“Let’s get back to what brought you to this place.”
“Do you think it’s odd that he left all his money and music to Polly Coggins, thought about changing his will, and was found dead the next day?” That was confidential, kind of, but it was also mostly public record, so she felt she could say it.
A flicker of something passed across his face. Surprise? Annoyance? “I couldn’t comment about that.”
Someone knocked on the door. “It’s me, Polly. I’d like to come in now.”
“Polly is part of my therapy?” Sofia asked.
“Of course,” Dr. Khan said. “Come in!”
Polly sat down on Dr. Khan’s right. “Are things going well between you two?”
“Sofia was about to start talking about what brought her here, and what she needs to do to move forward.”
At least he hadn’t given her away. She wished that she were anywhere else. She should have realized being in rehab meant talking about your addiction all the time, but somehow she wasn’t prepared for it. She picked a foil-covered kiss out of the glass bowl.
Polly patted her arm. “What did bring you here, Sofia?”
Drug Addict Sofia had the answer. “A yellow Porsche.”
Nobody laughed. Tough crowd.
“You need to meet us halfway,” Polly said. “What brought you here?”
Now she had to lie in front of Dr. Khan. Fine. She took a cleansing breath, shook her shoulders, closed her eyes, and opened them as Drug Addict Sofia. “OxyContin. I’ve been taking it, and I want to stop.”
“Good,” said Polly. “But that’s only the top layer. Why do you think you started taking OxyContin?”
“Because I hurt my knee in a riding accident. A plastic bag was blowing by and it got caught in a tree and made a flapping sound and the horse spooked and threw me and I landed wrong.”
“That’s why you got the first prescription,” said Dr. Khan. “But why did you take more after the prescription ran out? Why can’t you stop now?”
“Aren’t you two the addiction experts?” she asked. “You’re supposed to know that.”
“People come into rehab for many reasons.” Polly straightened her green blouse. “Some because it’s court ordered. Others because a loved one insists. Others, sadly, try to exploit the process for personal gain.”
“What does that mean?” Sofia wondered if Polly was on to her.
“It might mean that some people have come here to get a contract to be on a rehab TV show, like Celebrity Second Chances,” Polly said. “Or write a tell-all book about the other participants.”
“That’s terrible!” Sofia said. “We all signed non-disclosure forms, so I don’t see how we could write a book. Anyway, I’m here for the same reason as my friend, Craig.”
Hopefully, that would convince Dr. Khan not to say anything else.
“I thought you said Craig was the friend of a friend.” Polly scrunched up her face and looked suspicious.
Sofia was caught in another lie. She decided to ignore it. “He came here to kick his addiction, didn’t he?”
“Yes. He came here for the right reasons,” Polly said. “Did you?”
“Why did you set up the center if not to help people like me?” Sofia was tired of being on the hot seat. Let someone else answer some questions.
“I did,” Polly said. “The center’s history is well known. I opened this facility to keep other mothers from losing their children, as I lost mine.”
Now Sofia couldn’t ask a question without looking like a jerk. She decided Drug Addict Sofia would be quiet.
“Healing from addiction is a difficult process.” Dr. Khan gave her an encouraging smile. “But you have to take the first step. You have to admit that you have a problem, and let us help you.”
Drug Addict Sofia looked at Polly. “I did. I said I was an addict.”
Dr. Khan nodded approvingly, as if he’d been waiting all along for her to make the admission. As if he wanted her to be an addict. “Good, Sofia. That’s the first step.”
A car horn beeped, and Polly looked over her shoulder.
“Polly,” called Gus through the door. Had he been standing in the hall the whole time, eavesdropping?
“I have to see to this,” Polly said. “We’ll try again later.”
Dr. Khan watched her go. “So, you said that you were an addict, Sofia. Let’s talk about that.”
She glared at him. “Didn’t you listen to anything I said before?”
“Now, Sofia, I know you’ve always had an active fantasy life.”
“I need to use the bathroom.” She stood.
“It’s around the corner.”
Sofia went across the room, down the short hall, and into the bathroom. It was nice, blue and white Spanish tiles, lemon-scented soap, and a fluffy blue towel. She turned on the water to muffle anything she was going to say, apologized silently to the drought gods, and gave a quick summary of everything that she thought was important to the investigation. Hopefully, Aidan was at the other end listening and not out romancing paralegals.
Then she washed her hands and went back for the rest of her session. She refused to talk about being an addict, and Dr. Khan gave her a lecture about denial. She was glad her mother had dumped him.
CHAPTER 15
P olly clapped her hands together. “Welcome, everyone!”
The sun had already set, and the air was chilly. Everyone was gathered in the front yard under the pepper tree. Leaves rustled in the evening breeze. Sofia took off her shoes and stood barefoot in the green grass. It felt cool and soft under her feet.
“I’m happy to see each and every one of you here this evening,” Polly continued.
Sofia couldn’t face another meeting to talk about her addiction. Couldn’t they all go back to their rooms to bed?
She glanced around the group. Monaco leaned against the tree trunk, her brown eyes glazed. She looked either sick or high. But she couldn’t be high, right? She’d been in rehab for weeks, and she was passing all her urine tests.
Amber stood with one hand protectively on Monaco’s arm. Whatever she’d said in the kitchen, she clearly cared about her friend. She spoke to Monaco in a low, steady murmur. Sofia couldn’t hear the words, but it sounded comforting.
Brandi sat next to Sofia holding an unlit cigarette and a cup of coffee. Sofia hadn’t seen her without one or the other all day. Nicotine and caffeine apparently didn’t count as addictions. Cell phones probably didn’t either. Sofia totally missed hers. She’d kept reaching into her pocket every couple of minutes all day only to remember that she wouldn’t find the sleek black rectangle that usually connected her with the world.
Polly and Gus stood on either side of a giant brown box. It had been delivered to the backyard a couple of hours before, and someone in an orange vest had fiddled with it for a while before leaving. Gus had kept everyone away, as if they might bribe the installer to help them escape.
“Fire is a powerful element,” Polly said. “Our ancestors used to gather around a fire pit to tell their stories. Sometimes you can say things to the flames that you can’t in the light of day.”
Great. More talking. Sofia recalled an item on Aidan’s list of things that would disqualify a woman from dating him: ‘Must not want to talk about deep seated psychological issues.’ She was starting to agree with him. It got old fast.
“But we can’t have fire pits here.” Polly shook her head sadly, clearly stricken. “We’re not zoned for it.”
Sofia knew from living in Malibu that getting permission to do anything from the city was almost impossible. Not that it stopped people who lived there. She looked at the brown box. It came up just past her knee, and was about as big as a sofa.
Polly lifted the top off the box. Sofia craned her neck to peer inside. Rocks. Hopefully they weren’t some kind of special addiction rocks that you had to talk to.
“So, I bought this.” Polly beamed with her little Strawberry Shortcake smile. “It’s calle
d a fire box, and it runs on natural gas.”
Brandi snorted. “Plenty of fuel here, then.”
Drug Addict Sofia thought this was funny, so she cracked a tiny smile. She was pretty laid back, that Drug Addict Sofia.
“I thought we might toast marshmallows and have s’mores,” Polly said. “Bond with the flames.”
S’mores didn’t sound bad, which made Sofia suspicious. She bet there would be talking about addiction crammed in there somewhere. Polly knew how to ruin even s’mores.
“It’s an important night,” Polly said. “Assuming they test clean tomorrow, Monaco and Amber will be leaving here, ready to start their lives on the outside.”
Polly started to clap, and Sofia and even Brandi joined in. At least someone was getting the hell out. Amber smiled, but her heart wasn’t in it. Monaco stared straight ahead at nothing.
Gus lit the fire, then Polly and he went into the house. Brandi was first at the flames, poking her cigarette in to light it. Amber led Monaco over and sat her on the edge, then perched next to her, holding her hand. Polly didn’t seem to notice that Monaco was acting strange, which made it all much weirder.
Sofia sat next to Brandi. In the orange firelight, Brandi looked young and happy, more like the poster Sofia had once hung over her desk. She’d found a stick somewhere and stirred the rocks.
“Thanks for this morning,” Sofia said.
“Anything I can do to screw Miss Strawberry Shortcake,” Brandi said.
Sofia laughed, her first real laugh since Aidan and Brendan had left. “I call her that, too.”
“She ought to sue American Greetings for stealing her likeness for the cartoon.”
“Is Monaco all right?” Sofia whispered.
“High as a kite.” Brandi took a deep drag on her cigarette. “Doesn’t seem to be in any danger, though.”
“Why doesn’t Polly do something?” She looked back at the house. No sign of Polly and Gus.
“You are a cute little half-pint, aren’t you?” Brandi asked.
Patronizing, but probably accurate. “How did Monaco get stuff in here?”
“At first I thought she had a stash.” Brandi poked the rocks. “But I never found it, so now I’m thinking somebody brings it in to her.”
“Visitors?” Sofia asked.
“She hasn’t had any since I’ve been here.”
That left Polly and Gus. Muffin came over and sat nearby. He was a dog-shaped shadow, barely recognizable in the darkness, but his regular panting gave him away.
“Where’d you get the stuff?” Brandi raised her voice to ask Monaco.
“What stuff?” Amber stroked Monaco’s arm.
“The good stuff she’s on,” Brandi said. “You know you’re supposed to share.”
“It’s from Polly,” Monaco said. “From the safe.”
Brandi shook her head. “You look too happy to be on detoxing drugs.”
Monaco smiled dreamily and looked into the flames.
Gus and Polly were back with large trays. They had metal skewers, marshmallows, chocolate, graham crackers, glasses, and a giant pitcher of milk. Very summer camp, but Sofia liked it.
She slid a marshmallow onto a skewer and started toasting it. The other inmates piled in after, and soon the air smelled like burnt sugar. Brandi caught hers on fire and held it up like a torch while humming a marching song.
Polly handed Sofia a graham cracker with a square of chocolate on it. Now it really felt like summer camp. Sofia snitched a raw marshmallow off the plate and fed it to Muffin when Polly and Gus weren’t looking. The dog ate it and gave her a tiny tail wag. She was making progress.
She munched happily until Polly said the thing that always ruined campfires: “How about we sing?”
Brandi cackled. “I can’t sing unless you speak to my agent.”
Sofia wished she’d thought of that.
Polly handed Brandi an acoustic guitar Gus must have brought from the house. Brandi was one of the best guitarists in the world, and Sofia bet she wouldn’t be able to resist playing it.
Brandi put the guitar strap over her shoulder and stroked the wood softly. A faraway smile settled on her face. She ran her fingers across the strings in turn, adjusting the pegs so that it was properly tuned. Then she launched into a version of “Kumbaya” that Sofia could only describe as sarcastic. She wasn’t sure how Brandi did it, but it was fast, brilliant, and angry, like Brandi herself. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch, and Sofia had an unreal fangirl moment, something she hadn’t had in a long time. She was here with Brandi Basher, close enough to touch her, listening to her play. Wow.
When the last note died away, Sofia was the first one clapping. “Encore!” she shouted.
Brandi looked up with a grin.
“Could we have that slower?” Polly asked. “And … friendlier?”
“I don’t do requests.” Brandi launched into ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.’ It was up tempo and fun, but a little too fast, almost manic. Sofia had never heard anything like it.
Polly must have realized she wasn’t going to get anything better than that, because she started to sing. She gestured to Monaco, who joined in, then Sofia, and finally Amber.
Sofia tried to sing quietly, because she wasn’t proud of her voice. It was adequate, but not in the same league as Brandi’s playing. She listened to the others. Polly was bad—breathless and off key, but Monaco was truly terrible. Sofia could see why they never visited any karaoke bars on her TV show. It was probably in her contract. But Amber? Amber was a revelation.
Her voice was brilliant. It was so amazing Sofia stopped singing to listen, and Monaco and Polly followed suit. Amber’s voice trembled for a second when she realized she was singing alone, but she steadied it and finished the song.
Brandi let out a whoop. “Girl’s got talent.”
“And how!” Sofia said.
Even in the flickering orange firelight, she saw Amber blush.
“I guess.” Monaco sounded mad. She clearly didn’t like being upstaged by Amber.
“You guess?” Brandi pointed the guitar neck at her. “Are you fucking nuts? She’s brilliant. Why doesn’t she sing on that stupid show of yours?”
Polly reached over and turned off the fire. “I thought Monaco was the best singer.”
Sofia and Brandi stared at each other, open-mouthed. Amber’s face fell.
“Thanks, MNM,” said Monaco.
“That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said, Polly.” Brandi took the guitar from around her neck, and Gus snagged it. “And considering the crap you usually spout, that’s not easy.”
“Early bedtime for you, Miss Basher.” Polly picked up the tray with the s’mores fixings. “The rest of you are done here for tonight. Monaco, would you like to help me carry these in?”
Monaco stood unsteadily.
“Have you ever thought about singing on your show, Monaco?” Polly cast a disdainful look at Amber. “Solo?”
They marched up toward the house arm in arm.
“I think you’ve been dipping into your drug safe,” Brandi called after them.
Sofia smothered a laugh.
Gus loomed over them. “You heard Polly. Get to your room, Brandi.”
“I’d hire you in a second,” Brandi said to Amber, ignoring Gus. “I have some tunes that would be perfect for your voice.”
“Amber,” Polly called over her shoulder. “Please help in the kitchen!”
Amber gave Brandi a quick smile and hurried after Polly.
Sofia was angry. Polly had deliberately slighted Amber and praised Monaco, who had a terrible voice. Polly had to have heard the difference.
“To the house, ladies.” Gus pointed at the front door as if they didn’t know where the house was.
Sofia ambled across the lawn next to Brandi. As soon as Gus was out of earshot, she asked Brandi, “What was that about?”
Brandi looked thoughtful. “Not musical ability, I’ll tell you that.”
G
us caught up with them again. “Early to bed for you both.”
“It’s not even nine.” Sofia didn’t remember a bedtime being mentioned anywhere in their literature.
“First night rules.” Gus held the guitar in one hand, and took her elbow with the other.
“It’s my second night.”
Gus started walking her toward the house. She thought about pulling away, but decided throwing a temper tantrum wasn’t going to help her reach her goal of late-night prowling privileges.
Brandi tossed off a two-fingered salute as Gus increased the pressure on Sofia’s elbow and frog-marched her to the front door.
One day down.
CHAPTER 16
Gus pushed her into her room without saying good night. The door locked from the outside. Figuring it would take him awhile to get to the surveillance cameras to see what she was up to, she dropped to her knees and studied the lock.
It was covered by a metal plate on her side, so she wouldn’t have been able to pick it even if she’d known how. She made a mental note to ask Aidan to teach her when she got out. The door’s hinge pins were on the other side, too, so she couldn’t remove them. Not surprisingly in a facility for drug addicts, the door was secure. She was trapped.
A thorough examination of her bedroom and bathroom windows showed she wouldn’t be going out that way either. In the event of a fire, she could break the glass and climb through, but that would attract too much attention. As she assessed the room’s security features, she kept up a running commentary, just to keep Aidan informed.
While she put on her pajamas and brushed her teeth, she tried not to be creeped out by the fact that Gus might be watching her through the cameras. She kept herself turned away from them, determined not to give him any more of a show.
She flopped back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. She made a list of things she would do once she had earned the privilege of being outside at night:
1.Stuff a pillow under the covers to look like her and then go exploring.
Surely Gus had to sleep sometime. He couldn’t monitor the surveillance cameras all night long. But maybe Polly had a security guard for that. That meant she might get caught right away. But it was worth a shot. It seemed like something Drug Addict Sofia would do, and it didn’t seem that suspicious. Probably everyone tried to wander around. She bet Brandi did.
B is for Bad Girls (Malibu Mystery Book 2) Page 10
