by Doug Cooper
Eva, eyes still closed, rotates her head in a circle in one direction and then another, leaving her head slumped forward. Hannah remains motionless, her body stretched along Eva’s and her tail still outside the tub wrapped around the faucet. Eva lifts her head, slowly opening her eyes. She blinks several times, the lavender oil in the water clouding her vision. Staring directly at Hannah, finally seeing her, Eva thrusts back. Her arms flop and splash in the water. Hannah recoils, frightened by the sudden, frantic movement. Eva slips scrambling to get out of the tub. A wave of water sloshes over Hannah, who hisses back. Eva grabs the side of the tub and flounders onto the floor. Hanna lunges at her, but having the tub to herself, pulls back, her tail releasing the faucet and disappearing below the surface. Clambering to her feet, Eva snags the bathrobe off the hook and slams the door shut on her way out.
A few steps into her bedroom, Eva smashes into the chest of Levi. “How was your bath?” he says, grabbing her wrists and wrestling her toward the bed. The oily water coats her skin, causing his hands to slide off.
Eva drags her nails down his face. “Get the hell away from me.” She pushes him and thrusts toward the door. “You’ve lost your fucking mind.”
Levi hooks his arm around her waist and pulls her to his chest. She flails her arms and legs, fighting to get away. He presses his lips to her ear. “You always did like it rough, didn’t you?” He lifts her off the ground and flings her onto the bed. She crawls across the comforter toward the nightstand where she left her phone. Levi says, “Looking for this?” He removes the phone from his pocket, pressing a button to light up the screen. “You might as well relax. No one can help you.” Despite the warning, Eva springs from the bed toward the door. Levi drops the phone and catches her, throwing her back on the bed and descending on top of her. He pins her hands above her head, straddling her torso.
Eva twists and turns, struggling to free herself. “Let me go, you fucking lunatic.” Unable to move her upper body, she drives one knee, then the other into his back. He brings her wrists together to hold them with one hand and reaches behind to thwart the repetitive blows. She rips her right arm away and rakes across his face.
Levi knocks her hand away and swings back through with a slap. “Bitch!” The smack stuns Eva. Her body goes slack. Levi fires his hand to her throat. “Why did you have to ruin every-thing?” He squeezes tighter, the veins in his forearm bulging.
“Me?” Eva gasps. She stops fighting, wrapping her fingers around his upper arms and pulling him toward her. In between sputtering breaths, she says, “All I’ve done is love you.” Her swinging and scratching become stroking. The sudden change surprises Levi. He loosens his grip. Air rushes into her lungs. She moves her arms up, interlocking her fingers around the back of his neck and urging him closer. “I didn’t want any of this. Only you.” She pulls herself up and kisses him. “You always knew you could have me at any time. You just didn’t care.”
Levi pins her back to the bed, his hands again tightening around her throat. “That’s not true. You know I care about you. You’re the only one I can count on.” He moves his lips along her jawline to her neck. “I was just afraid I’d fuck it up. I didn’t want to hurt you.” His mouth slides to her chest, devouring her in gulps and playful bites. “You’ve always been there for me.”
Eva uses her nails again. This time to scrape the shirt off his back. “Why do you still have clothes on?” She rips at his belt. “Get these off.” He stands up, undoing his pants and dropping them to the floor. She wraps her legs around his waist and pulls him back toward her. “Hurry up.” Levi kicks his pants off to the side and descends on top of her. His skin, wet from the sweat of the struggle, meets hers, still damp from her interrupted bath. Their bodies slide back and forth as they jostle for a different type of carnal control. Levi reaches and grabs her legs behind the knees, pressing her thighs against her torso. As he tilts back, looking down for the target of his next move, Eva swings wildly, cracking him across the cheek. Levi freezes, stunned from the retaliation. Laughing, she says, “That’s for slapping me.”
Levi hesitates. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. It was just instinct. What else am I supposed to do? You gouged a fucking piece of my face off.”
“I don’t care. I loved it. Come here.” She drops her feet to the floor and spins around. “I want you behind me.” Levi kicks her legs apart, pushing her face into the bed. He guides himself inside her, grabbing a handful of hair and pulling her head back. Her moan escalates to an affirmative yelp. He drives harder and harder. The mattress slides forward with each thrust. She plants her hands on each side and pushes back toward him, arching her back. Looking back at him, she says, “Come on. More. More.” Levi bends forward, silencing her with a kiss. She lifts his arm to her chin, burying her neck in the crease of his elbow. “Squeeze harder. I want to feel your bicep against my neck.”
Her aggression throws him off. “Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Just shut up and fuck me.” She pushes her hips back into him and angles her torso forward tightening the pressure against her neck. “Don’t stop unless I tell you.”
Levi flexes cutting off her ability to speak. Her body responds, encouraging him to squeeze tighter. He puts his mouth on her ear, biting the top while announcing the proximity of his orgasm. She presses her body forward, using her body weight to further diminish her air supply. After several minutes of his huffing and puffing and her stifled breathing, he releases her and himself in one motion. She falls forward, filling and emptying her lungs in pleasure. He drops on top of her then rolls off to the side onto his back, catching his breath like he was the one deprived of oxygen. “Holy shit. Where did that come from?”
She rotates on her side toward him. Her body quivers. She presses against him. “I don’t know. Fucking adrenalin I guess. Fight or flight. What are you doing here? Why did you bring Hannah over? How in the fuck did you even get in?”
“Came in through the garage. No one saw me.”
“Yeah, but the door was locked. How did you get inside my place, not to mention with a seven-foot snake?”
“Hannah travels well. I just line the bottom of a duffel bag with hot water bottles and lay a towel over top. She coils right up inside and sleeps.” He strokes his fingers along her side. “Remember, you gave me a key a while back before you had the office? I made an extra copy in case I lost it.” Eva sits up on the bed. Levi reaches after her. “Where are you going? Lie here with me.”
Eva stands and fetches her robe from where she dropped it on the floor. “I still don’t understand why you’re here, though. I mean, what were you thinking? What was your plan?”
Levi sits up on the edge of the bed. “Nothing really. I can’t stay in that house alone any longer. Just wanted to play a joke with Hannah and talk, I guess. Everything has just been so fucked up lately.”
“Whose fault is that? You fired me, remember?” Eva says, adjusting her robe around her neck and cinching the belt. She picks up her phone lying next to Levi on the bed and slides it in her robe pocket. “An apology would probably be the best start.”
He stands and walks over to her. The bags under his eyes stretch the full length underneath and curve up the side. He wrings his hands nervously. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I really fucked up. I need you to come back.”
Eva says, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s better this way.”
Levi steps closer to her, rubbing the sides of both her arms. “But I need you.”
“I don’t think you do.” Eva steps away from him. “What you need is to be on your own and get control of your life. You created this mess. You need to find a way out of it.”
Desperation seeps through his panic. “But I can’t do it without you.”
“I guess you should’ve thought about that before.”
Her rejection intensifies his plea. “I don’t understand why you’re being like t
his. I thought you said you loved me.”
“I do. It’s just we both need to move on,” Eva says in a calm and even tone. “I have new interests and clients that would now be a conflict. You need to do the same.”
Levi momentarily stops pacing to ask a question. “Like that little shit that’s being photographed around town with Emily?”
Eva ignores the comment. “Shouldn’t you be more worried about your arrest?”
“Do you mind?” Levi motions toward the bar in the corner of her room. Eva responds with a shrug. He says, “For those trumped up charges? I’ll beat it no problem. Remember how I said I thought I recognized that DA? I met him those first few years I was in LA. He was just a teenager then. I dated his sister, Tamara.” He fills half of a rocks glass with warm gin. “She was that psycho makeup artist who worked on me for that Thursday night drama Wish List.”.
“That’s right. We had to have her reassigned.”
“She eventually got fired and fell on some hard times.” Levi grimaces, forcing down the straight booze. “Got hooked on H and died. That DA must blame me. Lawyers are going to have a fucking field day with that.”
“I don’t know,” Eva says, turning around one of the bar stools and sitting down. “Seems like with that photographer’s testimony they still have a pretty strong case.”
Levi gulps more gin. “I heard he was the one who took the pictures of Emily and that little punk at the restaurant. Maybe they’re working together. Maybe she set me up at the waterfall.”
“Levi, you’re fucking obsessed. You have to let this go. It’s just a coincidence.”
Levi tilts his head, studying her for a moment. “Wait, that douche who was with Emily is one of your clients.” Eva remains still and silent in the chair. Levi says, “You set up those photos at the Marmont. You’re working with that photographer. You hired him.” Levi resumes pacing, his mind racing. Eva just watches, enjoying his melt down. Levi stops and drains the gin in his glass. “Are you behind the waterfall, too?
Eva stands from the stool. “Easy, Mr. Paranoid. He’s my client, but I had nothing to do with the waterfall. Why would I ever do anything to sabotage your career? That would hurt me too.”
Levi moves toward her. “But Ira was your client before. How is it a conflict of interest now?”
“I’m sorry. I assumed you knew. You’re right. I hired the photographer for the Emily and Ira pics at the Marmont.” She hops off the stool and walks toward the door. “I’ve been thinking about adding an in-house photographer to the agency for a while. There’s some natural synergy there.”
Levi trails after her. “What? How could you do that to me? That guy destroyed everything we were building.”
Eva stops and pivots, angling toward Levi, pointing, her voice rising word by word. “No, you ruined it yourself and tried to do the same to him. I’m just trying to undo the damage you did. You know, I think it’s probably time you left.”
Levi looks down at the floor. The empty glass dangles at his side. “I can’t believe after everything we’ve been through, you’re choosing him over me.”
“Get over yourself,” Eva says. “I didn’t pick him over you, and remember you were the one who fired me.”
Levi inhales a deep breath, life rushing back into him. “Wait until I get my hands on that guy. He’s fucking dead. I’m sick of him fucking shit up for me.”
Eva moves toward him. “I can’t believe…you know what, I can totally believe it. You just don’t even see how you are even remotely responsible for any of this. So typical. I wouldn’t even think about retaliating any further with him if I was you. If you do, I’ll feed the DA all the stories I’ve covered up over the years.”
The threats deflect off Levi. Regardless of what she has, none of it compares to what is in his freezer. His eyes constrict into a menacing stare. “Not just him. You better also worry about what I might do to you.”
Eva removes her mobile phone from her bathrobe pocket, opening the door with the other. “Get out or I’ll call the police right now.”
Levi roils across the room, stopping in front of her, looking down. “I’ll leave, but you never know when I’m coming back.” Levi fires the glass against the wall. Shards spray in all directions. Eva swings at him, but he catches her arm, holding it for a moment, then shoving her back.
“You’re pathetic.” She lifts the phone to her ear. “Last chance to leave.”
He doesn’t say anything. He just walks to the bathroom, collects Hannah, and leaves.
Chapter 23
Three police cars and a City of Los Angeles box truck crawl through the throng of people in front of Levi’s house. Marcus, a paper clutched in his hand, exits the back of one of the cars. A voice in the crowd informs him no one is home. Marcus continues to the call box and rings three times with no answer. He waves to the driver, who pulls the truck parallel to the gate and parks. Officers exit the cars in twos moving the curious onlookers away from the gate. The box truck driver alights from the cab and walks to the back, sliding open the door and dropping the ramp. Moments later he is backing a forklift down the ramp and maneuvering toward the gate. Marcus rings from the call box again with no answer then nods to the driver-turned-forklift-operator. Rolling toward the gate, the operator lowers the forks and guides them underneath. The onlookers, still roused from Levi’s bracing departure, ooh and ah like a coaxed studio audience. With a pull of the lever, the operator raises the forks. They grab and dig into the wood. Splinters and sparks fly until the door breaks free from the latch and slowly rises on its own. The operator returns the forklift to the truck but leaves the truck parked in front of the gate. Two of the officers stay to keep the crowd from following. The others, along with Marcus, climb back into their cars and drive through the gate.
“Keep your eyes out for any signs of this missing photographer,” Marcus says as the cars cruise over the basalt paver stones leading to the house. “Blood, broken photography equipment, anything that looks out of place.”
Scanning the trees and bushes along the side, the officer in the passenger seat in Marcus’ car says, “Hold on. I think I saw something.” The cars stop. Marcus and the officers get out. The officer who called for them to stop walks over to the bushes pointing where Levi chased and eventually drug out the photographer. “Seems to be an opening here.” He parts the branches farther. “Looks like someone has been through here.”
Marcus pushes in front of him following the matted path. A small clearing swells where the struggle occurred at the base of the fence. Marcus crouches down running his gloved hands over the broken branches and smashed leaves. He picks up one of the ends soaked with red. Standing, he says, “I found blood. Section this area off and call the field investigation unit to process it.” He works his way backward, vocalizing the scenario he is building. “So he chases the guy, catches him at the fence, they fight, and he drags him back out.” Marcus clears the edge of the bushes looking at the surrounding grass, which the officers are blocking off with police tape. “Then what?”
One of the officers says, “He obviously didn’t get away or we wouldn’t be here. He had to take him somewhere.”
“Maybe that’s why Combs tore out of here before. Had the body in the Jeep,” another officer offers.
“I don’t think so,” Marcus says, looking at the house. “Too risky with everyone out there. He’d call someone to take care of it or keep the body here.” He points at the two officers who came in the other car. “Call the guys at the gate. Have them canvass the crowd if any other cars have been in and out. You guys work here. We’re moving up to the house.” Marcus and the other two officers climb back in the car and drive the remaining way.
At the front door, Marcus again follows the knock-and-announce protocol. After no response, he nods to the officer who has retrieved a battering ram from the trunk. In one back and forth motion, the officer splinters the door
from the hinges. Marcus steps through the archway, his eyes scanning immediately to the glass wall and expansive backyard. “One of you start out back, and we’ll cover the inside.”
The officer with the battering ram says, “Let me put this away and grab my kit. I’ll take the back.”
The other officer moves to the kitchen, spraying luminol on the granite counters and teak flooring.
Marcus walks into the living room, taking a moment to process the scene mentally. He has spent so much time over the years in pursuit of Levi, it’s surreal for him to be inside his house. He notices the place hardly looks lived in. It’s too clean, and there are no personal effects anywhere. He tracks over to the wall and presses the button to open the glass back wall. The other officer has returned from the car and moves outside. Marcus says, “Start at the fire pit. See if he tried to dispose of anything.”
The officer in the kitchen shines a UV light over the sprayed surfaces. “Kitchen looks clean.” He works his way backward to the hallway, a spray of luminol followed by a flash of UV light. He stops at the door to the garage. “I got something over here.” He sprays the handle again and along the door jam. “Look at this.” A florescent blue smear glows from the handle and along the trim. He sprays the floor following the luminescent trail toward the back. “Must’ve drug him right through here.”
Marcus pads over by the door careful to avoid the area that only seconds ago was lit up like the night sky. “So he beats him bloody out by the driveway and brings him back to the house through the garage and out to the yard. But what does he do with the body?”
