William Bayer - Blind Side

"Money from us?" Amanda was tense.

"Not from you, silly. From the client."

As the Duquaynes looked at each other, I observed their relief-this was not going to cost them any cash.

"But then how-" Harold asked.

"How are you involved?" they both nodded.

"You're not. Except that the cops have got your names. they won't be able to prove anything, of course, not unless certain evidence comes to light. Only Mrs. Z and her client can prevent that. That's why we think one of you should speak to her."

"What should we say?"

"You could say, very simply, very frankly, that you understand a situation has arisen that could be embarrassing to people who have supported her over the years. And that your advice is that she do whatever has to be done to see that the injured parties in the-affair are satisfied. Anyway, darlings, this is just a suggestion. But, you see, if this does go to the cops, all the trees in the forest will fall, and that, I'm afraid, includes the two of you

"We'll make the call," Harold said.

"What about the police?" Amanda asked.

"Refer them to your lawyer."

"Shouldn't we talk with them?"

"That's absolutely the last thing you should do. But I'd talk to Mrs. Z pretty soon, this afternoon if possible. Darlings, you don't want to leave this hanging. Not a thing like this."

Kim nodded to me, we rose, then the four of us moved to the door. Harold and I shook hands, Amanda and Kim exchanged a kiss, Kim whispered to her, giggled, whispered something to Harold, giggled again, and then we left.

On the street I asked her what all the whispering had been about.

"A jest," she said.

"I told Mandy we'll get together when this is over, have ourselves some fun. I told Harold next time we played I was going to tie up a very intimate part of his body-. He loved iti-He adores being tied. I suspect he even likes being hit."

Ilaughed.

"Geoffrey"' She kissed me.

"You're really amused."

"I guess I am," I said.

"they were so awful to me before, it was kind of a pleasure to watch them squirm."

"Well, that's wonderful," she said.

"Progress in a way, because a couple of weeks ago I think you would have been appalled. It's all part of the gig, you see. We come on tough with them, tell them what we want, then offer them a little fun. they're sexually driven people. Kinky obedience training-that's their thing. But the poor darlings are too chicken to admit it. God forbid that the intimate desires of such an Exalted Couple should ever be divulged!" She grinned.

"Carrot and stick is the way to control them. Sex is the carrot. Exposure is the stick."

At 5:00 P.M., while Kim was off seeing Rakoubian, I picked up my proof sheet of the Darling shoot from a photo lab on West Twenty-fourth The proofs looked good. There were a couple of shots of Darling covering his face that showed just the degree of panic I'd hoped to instill. Maybe Frank was right. Maybe we were on a roll. Certainly everything was clicking along. But I was wary, It just didn't seem possible that we could extort a million dollars without having to pay some horrific price ourselves.

I stopped at a Spanish tapas joint where there was a quiet phone booth between the men's room and the bar. I dialed Scotto, the phone rang several times, and then Ramos picked it up.

"Sal's out," he said.

"But I wanna talk to you. Couple things I wanna go over. Come down to the precinct we'll sort them out."

"I'm busy," I said.

"Busy?"

"Pressed is what I mean."

"Isn't that nice? The man is 'pressed." He doesn't have time to help the cops. We're only trying to solve a homicide here. But let's put that on hold 'cause the man is pressed. "

"Your sarcasm's withering me, Ramos. Anyway, I already told Sal everything I know. If you want, we can go over it all again, but I don't have time to come down there now."

"What's a matter? Afraid to face me, let me see your eyes?"

"I think I work better with Sal," I said.

"I'll call back later on."

"Sal's soft on you, Barnett. But I'm not. You're playing games. I don't like games."

"What kind of games do you think I'm playing, Dave?"

"You got your own thing going here. they got a word for that. 'Hidden agenda." I aim to find out what yours is." I didn't say anything; I couldn't. His smart cop's instinct was telling him I wasn't straight.

"Well?" he asked.

"Well, what?"

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Is this when I'm supposed to break down and confess?"

"Watch it, sucker."

"Is that a threat, detective?"

"Take it any way you want. But hear this: I don't buy your story. I think you know where the roommate is.

Sooner or later I'm going to find missing Missy Kimberly, and when I do I'm going to find out about you. Turns out you've been lying, I'm going to fry your ass. All I gotta say for now. Sal'll be back in an hour." He hung up.

I started walking uptown. My conversation with Ramos had shaken me up. What am I doing wrong? I asked myself. How am I giving myself away?

Frank was right. The cops were going to be a problem. Even if we brought off the blackmail and collected the money, Ramos and Scotto were not conveniently going to go away

I stoppe@ at Penn Station to call Frank at his gallery.

"Better get back to the hotel quick," he said.

"Kim's they wasted Rakoubian." waiting for you.

"What?"

,I just got off the phone with her. She was on her way to see him when she noticed patrol cars in front of his place. There was a crowd on the street. She edged in and asked what was going on. Seems your fat friend fell or jumped out of his window. My bet is he was pushed."

"Frank!"

"Steady, Geof. And save your regrets. I told you this could happen: They're playing hardball. After what you did this morning, I'm not at all surprised."

"Kim told you?"

"Yeah. Poor Arnold. Pissed on by all those fancy dogs. She also told me about the Duquaynes. You guys played them great."

His compliment was nice, but I was still thinking about Rakoubian. Suddenly I wished I were out of the whole goddamn mess.

"What if they'd come for him when Kim was there?" I asked.

"They'd have heaved her out the window too!"

"Point is, they didn't run into her. Like I told you last night, we're on a roll. Last night Kim taunted Mrs. Z. This morning you taunted Darling. Rakoubian caused them a lot of trouble. If you were in the same spot, you'd have killed him too."

I was quiet.

"Wouldn't youg"

"No," I said. ,No, Frank, I most certainly wouldn't."

"Look, Geof, I don't condone what they did. But there's one plus here-I predicted how they'd behave, which tells me I've got a good handle on them, which tells me the plan is working, and we should proceed without delay."

Back at the motel I found a badly shaken Mrs. Lynch.

"Sure, Adam was awful. Slime. A real piece of crud. But to waste him like that .

She was pacing while I lay on the bed. Her hands were nervous and she was dripping sweat. Strangely, seeing her so upset actually reassured me. She and Frank talked casually about "wasting" people; now, at least, she was expressing pain.

"I mean he couldn't do anything to them," she said. She stopped, turned to me.

"He wasn't threatening them. He didn't have the pictures anymore."

"He could identify Darling. I guess that was the reason," I said. "I know." She started pacing again.

"Like that's what this is all about. Shows of force and all that kind of crap. God, I hate them. I hate them more than-" She stopped.

"I'd like to see them die, Geof. I really would. Rolling on the ground, you know, in the dirt, their bellies split open, their hands grasping at their guts, trying to keep them from spilling out. Crying, whimpering, dying painfully. That's what I'd like to see."