Muffled cries.
“Oh God, please, please, I beg you,” said the woman.
Heubel choked off her voice with an arm twist.
Milo said, “Bad idea, Dale.”
Heubel said, “I’m the idea guy,” in a strange, vacant voice.
“I called for backup, Dale. The smart thing is defuse this now.”
“Dale,” said Heubel. “Who in the world is that?”
The cries from the box got louder.
Then: coughing.
The woman said, “He can’t breathe!”
Heubel said, “Life is transitory. Makes us appreciate what we have.”
Milo took a step closer.
Heubel kicked the box again.
Milo edged nearer.
Heubel said, “Sneak up like that again and I’ll bam-bam Bam Bam.”
“Let’s just take it easy,” said Milo.
“Good idea,” said Heubel. “I’m as mellow as layer cake. Anyone for… anagrams?”
The woman whimpered.
Milo said, “They’ll be here any moment, Dale.”
Heubel said, “Don’t insult my intelligence, I know it’s only you and you don’t have a radio.”
“I called, Dale.”
Quick arm twist. The woman gasped.
“Shush, now,” said Heubel. “I believe in happy endings, don’t you, chiquita?”
“Yes, yes, please let him go-”
“I guess my definition differs from yours.”
Milo said, “The last thing I want to do is insult your intelligence, but-”
“Your
Milo said, “Nice outfit. Who’s your tailor?”
Heubel gave a start. The gun hand loosened for a second.
I jumped out, shouting.
Heubel’s head swiveled hard toward the intrusion, relaxing his choke hold long enough for the woman to twist her head lower.
She bit down on his arm.
He shook her off, said, “Bye-bye, Emilio.”
Milo emptied his weapon.
Heubel stood there for an instant. Threw up his hands, as if surrendering. Fell.
One of his earrings flew off like a speck of hail.
The woman dove at the box, managed to keep it upright. Ripped the lid off, screaming.
Pulled out a sobbing flailing toddler and held him to her breast.
Heubel made an odd little squeaky noise.
When the child calmed down, the woman carried him over to Heubel’s body. Kicked viciously.
CHAPTER 35
The woman’s named was Felicia Torres and she was twenty-eight. Her husband, a landscaper studying biology at night, had been sent by the National Guard to Iraq three months ago. Without Stuart’s income, the young family’s savings depleted quickly and Felicia began looking for temp jobs. No computer skills limited her options for office work. She lowered her sights.
A couple of office-cleaning jobs downtown hadn’t worked out because the babysitting money just about wiped out her salary.
The Craigslist ad for a “two-day house-straightening position” in Brentwood had seemed promising. Great neighborhood, “generous pay,” and the man who answered at the number sounded friendly.
Generous pay translated to twenty dollars an hour, way more than Felicia had hoped for. When “Nick” readily agreed to let her bring Emilio along, that clinched it.
With her Hyundai in the shop, she’d needed to take the bus from her one-bedroom in Venice and walk a ways on Sunset, pushing Emilio in his stroller. The street was hard to find and there were no sidewalks, so the stroller bumped a lot but that helped put Emilio to sleep.
When she finally found the house, she knew she had a winner. Gorgeous and huge, like something out of
She knocked on the door and that same friendly voice said, “It’s open, c’mon in.”
Nick was just as nice in person, kind of lanky, real well built. Good-looking in that older-rich-guy way.
He handed her a hundred-dollar bill. “This is your advance, keep track of your hours and let me know when you’re due for more.”
The house was even huger than it looked from the outside, with cathedral ceilings and white walls. Real bright, even with the lights off. Probably cheery when furnished.
Now, to Felicia’s surprise, it was totally empty. And really pretty clean-looking. But it was Nick’s money and she liked the feel of that hundred in the pocket of her jeans.
Emilio was still snoozing away. Felicia looked for a place to park the stroller.
Nick smiled, whispered, “Cute,” led her to a room at the back, where he’d set up a toddler gate and some toys. Unbelievable.
When she tried to thank him, he shrugged, took the stroller and wheeled it into a corner.
Sunlight glowing through a big, spotless window turned patches of oak floor gold. No glare on Emilio; Nick had put the stroller in a cool, shady corner – such a considerate man. Through the glass, Felicia saw a really lush tropical-type garden and a blue lap pool. She wondered what Stuart would think of the plantings. They looked okay to her but she wasn’t picky.
Cute toys, some of them still in boxes. Nick grinned.
“I can’t believe you took the time, sir.”
“No big whoop, Felicia.”
Using her name like they’d known each other for a long time.
She said, “To me, it sure is. This had to cost-”
Nick placed a finger on her lips. “The main thing is when he wakes up he’ll get all jazzed.”
“He will for sure, these are just what he likes – do you have kids, sir?”
“Not yet. I went over to Toyland, asked the salesgirl.”
“That is so-”
“Felicia, if no one went the extra yard, the world would be a pretty sad place – c’mon, let me show you the gig. Anytime you need to tend to Little Man, feel free.”
Felicia felt her eyes swell.
Maybe Nick sensed her emotion. “I like to help,” he said. “Kind of selfish, really. Makes
Emilio woke up in an okay mood. The toys overwhelmed him and he got hyper, but then he calmed down and focused on some plastic cars. Making that serious-old-man crunched-up face that reminded Felicia of her dad in Florida.
The only funny thing was, Emilio didn’t seem to like Nick, got all whiny when Nick tried to talk to him. But her
