Angry Buddhist (9781609458867)

by Greenland, Seth

  “My boss over at the D.A.’s office made a point of telling me not to go near Hard’s case.”

  “Yeah, well, the dust-up you and him had went public, didn’t it?”

  “I admire your self control. Didn’t file a grievance. Just nearly broke his jaw.” Jimmy laughing now.

  “What good would a filing a grievance have done? Then I’m a bitch no other cop wants to work with.”

  After dinner they see a movie in Palm Springs, a science fiction story in which a virus sweeps the planet and Bruce Willis has to lead everyone to another solar system, and when that’s over Cali asks Jimmy if he wants to come back to her place in Yucaipa, west of the desert.

  She lives in a condo on a hill overlooking the freeway, but with the windows closed the place is quiet and the headlights speeding east and west below have a hypnotic effect. The place is a simply decorated one bedroom. There’s a table with a glass top that seats four just off the kitchen. The living room has a white sectional couch arranged in front of a television and a bamboo and glass bookshelf that holds decorative plates and vases, a few large books of photographs, a small stereo and a row of CDs. Cali puts on some Sade and pours a cognac for herself, asks Jimmy if he wants one. Then she’s embarrassed to have forgotten he quit drinking. He tells her not to worry about it and twirls her around the living room to the music, pulling her close, kissing her neck, inhaling her perfume that smells like night blooming jasmine.

  They make love in the bedroom and after her second orgasm Cali shoves her cognac-coated tongue deep into Jimmy’s throat, says she could get accustomed to this, then curls up next to him and falls asleep.

  He didn’t intend to go into Cali’s computer but when he couldn’t sleep after lying in bed for twenty minutes he got up and walked into the living room. He didn’t want to turn the television on because the sound might wake her so he thought he would fool around on the Internet until he was tired enough to go back to bed and drift off. Cali’s laptop is on the table just off the kitchen. Jimmy turns it on and waits for it to boot up.

  He spends some time on the American Kennel Club site, researching different breeds then visits a German shepherd chat room where he reads some comments but doesn’t post anything. He begins to feel fatigued and exits the Internet. When the screensaver, a panoramic shot of the Colorado River in Austin, Texas, returns, Jimmy’s eyes drift lazily over the icons. There are thumbnail-sized photographs, several software programs, including ones for taxes and Internet poker, and a folder marked Current Case Files. This would normally present an ethical quandary and Jimmy doesn’t like to think of himself as a snoop when he’s off duty, but given that he has been summarily blocked from participating in what might have been the biggest case of his career, his curiosity eats like battery acid against the membrane of his self-control. What the hell, he figures Cali would do the same thing. He checks that she is sleeping soundly then opens the file.

  It does not take him long to figure out that Cali has downloaded the contents of Nadine Never’s hard drive on to her laptop. Jimmy begins scrolling. There are credit card bills that show restaurants, nail salons, waxing treatments, supermarkets, pet stores, and pharmacies. There are several PDF files of bank statements, the most recent one indicating that Nadine had a little over two thousand dollars in a savings account at the time of her death.

  He scans through files of Nadine’s, sees she’s bookmarked several tennis sites. There are pictures, snapshots of Nadine with friends by the beach, in the hills above San Diego with the Pacific Ocean in the background. There are pictures of her playing tennis. There are countless pictures of a little dog that Jimmy recognizes as a Chihuahua. He finds a file of an on-line application to a reality show, and several files about sailing and the Pacific Northwest. She was not a user of social networking sites, which was too bad for Hard since they might have been a fecund source of suspects. He is almost ready to go back to bed when he sees a file marked Travel. Jimmy clicks it open and sees there are some video tours of resorts far above Nadine’s financial means in places like Bali, the kind that feature bungalows suspended over sparkling azure waters and cost thousands of dollars for a single night. There is a bill for a weekend at a budget hotel in Las Vegas. There is a boarding pass for a flight to San Francisco. There are two more boarding passes, both for Cabo San Lucas. One of them is for Nadine Never, the other for Kendra Duke: Delta Airlines, flight #4753, Seats 14A and 14B, from LAX.

  Jimmy assumes Cali knows the contents of Nadine’s computer and has chosen not to share that knowledge. He doesn’t blame her, but still, he doesn’t like it. Indeed, this information in Jimmy’s hands represents a slight conflict of interest. He knows departing after sex is not good form but he needs to figure out what to do and lying awake the entire night at her condo is not conducive to clear thought.

  He glances around the room. There is a portable printer on a bookshelf. Again he checks on Cali. Satisfied she is still sleeping soundly Jimmy makes a copy of the boarding pass with his sister-in-law’s name on it. The moment before he is about to turn the computer off, it occurs to him that there might be another emerald to be discovered in the mine of Nadine’s computer and this thought puts him back in the chair. Another half hour of rummaging through the files turns up nothing of interest, but when he discovers a file of photographs taken during the Mexican holiday he is buoyed. There is his sister-in-law on the beach in a bikini. There she is holding a tennis racquet and standing to the side of a court, palm trees in the background. There she is in a restaurant wearing sunglasses and drinking a margarita. There she is in front of a Mexican tattoo parlor. There she is in a hotel room with her yellow pastel skirt hiked, finger pointing to a tattoo of a cartoon kitten rendered on the canvas of her naked ass. And there she in standing next to Nadine. Both women have their backs to the camera. Both women are wearing nothing but thongs. He notices they are kissing before he sees that Nadine has the same cartoon kitten tattooed in the exact same place. He wonders if Randall knows about this. And considers whether or not to tell him. It would be awkward. And awkward would really be the least of it. Jimmy knows this picture could put his brother in Mary Swain’s crosshairs and she won’t let go of the trigger until the fusillade kills him twice. Then there are the legal ramifications. A woman with whom Randall’s wife appeared to be sexually involved turns up dead right before an election. At the very least, should this get out, people are going to ask uncomfortable questions. Jimmy knows one thing: the karmic wheel is bearing down on Randall Duke.

  “Cali.” Jimmy kneels by the side of the bed, a gentle hand on her soft shoulder. “I can’t sleep. I’m gonna drive back to my place.”

  “Mmmm,” she says, eyes closed. “Okay.”

  When he leans in to kiss her on the mouth she turns away and his lips brush her cheek. He tells her he’ll call tomorrow but she’s already asleep.

  http://WWW.DESERT-MACHIAVELLI.COM

  11.3 – 11:58 P.M.

  In my darkest, most cynical moments, I never would have thought Hard Marvin had it in him to murder his girlfriend. The Chief always looked like the kind of guy who could go off like a bottle rocket, fast, cheap and out of control. But not like this. And not with such remarkably bad timing. As a visible presence in the Mary Swain campaign, this is not going to help the Stewardess get elected. Not that I know much about murder, but an investigator looks at who benefits. If a wife dies, first person you look at is the husband. Sue me. It’s that kind of world. Well, who benefits here? Chief Marvin you could say, since he gets rid of his girlfriend who (assuming he was the guy who killed her) he presumably found highly annoying.

  Addendum: The Machiavelli received a slew of angry emails from the Swain campaign denying the rumors of an illegitimate bi-racial child. I also received an email from a political reporter who writes for the local dead tree daily. In tomorrow’s edition you can read her story detailing my unsubstantiated report and the Flight Attendant’s denial. I’ll say this for her opponent: Randall may be another in a lon
g line of snake oil slinging shit peddlers, but at least there’s a brain in his head and no out-of-wedlock bi-racial child in his past. And let me be clear—the Machiavelli has nothing against bi-racial children, only when they occur without the benefit of wedlock in the background of a saint like Mary Swain.

  See you in church.

  SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Randall’s church attendance ramps up exponentially whenever an election looms and he looks to buff his spiritual credentials. This is the fourth week in a row he has been present at the Church of the Desert, a non-denominational Palm Springs house of worship that he joined in hopes of alienating the fewest constituents. This Sunday morning he is seated in the front row on the center aisle. Kendra is next to him, her sunglasses masking a catatonic expression, and to her right is Brittany. In the aisle to Randall’s left, Dale is slumped in his replacement wheelchair. It is Randall’s intention to get the maximum juice out of his brother’s release and where to better show off this broken trophy, this reflection of Randall’s generosity, forbearance, and forgiveness than at Sunday services? As for Dale’s disastrous attempt to help the campaign, they have not discussed it. Randall has no intention of ever discussing it.

  Kendra ordinarily does not like to attend church services but in the wake of Nadine’s death, she is clinging to some tiny hope of redemption. As for Brittany, she spends most of the time sending surreptitious text messages to friends who have evaded this obligation. But Randall knows the only thing better for a politician than an intact family is an intact family that attends religious services. That his wife and daughter are disengaged from their surroundings does not matter. What matters: they are next to him. Randall would have liked Jimmy to be here. The three brothers have not been together since Dale’s release and a photograph of all of them would convey a comforting message to the electorate. But as Randall listens to the minister intone about how the Lord desires a personal and loving relationship with us, and the choir raises their voices in shimmering song, he tunes out his family long enough to be infused with a sense that the election will go well and this difficult period will soon pass.

  Dale has let it be known that he does not want his non-motorized chair pushed by anyone so when the service ends he does a quick-wheeled pirouette and is rolling toward the door under his own power. Kendra and Brittany trail behind and Randall brings up the rear, shaking hands with parishioners as he does. A young couple with two sons ask Randall if he’d mind posing for a picture with the boys and he happily obliges, throwing an arm over the shoulder of each one as their mother snaps away with her cell phone. From the smiles and handshakes Randall receives parading up the aisle, he is certain few of these people will vote for Mary Swain on Tuesday.

  At the rear of the church Maxon is standing with Kendra and Brittany. Randall greets him and Maxon says, “I got a photographer from the Desert Sun here to get a family shot.”

  Jimmy parks his truck a block from the Church of the Desert. He didn’t get a lot of sleep and is buzzing from three cups of dark Sumatra. He wants to talk to Randall and find out what he knows before anyone from the force sticks their nose in. Nadine Never’s death couldn’t have had anything to do with his brother in Jimmy’s view, but he wants to get a sense of her relationship to Randall’s family if only to satisfy his own curiosity. Arnaldo, Cali and the rest of the department will be digging around. Since Randall had managed to save Jimmy’s career, the least he could do is give a warning.

  A short middle-aged woman dressed in a black tunic and leggings and with two 35mm cameras slung around her neck is arranging Randall, Kendra, Brittany and Dale into a tableau in front of the church as a small crowd of parishioners watches, some taking their own snapshots of the Duke family. When Randall spots Jimmy a broad smile breaks out.

  “Jimmy Ray, get in here!”

  Jimmy glances at Dale, who is stone-faced, and Kendra who appears to be staring at the firebrick red-hued mountains in the distance. His niece is in her default setting of ennui.

  “Come on, man! For Mom and Dad!” Randall says. Then, to the photographer: “Don’t take another picture until all three Duke brothers are in the shot.”

  Jimmy looks at Dale but his younger brother will not meet his gaze. Nor will his sister-in-law, whom he is now regarding with fresh eyes after seeing the photograph of the backside tattoo. Randall energetically gestures him over. Jimmy realizes the more diffident he is, the longer this will take, and reluctantly steps into the picture. Randall throws an arm around him, lays a palm on Dale’s shoulder. Jimmy has already made up his mind that whatever debt he owes Randall will be discharged by a combination of his speech at the Purity Ball and his appearance in this photograph. He looks over at Randall who is tickling Brittany in an attempt to make her smile. He wonders what Kendra is thinking, how she would react if she knew why he was here. And why is she wearing those sunglasses for the picture? When the photographer finishes, Jimmy asks Randall if he can have a word.

  Standing on the sidewalk beyond the church plaza Jimmy informs his brother that he has reason to suspect Kendra and a murder victim named Nadine Never knew each other well and that they flew to Mexico together. When Randall knits his brow, Jimmy again wonders how much of this his brother already knows.

  “How’d you find this out?”

  “Both their names are on boarding passes, sitting next to each other. I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t have bothered you. But it was in the victim’s computer. So Kendra knew this woman?” Jimmy has to ask, rhetorical questions part of the job.

  “Yeah, she knew her.”

  “They were friends?”

  “She taught Brittany tennis.”

  “I’m wondering why you didn’t give me a heads up Kendra knew the woman, Randall, her being a murder victim. It’s weird. She got killed Friday night, now it’s Sunday. You still read the local papers, right? News was right on the front page.”

  “What’s this got to do with me?”

  “She and Kendra on a vacation together? This’ll look strange, it comes out. I’m wondering what’s going on here.”

  “Nothing going on, Jimmy.”

  “And I’m trying to figure out why you didn’t mention any of this until I found a copy of a boarding pass on a computer.”

  “Because I’m in the middle of a tough campaign and while I feel nothing but pain for this poor woman and her family, and that poor clerk and his family, I have other things on my mind.”

  “I can understand that, but you don’t think this is gonna land at your door?”

  “I’m supposed to stop everything and call, tell you my wife knows a murder victim?”

  Two parishioners walk past, a middle-aged couple. He’s wearing a cowboy hat and a western-cut suit, she’s in a floral print dress.

  “Good luck on Tuesday!” The man says.

  Randall thanks them and waits until they’re out of earshot.

  “What happens now?”

  This is a source of great discomfort since Randall is on the fringe of a murder investigation and Jimmy has enough family loyalty to not want him gratuitously ruined. He briefly debates whether to tell his brother that he believes the women were sexually involved but concludes nothing beneficial will come of passing that information along today.

  “The detectives investigating the case will want to talk to Kendra.”

  “Should she get a lawyer?”

  “You tell me.”

  “Any suspects?”

  When Jimmy tells him about the situation with Hard, he notices a subtle transition in Randall’s reaction, from disbelief through a barely discernable hint of elation to outrage that an official could so betray the public trust. “I can’t get into particulars,” Jimmy says, “since the investigation is ongoing, but it doesn’t look good for Chief Marvin right now.”

  “Will Kendra have to come to the station to talk to the detectives?”

  “They make house calls.”

  Around the corner from th
e church, worshippers are walking to their cars. On the sidewalk next to a pair of towering palm trees Dale is staring up at Maxon who is holding both his hands up in a placating gesture. The tendon on the left side of Dale’s neck is as taut as a guitar string.

  “You got to get it for me somehow.”

  “Look, I told you, it’s just not that easy to put my hands on ten thousand dollars in cash. Campaigns get audited sometimes.” Maxon holds his hands together in front of him, fingers intertwined. He doesn’t want to give Dale the money, and is starting to wonder whether he should just leave him to his own devices. “I thought these guys were your friends.”

  “I got rough friends.”

  “You didn’t tell them anything, did you?”

  “Shit, no. They could kill me, understand? That’s gonna be on you.”

  Maxon removes a tennis ball from his pocket and starts worrying it in the fingers of his left hand. If only he could depend on Dale’s colleagues to do what he says they will.