Rage

“I’ll play it by ear. Eventually, Beth might decide to go public. Right now Allison feels it would be too much to handle.”

“Eventually Daney’s gonna knock up more girls.”

I didn’t answer.

He said, “Fine. Anyway, after Daney drove away, Demchuk stayed outside and lit up a cigarette. White coat and she’s puffing away. I decided to take the risk, walked up on her in the dark, flashed the badge, scared the hell out of her, she drops her smoke, gets ashes all over the coat. But she recovered pretty fast, got cagey, told me she had nothing to say, headed back inside. I followed her and she yapped about civil liberties and made empty threats and I postured right back and eventually we ended up finding some common ground. Because she doesn’t care for Daney either. Says he’s a greedy fellow.”

“He gets a kickback? She admitted that?”

“She claims nyet, that was never part of the plan, it was just a mutually convenient situation. It started when she put his name on the advisory committee at Sydney Weider’s request. Something about Weider wanting him to have credibility for a movie deal. Soon after that, he started bringing her girls.”

“Demchuk ever suspect he was more than a concerned foster parent?”

“She denied it, but come on, all those abortions?”

“All?”

“The agreement we came to was that when I busted Daney I’d do my best to keep Demchuk’s name out of it. In return, she had to document every Daney ward whose pregnancy she’s terminated and be forthcoming with other information as requested. She had it right there in the computer and printed it out for me. Nine girls in eight years.”

“My God,” I said.

“Like you said, Drew’s underage harem. This guy’s beyond bad news.”

“He’s got the perfect victim pool living under his roof. Abandoned girls with low self-esteem, learning problems, probably histories of sexual activity. He impregnates them deliberately, gets a kick out of destroying the fetus. And the taxpayers pay for everything.”

“Without getting into the whole when-does-life-begin thing, Alex, he’s basically a prenatal serial killer, right? What’s the thrill?”

I thought about that. “Create and destroy. Playing God.”

“Nine girls,” he said. “And not one of them has complained.”

“He’s gentle- seductive, not coercive. Ties it in with the whole paternal intimacy thing. When he moves on to another girl, they think it’s their fault. Beth admitted being jealous. She dealt with it by escaping.”

“That place of his,” he said, “main house, converted garage, and that weird-looking cinder-block building? Lots of construction for a small lot. I was figuring dorms for the kids. But who knows what goes on there. No way Cherish couldn’t know, right?”

“Beth says Drew delighted in going around Cherish. From petty stuff like eating doughnuts on the sly to leaving her with the scut work while he took his ‘assistants’ out on the road.”

“Okay,” he said, “maybe that worked for a while, but she finally caught on.”

“And started sleeping with Barnett Malley.”

“Her own brand of sin.”

I said, “How did Daney’s greed come into the picture with Demchuk?”

“He’d been hinting around for a while about getting a cut of the action. Demchuk lent him money to put him off- small amounts he never repaid, she figures three, four grand total. Recently, though, he’s gotten pushier. Coming out and asking for his share, outright. Insisting he’s her best ‘referral source.’ Implying he might go elsewhere. Demchuk’s not the sharing type. And Daney’s timing couldn’t be worse because Demchuk’s ready to retire, wants to sell the clinic. She was figuring she’d buy him off with a screw-you payment. I told her selling the place wasn’t gonna be easy when all the bad stuff about Daney came out. Made that sound more imminent than it is. Demchuk tried to stay cool but I could tell I shook her. That’s why she was willing to deal him off. As in handing over Valerie Quezada’s aborted fetus.”

“She keeps them?”

“No, she tosses them in the trash out back, which is a health code violation. I had her fish it out and put it in dry ice, then I brought it over to the coroner’s to be stored with Kristal Malley’s tissue samples. Which is where I am now, breathing in the aroma of decomposition and drinking county coffee. No word on my DNA requisition yet, but now it looks like I’ll have another package to send to Cellmark. We get Daney’s DNA in the fetus, I’ve got a gift for the Juvey Sex Crimes unit they just started downtown.”

“You’re bringing them into it?”

“Not yet,” he said. “Not until I get closer to Daney for murder. But the pedophilia thing could turn out to be good leverage.”

“How long can you sit on it?”

“Eight girls living on Galton Street bothers my sleep, but I can’t risk screwing things up by moving without evidence. First order of business is to get DNA from Daney. Any suggestions about how to approach it?”

“Arrange a meet by playing his ego. You’ve bought into his suspicions of Barnett Malley but Malley remains a mystery man; ask him if he has any other suggestions.”

“That part’s true. Still researching Malley and can’t come up with a damn thing. Okay, a face-to-face with Dynamic Drew. Then what? Swipe his toothbrush for the sample?”

“That’s the easy part,” I said. “He likes doughnuts.”

CHAPTER 36

Rain fell the next morning, and the temperatures dropped into the high fifties. L.A. finally auditioning for winter. When Milo pulled the unmarked into the Dipsy Donut lot at ten a.m., the sky had closed and Vanowen Boulevard smelled of wet laundry.

Drew Daney was there, drinking coffee at the same aluminum table. Exact position he’d occupied the first time- a man of patterns.

He had on a brown corduroy car coat, rested his denim haunches on newspaper he’d spread to soak up dampness from the bench. When he saw us, he smiled and waved.

Warm smile. It spread his stubbly silver beard. His eyes crinkled.

This was the face of evil. He could’ve served as a model for a tool supply catalog.

Milo pumped his hand as if they were longtime buddies. “Morning. Not hungry?”

Daney winked. “Waiting for you guys.”

“How about I get us an assortment?”

“Sounds good, Lieutenant.”

Milo left and I sat down opposite Daney. My assignment, should I choose to take it, was to check out nonverbal cues and whatever “psych stuff” I came up with.

“Way I figure, Alex, having you along will play to his ego. Make him feel like a peer… even though you’re peerless.”

I watched Daney’s teeth disappear as his smile shifted to a closemouthed one. “Thanks for meeting with us on such short notice.”

“Hey, anything I can do to help.” Under his car coat he wore a spotless yellow polo shirt, tight across his broad chest. Well-developed musculature. His complexion glowed and his eyes were clear.

Picture of vitality; sometimes- too often- good things happen to bad people.

I said, “How’s your wife doing?”

The question made him blink. “In terms of?”

“ Rand ’s death. She seemed pretty affected.”

“Of course she was,” he said. “We all are. It’s a process- healing.”

“Your foster kids were affected?”

“Definitely. Rand wasn’t with us long, but he was a presence. You know what it’s like.”