To Die in Beverly Hills

As he stared at the generous mound of hair between her legs, he tore off his clothing. His cock throbbed. He dropped to the floor and, without preliminaries of any kind, mounted her. They screwed fiercely. Delsey Piper moaned and made staccato yelps. 'Tell me when,' she whispered. 'Tell me when, tell me when, tell me when…'

'Now!' he said as he felt the first surge of orgasm.

Deftly, she broke the capsule and shoved it under his nose; almond fumes. He inhaled deeply. The almond- smelling drug caused his heart and blood to race. His orgasm doubled, tripled. He moaned and squirmed in pleasure. Delsey Piper dug her fingernails into his buttocks as if to wring him dry.

Finally, he was spent. He rolled off her and drew deep breaths. His heartbeat returned to normal.

Delsey kissed him on the cheek and said something about wanting to go out to dinner.

Ignoring her, he breathed deeply a few more times, crawled to his feet and staggered to the bathroom. He showered for at least a half hour, taking special care to clean his fingernails, feet and ears. He washed his hair until it was squeaky-clean. When he finally turned off the shower, the phone was ringing. He heard Delsey answer it. 'It's Bones,' she said, stepping into the bathroom.

'Tell him I'll call him back.'

'He says it's important.'

Travis Bailey slung a towel over his shoulders and went to the phone. 'I told you not to call me at home.'

'Amanda would like to speak with you,' Bones said. 'She would like you to come over right now so she could speak to you.'

'Are you at your place?'

'Yes.'

'Is she going along with the program?'

'No, not at all.'

'Tell him to get his ass over here right now,' Amanda Kennedy said. She sounded as if she were close to the phone.

'She says she'd like you to come over-'

'I heard her. Don't let her leave until I get there. Do you understand that?'

'Sure,' Chagra said. The phone clicked.

Bailey returned to the bathroom, where he dried off completely. Moving to the bedroom closet, he dressed slowly as he thought about what Amanda Kennedy had told him when he interviewed her at the Women's jail. He relived his confrontation with Carr. Dressed in slacks and a sport shirt, he combed his hair for a long time. He shoved a snub-nosed revolver, which he always carried off duty, in the waistband of his trousers.

'I want to go out to dinner,' Delsey said when he came out of the bedroom. She remained lying on the floor where he'd left her.

Wordlessly he stuffed his car keys into a pants pocket and headed out the door.

Answering the knock, Bones Chagra let Bailey into his apartment. Amanda Kennedy sat on the sofa with her hands folded across her chest. The walls of the spacious apartment were covered with barroom photographs of Chagra in his bartender's outfit, posturing with smiling movie and television stars. In the corner of the room was a metal, chair-like device with two padded bicycle seats facing each other at different elevations. A plastic vibrator rested on one of the seats.

Bailey moved casually to the sofa and took a seat.

Amanda Kennedy stared straight ahead. 'Are you aware that he brought me here against my will?' she asked. 'When he picked me up at the jail, I asked him to take me home. He refused and drove straight over here. You're a policeman. Isn't taking someone against their will a crime? Isn't it called kidnapping?'

Bailey frowned at Chagra. 'I apologize,' he said. 'Bones isn't the most diplomatic person in the world. Could we just chat for a few minutes before I drive you home?'

'There's nothing to chat about. I told him the same thing I'll tell you. If my case is not dismissed … and I mean dismissed, not just fixed to probation, you people are in trouble. I don't know what happened to Lee Sheboygan but I have a pretty good idea. We were friends and he told me all about you.' She turned to Bones. 'And you.'

'How do I know what you're telling me is true?' Bailey said.

'Lee told me that you and some guy that's a stage hypnotist gave him the addresses and that he and Bones did the rest. He said that some of the biggest jewelers in Beverly Hills bought the stolen diamonds and gold and that the paintings went to two art galleries on La Cienega Boulevard. Now do you believe me?'

Bailey felt a tingling sensation in the tips of his fingers. 'I believe you,' he said, forcing a wry smile.

'And?'

'And I've got the right contacts at the courthouse. Your case is as good as washed.'

'And what exactly do you mean by washed?'

'You won't have to go to court. You won't have to go back to jail. Your bad experience is ended.'

'How do I know you're not just saying that to pacify me?'

'I can show you the paperwork tomorrow, if you like. I have a friend in the District Attorney's office. I did a little checking and found out that the owner of the necklace Lee gave you passed away a few weeks ago. Therefore, there's no victim to testify. It was easier than I thought. You have my personal word that the case will be dismissed. You'll never hear another word about it.'

Breathing a sigh of relief, Amanda Kennedy leaned back on the sofa. 'Thank God,' she said to the ceiling, then sat up again. 'I was worried to death. All I could think about in there was serving time for something I didn't do. Something I had nothing to do with. All I did was accept a gift.'

'It's over now,' Bailey said. 'Can't we have a drink?'

'I can use something more than a drink.' The remark was obviously more than in jest.

Like a dutiful waiter, Bones winked and rushed into the kitchen.

'The night they booked me, the matrons searched me, fingerprinted me and shoved me in a cell. It happened so fast I didn't know what hit me. All of a sudden, I'm sitting in this jail cell. It was unreal. I mean unreal. It wasn't as if I was doing dope or something and got caught selling to the man. I was sitting in a jail cell simply because I had been given a necklace. Unreal.'

Bones returned from the kitchen carrying a pocket-sized mirror and a small glass vial of white powder. He set the mirror down on the coffee table in front of Amanda. Having unscrewed the top off the vial, he tapped out a small line of cocaine onto the mirror. From his shirt pocket, he removed a red cocktail straw and handed it to her. 'This'll make you feel better.'

Blankly, she glanced at the two men. Then she leaned over the table and touched one end of the straw to the cocaine and the other end to her right nostril. She inhaled through her nose as she moved the straw along the line of coke, dropped the straw and leaned back. With her eyes closed, as if in ecstasy, she inhaled deeply a few times.

Bones stared at her tits while Bailey stepped to the bar. He mixed a strong drink and a weak one.

Amanda Kennedy opened her eyes.

'How is it?' Chagra asked.

'Lovely. Really lovely.'

Bailey handed her the strong drink.

'I hope you don't think I was trying to be unreasonable about this thing,' she said, taking a sip, 'but I have to look out for myself.'

'No hard feelings.' Bailey hefted his glass and they both drank. Her eyes looked dope-hazy.

Bones went over to a wall unit, where he flipped some switches. Soft music filled the room.

'Mellow,' she said. 'This is the first mellow feeling I've had since they arrested me. Uptight City. That's what they should call jail. Uptight City. I couldn't sleep a wink. The lights were on all the time. It was like a fucking movie. Unreal.' She took a big sip of the drink. 'Ummmm.'

Bones Chagra sat down next to her. 'Really.'

Amanda glanced at her blouse and gave it a little tug. 'Totally wrinkled.'

'You still look great,' Chagra whispered.

Travis Bailey walked to a wall phone in the kitchen. He lifted the receiver and dialed. Delsey Piper answered.