Secrets to the Grave (52 page)

“Like the fucking Hoover Dam,” Bordain said. “Because it’s true.”

“And Darren couldn’t have done it,” Mendez said. “Because he was busy fucking his gay lover.”

A huge vein bulged out on Bordain’s forehead, throbbing. “That’s a lie! You shut the fuck up!”

“You can’t have it both ways—so to speak,” Mendez said dryly. “Either Darren fathered this woman’s child, got tired of the blackmail and killed her, or he couldn’t have killed her because he was in bed with his boyfriend. Which is it, Mr. Bordain? Which of those is the lesser of evils for you?”

“You could both take a paternity test,” Dixon said. “Then there’s no question who did what to whom.”

“Last I knew we had an amendment to the Constitution protecting us against self-incrimination,” Bordain said.

He stood up again. This time he really meant it. “We’re through here. If you want to speak about this further, Cal, call my attorney. He’s in the phone book under ‘Fuck You.’”

88

“If Bruce Bordain did it—or had it done,” Hicks said, “why would he turn around and send the breasts to his wife? Or try to run her off the road?”

“To make it look like someone has it in for the family,” Campbell said.

“But it looks like someone just has it in for the wife,” Trammell pointed out.

They helped themselves to doughnuts if for no other reason than to perpetuate the stereotype. The war room smelled like grease and coffee.

“My money here is still on Darren,” Mendez said. “Unless Mark Foster steps up, he’s got no alibi. And even if Foster comes forward, it’s like he said himself last night: ‘So what?’ That’s like uncorroborated accomplice testimony. It’s useless. Why wouldn’t his lover lie for him? Isn’t that part of the job description?”

“And your mother wonders why you’re single,” Campbell said.

“Well, come on,” Mendez said. “Really. Wouldn’t you rather have people think maybe you bat from the other side of the plate than have them suspect you of murder? You go to prison for murder.”

“A pretty boy like Bordain goes to the can he’ll find out all about being a good boyfriend,” Trammell said.

“Say he thinks he’s Haley’s father—or he finds out that’s been a hoax all along—either way,” Mendez went on. “He kills her and makes it look like some lunatic did it. He sends the breasts to Mom for good measure. Then he tells everybody he couldn’t have done it by admitting to something that’s so scandalous no one would ever think he was lying about it.”

“Right,” Dixon said. “And who believes Milo Bordain knows about all of this and is just blithely writing the blackmail checks while treating Marissa Fordham like her long-lost daughter?”

Hamilton issued a low whistle. “These people would make Shakespeare’s head spin.”

“Tony,” Dixon said. “You and Bill go up to Lompoc with that photo array and add a shot of Bruce Bordain. If one of them sent that box, there’s our killer.”

“That’s a great plan, boss,” Hicks said. “Except for one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s Sunday.”

“Shit. How did that happen?” Dixon scowled.

“What about Gina Kemmer?” Trammell asked.

“No change in her status,” Hicks said. “The doctors aren’t very hopeful.”

“Then we don’t have a choice. We need to speak with Milo Bordain.”

“The problem with that is going to be that Milo Bordain isn’t going to want to speak with us,” Mendez said. “There’s no way her husband will allow it.”

“She’ll do it if she thinks she can move everyone around the chessboard the way she wants them,” Dixon said. “I’m going to offer her the opportunity to set us straight. I think she won’t be able to resist.”

“Good luck, Boss,” Mendez said. “Just one question: Are you up-to-date on your tetanus shots?”

“I’m fine. What about you?” Dixon asked, heading toward the door. “You’re coming with me.”

89

Gina’s mouth began working first, opening and trying to close. So dry. Parched. She needed a drink. No one noticed. The nurses were busy. One had checked on her not that long ago. They wouldn’t look in on her for another fifteen or twenty minutes unless one of her monitors went off.

That was all right. She was already tired from the effort of moving her mouth. She would rest awhile and try again later.

 

 

Her eyelids weighed a thousand pounds. Gina tried to lift them. They were like stone weights. Maybe they had coins on them. She had seen that in an old Western movie—when someone was dead, the undertaker put coins on the corpse’s eyelids to keep them shut.

Maybe she was dead after all.

But if she was dead, how could her heart start beating faster? It wouldn’t beat at all.

She must not be dead.

She tried harder to open her eyes. A little wedge of blurred colors appeared. But that was the best she could do for now. She would try again later.

90

The weather system that had settled rain and fog over the area for the last several days had moved out, leaving the air crystal clean and the sky a sparkling, brilliant blue. The drive out to the Bordain ranch was like being in a video for a luxury car—except that they were in the usual ordinary Ford from the SO fleet of unmarked units.

This road, lined with spreading oak trees and white board fences, was where Bordain Motor Cars shot their commercials for the Mercedes dealership: a beautiful silver sedan slinking around the curves of the road, Darren Bordain leaning against the white board fence looking elegant and wealthy, telling all viewers they deserved a Mercedes.

The Bordains’ shaggy red imported cattle grazed in the emerald green grass along the edge of the blue reservoir. As Mendez turned in at the gate and they rolled down the driveway, exotic-looking chickens of all colors with fantastic plumes atop their heads clucked and squawked as they pecked at the ground beneath the lush pepper trees.

Milo Bordain, in a huge straw hat and loose gardening clothes, was tending her roses, looking calm and relaxed. Not what Mendez had expected from her, considering the circumstances. She barely looked up at them from her work.

“Of course I knew all about it,” she said, snipping the huge wilted head of a salmon-colored rose from its stem. “I’m not a fool, Cal. I know how the world works. I know men.”

“And you were fine paying blackmail to Marissa Fordham?”

“I never considered it blackmail. I considered it an investment. It wasn’t as if Marissa didn’t have something to contribute to the world. She was an amazing artist.”

“Who happened to have your son’s illegitimate child,” Mendez said.

She glanced at him like he was an annoying horsefly buzzing around her.

“I’ve told you Haley is like a grandchild to me.”

“Because she is your grandchild.”

“Now that her birth certificate has surfaced, I’ve already spoken with our attorney about beginning adoption proceedings. The records will remained sealed, of course. It isn’t necessary for the entire world to know the circumstances of Haley’s birth.”

“That news could hurt Darren’s political future,” Dixon said.

Milo Bordain laughed. “If I told you how many very powerful political figures in this state have a love child or two on the side, you would be embarrassed at your naïveté, Cal.”

“But how many have gay lovers?” Mendez asked.

For once, she spoke directly to him. Now the claws came out. “My son is not gay,” she snapped, “and if you persist in this line of investigation, my husband and I will sue you personally and the sheriff’s office for slander and defamation of character.”

“You would rather believe that Darren murdered Marissa than that he prefers male company?”

“Darren didn’t murder Marissa. He had no reason to. Marissa had no reason to blackmail anyone. She was very well taken care of.”

“I heard she was getting tired of being controlled by you,” Mendez said. “That maybe she was over being the daughter you never had.”

“That’s nonsense. Marissa was an artist. Artists have their fits. She may not have always appreciated my guidance, but she certainly appreciated the results,” she said. “I introduced her to all the right people, exposed her work to an audience she would never have had access to on her own.”

“And rubbed her face in it every chance you got, I’m sure,” Mendez said.

Milo Bordain looked at Dixon, irritated. “Why do you continue to allow him to upset me, Cal?”

“That’s his job.”

His answer didn’t please her. She should have been the queen of something, Mendez thought. Back in the day when monarchs could order people’s heads cut off—like Marissa Fordham’s.

“Maybe you were the one who got tired of her,” he suggested. “She was rebellious. She didn’t show proper appreciation for all you did for her. She knew all the Bordain secrets.”

“That’s absurd!” she said, tears springing to her eyes. She turned to Dixon. “I loved Marissa!”

“Not enough to let her marry your son,” Mendez pressed.

“Marissa had no interest in getting married! She had her art, she had Haley. She was happy with her life! I’m devastated by what happened to her!” she went on. “I don’t know who killed her, but it certainly wasn’t me or my husband or my son!

“Are you forgetting that I’ve been threatened too?” she asked. “Someone sent me that—that—
box
in the mail! Someone tried to run me off the road! What are you doing about that? Anything?”

“We’ll pursue it if we get a lead,” Dixon said. “There’s nothing we can do right now.”

“You’ll do something when I’m dead on the floor,” she snapped. “That’s a great comfort to me! And I heard that Kemmer girl was found not far from here. This killer is lurking out here and you’re wasting precious time accusing people who had no reason to be involved—”

Mendez’s pager interrupted the tirade. He excused himself and went back to the car to radio in. When he got the message, he ran back, dismissing Milo Bordain from his mind.

“We have to go,” he said to Dixon. “Gina Kemmer is conscious.”

91

“She’s drifting in and out,” Hicks said as they met at the elevators near the ICU. “She fights for it, she’s with it for a few seconds, and then she goes back under.”

“Has she said anything?” Dixon asked.

“Not that makes any sense. She mumbles when she’s out. Stuff like ‘stop it, go away, leave me alone.’”

“I wonder who she’s talking to?” Mendez asked. “Her assailant? She hasn’t mentioned a name?”

“No.”

“Is her family here?” Dixon asked.

“They left to go have lunch.”

She looked like hell. The rat bites had scabbed over and the bruises were in full bloom. Somehow Mendez figured she would have thought she looked pretty good compared to the alternative. She should have been dead. The shot that had been meant to kill her had passed through her shoulder doing the least amount of damage possible. She had been plucky enough to survive on garbage and tenacious enough to get herself up a ladder with only two good limbs.

Vince was sitting beside her, waiting. He had done most of the talking the day they had interviewed her. His voice was strong and distinctive. If Gina was going to connect with any of them, it would be with him.

“How’s Anne?” Dixon asked.

“Sore, tired, upset,” he said.

“That kid’s just bad,” Mendez said. “My mother would say he’s the son of the devil.”

“I don’t think even the devil would claim him,” Vince said. “Twelve years old and he’s done. He’s broken. What are we supposed to do with him?”

“Lock him up and throw away the key,” Dixon said. “How’s the little girl? She was there.”

“Seeing Dennis trying to stab Anne scared her pretty badly. On the upside for us, it seemed to shake loose some memories. Still no name for the killer, but she’s closer to having access to it in her mind—if it’s in there.”

Gina Kemmer stirred and mumbled, “Knock it off.”

Vince leaned closer to her. “Are you talking to us, Gina? It’s Vince Leone. Do you remember me? I came to your house a couple of days ago.”

Kemmer stirred and whimpered.

“Can you open your eyes and talk to us, Gina?”

“No,” she said, her voice small and weak.

“Sure you can,” Vince said. “You crawled out of a well with one arm and one leg. If you can do that, you can open your eyes and talk to us. Come on. You can do it. You have to fight for it, Gina.”

“No, Ma-ris-sa. Stop.”

Vince bobbed his eyebrows. “Is my voice getting higher?”

Mendez laughed. “If she thinks you’re Marissa, she must be hallucinating.”

“Hey, you’ve never seen me in a skirt.”

“Ay, yi, yi, I could go blind just thinking about that,” Mendez said.

“Come on, Gina,” Vince said. “You’re missing all the fun here. Open your eyes and talk to us.”