That shut them all up.
The cab vomited them out at the gate at the bottom of Gay Larry’s driveway.
“Here goes,” Eddie said, and pushed the intercom.
Nothing happened so he pushed it again.
“Who is it?” said a deep male voice.
“Is that you, Larry? It’s Eddie Vegas.”
“Eddie fucking Vegas. To what do I owe the headache?”
“Larry, fuck am I glad to hear your voice. Can we come up?”
“Who’s we, honey?”
“Oh, my … wife, Dakota, and me. We could use your help.”
A pause. “Come on up, handsome.”
A motor hummed and the gates came apart. Eddie slipped through the crack, Dakota behind him.
“So I’m your wife now,” she said.
“Sorry about that, I panicked. Should have said girlfriend.”
“You don’t make much sense sometimes.”
“You only figuring that out now?”
“Fair point.”
“Listen, don’t say a word about why we’re here to Gay Larry. And whatever you do, don’t call him Gay Larry.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
They passed a red Lamborghini Huracán Spyder as the front door opened to reveal a tall, broad-shouldered woman, a scarlet dress wrapped tight around her body.
“Eddie fucking Vegas,” the woman said in Gay Larry’s deep voice. Eddie nearly jumped. Christ—the woman was him.
“You’ve changed I see,” Eddie said.
“Only on the outside, honey.”
Then again, not that much, Eddie thought, glancing at the bulge pushing through the crotch of Gay Larry’s dress.
“This is my wife, Dakota. Dakota, meet my old friend, Gay Larry.” Fuck.
Gay Larry ignored it. “It’s a pleasure, Dakota.” He took hold of her hand by the fingertips, placing his other hand gently on top. “After you two.” He extended an arm toward the house.
Eddie followed Dakota inside.
Eddie said, “You just leave that Lamborghini out there, huh? You don’t lock it up in the garage?”
“Oh, I keep my nineteen seventy-one Pontiac G.T.O. Judge in the garage,” Gay Larry said behind him. “It’s much more precious to me. There’s only seventeen of them in the world.”
“Wow.”
“And Eddie, I’m not gay. I’ve told you that before.”
“Old habits, Larry. I don’t mean anything by it.”
“I know, honey. But my name isn’t Larry, either.”
The doorway opened up into a huge foyer, everything made of marble. A gigantic chandelier sparkled above them. Dakota stopped walking and Eddie did the same.
“It’s not?” he said.
“No, Eddie, it’s not. My name is Lois now.”
“Ah. Okay.” Just when he thought the week couldn’t get any weirder.
“Follow me, lovelies,” said Gay Larry—no, Lois; he’d have to remember that.
Lois led them into a room that contained a cream, leather, L-shaped sofa and a massive flatscreen attached to the wall in front of it. A cream rug on the floor absorbed their footfalls as they sat on the sofa. The entire right wall was made of glass and Lois told them to look out through it. It was too dark to see anything out there until a light blinked on outside and the view opened up: a green swimming pool glinted under the brightness and beyond it a million city lights twinkled up at them.
“Wow, that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Dakota said.
“Unbelievable, Larry,” Eddie said.
Gay Larry stared blankly back at him.
Shit, he’d called him Larry again. “Fuck, sorry Larry—Lois.” He felt Dakota sniggering beside him.
“This is difficult for you, isn’t it?” Lois said.
“It’s certainly different.”
Dakota said, “Oh for fuck sake, her name used to be Larry, now it’s Lois. Simple.” Enjoying herself. “It’s lovely to meet you, Lois. Your home is breathtaking.”
Lois beamed. “How did you convince this gorgeous woman to marry you, Eddie?”
“With a gun.”
Lois let loose a laugh. “I’d believe it. I’ll fix us some drinks and then I want to hear all about that story. Have you grown up yet, Eddie, or are you still drinking beer? And what about you, darling, what do you fancy?”
“Surprise me,” Dakota said.
“Oh, I like this one already. And you, Eddie?”
“I’ll have what she’s having.”
“Back in a flash,” Lois said, and swept elegantly out of the room, long blond hair (a wig, Eddie assumed) swishing behind her.
Eddie looked sideways at Dakota. “I haven’t a fucking clue what’s going on anymore.”
“What’s going on is we’re sitting inside the most gorgeous house I’ve ever seen, looking out at the most beautiful view.”
“Yeah, it’s something.” He reached for the remote control and slapped his thumb at it until the gigantic TV came alive. A news reporter started telling him about terrible things. He set the remote down and watched the woman speak.
“How did Lois make her money?” Dakota said.
“Porn.”
“For real?”
“Yeah, owns a company that produces it. Although he—” Eddie made bunny ears with his fingers—“‘acted’ in hundreds of them before that. That was all gay porn, hence the nickname, but his company produces all kinds of stuff.”
“Her. You should respect Lois’s wish to be called ‘her.’ Did you come up with that nickname?”
“Nah, of course not, it’s just all I ever knew to call him. Her. She didn’t mind so much back then. Did say she wasn’t gay every now and then but I don’t know who she thought she was fooling with that, sucking off guys every day.”
Lois returned with three neon blue cocktails on a shiny gold tray, tiny pink flamingos bobbing up out of them.
“Here you go, lovelies. This is my own recipe. I call it ‘Blue Velvet.’ Have a try.”
Eddie and Dakota reached forward and grabbed a cocktail each. The scent of it wafted up Eddie’s nose: A touch of citrus but also something else … soap?
Dakota was sniffing beside him.
“There’s cilantro in this,” she said.
“Very good,” Lois said. “Essence of cilantro. Are you two going to smell it all night or drink the damn thing?”
Eddie sipped. The initial taste was extremely sour, then deliciously sweet, a touch of lime and ginger coming through, and after that, a refreshing leafy flavor rested on his tongue beneath an alcoholic warmth.
“Holy crap, that’s the nicest cocktail I’ve ever had,” he said.
“Absolutely delicious,” Dakota said.
Lois sat back into the sofa beside Dakota, her cocktail in one hand. As she crossed one leg over the other, Eddie caught a glimpse of her balls and nearly choked on the straw.
“You okay there, Eddie?” Lois said.
He nodded, coughing. “Just went down the wrong way.”
On the TV, the news reporter said something about how unnatural and bizarre the rain in Los Angeles had been while wildfires decimated Northern California.
Lois turned in the seat to face Dakota. “So, I simply must know, what on Earth do you see in a man like him?”
Dakota hesitated, and Lois said, “Because, this guy—I know you married him, but let me tell you, Eddie is a slippery one, aren’t you, Eddie?”
Eddie said, “What we talking about here?”
“You know exactly what we’re talking about.”
“For Christ sake, Larry, that was years ago.”
“Lois.”
“Lois, Alhambra was years ago.”
“That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. To be honest, I never thought I’d see you again.”
“Yeah, well, me too.”
“What happened in Alhambra?” Dakota said.
Eddie and Lois looked at each other.
“Eddie, why don’t you tell your wife what
you did in Alhambra. I’m interested to hear how you describe it.”
“I don’t want to talk about that right now, Lois. For what it’s worth, I am truly sorry. Really, I am. You didn’t deserve it. I was young and reckless and totally fuckin’ petrified. I hoped the years would have, you know, fixed it between us. I mean, look at you, look at this house. Shit, you got the better deal in the end. I have nothing.”
Lois stared at him with narrowed eyes for a moment, then looked away, her face softening. “You’re right. Let bygones be bygones. I am grateful for what I have, no doubt. But you have nothing? What about your wife?”
“Oh, well, of course, I’m very grateful for my wife.” Eddie looked at Dakota and forced a smile of a man overwhelmed with appreciation. “Dakota is the light of my life.”
“Cut the shit, Eddie, I know you’re not married. I know you. You don’t even have rings for God’s sake.”
“We couldn’t afford them, got married on an impulse.”
“Are you capable of saying something that isn’t bullshit?”
“All right, you got me. I don’t have a wife.”
“Are you going to tell me why you’re really here or will that be bullshit too?”
Eddie glanced at his feet, thinking about it. Lois would know if he was lying, but could she be trusted? Then again, maybe some trust was necessary if he expected Lois to help them find Kaya.
“All right, Lois, I’ll give it to you straight. There’s some men trying to find me, find us—” he glanced at Dakota—“and when I say ‘find,’ I mean they want to bury us in the desert. They’re watching the hotels, I think, so we had to come stay somewhere they wouldn’t be able to link me to. You’re the only person I know that they don’t know about. We plan on leaving the city, maybe even the country, but there’s someone we have to find first. And, well, to be honest, I was hoping you could help us out with that last part.”
Lois sipped through her straw, uncrossed her legs, placed the cocktail on the coffee table, recrossed her legs, and said, “So you’re telling me that some men want to kill you, and you’ve decided to put my life in danger by hiding here, in my home. Do I have that right, Eddie?”
“There’s no way they could know we’re here. I know you don’t owe me anything, that it’s me who owes you, but we were friends once La—Lois. We just need to lay low for a while, until we find Dakota’s sister, and then, I swear, you’ll never see us again.”
Lois seemed to think about it. “Who wants to kill you?”
“Saul Benedict.”
Lois’s eyes popped. “Saul Benedict? Oh, Eddie, you silly little man. What have you done?”
“I fucked up a job and now Saul wants me to pay him the fifty grand I cost him. Like I have it. So I bailed.”
“How did you get involved with Saul Benedict?”
“Started working for him a couple years ago. Long story.”
Lois sighed dramatically. “Okay, Eddie, for old time’s sake, you and your friend—whose role in this you have not at all explained, by the way—can stay here for tonight. But as soon as that sun rises I want you out, and I’m not helping you find anybody. I’ve got a good thing going now and I don’t ever want to see you again after tonight.”
“Thank you thank you thank you. You won’t regret it.”
“I hope not, Eddie. Now if you’ll both excuse me, I need to use the little girl’s room. Back in a flash.”
Lois left the room and Dakota scooted across the sofa toward Eddie.
“So much for not saying a word about why we’re here,” she said.
“I didn’t have a choice. It’s just a few hours, then we’re gone.”
“Then we find Kaya.”
“Yeah. Then we get the fuck out of L.A., whether she wants to come or not.”
“How are we going to find her?”
“Fuck you asking me for? She’s your sister. I figured you had some kind of plan.”
“I was hoping you did. I don’t know anything about this city.”
Eddie slapped his knee. “Well, isn’t that fantastic. Asking someone rich with connections like Gay Larry was the extent of my plan. Why don’t we just go knocking on doors? Who knows, your sister might open one of them. Better yet, we’ll shout her name on the street. She might hear us and come running.” He shook his head. “We haven’t a hope of finding her.”
Dakota’s lip trembled and she gazed at her feet. Eddie felt it in his chest like a wound.
“I’m sorry. That was a stupid thing to say. I’m an idiot, don’t listen to me. We’ll find your sister, she’s around here somewhere. You said she was a stripper. We’ll visit every strip club in the city, ask around. I bet we find someone who knows her, if we don’t find Kaya herself. Okay?”
Dakota nodded like a child being scolded. “I’m all she has, Eddie. And she’s all I have. My little sister. I miss her.”
“We’ll find her, I promise.”
Dakota rested her head on his shoulder and he rubbed her side gently. Once again he was reminded of how much he cared about this woman who’d drifted into his life like a dream. Who he barely fucking knew. It was a nice feeling, warm and serene, but with a pain attached to it, a pain that could grow if he let it.
The news reporter on the TV returned after an ad break and informed them of a robbery downtown that had turned into a shootout with police, the gunman injuring two officers before they put him down.
Eddie said, “Hey, you want a glass of water? I’m dying here. I’ll be right back with some water, okay?”
He came out into the massive foyer, the air colder in here. Light spilled out of an open door opposite him. He moved toward it and heard Lois’s voice: “Does this mean we’re even? My debts are paid?”
Eddie peered his head inside and Lois spotted him.
Lois said, “Listen, I must be off, I have an old friend over tonight, but we’ll figure this out tomorrow, ’kay?”
Lois put the cell phone down. “Bastard. I owe him some money and he won’t stop letting me know about it.”
“I know the feeling.”
“You looking for something?”
“Just water.”
“Glasses are in that cupboard there.”
Eddie grabbed two and set them down beside the sink and filled them with water.
“Lois, I’ve always taken you to be pretty upfront. What’s with all this ‘I’m not gay’ shit? You’re wearing a fuckin’ dress.”
“Not just any dress, honey. This is a Jean Paul Gaultier.”
“I don’t know what the fuck that means, Lois.”
“It means I’ve been enslaved by vanity and capitalism.”
“Okay.”
“I’m not gay, Eddie, because I’m not a man. I am a straight woman.”
“Lois, I don’t mean to be rude when I say this, but I can see your fuckin’ cock pushing through your dress.”
Lois glanced at it. “Yes, that’s unfortunate. I’ve made a down payment on the surgery but it’ll be a while until I’m that far into the journey. You’re a little behind the times, Eddie. There are many women walking around with male genitalia, just as there are men with female genitalia. And everything in between. Gender and sex are not the same thing.”
“I know that, I mean, shit, I just thought you were gay.”
“No, I’m a beautiful, heterosexual woman trapped in this, let’s be honest, gorgeous man’s body.”
“So that surgery—they’re gonna make you into a woman?”
“They’re going to make the outside match the inside, yes.”
“Must cost a lot.”
“Oh, Eddie, an arm and a leg. Or in this case a cock and a pair of balls. The estimate for all the surgeries is one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. I imagine it will magically grow as the time approaches.”
“Shit, that’s a lot. Not to you though, right? You’re loaded.”
“Not quite. I’m going broke, the business is going down the toilet. All this free porn is killing the indust
ry, and the big companies driving it are forcing producers like me into bad deals. I’ll have to sell my beautiful cars, which kills me to say, but it’s more important I become my true self.”
“That’s tough, I didn’t realize.”
“Before I can begin the surgeries I have to go on hormone treatment for one year and prove I can live as a woman during that time. A ‘real-life experience’ they call it. Hence the dress. I feel a little silly in it, to be honest with you, still having the body of a man and all, but, in another way, it feels quite freeing not having to pretend anymore.”
“I had no idea, Lois. I’m sorry for being, you know … insensitive.”
Lois smiled. “I never thought I’d hear Eddie Vegas say the word ‘insensitive.’ You must be getting soft. Come on, your beautiful wife is all by herself.”
Lois left the kitchen. Eddie picked up the glasses of water and followed her.
When he entered the room after Lois, Dakota smiled at him. It surprised him for a second. He smiled back at her and her gaze moved onto the TV. Her face changed then, the smile faltering at first, then dropping away completely, replaced with a look of surprise, followed by one of horror, her bottom lip coming away from the top.
Eddie faced the TV and his blood ran cold. The glasses slipped out of his fingers and smashed at his feet. On the screen three women posed in matching black bras, underwear and fishnet tights, all smiling at the camera. Text beneath the image read “(L-R) Colleague of victim, Tiffany Johnson; Victim, Kaya White; and colleague of victim, Mandy Leibowitz at the Pink Room in Los Angeles.” The reporter’s voice spoke over the photograph: “… of this, the only known photograph of one of the murder victims, Kaya White, whose last known whereabouts is her previous place of work, a gentleman’s club called the Pink Room in Los Angeles where White worked as a dancer. L.A.P.D. requests family, friends and associates of White, as well as anyone who has any information, to please come forward …”
Eddie felt his legs buckle and stuck a hand out to guide him onto the sofa beside him, his gaze never leaving the screen. It was the woman in the middle Eddie couldn’t take his eyes off. He’d shot her and buried her in the dirt and now here she was, staring back at him.
Jesus Christ. He’d murdered Dakota’s sister.
The full weight of it didn’t hit until a scream tore free of Dakota’s throat—a guttural, violent, agonized scream that ripped its way out of her body like a demon from hell. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her until she collapsed onto her hands and knees, that awful scream still going through her.
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