Trifecta (12 page)

When they got to the hotel and parked, Robin had roused
himself and was digging through his jacket pockets again.  He found his wallet and
produced a gold credit card.  He handed it to her, very gravely.  "You'll have
to check in for me."

"No, Robin.  I really want to get you the room tonight."

He was shaking his head stubbornly.

Julia sighed.  She would have to keep him in her room. 
There was a small couch she could sleep on, and she was too worried about his condition. 
He might have seizures or convulsions from the drugs.  She would keep watch and
make sure he was all right.  If anything was really wrong she could call a private
physician to come to the hotel. 

She manhandled him out of the car and helped him walk on
a path that meandered through the lush grounds of the hotel toward her private bungalow.

"Where are we going?" Robin asked.

"My room," Julia panted.  She was almost bent
over, trying to support his weight as he reeled from side to side.  They slowly
progressed forward.

"Compromising situation," Robin said warningly. 
His voice was still blurry from the drug.

"Don't worry about it," Julia said, but she started
looking around the pathway that led to her place.  There were security guards who
patrolled the grounds all night long and she saw one of them standing above the
pathway, watching curiously as they made their slow staggering way to her apartment. 
He probably thought they were both inebriated.  The whole staff would have the news
by tomorrow that she had tottered in, at three a.m., with a drunk.

She propped Robin against the wall, got her key and opened
the door.  Then she pulled Robin inside.  She had left the light on, so she just
took him to the bed, unwound his arm from around her neck and gave him a push. 
He fell over like a tree, flat on his face.  Julia made sure his nose wasn't squashed
against the bed, so he could breath, and fell into a chair to rest for a moment.

Julia rubbed her aching shoulder.  The guy was built like
a brick and she felt sore as hell as she started putting the clothing, which she
had thrown in a pile on the floor, back into the drawer.  Then she went to the little
built-in refrigerator and checked inside.  Milk and crackers.  Perfect for someone
with an upset stomach.

When she turned around she saw Robin watching her with
large blue, bloodshot eyes.  He was propped on one elbow, lying on the bed.

"I'm really sorry about this, Julia."  He looked
extremely apologetic, and very handsome.

"I'm sorry too," Julia said.  "Do you think
you could take a little milk?"

"Yes.  I'm very thirsty."

"I have Gatorade, too."

"Let me try the milk.  Bring the waste basket over,
in case this doesn't work."

Julia watched him drink.  He started slowly, but kept wanting
more and finished a whole quart.

Then she started giving him crackers, one at a time.

"Tastes like crunchy Styrofoam," Robin remarked.

"I know.  They never use enough salt on the diet crackers."

"I want to take a shower and brush my teeth, but I'm
so tired," Robin said.

"In the morning.  You just rest now."  Julia
went to the end of the bed and took off his shoes.

"You're being so nice."

"Don't worry.  I'll be mad as hell in the morning,"
Julia said soothingly.

"Okay."  He settled back and was instantly asleep. 

Julia covered him with a blanket and a quilt.  He had stopped
shivering but she didn't want him to catch a chill.  She picked up his head and
put a pillow under it, to make sure he could breath normally.  Then she sat down
on the couch across from the bed and watched him.  She was sleepy and kept nodding
off, but she knew she couldn't let herself go to sleep in case there was a medical
emergency.  When she was soundly asleep even an earthquake would not awaken her;
she slept like the dead.  She was afraid that if she fell off nothing would wake
her now that she was so exhausted.

Julia knew she could call an ambulance, now that Robin
was asleep, but didn't want to.  A drug rap was very serious, and Robin already
had some kind of trouble he was going through in court.

Sitting there, watching him, reminded her of the night
she had spent in the hospital, watching her brother, Brian.  Suddenly she was melancholy. 
She wondered where her life was going.  How things had gone so wrong.  She was happy
in her vocation and would always have that, she thought, consoling herself that
work would make her happy, but even as she did so she knew it wasn't true.  Her
personal life was a sad shambles.  She had lost her wonderful brother.  There was
nothing in Boston for her except a sad and one-sided relationship with Alexander,
which would never go anywhere.  When she remembered his kiss at the airport, she
felt totally repulsed.  It was depressing.  He was supposed to be the best and the
brightest of the eligible men in Boston.  Everyone thought she was so lucky that
he was in love with her.  Everyone had already decided she should marry him.  And
Julia did want to be married.  She wanted children more than anything on this earth. 
She wanted to give her own children all the things she had missed when she had lost
her own parents.  She would be splendid at it, she just knew it.  But here she was,
almost thirty years old and not a man in sight to give her the marvelous children
she craved, and a warm home life that she had longed for ever since her own wonderful,
caring parents had died.

And now she was in danger, she supposed, because Quijada
was suspicious enough that he was having her followed.  To top it all, a very nice
man had overdosed on drugs, trying to help her. 

Julia tried to rationalize that it was not really her responsibility
that Robin had taken the drugs.  She had made it abundantly clear, in fact, that
she had not wanted him to attempt a drug buy.  But the guy obviously had a silly
crush on her.  Why else would he do something so foolhardy and dangerous?  She would
have to fire him. 

Sometime later she noticed that she had fallen sideways
on the couch, with her legs still on the floor, and she could hear the water running
in the bathroom.  Robin must be okay if he was taking a shower, she thought drowsily,
and then she was instantly asleep again.

In her dream she felt warm and cared for.  Someone was
carrying her and put her to bed.  In the dream she was a little child again and
her father was gently covering her.  He was whispering that he loved her.  She had
a mother and father and her brother, Brian, was still alive.  She was innocently
calm and content as she went to sleep, sure all was right with the world, snugly
oblivious to the fact that her whole family would be taken from her in the future. 
The bed was cold for a while, but it got warm again as she slept.

J
ulia woke up because a warm, slightly damp spot
on the top of her head was bothering her.  A rhythmic blast of hot air would hit
that place uncomfortably and she put her hand up to brush it away, too sluggish
with sleep to understand the phenomenon.  She encountered a nose. 

Another blast came from the mouth below it.  She scrunched
her head down to avoid the hot wet air, and as she did so, she thought sleepily
that someone was in bed with her.

The magnitude of that idea had impact a few moments later. 
She stiffened and opened her eyes with a feeling close to panic.  She was startled
to see an arm lying across her, under her own arm.  The hot blast came again and
she remembered the nightmarish sequence of picking Robin up under the pier and taking
him home with her. 

"Hey!" Julia said.

"Ummm," was the rumbling, unconscious answer.

This is unbelievable, Julia thought indignantly, turning
over.  The chest in front of her was large and brown with swirls of black hair. 
The arm had tightened around her.  She was so comfortable and tired she had a silly
impulse to rest her forehead against the chest and simply go back to sleep.  Even
worse, she would have liked to put her own arms around him and hug him back.  But
she was just lonesome.  She hadn't had an affair in years and physical warmth was
something she realized, just now, that she had missed.  It was a stunning realization. 
How could she have overlooked something so basic for such a long time, she wondered,
as she gazed at the warm chest in front of her.

Julia had worked hard to become a career woman and had
traveled so much, taking photographs for books and articles, that there never seemed
time for personal relationships.  Oh, to be truthful, she had recognized loneliness
at times, but had always confidently believed that she would meet someone who would
kindle the need for a more personal and intimate life with a man.  But it never
happened. 

She had been stupid to think a handsome, gallant man on
a white horse would come and sweep her off her feet anyway, like a little girl's
fantasy in a fairy tale.  She was getting older and had to realize it might never
happen for her.  Julia smiled and thought that she had once been rescued in a big,
ugly yellow truck.  It was not the stuff dreams were made of.

Julia had to admit, though, that this man, Robin, was certainly
physically gorgeous.  She might even have considered an affair with him, if he didn't
like her so much.  But it wouldn't be fair.  She would never hurt him with an affair
that couldn't possibly go anywhere. 

She also thought, rather cynically, that a man would not
have the same concerns.  He would go ahead, and hell with the consequences or emotions
he shattered.  But Julia knew she could not have an affair without some feeling
of affection on her side.  And she wouldn't injure another person just to satisfy
a momentary hunger to be held and gain physical satisfaction, which would also be
momentary.  She smiled and thought she would hate herself the next morning.

Julia took stock.  Robin was still asleep.  He had probably
carried her into the bed last night.  Her shirt was still on but her jeans and shoes
were missing.  There were long hairy legs brushing hers.  She stretched up and looked
at his face.  Definitely still out.  His long black lashes were closed over his
eyes.  His face in repose was beautiful, with the shadow of a dark beard.  He smelled
like soap.

Julia knew she should be angry, especially since he had
taken off her jeans, but she didn't feel any anger.  She would just have to get
out from under the heavy arm without waking him.

His arm tightened again as she turned over, and her back
was scooted against his chest.  Then he relaxed the arm.  The blast of hot hair
hit her again, in the exact same spot, annoyingly.

Julia picked up his arm and heard him groan.  She pushed
it behind her and moved forward, but she almost fell off the edge of the bed.  Here
they were, in a king sized bed and she was squashed right up to the edge.  And suddenly
the arm was back around her, pulling her close again.

Julia looked over her shoulder and saw that Robin had been
moving in his sleep.  She was annoyed, deciding he was used to sleeping with pliant
women who didn't care if he treated them like stuffed toys.

"Robin!  Wake up."  She looked over her shoulder
and saw him open his eyes.

"Oh!"  Now both eyes were wide and focused on
her face.

"Move back," Julia said.

"Sorry.  Crowding you?" Robin asked sleepily. 
"Wow, do I have a headache."  He groaned, moved back about two inches,
and she watched as he relaxed into sleep again.

Julia craned and looked at the alarm clock on the table
by the bed.  She figured they had been asleep about three hours.  It was six in
the morning.  She would just rest for a few moments and get up.  Robin was probably
hung over and she was sure he wouldn't do anything to her.  He was not a mad rapist
or anything, just a totally inappropriate person to be in her bed.  A mechanic,
she reminded herself harshly.

Julia still had disturbing thoughts about this man and
she consciously changed her mental direction, planning what she had to do today,
as Robin turned over with her.  His arm held on to her, at her waist.  As he turned
she was propelled right over the top of him and plunked down on his other side. 
She was stunned because it happened so quickly.  She almost laughed out loud.  She
felt like a tiny doll, the way he maneuvered her so easily.  And she felt reassured
in a strange way.  If Robin was strong enough to pick her up like that, with the
use of only one arm, he must over the effect of the drug.

Now Julia had almost the entire bed in front of her.  She
moved gently away from Robin, detaching from his arm, slipping to the other side
of the bed.  She relaxed again.  Might as well get a little sleep.  It really was
too early to get up.

She decided, as she was going to sleep, that she would
have to get the items out of Quijada's safe today.  If he was suspicious enough
about her, he might just move the incriminating items.  Especially if he suspected
that she had been trying to get into his desk drawer.  She would have to act precipitously,
and the thought was frightening.

Julia decided she would hold the book Brian had written
as ransom, in case Quijada had any ideas about getting rid of her.  He had read
most of it and claimed that he liked it very much.  He had also seen some of the
photographs she had taken.  Quijada had been especially enamored with the pictures
of him together with his dog, Bruno, playing on the estate.  He probably thought
that since he didn't have an immediate family, the dog would humanize him.  The
rationalization was that if Quijada loved dogs, he was probably an okay person,
and the people in California would vote for a dog lover.

Julia decided to put the book on a disc and take it out
of the computer's hard drive completely.  She would keep the disc in the safe at
the front desk of Beverly Hills Hotel.  If Quijada tried to harm her, she would
at least have the leverage of physically possessing his autobiography.  She would
place all of the photographs there also, with instructions that no one was to remove
the contents but her.  It wasn't much against goons who probably sported Uzi rifles
and sold dangerous illegal drugs, but it was added insurance that might help keep
her from harm.  In the middle of her plans she fell asleep.

The next time Julia awakened it was because Robin was saying
her name, over and over, very softly.  She breathed deeply and stretched her left
arm up.  It flopped back down and landed on warm flesh.  She didn't want to wake
up, but as her arm dropped she had the shock of remembering that Robin was there,
in bed with her.  She opened her eyes.

Her pillow was Robins shoulder, she noted with dismay. 
And she was practically wrapped around him.  She removed her leg from over his,
and her arm from around his chest and started moving back rapidly, but he held on
with the arm he had around her shoulders.

"Relax a minute.  We have to talk," Robin said.

"What about?" Julia asked, moving back some more.

"We're really on to something here."

"Oh, really," Julia said, rather sarcastically.

"Stop thinking about sex," Robin said.

"I wasn't thinking about anything of the sort,"
Julia protested indignantly.  "If you'll just let go, we can talk rationally."

"I'm perfectly rational, if slightly hung over,"
Robin said, rubbing his beard with a scratching sound.  "And I think we're
in a very dangerous situation."

Julia agreed with that.  She was in a dangerous situation
just being this close to Robin.  She could feel his breath in her hair.  It was
nice.  So was the neck she was staring at.

"I have the drug connection," Robin continued
in a normal tone of voice, like they were discussing a neutral subject on the terrace
of some restaurant over cocktails.  "Your pictures and the meeting I had last
night prove that."

"Oh," Julia said.  Evidently he wasn't affected
at all being so close to her.  It was reassuring and a little disappointing.  "I
understand.  But Robin, I don't want you on the case any longer.  I'm going to have
to terminate your services."

"Really?"  He turned his head and looked down
at her.  He was frowning.

"Don't get angry.  I can handle the rest of this."

"Julia, you're not seeing the larger picture.  Quijada
may have had your brother killed, and I'm not denying that that's very serious. 
But he's mixed up with some powerful drug people.  And he's going to be running
for governor here in California.  I can't just let that go.  I love this state. 
And I love Los Angeles.  And I won't let you be involved in this situation any longer. 
It's too risky.  Quijada will go to any lengths to protect himself."

Julia sighed.  "You can't do the whole thing alone,
Robin."

"I just need a little more evidence," Robin said,
"and then I can go to the district attorney."

Julia stretched up and was staring inches from his face. 
"I know the information you need is in that safe.  It's upstairs, in his study. 
If I can get it, I think you'll have what you need."

"I don't want you going back there." 

"I'll get it today," Julia said firmly, as though
the subject was closed.

"No you won't," Robin said, staring at her fiercely.

"You don't know where the combination is, and I do. 
And the dog would kill you if you tried to get it, anyway."

"Illegal seizure," Robin said, sighing.

"Even the police can't do that kind of thing.  But
then I can copy the information and put it back.  That was the original plan."

"Your plan.  But you're not going back there.  It's
too dangerous.  Quijada already has a guy following you around in a big black Mercedes. 
He followed you into Brentwood, where you rented the studio for the photography
lab, several times.  And he followed you here, last night."

Julia flopped back down onto his shoulder, "I thought
someone was following me from Quijada's place, but I was just nervous because he
caught me trying to open his desk drawer."

"He what!"

"You don't have to yell at me," Julia complained. 
"I was looking around the desk because that's where Rosa said the combination
was.  And I think it's taped to one of the legs.  When I was crawling on the floor,
I saw a piece of paper stuck there." 

"When I get enough evidence, we can legally have a
search done.  You have to get a search warrant from a judge, after you convince
the city attorney."

"By that time Quijada will destroy the evidence. 
Or move it where you can't find it.  Brian's note said to give the items to our
attorney in Boston.  There may be people working with Quijada on the police force
who would tip him off."

She felt rather than heard Robin sigh.

"You know I'm right," Julia continued.  "And
if I don't go to work today, it'll look suspicious.  I have to act like nothing's
wrong.  Then, if it's safe, I'll get the stuff."

"You know, you look just like a little angel when
you're asleep.  And your hair got all curly," Robin said.  He was smiling down
at her.

"Won't work, Robin," Julia said, smiling back,
and noting that she was now perfectly comfortable in bed with him.  "The fog
curled my hair.  And I know what you're trying to do."

"What?" Robin asked, obviously feigning innocence.

"You think you can distract me and I'll forget entirely
about going to Quijada's.  It was a marginally good plan," Julia said, shaking
her head judiciously, "because you are very handsome, but I have to go to work."

"You won't let me seduce you right now?" Robin
asked.

"Not ever," Julia said.

"You sounded a little sad when you said that."

"I did not," Julia said, frowning at him.  "What
I want to know is how you got that drug connection from the pictures I gave you."

"Now you're trying to distract me," Robin said. 
He gave a gigantic sigh and Julia knew he was trying to act extremely disappointed. 
She laughed.  He was a very nice man, but she'd have to watch out for him.  It was
entirely too much fun being with him, she thought sadly.  In retrospect, even picking
him up under the pier last night had its bright moments.  She smiled when she thought
of his disguise.

"Since I've been fired, I'll need a reward to tell
you about all the trouble I went to," Robin said.

She wasn't about to get pulled into something like that. 
Not here in bed with Robin.  "Tell me.  I'll decide whether you deserve anything."

Robin told Julia that he had taken her photographs to the
West Hollywood sheriff's station.  There he had gone through mug books looking for
Mexican nationals, dealing with drugs in the Los Angeles area.  He found one of
the pictures Julia had taken of a man entering Quijada's home, which matched a known
felon, Juan Carlos.