her chest emphatically, "I could've been his real daughter!" She shook her head in disbelief. "Even that dumb fuck Manny felt so bad for screwing you over." She stared at me as though oddly fascinated. "How'd you do it? Get these guys so hot for you that they'd do anything for you? "

  I shrugged. "You'd have to ask them, why they wanted to help me."

  Lily burst out laughing. "Oh help? Is that what they call it now?"

  I gave her an approving grin. "I have to hand it to you Lily, it took balls to pull this off. The planning, the makeover, getting all your ducks in a row. Pretty amazing actually. The months you spent researching paid off because George believed you. That took a lot of finesse." I glanced at Lily, and she seemed pleased with my little tale. "George was a nice guy but not a fool. He was a careful and cautious man. You must've been very convincing."

  Lily's grip relaxed on the revolver, and she lapped up the flattery. "I can talk a good game when I want to."

  I nodded and grinned. "No doubt. Must have been a real buzz when he brought you home to Maggie and Lauren. Did you laugh your ass off when they bought into the whole long-lost child reunited with her father routine? Did they bend over backwards to make you feel welcomed and accepted?"

  Lily chuckled. "Yeah, that was pretty funny." Her expression became dark again. "Too bad Lauren was such a nosey little bitch. Always spying on me and asking questions."

  "What kind of questions?"

  "Just dumb-ass questions, okay?" Lily snapped.

  I flicked a look at the gun in her hand. "You're right about Lauren she is a spoiled brat."

  She relaxed and leaned back in her seat. "Right?"

  While we chatted it up, Lily had navigated us to Sunset in West Hollywood, and I realized we'd been heading willy-nilly for the coast all along. Lots of dark, deserted places to kill a person on the miles of beach along the coast. Pull into a turn out, step over a three-foot guardrail and walk twenty feet — nobody'd see a thing. The only thing I could do was keep her talking. "The questions made you nervous and you had no choice but to get rid of George?"

  Lily leaned back and studied me for a while, then finally said. "No, I came to California to kill George." I gasped and my mouth fell open. Lily pointed and laughed. "You should see your face. Didn't see that one coming did you little miss detective? Yeah, old George had a target on his back even before Mom died."

  Lily's gun hand had dipped into her lap, but I couldn't make a move without crashing the car. "Yeah, sorry about your mom. She was pretty sick, huh? That must’ve been tough, having to take care of her all that time."

  Lily curled her lip. "You shut up about my mother."

  I made a face that showed I was duly shamed. "Sorry. I never had a mom, but I think it’d be hard to lose one, if you had one."

  Lily sneered at me. "Oh poor little foster brat never had a mommy? Give me a break — parents aren’t that great either." She waved the gun at the road. "Just shut up and drive."

  And for a while the conversation was over – just the hum of tires on pavement and Lily's even breathing. As we continued, the shops, lights and traffic of the city slowly slipped into residential neighborhoods and eventually emptied onto Highway One. Ahead of us, hundreds of miles of coastline were just waiting for Lily to choose a spot.

  Lily caught me eyeing the gun, and her hand went up again. "Don't even think about it blondie."

  My heart broke for George who never saw it coming until it was staring him in the face. Without meaning to speak I said, "Did you hate him, Lily? Is that why you killed George?"

  Not minding the question, Lily shrugged. "Sure, I guess." Then she grinned like the bad seed that she was. "But I killed him for the money." Casually, she pointed with her gun. "Turn right, we're almost there."

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Lily directed me along back roads, then back to Highway One and then off again. I guessed we were in Malibu, but it could've been further north. Finally we turned off the highway onto a road that led us through winding canyons. I reduced my speed because I only had my headlights and the watery moon to guide me.

  If the beach had been a great killing spot, the hundreds of acres of undeveloped canyons was better. Eventually a curious hiker would discover my remains after the coyotes had feasted on me. News helicopters would buzz overhead filming as much of the grisly scene as possible. My death would be a headline for a day or two, and then

  people would go back to the latest details of their favorite reality show.

  I saw the occasional gate closing off entry to some movie mogul's or hedge fund millionaire's estate with access roads that trailed off into the blackness. But it wasn't a neighborhood where people kept tabs on one another. People who lived in these canyons wanted isolation from the masses, urban sprawl and ordinary life. Should a murder or two happen behind twenty-foot gates, that wasn't their business.

  Lily nudged me with the gun. "Slow down." I slowed the car to a crawl and we came upon a gated wall that protected a stunning house poised on a cliff to my left. Lily pointed with the gun. "In there."

  I turned and nosed the car up the drive. At least I'd die in style, in a beautiful house on a hill, overlooking the canyons. If the murder were grisly enough they might even make a movie about it. I wondered who would play me. "What is this place? Who lives here?"

  Lily buzzed down her window to open the wrought iron gate with a clicker. The gate slid open silently. Solar lights lined either side of the long driveway that led up to the estate, as though lighting the way to the heavens. The tires thumped over custom pavers, and I parked the car at the entrance. Stepping out of the car, I spotted Lily's Mini parked by the garage.

  Lily snatched the keys out of my hand and shoved the gun in my back. "Inside."

  We walked up four wide marble steps to the front door. Solid oak, highly polished and inset with a stained glass window. In her short time in L.A., Lily had certainly learned to live in style. She unlocked the door and pushed me inside.

  Even though facing certain death, I couldn't help but ogle the house. It was open, enormous and had walls of windows that looked out on the canyons. Everything was white on white, giving it a feel of cool detachment — as though the owner were above it all.

  Lily marched me through to the rear of the house until we dead-ended at a sunroom that faced the canyons — a bank of French doors led out to a balcony which certainly provided a breathtaking view. "Whose house is this?"

  Lily growled at me. "Do you ever stop with the fucking questions?"

  "What's the harm in telling me? I'll be dead soon anyway, right?" My throbbing face made me feel like I was already half-dead. I shrugged at her. "If you're going to kill me the least you can is answer my questions." Lily stood like a stone and I wondered if the wiring in her head had short circuited. "And on the topic of what's the harm in telling me — what is your beef with me? Stealing the diner didn't hurt George, it hurt me."

  Lily kept the gun trained on me but seemed in no hurry to kill me. Quietly she said, "Because he loved it. He loved the whole stupid idea of going into business with you. All his plans." She smirked. "The guy had all this money and homes and cars and all he wanted was that stupid-ass diner." She waved the gun around a little too freely for my ta
stes. "Droning on about you and how he'd have been proud to call you his daughter. You're so brave, so smart, so determined." She glared at me. "He had the nerve to tell me I should try to be like you."

  Tears bloomed in my eyes and I missed George anew. "He said that?"

  She scowled. "But did he ever try to find my mother? And help her? Did he give a flying fuck that we barely had food to eat? And she was such a loser she wouldn't even try to find him. Said it was too late for a second chance." Lily rolled her eyes and fanned her arms out at her sides. "Can you believe that shit? She was as stupid as he was."