Sirens, p.61
Sirens, page 61
don't.' ''s ridiculous,' she said. ''d have to be a mindreader.' '
yourself,' he said nonchalantly. ' the way, I put a tail on our friend
Charlie Wu. Maybe he'll lead us somewhere interesting.' by, I gave my
word't worry,' he said, ' won't nail him. Neither of us said ing about
using him, did we?
Who knows, maybe I'll get . I could use a little luck at this stage. I'm
so close to ing this, I can almost reach out and touch it. But all I've
got is a lotta speculation, a fistful of air and I can't move. I like a
fly stuck in a web.' u know what I think,' Daina said. ' think you're
pushing You can't be objective - we both know that. Turn it over eone
else. There must be plenty of detectives who can -' e hell with them!"
he said harshly. ' case's the only I'm still a cop. Nothing's going to
get me off it now.' bby, you're a law officer.' at's exactly what I am.'
t you can't twist the law to suit your own purposes.' me tell you
something about the law, Daina. It's ed every minute of every day. I
learned very early as a that some days the law is your friend and on
others the thing for you to do is just to step very carefully past it. u
let it lie there, asleep, it won't bite you.' He snorted. t d'you think
your boyfriend Rubens thinks of the law, F d for one brief, blinding
moment, Daina thought he know about Ashley and who had ordered his
death. She to choke just as if she still had Dr. Geist's rubber T-bar
mouth. 11 those guys with the multimillion-dollar pockets use the
Daina,' Bonesteel was saying. ''s how they got where are. But this is
all academic, anyway. I know what I know. I's the one. It's in his
blood. He's fucking callous. He n't care about another human being
besides himself.' obby, please -' am the law, Daina. And I'm gonna make
him pay for t he did to Marcia. Old friends deserve to be remembered.
know that, don't you?' what if Bonesteel was wrong? Daina was not sure
what who to believe. She only knew that Bobby was driven by an r hunger
that was self-devouring. She knew he was fully 532 533 capable of
convincing himself of Nigel's guilt iffespecative of the evidence. But
what if he was right? She called Tie and invited herself over to
Nigel's. She had not thought this all the way through but she knew she
had to try it. Tie met her at the door, embraced her. ' you happy back
with Nigel?' Daina asked her. ' that Chris has left the band, it doesn't
make much difference,' Tie said unhappily. ' band won't break up.' But
she did not really believe that. She was certain now it would and Tie
confirmed this. ' says they'll go on just like before but I know him too
well. He's weak. Whatever creative spark he once had has burned out.
He's been riding Chris' talent for too long.' Nigel was out by the
swimming pool. Like most displaced Britons, he seemed constantly amazed
to be living in a place where the sun always shone. He was relaxing in a
chaise. Silka, having apparently just mixed him a drink, was setting a
tall glass down on a side table next to him. ',' Tie called, ' Daina a
drink, will you?' He stood waiting, cool and calm, the hint of a smile
playing around his mouth. ' on the rocks with a twist.' That was
Rubens'drink. ',' Daina said deliberately. ' pifia colada would be
perfect.' He nodded his head, went towards the bar. Apparently he
already knew what Tie wanted. Nigel turned his bead at their approach.
He was sunglassless and he squinted up at them. He did not say hello.
She knew he must blame her for Chris' decision.
"Shit, you got your nerve coming ' here.' ' came to see Tie," Daina
said. ' got some very odd ideas,' he said to Tie, '' I don't like any of
'.' He jerked his head. ' her out o' here.' ' acting like a baby,' Tie
said coldly, looking down at him. ' will stay as long as she likes.' ''s
payin' your mealticket?' ' don't really want me to leave ... again.' '!'
Nigel bawled. ' something!' came across with the drinks, handed them to
the ' would you have me do?' opened his mouth, looked at Tie, closed it
again. He a hand. ', go fix yourself a drink or somethin'.' Silka d at
Daina before he turned away. ristp y all turned at the exclamation. gel
was running towards the house. hat is it?' Tie called after him. But he
had already eared through the window-door, the off-white curtains ing
slightly in his wake. He emerged a moment later. was a blunt-barrelled
Mauser in his left hand. ey were all looking at him. Daina put down her
drink, ched, ran to where Silka was standing. She felt Tie just d her.
igel -!' I's that bloody coyote, Tiep He ran swiftly around to the of
the house and they followed him. For perhaps three red yards, an exotic
g_*rden stretched away from the se. Then, quite abruptly, a rolling
hill, part of a series ing towards Topanga, rose rather steeply. It was
lined with e and verdant underbrush that fought for space among nsely
packed stand of reedy, rustling eucalyptus and dbanded acacia. ery
quickly, Nigel was into the thickets. He did not wave pistol around but
held it quite steadily at his side as he ed upwards. Perhaps there was
some sort of half-overgrown because he was scrambling up the hill at a
surprising rate. e led the way as they ran after him. It was difficult
work all and by the time they caught up with him, sweat and streaked
their faces and they were panting in the heat. unlight streamed down
through the trees, dappling Nigel stood at the near edge of a small
clearing. His eyes were and his nostrils were dilated. The Mauser looked
very e in his fist. ie began to speak but Nigel waved her to silence
with his hand. ''s right ' here, I know it. I saw him down there at th'
pool, just starin' at me, darin' me t' e up here.' His head swivelled as
if, without that move- 534 535 ment, his eyes could not change their
focus. ' week I've bbeeela, seein'him, hearin'him nosinaround.' ' he's
just hungry,' Daina said, watching the foliage, A butterfly darted away
with no particular rapidity and, above, dark brown finches darted and
chirped contentedly. Everything was as it should be. ', no,' Nigel
whispered. ''t got a cat here. He's after somethin' else.' ' what?'
Daina asked. But Nigel said nothing, waved them down into a crouch. He
swivelled this way and that on the balls of his feet. ''m beginning to
feel foolish,' Daina said as she rose. But Nigel hissed hard at her. '
that you're here,' he said, ''ll stay till I've found this bastard.' '
don't,' she said softly, ' orders from you.' Nigel swivelled and she saw
his eyes like flint. And she became aware of him: lean and brown and
hard-muscled. ''d you come up here for, anyway? This's huntin'
terriwry.$ ' because you say it is. I'm not in the least interested in
your coyote. Leave the damn thing alone.' ''s been tormenting me!' he
screamed. ''d know about that, wouldn't you?' He was in a patch of shade
but either the sun was slipping or a breeze high aloft was moving the
leaves because a sudden spear of sunlight caused his eyes to glitter as
they stared hard at her.
"What are you talking about?' Tie asked her. Daina shook off her arm.
"I'm talking about murder,' she said. ' th' fuck you mean?' Nigel had
not moved from his crouch. The Mauser lay on his thigh. ' tried to kill
Chris when he was in New York. His heroin was cut with strychnine -2
''re out o' your -.;' ' just the same way Maggie's was.' ',' Silka said
softly, ' killed by a maniac. We were all told -' ' know what you were
told,' Daina said evenly. ' police t that psychopath but he didn't kill
Maggie.' d'you know thatf ina ignored Silka. She was staring into
Nigel's face. Was teel right about him? It was very still around them
and eat seemed to ricochet back and forth, building. Whatbreeze there
had been before had died. They were all d in patches of light and dark,
inhaling the tang of the earth. one of us knew anything about what
happened to Chris,' said, looking from one to the other. ' we?' o one
tried to kill Chris,' Nigel said. ''re dreamin'.' hen maybe I'm dreaming
too that Maggie's real last e was Toomey and that she was the
granddaughter of Toomey.' igel barked a laugh. ' I know th' heat's got
t' you.' Shut up, Nigel!' Tie snapped.
She looked at Daina. ' the truth?' es. It was a political murder;
retribution placed at Sean mey's doorstep.' Christ, Nigel, d'you know
But Tie did not finish. Nigel's left hand moved and the ut of the Mauser
came up, pointing in Daina's direction. , a large-calibre pistol and the
muzzle seemed as black e night and just as huge. aina jumped and Nigel
squeezed the trigger. The gun loded, bucking in his hand. Daina heard
the high cry behind her and to one side, felt a bursting spray of hot
iness. ' whirled. Her left shoulder was spattered with tiny plets of
blood, beading on her skin. Not her own blood. e smelled a stench.
Nigel was on his feet, racing past her. ' cocksucker!' he . ''ve got you
now 1' 536 537 Thirteen The alarm went off somewhere in the depths of
the limo. It was soft and high and sounded like the chiming of a ship's
clock. The darkness through which they sped was shot through with
bubbles of light, like champagne held up to lamplight. The air
conditioner hummed on the threshold of audibility. Outside she could see
the smog, the high dusty palms standing motionless as if time itself had
frozen them in some longunending Polaroid snapshot, and the illusion -
caused by the deeply tinted glass - that they sailed through the reefs
of night was gone. Outside, she knew, it was merely another hot late
afternoon. Night, already, in New York. ' minutes to magic time," Rubens
said. He sat relaxed and confident beside her in a midnight-blue custom
tailored tux over a white ruffle-front silk shirt and a velvet bow tie.
He looked as if he owned the world. ' can you sit there so calmly? Daini
wanted to know. She fidgeted around on the seat beside him, plucking a
cigarette from his case, twirling it between her fingers like a baton
before breaking it apart. Angrily, she brushed the strands of tobacco
off her lap. The sinuous salmon-coloured Zandra Rhodes dress rustled
like a living thing as it slithered across her stockinged thighs. It was
faintly iridescent, handpainted with deep blue oblique pinstripes that
gave it a cascading look as if she were cloaked in water. Rubens put a
hand on her knee. ''s nothing to worry about." "God's the only one who
should be able to say that and mean it.' She shook her hair out, opened
her clutch purse, searching for her compact.
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion was ablaze with klieg and TV camera lights
in shining addition to its own. The crowds were 538 ous, straining
against the purple velvet-covered chains d the steps. limo slid to a
stop and the driver came around to hold door. Mikes were thrust in their
faces, questions were . Flashbulbs were going off at an awesome rate.
Daina. e to Army Archerd about the film but when he asked her the
rumours concerning her future plans she merely her thousand-watt smile
and, with Rubens on her arm, past him, up the red-carpeted stairs. is is
where it's all going to pay off,' Rubens said. All that icity work ...
including the six-week talk-show tour she done with Marion two months
back. It had been a breakcross-country tour that some bright spark at
the studio thought up. Whoever it had been, she had been right. The
ination had been perfect. Marion, normally a rather e t person in front
of the camera, faced up to the blitz American media machine with Daina
at his side. As a t, midway through the tour, they had discovered that
an mptu routine that they had somehow come up with the ' Douglas Show'
taping was an instant smash y something on television can be. So that by
the time they xed the tour with an appearance on ' Tonight Show' the
premi&e week in LA they had no difficulty in stealan extra ten minutes
beyond the time allotted them. ehind them the steps were filling up as
the celebrities ed slower and slower for the TV cameras, clutches of s
and threes, widely spaced, coming on in such slow motion seemed trapped
in amber. There were shouts and ripples of applause as stars made .,
began the long walk, longer than a wedding's, ger than a funeral's,
seeming to go on forever, all the tricity draining from the projector
into her limbs so that film ran more and more slowly, grinding down to a
golden e, and she became excruciatingly aware of every movement, shout,
cry, scream, noise, push, shove, adoring look. But took some time for
her to understand that this hard accretion sound and fury was vectoring
in one direction, funnelling ard from its widest point at the far edge
of the throng to a oint grappling. 539 Perhaps it was not until they
broke through the velvetcovered chains and she found herself in the eye
of a hurricane of uplifted arms, dangling strobe- i ped cameras, equip
uplifted faces with pulled-apart lips, that she realized they were . g
for her. The New York Film Critics' award, the screamin Golden Globes
all seemed a prelude to just this moment. Rubens ducked his head as
someone swung, trying to get an autograph book in position, grabbed her
around the waist. He began to pull her away. There were brittle shouts
and a great milling vortex that threatened to pull her under. Lights
swung around and she heard the voice of Army Archerd, reporting still,
coming up on the swirling commotion, leaving Chariton Heston or Sally
Field or whoever it was.
Daina began to move, feeling pulled in two directions, knowing she must
go, that crowds out of hand were no place to find oneself, recallmig
that poor girl almost trampled by the mob following the Heartbeats' limo
in San Francisco, but wanting all the while to remain, feeling reluctant
to let this demonstration of mass adoration pass too soon. So she
resisted Rubens' urgings just enough to keep her within the outer
fringes of the mass while they strove to touch her, to talk to her, to
kiss hef and, it seemed, even that thousand-watt smile turned on them,
was enough to keep them coming up. Someone tripped, went down, bobbed up
again, kept coming. There was more pushing and shoving now as they
approached the first set of glass doors to the theatre. The crowd knew,
with the communal certainty that often sweeps through such masses, that
their time was drawing to a close and they pressed forward at once,
surging like a tidal wave. Someone reached out a hand, caught her arm,
pulled, and she almost went down. Rubens caught her, dragged her away.
Whistles were blowing now and the harsh wail of a police siren could be
heard cutting through the high babble. The cops came in, wading through
the throng, pushing people aside, movmig forward with lowered shoulders
and drawn nightsticks. They formed a wedge, dispersing people to the
right and left. Someone cried out in pain or in longing 540 id then the
first of the cops was beside them and they were Red through the first
ring of the doors. _tpe A',One other patrolman squeezed through the
doors and the ',.io of them stood to either side. The others, still
outside, vned out along the top steps. More police cars came screamia
down the street, lights flashing and a riot van turned the ;. tare you
all right, Miss. Whitney?' one of the patrolmen ,,iide asked her. He was
young and blond with hard blue eyes wide shoulders. IYes ' said.
"I think so.' ti,,Thelback doors of the van opened. Mrid you, Mr.
Rubens?
All okay?' ops came spilling out like salt from a container, but without
@Ina on the steps the crowd had pulled back, all the move- 10t drained
from them. eah, yeah,' Rubens said disgustedly. He brushed his hands s
the front of his tux, down the thighs of his trousers. re the hell were
you guys?' orry, Mr. Rubens,' the cop said without really meaning it.
tone said If you weren't who you are, I'd tell you to mind ir, own da@n
business. ' came as quickly as we could. No expected anything like
this.' He gestured vaguely with one mean we're not in New York.' He came
away from 7sdoors, took a pad from a holder at the small of his back.
"allpoint pen clicked in his hand. ' wonder@ Miss. Whitney Id you mind?
He offered the pad and pen and, smiling, gave him the autograph. is all
right, Officer.' She smiled at him. ' came just e right time.' At that
moment he might have walked gh a sheet of glass if she had asked him. '
