Hailey's War

suffered a compound pelvic fracture in the fall.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah. Let’s see, what other Skouras rumors can I dazzle you with? Oh yes,” he said. “There’s a very faintly whispered story that Tony had a daughter on the other side of the sheets, but that’s never been confirmed.”

I said, “A lot of the shit that sticks to him seems to be sexual-the X-rated theaters and the prostitution and an affair, and yet he was a family man. He had this genius kid.”

“He had two sons,” Jack reminded me. “Milos was a chip off the block. Followed his father into the family businesses, until the day he died of ‘food poisoning.’” He put finger quotes around the words.

“You think he was murdered?”

“Seems likely,” Jack said. “The kid was a piece of work. I guess Adrian was different. If you read his obituary, you’d know more about him than I do. Adrian never comes up much in conversations about his father. He certainly didn’t go into the family business. I think they were estranged.”

Nidia had said as much in our one conversation about him.

“Is his wife still alive? No, she’s not,” I said, remembering Adrian’s obit. “Not a very long-lived family, are they?”

Jack shook his head. “The funny thing is, though, Tony Skouras was never a good bet to outlive his wife, much less both sons. He had heart trouble and had undergone major bypass surgery four years ago. It wasn’t supposed to be a real long-term fix,” he said. “People keep expecting this guy to drop in his tracks, but it never happens. He’s a survivor. He just goes on and on.”

I couldn’t think of anything else I needed to ask. So I said, “You want some coffee?”

We went back to the cafeteria line and bought some, Jack stirring his a little too much, with the random gestures of a smoker who’d rather be outside having a cigarette. Then he asked the question I’d been expecting: “So, what’s your interest in Tony Skouras?”

“Sorry,” I said, “I can’t talk about it.”

“Yeah, I knew you were going to say that,” Jack said.

I’d expected him to dig, and said as much. “That’s it? You’re satisfied with that?”

“I don’t think it’s going to help me any to be dissatisfied.”

“I thought all reporters refused to take no for an answer.”

“Are you kidding? We hear no all the time,” Jack said. “And you’re thinking of the Hollywood version of journalism, where a reporter hears a hot tip one day and two days later there’s a big story splashed across A1. Real investigative journalism takes time. It takes slow circling around your subject, Freedom of Information Act requests, compiling and synthesizing of information. It doesn’t happen overnight.”

I wasn’t sure what he was telling me. “You’re saying that after today you’re going to look a bit harder at Skouras?”

“People are always looking at Skouras,” he said. “But since you’re feeling guilty, throw me a bone. Answer just one question, totally unrelated to the rest of this.”

“No, you had your chance,” I said. “You already traded your information for a free lunch. Too late to change the deal now.”

“You sure that’s all the information you’re going to need? You don’t have to stay in my good graces in case of follow-ups?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“Fine,” I said, making my voice sound more impatient than I really felt. “One question.”

“The school you went to back east, the one that didn’t work out, was that Annapolis or West Point?”

“I… yes. How the hell did you know that?”

He’d turned serious. “I observe people, Hailey. I always knew you were something more than you let on. So it made sense that the school wasn’t any State U. But at the same time, I didn’t get Ivy League vibes. That left one of the military academies.”

I nodded. “It was West Point.”

“Why didn’t you finish?”

“I almost did.”

“Maybe you’ll tell me about that someday.”

“No. Sorry,” I said. “I just don’t talk about that. Don’t take it personally.”

That afternoon, I called Serena to tell her what I’d learned. When I was done, she said, “You’re thinking that the guys in the tunnel were gangsters.”

“It makes sense,” I said. “They were obviously well-funded and disciplined.”

“So it sounds like you shoulda searched Nidia’s suitcase,” said Serena. “She took something from that rich guy.”

“Not exactly,” I said. “Think about it: If they just wanted an object, they’d have taken it from the car, shot her, and left her where they left me.” I smiled, though she couldn’t see my face. “She had something, though.”

“Stop giving me an IQ test over the phone and tell me what it was.”

“Something that belonged to her and Adrian both,” I added.

There was a brief silence on the line. Then Serena said, “No way, prima. She was still getting over her boyfriend dying.”

“Grief in itself can make people do funny things,” I said. “I’m not saying she fell in love with Adrian, but there was something between them. She got a little weepy talking about his death. I thought it was because it reminded her of her fiance. And she was thin except for her belly, and she was nursing ginger ale a lot in the car, to settle her stomach. Pregnancy makes women more prone to nausea. Not just in the morning, but anytime. None of this registered with me then, because I was used to thinking of her in a certain light, as a virgin-slash-war-widow, since the first time I heard her name.”

“Say you’re right,” Serena said. “How would the grandfather find out, if he and his son didn’t talk?”

“Fathers and sons tend to talk over deathbeds,” I said. “Probably Adrian asked his father to take care of Nidia and the baby financially. A guy like Tony Skouras would probably react in one of two ways to that kind of news. Either he’d be appalled at the thought of having a half-Mexican grandchild and refuse to acknowledge Nidia’s baby at all, or he’d embrace the fact that this is the only grandchild he’d ever have, and want full control of its upbringing. He doesn’t strike me as the type to write support checks and let his grandchild be raised Mexican in working-class Mexican neighborhoods.”

“Damn,” Serena said. “All that for a kid? Most of the guys I know run away from their responsibility to a baby.”

“This is a lot different,” I said. “Skouras isn’t just trying to build a fortune, he’s been trying to build up his family again, after the troubles in his homeland. Everything that Skouras has amassed, the money and influence-what’s the point if it all just disperses into the hands of strangers?” I paused. “That explains why he took the full-control route. He must have told Nidia he wanted his grandkid, and she freaked and ran away. We know the rest. In a way, this is good news. Because if Skouras wants the kid, then Nidia is still alive. She’s only about six months’ pregnant by now.”

“Oh, God, she’s living like… he’s got her…”

“Don’t trip,” I said. “It’s in his best interest to take care of her not just medically but psychologically. Trauma is very bad for pregnant women. He’d know that.”

“Until she gives birth,” Serena said. “Then what happens to her?”

“Well, he might feel that he’s too powerful and she’s too insignificant for her ever to get the American law to listen to her,” I said. “Maybe he’ll let her go.”

Serena was doubtful. “Wouldn’t it be safer for him just to kill her?”

“Yeah,” I said. “It would.”

twenty-four

Was there anything in my West Point training that could help me with the