Mark Gimenez - Accused

"In a court of law that's called perjury."

"And that means what to me?"

She took a step.

"I can also subpoena Brett."

She stopped. "You're a bastard."

"I'm a lawyer."

"That's what I said." She inhaled the margarita then exhaled. "What do you want to know?"

"Were you having an affair with Trey?"

"My sex life is private."

Nick laughed. "Since when?"

She flashed him a dirty look.

"Tess," Scott said, "I can talk to Brett if you'd prefer."

"He'll divorce me if he finds out… Well, maybe."

"So you and Trey were having an affair?"

She shrugged a yes.

"How long?"

She held her hands apart.

"No. How long did your affair last?"

"Oh." She giggled. "Two months. Until the Riviera."

"You traveled to the Riviera together?"

"I wish. The Riviera tournament in L.A. Back in February."

"The affair ended four months prior to his death?"

She counted on her fingers. "February, March, April, May… Yes."

"But you did have an affair with Trey?"

"We had a little fling. Started at the Hope, ended at Riviera." She smiled. "Our California swing."

She drank her margarita and asked the bartender for another.

"Why?" Scott said.

She shrugged. "Why not? We were just having a little fun. Which I don't have with Brett. Before we got married, we partied every night. Now all he wants to do is sit in the hotel room and watch CNN. Nancy Grace."

Tess's expression changed, as if she had a revelation.

"Matter of fact, Nancy had a segment about Trey's case last night, they called Rebecca the Guilty Groupie." She frowned at Scott. "Are you a famous lawyer?"

"Maybe in this part of the world."

"Are you a rich lawyer in any part of the world?"

"No."

A knowing nod. "That's why she left you for Trey."

Scott started to think like a man, so he forced himself to think like a lawyer.

"So Brett doesn't know about you and Trey?"

"No. And I'd like to keep it that way."

"Did Rebecca know?"

"Nobody knew. We were discreet."

Nick laughed again. " 'Tess McBride' and 'discreet' in the same sentence? I don't think so."

She made a face and stuck her tongue out at Nick. Scott felt like a recess monitor at the elementary school. Tess drank her margarita and stared at Scott.

"You're her ex-but why are you her lawyer?"

"It's called loyalty," Nick said.

"It's called lunacy," Tess said.

Nick chuckled. " Lunacy? That's a big word for you, Tess."

She nodded. "One of Nancy's guests said it last night. They were all laughing about him and one said, 'We know the old saying that "a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client," but what's a lawyer who has an ex-wife for a client?' Another guest said, 'Nuts.' They all laughed, and the first one said it's lunacy for a lawyer to defend his ex, said she had no idea why you'd do that. I like Nancy, even if she is kind of scary."

"She's the mother of my child," Scott said.

Tess's eyes got wide. " Nancy Grace is the mother of your child? "

Nick laughed. "Tess's bra size is also her IQ."

"Rebecca," Scott said. "Rebecca is the mother of my child. That's why I'm defending her."

"Oh, yeah… Boo." Tess smiled. "Rebecca showed me her picture. Cute kid." The smile left her face. "My mom and dad got divorced when I was ten. It was never the same." She drank her margarita and said, "I miss him."

"Your dad?"

"Trey."

"Did you love him?"

"My dad?"

"Trey."

"No. I miss the sex. Best sport sex I ever had."

"Sport sex?"

"You know, athletic sex… wild sex… crazy sex." Tess McBride's eyes glazed over, and she licked her red lips. "Better-than-a-workout, full-body-sweat, hot-steaming-panting-and-grunting-like-wild-animals sex."

Scott and Nick blinked hard in unison.

"Wow," Nick said. "I didn't even need Viagra."

Tess leaned toward Scott. "Don't you have sport sex?"

"Not anymore."

She gave him a coy smile. "I could help you with that."

"Did you practice safe sex?"

Rebecca would need to know.

"I'm not stupid."

"Just loose," Nick said.

She shot him another dirty look.

"Where was Brett last Thursday night?" Scott said.

"Where else? In a hotel room watching Nancy Grace."

"He played Friday morning," Nick said. "In Orlando."

"At eight," Tess said. "They don't fire up the margarita machine until noon, so I slept in."

It seemed improbable that Brett could have killed Trey between midnight and 3:00 A.M. in Galveston and gotten back to Florida for an 8:00 A.M. tee time. But a defense lawyer never discounted someone with a motive to murder.

"Have you ever been to Trey's beach house in Galveston?"

"No."

"Has Brett?"

"No. Look, Brett doesn't have the balls to make a five-foot putt to win, much less murder someone… or satisfy me." She shook her head. "I should've been a Mormon."

"A Mormon? " Nick said.

"Yeah. Then I could have four husbands-one to support me, three to satisfy me." She smiled. "And they'd have built-in beer buddies. A win-win deal."

Nick stared at her in apparent disbelief at what he had just heard.

"Tess, Mormon women don't get four husbands. Mormon men get four wives."

" Really? Well, that sucks."

Tess downed her margarita. She placed the goblet on the bar and waved to the bartender. Scott opened the tote bag and pulled out one of the freezer-sized Ziploc plastic baggies he had brought with him that day. He reached past Tess, took the goblet by the stem between his fingers, and dropped it into the baggie. He then put the baggie into the tote bag. Tess had observed Scott's actions with a wry smile.

"I didn't kill him."

"Who did?"

"Maybe Rebecca. She's the Guilty Groupie."

"Was she?"

"Guilty?"

"A groupie?"

"No. I'm a groupie. I love having sex. She loves having things."

"So why would she kill Trey and lose everything?"

"She wouldn't."

"Did he say anything about marrying her?"

"When? While we were having sex?"

"Anytime."

"That was the only time I saw him. And no, he didn't."

She sipped the fresh margarita the bartender had delivered.

"You ever see them fighting?"

"No. Never. They were happy."

"Did they drink?"

"Everyone on tour drinks. There's a lot of free time."

"Why didn't they get married?"

A shrug. "She didn't want to push him, risk losing everything."

"Why'd you end the affair?"

"I didn't. He did."

"Why?"

" 'Cause he started up with Lacy."

" Lacy Parker? " Nick said.

Tess nodded. "I told him we could do a threesome, but Trey was kind of small-town, you know. He would only cheat with one woman at a time."

Scott turned to Nick. "Who's Lacy?"

"Donnie Parker's wife. Hot little number, used to do porn movies. They met during the first round of the Vegas tournament, got married right after the last round." He shook his head. "Something about Vegas."

Scott turned back to Tess. "Did Rebecca know about Lacy?"

"She never said anything to me. We were friends."

" Friends? And you had an affair with Trey?"

She shrugged. "I was better friends with him."

"What about Donnie?"

She laughed. "No way. Shortest driver on tour."

Scott turned to Nick. "What's his story?"

"His story is, I can't buy an endorsement for a player married to a former porn queen. One day he was bitching because of all the endorsements I got for Trey, I told him, 'Donnie, patrons of porn don't get paid to endorse chocolate milk!' "

"Were they at the Orlando tournament? Lacy and Donnie?"

"No," Nick said. "They were home in San Diego. Donnie's been rehabbing a bum rotator cuff the last two weeks, with his therapist out west."