Sue Grafton - L is for Lawless

"You asshole. He told me you'd try to do this, twist the truth until it suited your purposes."

"You want the truth? I'll tell you. You want to hear what went down?"

She put her hands to her ears, as if to shut him out. "I don't have to hear it from you. Gilbert told me what happened."

I raised my hand. "Would one of you stop and tell me what this is about? Do you two know each other?"

"Not exactly," Ray said. He turned to look at her, and the two of them locked eyes. Ray's gaze flicked back to mine. "This is my daughter. I haven't seen her in years."

She flung herself at him, banging with her fists on his chest. "You are such a fuck," she said, and promptly burst into tears.

I looked from one to the other. My mouth did not really fall open, but that's what it felt like.

Ray gathered her into his arms. "I know, baby, I know," he murmured, patting at her. "I feel so bad about everything."

It probably took another five or six minutes for Laura's tears to taper off. Her face was mashed against his shoulder, her bulky belly making the embrace seem awkward. Ray rested his battered cheek against her tangled hair, most of which had come loose now, hanging down in dark auburn clumps. Ray was nearly humming with unhappiness at the sound of her misery, which she managed to express with a childlike lack of inhibition. Neither was accustomed to the physical contact, and my suspicion was that the fleeting connection by no means represented resolution. If their estrangement was lifelong, it would take more than a Hallmark moment to set it right. In the meantime, I blocked any thought of my cousin Tasha and my estrangement from Grand.

I went to the window and looked out at the barren stretch of Texas countryside. I felt about as arid. Here, as in California, the liberal application of imported water was the only means by which the land was being reclaimed from the desert. At least I understood now why he hadn't wanted to come up here. He must have dreaded the moment when the two of them would meet, especially once he understood how Gilbert Hays had used her. Why is it that life's most touching moments are so often the most depressing?

Behind me, finally, the weeping seemed to be diminishing. There was some murmuring between them that I politely tuned out. When I turned back, the two were seated side by side on one of the double beds. Laura's tears had streaked through the many layers of makeup, bringing ancient bruises to the surface. It was clear she'd recently suffered a black eye. Her jaw was tinted a drab green, washing out to yellow around the edges, colors repeated in the riper bruises of her father's face. Odd to think the same man had beaten both. He studied her face, and the effect wasn't lost on him. A look of pain filled his eyes. "He do that to you? Because if he did, I'll kill him, I swear to God."

"It wasn't like that," she said.

"It wasn't like that. Bullshit."

Her eyes flooded again. I moved into the dressing area and grabbed some tissues from the dispenser. When I returned to the bed, Ray took the wad and passed them over to her. She blew her nose and then looked at me with resentment. "You're not really the maid," she said resentfully. "You didn't even do the sheet corners right."

"I'm a private investigator."

"I knew this hotel wouldn't have turn-down service. I should have trusted my instincts."

"Ain't that the truth," I said. I sat down on the other bed. "Now would one of you fill me in?"

Ray turned to me with an expectant look. "Wait a minute. What's the deal?"

"The deal?"

"I don't know where the money is. I thought it was up here someplace."

"Ah, the money. Why don't you ask her?"

"Me? I don't have it. What are you talking about?"

"Yes, you do." I reached over to Laura's belly and knocked on the mound. The thudding noise was not what you'd expect of warm maternal flesh. She smacked my hand away, incensed. "Stop that!"

Ray stared. "It's in her stomach? Like, up her butt?"

"Not quite. The belly's phony."

"How'd you figure that?"

"She has tampons in the duffel. If she were pregnant, she wouldn't need 'em. It's a girl thing," I replied.

"I am pregnant. What's the matter with you? The baby's due in January. The sixteenth, to be exact."

"In that case, pull your dress up so we can watch it kick."

"I don't have to do that. I can't believe you suggested it."

"Ray, I'm telling you, she's got the money in some kind of harness. That's how she got it on the plane without it's showing up on security. Eight thousand in a duffel, they might have asked too many questions."

"That's ridiculous. There's no law that says you can't transport cash across state lines."

"There is when the money's stolen," I said in my best nanny-nanny-boo-boo tone. Really, the two of us were like sisters, squabbling over everything.

"Come on, ladies. Please."

I doubled up my fist. "You want me to punch her in the stomach? It'd be a good test."

"Oh, for God's sake! This is none of your business."

"Yes, it is. Chester hired me to find the money, and I've done just that."

"I-do-not-have-the-money," she said, enunciating every-single-word.

I pulled my fist back.

"All right! Goddamn it. It's in a canvas vest that hooks on in front. I hope you're satisfied."

I loved the indignation, like I was the one who'd been lying to her. "Well, that's great. So let's see it. I'm curious what it looks like."

"Ray, would you tell her to get away from me?"

Ray looked at me. "Just drop it. This is silly. I thought you said you wanted to hear the story."

"I do."

"Then cut the nonsense and let's get on with it." He looked back at his daughter. "You start. I'd like to hear Gilbert's version. He's saying, what, that I betrayed the others?"

"Let me wash my face first. I feel awful," she said. Her nose was red, her eyes puffy with emotion. She got up and went into the dressing area, where she ran water in the sink.

"Your daughter? You could have told me," I said.

Ray avoided my gaze like a dog that's done potty on the good rug.

When Laura returned, he let her sit on the bed while he fetched the desk chair and pulled it over closer. Her complexion, free of makeup, showed all the splotchy imperfections you'd expect. She glanced once at Ray, her expression faltering. She picked up a twist of tissue, which she wrapped around her index finger. Given center stage, she seemed oddly reluctant. "Gilbert says there was a bank robbery back in 1941."

"That's right."

I flashed a look at him. "It is?"

"There were five of you altogether. You, Gilbert, his brother Donnie, the guy you mentioned…"

"Johnny Lee," Ray supplied.

"Right. Him and a man named McDermid."

"Actually, there were six of us. Two McDermids, Frank and Darrell," Ray amended.

She shrugged, accepting the correction, which apparently didn't affect her understanding of the incident. "Gilbert says you tipped off the cops and they showed up in the middle of the robbery. There was a shoot-out and his brother Donnie was killed. So was McDermid and a policeman. The money vanished, but Gilbert was convinced you and Johnny knew where it was hidden. Johnny was in prison for two years, and when he got out, he disappeared. Gilbert had no way to trace him, so he waited 'til you got out and followed you, and sure enough, there it was. All Gilbert took was his share. Well, I guess his brother's share, too. He figures you and Johnny had the use of it for years, so whatever was left belongs to him by rights."

"Could I just clarify one thing?" I said to Laura.

"Sure."

"I take it your mother was the one who told you when Ray was getting out of prison?"

She nodded. "She mentioned it to me. Gilbert had already told me what happened, and I was furious. I mean, it was bad enough my father had been in prison all his life, but to find out he'd betrayed all his friends? That was the lowest of the low."