Trevar's Team 1 Page 20

  “As we previously guessed, she lifted the gun from Lilia’s handbag,” I deduced.

  “Right. She framed Lilia. That must have given her some satisfaction,” Rachel reported. “Since the gun was only a .32-caliber, effective within a fifteen-foot range, Helene needed a disguise. She knew Lilia often wore sunglasses, so her deception easily came together.”

  Sirens blared through the airways of the previously serene, gray marina. Powers had made the trip in record time. A battery of reporters followed behind the police. They were barred from the immediate area. The murder of Sylvia Grant had been solved. That was major news.

  A parade of investigators, led by Lieutenant Powers, entered. As if staging a raid, they surrounded us. Rachel informed Powers of Helene’s probable implication. She would share both photos and banking information. The photo of Helene in a dark wig, Rachel disclosed, might just be the positive ID needed to prove she killed Jeremy.

  Cruz and Hammer were led away. Behind, seated on the floor, was a bewildered Debra. As if out of respect for Sylvia, Powers excluded her from riding back to Palm in a squad car. He would take her in his unmarked car. I guessed he had an ulterior motive, as well. He wanted her in his camp. With three star witnesses to attempted murder and confessions of the killers to Trevar’s Team, he had an ironclad case. He would obviously love adding another witness—an eyewitness to the killing. Sylvia’s daughter, Debra.

  After our statements had been taken and glanced over by Powers, he walked slowly toward Debra. Summer grabbed my arm. “Trev, I’ll take Rachel back and get her settled in. I know you’ll want to tell Lilia the news. But first,” she hesitated, “I hate to ask. I know how you feel about going back into the courtroom. But Deb’s a messed up kid. Not a bad kid.”

  “Summer, if she wants my help, of course I’ll be glad to represent her.”

  “Thanks. I can’t talk with her now. When she’s clean, I’ll see her.”

  Summer hung her head and then walked away to join Rachel. I approached Tom Powers and Debra Grant. The lieutenant was thinking about his own daughters. I knew how he thought. Helping Debra was paying his last respects to Sylvia Grant. He huddled with the young woman, gently interrogating as he took notes.

  “Lieutenant,” I interrupted.

  “Congratulations, Trevar.” He extended his hand. “Nice work.”

  I mumbled, “There have been easier cases.”

  “I just knew it was one of you lesbians.”

  “You mean, one of us solving the murder and restoring law and order?”

  He gave an embarrassed, chatter-like laugh. “You know what I meant. The killer.”

  “This turns out to be a fortunate day for you. You’re getting three lesbians off the street at once. Four if you count Helene,” my sarcasm lashed. “Tom, have you Mirandized Debra?”

  “Just now. So?”

  “First of all, do me a favor. Put out that cigar,” I complained about the miasmic smell. “I just escaped from death by gunfight. I’d rather not be a morbidity statistic for dying of asphyxiation.” He crushed his cigar out against the rim of an empty cup. “Thanks. Now, may I have a private word with Debra?”

  “Don’t tell me!” he ranted. He gave a slap on his forehead. “You’re going to represent her. You’re back on the wrong side, Trevar.” His face lit up with rage. “She killed her own mother.”

  “That’s for the courts to decide. As soon as she’s clean, she will be easy to flip over to the prosecution’s side. But she needs to be represented.”

  “Nice.” He pouted. I watched him storm to the other side of the cabin.

  I leaned toward Debra. “Deb, listen to me. Summer wants me to represent you. If you want my legal counsel, I’m here.”

  With a dolorous frown of confusion, she inquired, “Why would you help me?”

  “I’m an attorney. And maybe you’re a victim of sorts.”

  “You can forgive me?”

  “Yes. And your mother would have forgiven you. Mothers forgive their children. And children forgive their mothers.” I studied her pain-laced eyes. There was compunction within her face. “I’ll represent you. But no more lies. I can’t stand lies in my personal life or in my professional life. Now, do you want my help?”

  “Yes.”

  I motioned to Powers. “Tom, come on down. We want to deal. Immunity. My client will turn evidence. We need to bargain now. Up front. We’ve got the eyewitness to Sylvia’s death willing to give testimony. You’ll need that testimony for a sturdy conviction. Release Debra in my custody. I’ll get her signed into a rehab center immediately. Lockup. We need to first get her substance abuse resolved. You have my word that she’ll be committed. It will be stipulated that she will not be signed out until after the disposition of the case resolved. Or charges are dropped.”

  “You know I can’t agree to that. I’d need the district attorney’s approval.”

  “Check it out. Get the governor on the phone if need be. We’ll cooperate, but first she needs rehabilitation. And,” I bargained, “she can’t be tried with either Cruz or Hammer. And she can’t be tried on first. She is an accessory, maybe. Witness, absolutely.”

  “Give me a couple minutes.” He went to make his calls in private.

  “You want me to rat?” Debra disputed.

  “You listen to me,” I cut her off. I eased down beside her with my knee pressing the floor for balance. “This state has the death penalty. You get your choice. Lethal injection or electrocution. Old Sparky isn’t a goddamned joke. And you’re about to line up for frying. They’ll shave your hair, lead you down a hall. Clergy at your side. You’ll get the big voltage. Death by electrocution is high gore. So listen to every word I say. We are cooperating with the State. You are going to turn Cruz and Hammer over.”

  “I can’t do that. They’ll kill me.”

  “No more intimidation by them. They’re going to be locked. Give them up, Deb. Before they turn and rat you out. They’ll get the perk of being able to live.” I watched her eyes blinking back tears. “If you’re not going to listen to me and take my advice, I’ll get you a copy of the Yellow Pages. Find yourself another attorney. One who wants to grandstand. Get someone who won’t mind watching your struggling body being tied down for your syringe full of poison or being pitched into Old Sparky’s gullet.” I got up to leave.

  “No,” she screamed. “Help me.” Her head fell into her hands. Jerking, her diminutive frame tottered as she wept. “I didn’t want them to kill her. Help me.” Tears dripped from her thin face.

  “First, we’ll get you clean.” I placed my arm around her shoulder.

  “Trevar,” Powers said when he returned. “Let’s talk.”

  “You know what I’m willing to talk about. Have we got a deal?”

  “We may be able to go along with some of your requests. But we still need to take her in before we can transfer her.”

  “She’s sick, Tom. I don’t want her locked.” I confronted him. “She’ll freeze out if she hears the clank of locks. She isn’t a bad kid. We can get her back. You know if we visit a judge, I’ll have her bailed in the morning. I can get all the mileage in the world out of facto et amino. In fact and intent, Tom. She didn’t do it in fact and intent. You’ll end up looking like the village bully in court.”

  “Come on, Trevar,” he began.

  “I’m serious. If my client agrees to cooperate, I insist she not be locked. Otherwise, the deal is off. I’ll bail her. I’ll walk her. I’ll load up and go into that courtroom blazing. The kid doesn’t even have a prior,” I stressed. “Nothing incriminating.”

  “I know.”

  Then with a conciliatory smile, I enticed him. “Tom, with an eyewitness to the biggest murder the state has had in years, you’re guaranteed a conviction. Good for you. You’ll convict two hardened criminals. They’ll do life or do death. You’ve wanted them off the street for years.”

  “I let one go to get the other two?”

  “Debra was there. Suppose she w
as an innocent bystander. Through drugs and intimidation, she was coerced into covering for the killers. Tom, do you think Sylvia Grant would want her daughter executed?” I smiled my most benign smile. “I’d defend your daughters if it were them.”

  “My kids are all wives and mothers. Except the youngest. She’s just getting out of college. I can’t wait to get her down the aisle.”

  “Would you still love her if she were Sapphic, like me?”

  After a moment’s reflection, he muttered, “She’s my kid. I’d still love her. Does your family know you like women?”

  “The trio is my family. Well, Lieutenant, Sylvia’s killers have been apprehended. Now the question is do you want them convicted. Do we have a deal?”

  “We have a deal.” He hesitated. “Tell me, Trevar, you plan on gloating all over town about solving this case?”

  I glanced at Debra and simply answered, “No. Not this one.”

  After Debra had been sorted, I drove directly to The Breakers. I wilted in Lilia’s arms. She saw the strain in my face and drew a bath for me. The bathroom was beginning to darken as afternoon turned down the sky’s brightness. I watched Lilia blending bath scents into rushing waters. I sat motionlessly.

  I recalled the joyous phone conversation with Lilia earlier. When she heard the case was solved, and that she was absolved of suspicion, her voice brightened. Her concern turned to Debra. I assured her that I was going to represent Debra and that I had accompanied her to one of the finest rehabilitation centers.

  “Beryl, you appear so weary.” Lilia broke into my thoughts.

  “I’ll be fine. By the way, I have a message from Debra. After she had been processed, we sat together for a while. She said to tell you she was sorry.”

  I submerged my body in the water. Lilia’s delicate touch skimmed my back, soothing as her fingers eased my tension.

  “I’m pleased you’re helping her.” Lilia’s eyes filled with tears. “When you see her again, tell her I’ll be there for her if that is what she wishes.”

  “She’ll have difficulty ahead. Death leaves remnants of guilt, no matter what the circumstance.” I took Lilia’s hand in mine and tenderly kissed it. “I told her that Sylvia would have forgiven her.”

  “Yes. Sylvia was forgiving. Sylvia could be very harsh. She often pushed those near her to their breaking point. At times, her cruelty was beyond comprehension. I understand Debra’s love and hatred for her mother. Sylvia knew what she was doing, for much of the cruelty she exhibited was when she was sober. I accepted the pain she inflicted and stayed with her. Debra had no choice. In Bizet’s Carmen, there is a line that says, ‘If I love you, then beware.’”

  “Sylvia must have been demanding.”

  “She often pushed me to my worst anger. She enjoyed it. She tested my love by making it impossible. She measured my love by how much I could stand. But no matter how terrible it was, I know I could not have murdered her.”

  “Until we’re confronted, it’s difficult to speculate if we have it in us to kill.”

  Her eyes closed a moment as she touched my chin. “I worry about your being harmed if you remain a detective.”

  “I’ll be more careful now that you’re in my life. I’ll be more cautious.”

  “I remember when I was sent to the convent. I packed my earthly belongings into one valise. I was given something from each member of my family. A memento. It was as if I didn’t know if I might be seeing them again.” Her fingertips traced my lips. “If I knew you were in danger, I would worry that each parting might be our last. I would fear that I must take a belonging from you each day.”

  I took her in my arms and held her tightly. Her family traded gifts to remain together in heart and spirit. Donatio inter vivos, a gift between the living. Lilia was my greatest gift.

  16

  AS THE SUN lightened the morning, I reflected on my fortune.

  The case was solved. And the most important emotion that I had ever known was actualized. I had come out of my learning plateau with the knowledge of love.

  Love, I found, was more than a study. I approached law with an eagerness to learn. What knowledge of cuisine I’d managed to acquire came through self-instruction, and my stint at being an apprentice chef. Yet where love was concerned, methodology didn’t work with me. I found love was the very essence of something that simply was. No wonder it took me so long to arrive, I considered.

  As a chef, one can’t go wrong with a good basic sauce—it dressed up, or down, a feast. Feast, the word, was a derivation of festival. And my heart’s festival just happened. It was the woman I’d fallen in love with, and who loved me. Under the glamor of makeup and sequined dresses, Lilia was gorgeous. But she was mostly a woman of kindness, substance, and devotion. I cherished Lilia and her warmth.

  My festival celebration was love. As we snuggled in bed, Lilia’s morning touch invited me. Our eyes locked as we tucked together in an embrace. Desire flared when I inhaled the sweetness of her. Love-sharing was without the encumbrance of a murder case. Our touches were raptorial. Even my pragmatic soul had found orgasmic poetry. Our love had become the center of the universe.

  There was synchronized bliss.

  “I love you so,” I whispered. My arms tightened around her. “I never thought I’d find you.”

  “Perhaps we were fated to find one another. I’m fortunate you were here for me. If not, I might be incarcerated. That reminds me I mustn’t forget the fee for Trevar Investigators.” She smiled. Kissing my head, she then got up to retrieve her handbag. She pulled out a checkbook and tossed her handbag on the bed’s stand. She then wrote the check, handed it to me, and said, “This was the best money I’ve ever spent. It provided me with my freedom, and my reason to treasure freedom. You.”

  “This is very generous,” I said, glancing at the check. “Too generous.”

  “Not at all. I promised your company a bonus if the case was solved quickly. You delivered a resolution. I hope I can entice you to stay on as my permanent bodyguard,” she said with a question. She laughed her lovely laugh. “You can become my personal rent-a-cop.”

  “I’d enjoy that.” I slipped the check into the top pocket of my blouse that was on a nearby chair. Then I leaned back against a mountain of pillows.

  When the phone rang, it was her agent. They began talking about a new video deal in Spanish. Lilia went to the desk in the other room. I glanced at the nightstand to see a container of capsules nearly falling from the handbag. I read the label. It said, ‘Product of the Temple of Truth, Light, and Flame.’ Obviously, it was Helene’s herbal pep pills that Lilia carried for Sylvia. I had experienced a workout, so I figured I would take a couple of pills. I opened the plastic container. Dumping three in the palm of my hand, I stood up to get some water. I passed by Lilia.

  “Need these to keep up my sexual stamina,” I teased.

  The telephone was dropped from Lilia’s trembling hands. She quickly scooped them from my outstretched hand. “You took these from my handbag?”

  “The container fell out. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

  “You must not take them. You haven’t taken them, have you?”

  “No. But it’s okay. Helene gave Rachel some and she took them. She was fine.”

  “These are old. Perhaps out of date. They must be destroyed. When properties of medicine age, they often become dangerous.” She was wicker-white. She rushed to the nightstand to collect the remainder of the capsules. She then quickly flushed them all down the toilet.

  “They’re just herbs,” I said with a laugh. “Loma’s magic.”

  She regained her demeanor. She held me tightly. “Forgive me if I am overprotective. They remind me of Helene.”

  Lilia returned to conclude her phone conversation. When she reappeared, she rummaged through her handbag. “Here,” she joked, “take these lemon drops if you need energy.”

  “Will I be needing energy?”

  “Let’s shower, and we shall see,” she said as she too
k my hand and led me to the shower. Water peppered our skin as our mouths intersected. I relished our soft embrace. By the end of our shower, our hair was drenched and our bodies waterlogged. We were suspended by post orgasmic tingling, so we continued sharing love in bed. Our passion built again until we found ourselves on the floor, in the middle of the fallen bedding.

  As we giddily giggled, we heard a rap on the door. Room service was announced. Lilia threw on her robe, and I remained on the floor. She looked down when she reached the bedroom door. “Perhaps I should shut the door. Whatever will room service think?”

  We traded passionate glances. I replied, “That we’re on our honeymoon.”

  “Very lovely honeymoon and very lovely honey.”

  “I’ve got a degree in apiculture.” I gave a quick buzzing sound and we both laughed.

  With a sly grin, she praised, “I don’t doubt your credentials for an instant.”

  When the door was shut, I consulted my heart. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t afraid of being stung.

  After dressing and breakfast, I began my agenda’s work. Powers had wanted us to sign an official statement before noon. Rachel and I arrived at the police department parking lot at the same time.

  “You look very much in love,” Rachel assessed with a smile.

  I gave Rachel’s hair a playful tousle. “And you look ravishing as always.” My arms linked with hers. “A good night sleep provided excellent recuperative healing.”

  “Getting better may take time, but I’m relieved that I’ve finally admitted my struggle. Having a firearm was too tempting. I’m angry at a system that didn’t work for my family.”

  “I should have seen your problem. Maybe I was too close.”

  “I talked with Powers earlier this morning. He said he’d like to see me back as a detective on the force. Told me I could work a desk job and get counseling.”

  I frowned. “You didn’t say yes?”