by Nora Snowdon
“I don’t know. He doesn’t like surprises.”
“We’re not going to throw him a party or anything. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Doesn’t he want to meet me?” Lu’s stomach clenched with guilt, but she knew she had to push it. Susan had to find out before she wasted a bunch more money on a bloody wedding gown. Lu’d already stalled the checkbook once when a sales clerk had mentioned that a particular gown had been designed by the woman who’d made Hillary Duff’s gown. Lu opened the glass door for Susan and watched her hesitantly step inside.
“I guess it’ll be okay.”
“Sure.” Lu read the floor directory. “They’re on the eighth floor.” She smiled at the guard standing by the directory and led her friend to the bank of elevators. Susan’s two inch heels clattered on the shiny marble floor in contrast to the faint squeak of Lu’s sneakers. Inside the elevator Susan checked her hair and make-up in the mirrored walls until a large businessman got on at the fifth floor. Then they stood silently watching the floor numbers flash by until the elevator gave a discreet hiss on the eighth and let them off.
“It’s that way,” Susan pointed. From the smile on her face it seemed her happiness at seeing Greg was overcoming her anxiety. “This is nice,” she said vaguely as they passed by several glassed-in receptions.
As they neared his office, Susan straightened her back, making her already lush boobs more prominent and smiled broadly. “Secretaries make me a little nervous,” she admitted to Lu just before opening the etched glass doors to the architectural office.
“May I help you?” The sharp featured woman behind the large marble reception desk assessed them and found them wanting within the first seconds of their arrival.
“Um, yes … We’d like to see Greg Kelso? I mean, if he’s not too busy … Otherwise—” Susan’s confidence deflated instantly under the other woman’s icy stare.
“Do you have an appointment?” The woman was enjoying watching Susan squirm and Lu had definite second thoughts about letting this woman see her friend laid even barer.
“Um, no. But …” Susan paused and then seemed to decide she’d had enough of the woman’s snooty attitude. That was something that had originally attracted Lu to Susan, the wild swings between low and high self-esteem. “If he’s available, I’m sure he wants to see me. I am his fiancée.” Susan brushed her bangs back with her left hand, casually showing off the honking big rock she’d been flashing at Lu all day.
“Excuse me?” The perfectly painted lips gaped open.
“Just tell him Susan Miller is here,” Susan said smugly before turning to regally place herself on the leather couch opposite the desk. She picked up an Architectural Digest magazine and flipped through it to complete her air of one-upmanship. Under other circumstances Lu would’ve applauded her friend’s display of confidence, but as it was she felt terrible. She paused to listen as the receptionist picked up the phone and pushed a few buttons.
“Hi, Sally? I have a Susan Miller here who says she’s Mr. Kelso’s fiancée.” The arched eyebrows rose a little higher while she listened. “I know. It was a surprise to me, too. Will you ask Mr. Kelso what he’d like me to do?” She sat there a moment, her face frozen in anticipation. “Right then. Call me back.” She turned to Lu, her tight smile confidently in place. “Someone will be with you in a moment.”
Lu went and sat down next to Susan. She noted incongruously that her casual jeans looked definitely out of place on the soft, luxurious leather couch. This one piece of furniture probably costs more than everything in my apartment put together. The shiny marble coffee table was beautiful with several streaks of pink-tan that matched the couch exactly. Lu concentrated instead on the ugly, dull paintings. They were minimalist abstracts in washed out colors and probably also expensive, but that didn’t make them attractive.
Lu looked for something else to focus on. She didn’t want to think about what was going to happen next. Would Greg come out? Or maybe they were getting security. Could he then plead innocence and keep up the charade? Did he—
A tanned, dark-haired man with perfectly symmetrical features strode into the reception area. Even before Susan leapt to her feet, Lu knew it was him. There was something fascinating about the man, his smooth, glowing skin, the vibrant blue eyes, the trim physique encased lovingly in what had to be an expensive tailored suit. Susan’s smile lit up until she saw the tense set of his lips.
“Greg. We were just walking by and saw your—”
“Susan. How nice to see you. Won’t you come this way?” He latched onto her elbow and started to move her toward a hallway the opposite direction from which he’d come.
“Excuse me,” Lu interrupted and waited for him to turn and face her. “Hi. Greg? I’m Lu. Susan’s told me so much about you.” His blank expression and total silence made Lu babble on. “We’ve just been out shopping for wedding gowns, and, well, I thought it was time for me to meet the groom.” She noticed the receptionist hanging on their every word, most likely wishing she could record it for Sally later.
“Hello. Please, follow me.” He tightened his grip on Susan’s elbow and again pulled her down the hallway.
Lu followed, wondering briefly if he was going to shoot them both. They’d backed him into a corner. And if he did pull out a gun would she have time to set him on fire first? Greg opened a door and ushered them none too gently into a large room with a gleaming dark wood table surrounded by numerous black leather office chairs. And again the dull abstract paintings. Susan was looking unsure, so Lu took the lead.
“I hope this wasn’t a bad time to drop by. We can always come back later.” Lu smiled, trying to appear apologetic. “In fact, we told the receptionist not to bother you if you were busy.”
Greg ignored Lu and turned to Susan. “You shouldn’t have come here.” He shook his head sadly but, other than his mouth, his facial muscles didn’t seem to move. Botox? “You know I didn’t want my mother to find out about us. Now you’ve gone and ruined it.”
“What? Ruined what?” Susan’s voice rose and her eyes widened in terror. “Everything’s fine.”
“I’m sorry, Susan. The wedding is off. Obviously I can’t trust you—”
“No, but Greg—!” Susan’s large eyes filled instantly with tears.
“Don’t bother. It’s too late for tears,” Greg dismissed Susan.
Lu’s shoulders tightened as she watched the jerk treat Susan so cruelly. She stepped firmly between them and said in a low steady voice, “Why don’t you tell her the real reason you’re breaking the engagement, Greg?”
“W—what?” Susan looked at Lu warily.
Lu stared down at Greg glad of the fact that she was taller than him. “Tell her.”
He huffed indignantly, “I don’t know what—”
Lu turned to Susan with frustration. “He’s already married. Isn’t that right, Greg?”
Susan turned to Greg then suddenly turned a scary shade of green and Lu pushed her gently into one of the leather chairs.
“Well?” Lu prompted Greg. His mouth was flapping like a guppy wanting food.
“No, n—not really.” He looked at Susan. “We’re getting a divorce.”
“You’re married? But you said—”
“I was going to marry you …” He glared at Lu then took a step closer to Susan. “I just had to wait until—”
Lu jumped back as Susan leaned forward and vomited her souvlaki lunch on the bottom half of Greg’s trousers. They all watched transfixed as the liquid and chunks dropped onto his shiny black shoes.
Susan covered her mouth and started scrambling in her purse. She pulled out a small plastic covered mint, unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth. Lu smiled. She’d worried Susan was looking for something to wipe off Greg’s pants with.
“Shall we go?” Lu asked. She put her hand on Susan’s shoulder.
“But what about our trip to Disney World?” Susan whispered, fixing her big Golden Retriever eyes on Greg. “And the house we were going to buil
d in California?”
“We could still do that,” Greg looked hopefully at Susan.
Lu watched the two of them draw closer and blurted out, “What about your damn mother?”
“What?” Susan broke eye contact with Greg.
“His mother died eight years ago,” Lu spat out. This wasn’t going at all like she’d hoped. She’d wanted Greg to confess so she could pretend to be shocked along with Susan. To hell with it. “And the money isn’t even his. It’s his wife’s inheritance.”
Susan looked sharply at Greg.
“Yes, but I get half of everything if we divorce. I didn’t sign a pre-nup.”
“You lied about your mother?” Susan looked defeated. Then she drew in a long shaky breath and stood up. “Good-bye Greg. I hope you get all the rotten things you deserve.” She marched out of the room without a backward glance.
Lu followed Susan silently back through the hallway and into the reception area. As she passed the dull abstracts she glared at first one, then the other and watched them blister then burst into flames. Lu smiled and licked the sooty taste from her teeth. Sometimes a little fire is a good thing. The receptionist opened her mouth to say something then snapped it shut again.
Chapter 18
“I think we’ll be able to wrap this case up finally,” Byron said as he poured her morning coffee. “The next grow will be processed next week, so we’ve been rounding up some of the henchmen.”
“Yeah.” Lu smiled at his eager expression. “But won’t you then be out of work?”
“I never run out of work,” he answered. “But I do like actually catching the occasional bad guy. And Huang is getting on my nerves. We need to find his mole.” He swigged the last of his coffee and stood up from the table. “Speaking of which, I’ll be incommunicado most of today.” He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “I’d better get a move on. These bad guys won’t catch themselves. Hey, want me to barbeque tonight?”
She tilted her head up for a proper kiss and then almost forgot his question. “I would … but I think I’d better spend more time with Susan.” She smiled apologetically. She’d invited Susan to come stay for a few days and felt guilty about not spending enough time with her. “I’m driving her back tomorrow and then she’ll have to figure out what she’s doing.”
“Just don’t let her take over your life,” he grumbled as he ambled out of the dining room. “I’ll call you later.”
Lu heard him pick up his keys from the bowl by the door. “Be careful out there.”
She stood up to stretch. The tension with Susan’s situation was taking its toll on her body. She’d better schedule in a jog for the day to keep from totally freezing up her muscles. Lu walked back to the bedroom and got ready to leave. She loved Byron’s house, but it just wasn’t as comfortable when he wasn’t in it. She had to spend the day with Susan anyway, so she might as well go home and touch base.
*
Lu juggled the grocery bags so she could knock on her apartment door again. The large sweet onion rolled across the can of beans and slid over the edge of the bag. Shit. She carefully placed one bag of groceries on the floor beside the door so she could root in her pocket for her keys.
Where the hell was Susan? She’d phoned Lu several times at work and now when Lu was finally actually available, the woman had gone out. Lu pushed the door open, then bent over to pick up her bag. Then she saw it. One ridiculously high-heeled sandal sitting in the middle of her hallway. Puzzled, Lu looked for the other one.
“Susan?” she called out halfheartedly. No answer so she carried the groceries into her small kitchen and dumped them onto the Formica counter. There were several dirty dishes in the sink and a pot with some mac and cheese sitting on her stove. Great, not only is she driving me nuts, now she’s decided not to clean up after herself.
She took the fruit to her dining nook and that was when she saw it. A large knife gouged into her table, pinning a paper in place. Lu’s stomach jumped and a wave of nausea washed over her as she moved to take a closer look.
PIG. WE HAVE YOUR GIRLFRIEND. FOLLOW ORDERS OR SHE DIES.
Why would they want Susan? she thought blankly. Unless the note was for Byron and they’d taken Susan by mistake. Oh, fuck! Lu reached for her phone. Her fingers trembled and she had to punch the numbers in twice before she connected. Byron’s answering machine picked up and Lu let out a frustrated scream.
“Call me right away. They have Susan!” Lu disconnected and phoned his work number. His office answering machine picked up right away. Oh shit. He’d said he couldn’t be reached. Should she drive down there and try to find him or call 911? But if they’d grabbed Susan thinking she was Lu, she didn’t want to tip off the informant that she was still at large. That would jeopardize them both.
Fuck! Think, Lu.
Ace was at work, so he couldn’t help. Byron’s home computer! Maybe he had something on there. Lu grabbed her keys and drove back to his place, constantly easing up on the gas to keep from speeding and thinking of cold things to keep from incinerating things. She ran to his computer and booted it up, tapping her fingers impatiently while she waited for the sign-in message.
Finally.
She typed in Byron’s password and let out a sigh of relief when it opened.
“Okay, Topdog,” Lu tapped in the code and waited to see what files came up. Byron had switched to doing a lot of his brainstorming on his home computer when he’d discovered the leak at work. Ah, there it is, complete with surveillance photos and mug shots. That must be the next grow-op sting he was talking about. Would they have taken Susan there? But what else did she have to go on?
Could she pretend to be a city inspector, salesperson or pollster? From what Byron said these guys were ruthless killers. She couldn’t afford to go in half-assed. Then again, she had to do something. She threw on some black pants and a white blouse. Rifling through Byron’s desk, she found a beat up clipboard and affixed some old invoices. She wasn’t sure what the plan was, but clipboards always seem official.
She tucked her ponytail through the back of one of Byron’s dark baseball caps grabbed her keys, purse, clipboard and headed back to her car. This was a Hail Mary pass, if there ever was one. She called Byron’s two phones one more time and left him the address she was going to. Damn, she felt stupid running into the lion’s den again, but she couldn’t see any way around it. Susan was in danger because of her. If she could call the cops she would, but given what she knew about the leak, that might put Susan in more danger.
Driving into the expensive neighborhood, Lu tamped down the nauseous rumbling in her stomach. That was good. If she was nervous, she’d be alert. She parked a block away. Obviously she couldn’t pretend to be anyone official driving her old Chevy. Damn, she should’ve brought a package or something to look like a delivery person.
Lu clutched the clipboard to her chest and strode purposefully down the street. She stopped outside of the first house she came to, glanced up at the address and then scribbled a few words on the pad. Then she proceeded to the next building and did the same. This way if she got caught on any sort of security camera, it would look like she had some purpose in being there.
The road bent slightly and then Lu saw the house. It was similar to the last grow-ops. The building was a distance from its neighbors with the blinds pulled tight and the lawn and garden showing telltale signs of neglect. There were a few cars parked on the street. Lu wondered if any of them could be part of another of Byron’s sting operations. God forgive her if she walked into another one. In fact, to hell with God, Byron might never forgive her. No. He said it was next week.
Lu stopped outside of the building next door, writing while a plan took hold. She wasn’t even sure if it would work, but it seemed like her best shot at getting inside. Lu concentrated on the biggest and newest of the dark cars parked in the driveway outside the grow-op. She focused on her anger, visualizing poor Susan being terrified, the woman they’d previously let burn in the fire
on Baker Street, people dying of overdoses. Meanwhile she kept staring at the monstrous black SUV, knowing that it was the root of all this damage and despair.
Lu’s breathing came sharper as the familiar pain built at the base of her neck and mushroomed into a full-blown headache. Her fingertips quivered as the heat built up in them, surging toward the detested car. She needed this one to be a big one, the motherfucker of all the goddamned fires. She internally yelled at the fucking car as the throbbing pain tore through the back of her brain.
No! Wait! She needed to be closer to get in!
Lu stumbled to the left side of the house, ignoring her watering eyes and hoping she wouldn’t trip. The pain was unbearable and her legs started to give out. God, she hoped they weren’t watching her on any security cameras. She reached the building just as she heard the massive explosion behind her. She turned to watch the SUV erupt into an impressive fireball. The heat blasted against her skin. Within seconds the car behind the SUV blew up and she ducked against the wall in reaction. Well … Something should happen. The door crashed open and two guys barreled outside. Lu ducked behind the door.
“Holy fu—!” The voice cut off as the young Asian man sprinted toward the cars. A beefy white guy followed him, spewing profanities. Lu waited a few seconds to see if any more people came out, then ran into the house. The overwhelming stench was unmistakable. She sprinted to the right and then ducked low as she came to a hallway. The two men continued yelling outside.
The smell was like a combination of skunkweed, vinegar, ammonia, and decomposing vegetation, all in a hot, wet blanket smothering her entire body. How could those men stay in here? Her brain cells were frying already. At the last grow-op, Byron had pointed out the filter that had kept the smell to a bearable level. Maybe they were getting cheaper with every crop they lost?
Lu covered her face with her arm, but it wasn’t much better. Looking up, she saw row after row of what Ace called “frankenplants,” the short top-heavy marijuana plants with their limbs bending from the oversized buds. The lights glared down, giving the precious crop a glowing aura. The walls and windows were all covered with some white plastic material.