Glamour Puss

by R. J. Kaiser

  “Is she breathing?” he asked.

  “No.”

  Jade, on her knees, opened Manuela’s jaw, scooped, pinched her nose shut and blew into her mouth. After a couple of breaths, Manuela coughed. A few seconds later, she came to.

  Blinking, she looked at them, a confused expression on her face, then coughed some more. Once she was breathing halfway normally, she said, “What happened?”

  “The people you were trying to kill saved your life,” Mac told her.

  Manuela’s chin dropped to her chest. “Shit.”

  “Yeah,” he grumbled under his breath. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Mac sat on his bed in his sweats and pulled on his socks. His arm was bandaged, but the wound was superficial. He’d showered carefully so as not to get his bandage wet, but hadn’t bothered drying his hair. There was a knock on his door. “Yes?”

  “It’s me,” Jade said.

  “Come in.”

  She opened the door, then stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips, her expression official, stern. He had an overwhelming desire to take her in his arms. But since she was on duty, being professional, he restrained himself. Cuteness was not supposed to matter in circumstances such as these.

  “They’ve taken Manuela away,” she said. “Jaime Caldron is out by the pool, talking to the other detectives. And guess who’s out front?”

  “Stella?”

  “Yes. And your son, too. Plus, the Indian movie star and her entourage.”

  “The whole gang, huh?”

  She laughed. “Mac, I need to brief you on what I found out before I got here. There are some things you need to know.”

  “Am I going to like it?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  He ran his fingers back through his damp hair. “Lay it on me, then. No, wait. First, come over here.” He indicated the bed beside him.

  Jade made her way over, looking a bit uncomfortable. Mac put an arm around her shoulders, even knowing she probably didn’t appreciate the familiarity at a crime scene, not with everybody still full of adrenaline. But he wanted to have his say.

  “Before we get to official business, can I just thank you for what you did out there today? You risked your life for me, and I want you to know I’m really touched.”

  “I’d have done it for anybody.”

  “No, don’t say that. I want you to have done it for me because I’m such a special guy.”

  “You are special,” she said with a grin. “You’re paying me double my usual rate.”

  He cuffed her chin playfully. “Let me ask you something. How would you feel about me if tomorrow I filed for bankruptcy?”

  “I’d think you’re still a nice guy. Just poorer.”

  He liked that. Then Mac did what he’d wanted to do for several days. He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. It was an affectionate kiss. His mouth lingered near hers. As they pulled apart, she slowly opened her eyes.

  “That wasn’t fair.”

  “I know, but how many guys get to kiss a star detective?”

  She poked her tongue in her cheek and colored.

  “Okay,” Mac said with feigned sternness. “Let’s have your report.”

  Jade cleared her throat. He could tell she was flustered and he loved it. She cleared her throat again and somehow managed to look grim.

  “Ginger, the five-million-dollar girl, and Hernan, are your son’s pals, Mac.”

  “Troy’s?”

  “Right. Hernan is his roommate.”

  He was stunned. He had to make an effort to close his mouth. “You’re saying my kid’s behind the extortion plot?”

  “I’m not a hundred percent certain, but circumstantial evidence points to that. The big house in Pacific Palisades I followed Ginger and Hernan to is occupied by the Indian movie folks. Your son and the woman…let’s see what’s her name?…Venus…no…”

  “Venita Kumar.”

  “Yes, Venita and Troy are having…well, an affair.”

  He shook his head, feeling like somebody who’d been asleep for several months. “And she’s in on the blackmail-extortion thing?”

  “That I don’t know.”

  “Well, she’s been trying to raise several million bucks for her movie deal,” he said. “If she isn’t involved, she was going to benefit, that’s certain. But my son’s the one shaking me down. Christ. How’d he find out about Aubrey? From Stella?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to them,” she replied. “This is coming from third parties.”

  “Knowing the people I’m dealing with, it all makes sense. I should have figured it had to do with that goddamn movie deal.”

  “There’s more, I’m afraid. Apparently, Venita’s director friend, Arjay, is not quite the real thing.”

  “You said Arjay. You mean Amal.”

  “No, the real Amal Kory is at a retreat in India or Nepal or someplace. This guy’s name is Arjay Pantel and he’s a grifter, basically.”

  “The movie mogul my wife wanted me to invest millions with is a con man, is that what you’re telling me?”

  “Essentially.”

  “Good thing I’m a tight sonovabitch. If I’d given them the two million, I wonder where they’d be now?”

  Jade shrugged.

  “What about Stella? Is she in on this?”

  “Again, I don’t know. She might be. Her threats to go to the police could have been insurance in case this deal didn’t work out. All I can tell you for sure is they’re all here and seem like a happy little group.”

  “Drooling at the prospect of getting my money. Obviously they aren’t aware you’re onto them.”

  “I doubt it. I got my information from a detective working for a guy who’s blackmailing Venita, an Indian journalist by the name of Percy Gaylord.”

  “He’s blackmailing her?”

  “Forcing her to reveal the inside scoop about a political scandal back in India.”

  “Sounds like I’m not the only one on the rack.”

  “Nope.”

  “Lord,” he said, shaking his head.

  “It’s a complicated situation, Mac. I figure I may have sorted out about forty percent of it. Enough to know we’re in a spider’s nest.”

  She proceeded to tell him the rest. Mac listened gravely. After she’d finished, he rubbed his chin, trying to figure out what to do with the information, when the phone rang. He gave Jade an “excuse me” pat on the knee, scooted to the head of the bed and picked up the receiver. “Yes?”

  “Mac, it’s Bev.”

  “Don’t tell me, the office is lying in ruins.”

  “No, only minor damage here. How’s your house?”

  “Still standing, which is more than you can say for me.” He lay back against the headboard, giving Jade a wink.

  “You okay?” Bev asked.

  “Yes, just a figure of speech. What’s up? Everybody curious if the guy who signs their paychecks is still among the living?”

  “People here have been calling home to check on their families and so forth,” she said.

  “Send everybody home, if that’s the question.”

  “No, that’s not why I called.”

  He could tell by her tone he wasn’t going to like this, either.

  “Some reports have also been coming in from the field. One in particular I thought you ought to know about. I understand you asked Walt to keep an eye on a job in Brentwood where you’d put in the original pool…”

  Mac’s blood went cold. “Yes? What about it?”

  “One of the engineers was at the site when the quake hit.”

  “And?”

  “Apparently, the hillside gave way and part of the pool went sliding down into the canyon.”

  Mac closed his eyes, pressing the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

  “Since we hadn’t broken ground,” Bev went on, “Walt said we don’t have any exposure, but something very troubling turned up, Mac.”

  He knew what she was
going to say.

  “It seems there was a body under the pool. Our guy looks down and see’s this skeleton hanging right there at the precipice sticking out from broken chunks of concrete. He called the police.”

  Mac drew a long, slow breath. The irony struck him. Twenty years and Glamour Puss chose today. Somehow, though, it seemed fitting.

  “Mac?”

  “Okay, I hear you. Thanks for the report, Bev.” He hung up the phone and looked at Jade. “The earthquake sheared the hillside behind that house in Brentwood, exposing Aubrey St. George’s remains.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “This doesn’t change anything. I decided what I was going to do earlier. All this does is make it easier. But in light of what you’ve told me about Troy and the Indians, I’ll have to reconsider how I’m going to do this.”

  She looked perplexed.

  “You’ll see what I mean.” He glanced at the bedstand clock. “Jade, would you mind assembling the suspects and Lieutenant Caldron in the drawing room? I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  She moved up next to him, taking his hand. “You’re a good person,” she said. “What you did twenty years ago doesn’t matter…at least, not to me. I want you to know that.”

  He reached out, taking her chin in his hand. “Thanks.”

  “Would you kiss me again?” she asked.

  “Are detectives allowed to fraternize with confessed felons?”

  “I don’t see how a kiss can hurt.”

  Mac took her into his arms and kissed her deeply. He wished he could just hold her, forget the world, but that clearly wasn’t to be. The pretense, the long wait for justice, was finally over.

  “If and when I’m finally through this, would you consider going away someplace with me?”

  “Like where?”

  “Hawaii would be nice.”

  She stroked his hand. “Let’s get this behind us first.”

  Jade kissed him on the cheek and left the room. Mac watched her leave, staring at the door after she’d closed it. In the course of just a few minutes, he’d lived through the best and worst of times. The moment he’d always known at some level would come was in fact upon him. He was glad. But because of Jade, he also felt hope—hope about the future, murky though it was. Mostly, though, he felt hope for himself. He’d been traveling a long and difficult road. He wanted the journey over. He wanted the future to be different.

  Mac put on his shoes, ran his fingers through his hair and looked to see if his checkbook was on his dresser.

  As Mac walked in, a hush came over the room. “Good afternoon, everyone,” he said. “Thank you all for coming.” He glanced around, making eye contact with each person in turn.

  Stella and Arjay Pantel were seated on the larger sofa and Troy and Venita were on the love seat, holding hands. Stella eyed them, not looking at all pleased. A large bearded man in a turban stood behind Venita. Lieutenant Jaime Caldron sat alone in an armchair. Jade was standing off to the side.

  “I don’t know if you’ve all been formally introduced. Mr. Kory and Miss Kumar, the lady standing over there is the private investigator working for me, Ms. Morro, and this gentleman is Lieutenant Jaime Caldron of the L.A.P.D. He’s here because of certain events that occurred twenty years ago. I intend to discuss that at length, Lieutenant, but if you’ll bear with me I’d like to deal with some family matters first. I have an announcement I’d like to make, as well.”

  Mac studied the faces staring back at him, seeing a little of everything, ranging from confusion to distress to amusement. It was Jade’s expression he liked best. He saw understanding and, though he hadn’t told her his intentions, he suspected she had a pretty good idea what was coming.

  “Let me get right to the point,” he said. “Stella and Troy, I know you’re both intent on being in Mr. Kory’s film and that you want me to invest in it. I’ve resisted because I don’t think it’s good business, but also because I’m reluctant to get involved with strangers. I’ve always believed you can’t know a person too well if you’re going to get in bed with them…figuratively and literally both.”

  Mac noted Stella’s uneasiness, though it was difficult to decide whether she was more troubled by his comments, or the way Troy was behaving toward Venita. Only one person’s reaction was certain—Troy’s. The kid loathed him. His feelings were unmistakable.

  “Troy, you’ve never taken advice from me,” Mac said, moving a bit closer to him and Venita, “but you seem especially annoyed today. Have I offended you…any more than usual, that is?”

  “I’m beginning to wonder if you brought us here to jerk our chains.”

  “Troy!” Stella said.

  “It’s a fair comment,” Mac said. “But the answer is no. My intent is to communicate. I want to know how you both feel and I’d like to express my views, too.”

  “Well, I’ve got an announcement myself,” Troy said. “I know this is coming as a surprise, but you might as well know. Venita and I are engaged.”

  Stella blanched. “What? You can’t be serious!”

  Venita scooted forward in her seat to speak, directing her comments mostly to Stella. “I know this comes unexpectedly,” she said, adjusting the portion of her lavender sari that lay across her shoulder. “Perhaps you’re concerned about the differences in our ages, perhaps you have doubts because of differences in Troy’s and my background, but I assure you that my feelings for your son are profound. I didn’t expect anything like this to happen. I didn’t seek it. But we do love each other. If we can’t have your blessing, I hope you at least understand.”

  Stella appeared ready to cry, but was incapable of speech.

  “I think congratulations are in order,” Mac said. “I can’t speak for Stella, but I personally wish you both the best.” He cleared his throat. “But your personal lives and the film deal are two separate issues as far as I’m concerned.”

  Troy did not look pleased about that. Mac turned to his wife.

  “You’ve made your commitment to this movie very clear to me, Stella. It wouldn’t be a reach to say nothing is more important to you.”

  She colored, but lifted her chin. “It’s Troy’s and my dream, that’s true, but it’s also a wonderful opportunity for you, Mac.”

  He couldn’t help smiling at the innocence of her tone. It was especially ironic considering she had been trying to extort millions from him. But that was Stella.

  “Never mind me,” he said. “This is about you and Troy. I’ve made my decision. I plan to give you each a million dollars to invest in Mr. Kory’s film.”

  Venita and Arjay brightened right along with Stella and Troy.

  “You are serious, Mac,” his wife said.

  “Of course. You can be very persuasive, Stella, when you put your mind to it.”

  She seemed uncertain whether to be offended or not. He reached into his pocket and took out two checks, holding them up. “Here’s a million dollars each. But there is a catch,” he said. “You only get the money if you invest it in On Distant Shores with Amal and Venita.”

  “Mac,” Stella said, “that’s our intention. How can it be a catch?”

  “I’m afraid you based your decision on incomplete information.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Mac glanced at Jade, who smiled at him. “Stella,” he said, “before donating this much money to a project and people I couldn’t vouch for, I thought the responsible thing to do was check things out, ask a few questions. Would you care to hear what I’ve learned?”

  Venita Kumar drew herself up. Arjay Pantel’s composure began showing signs of cracking. He shifted uncomfortably. Mac stared at him, then at Venita, who was staring daggers back at him in anticipation of what she surely knew was coming. Stella seemed confused.

  “Let me be direct,” Mac said. “Mr. Kory is an acclaimed film director, no doubt about that. And yes, you’d be lucky if he took you under his wing. The problem is, I learned that Mr. Kory is a reclusive gu
y. In fact, for a number of months he’s been in a retreat in a remote part of India.”

  Arjay Pantel squirmed. Stella looked at him.

  “Mac, what are you talking about?”

  “There’s a journalist in St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, a guy named Percy Gaylord, who can give you all the details,” he replied. “The short version is this. The gentleman seated next to you is actually Arjay Pantel. If you asked Lieutenant Caldron how best to describe Mr. Pantel’s profession, the term he’d probably use is con artist.”

  “What?” Stella said indignantly.

  “I’m afraid it’s true. This guy is an impostor.”

  Venita moved to the edge of her seat. Troy got to his feet. “What kind of bullshit is this? You didn’t bring us here to give us money for the project. You want to dump on our friends.”

  “Ask Mr. Pantel about his criminal record, Troy.”

  Arjay rose. “This is most amusing, Mr. McGowan. But I see no reason to sit here and endure your baseless accusations.”

  “Do you deny that what I just said is true?”

  “I shan’t dignify that with a response. Good day.” With that, he headed for the door.

  “Mac McGowan,” Stella fumed, “this is a disgrace!”

  Now Venita was on her feet. “You are a brutal man, sir,” she said, her eyes flashing.

  “Is the guy who just walked out the door the same one who directed you in the films you did with Amal Kory, Miss Kumar, or did you develop amnesia, like your friend Percy Gaylord?”

  “I am a reputable film star, the widow of the late and most assuredly great director, Ranjit Govind.”

  “Then perhaps you’d like to explain why you hired a con artist to play the role of Kory to dupe my wife and son.”

  Venita shook with rage. “You mean to destroy me. You feel threatened. That’s what this is about!”

  “You don’t have to prove your acting credentials, Miss Kumar. Your performance speaks for itself. But I understand you were run out of your own country on a rail. I don’t know the details, and I’m sure as hell not going to judge whether it was justified or not. But I do know this, you’re a fraud.”