"Look, Chick, cleaning out that cabin might be an emotional mistake right now. You should call Evelyn's sister and see how long you could put this off. Even a few weeks would help:'
Chick appeared to be giving this some thought. Then he shook his head. "God, I wish I could just run from this, but I promised Mariah, so tomorrow I'm gonna drive up there and give it a shot. Wish me luck." Come on, he thought, don't just sit there.
But she sat quietly in her chair. He could see indecision flicker. "Would it help if I went with you?" she finally asked.
"Oh Paige, that is sweet of you but, my God, you've flown all the way out here. You barely knew Evelyn. You've made these days bearable just by showing up." He stopped and shook his head. "I can't ask you to do that. I'll be okay. I'll get through it somehow."
"Okay, if you think you can manage."
"It will only take a few hours," he said. "Three painful hours and it will be over?'
He watched indecision play on her face.
"I don't really have anything to do tomorrow," she finally said. "It's only a few hours, and if it would help you, then I'd be happy to go. It's the first time in months that I feel like I can actually pitch in and do something worthwhile:'
"You'd really drive up there with me?" he said, hardly believing he'dpulled this off. Once he got her up there, he would figure a way to make it last for days.
"I've got to go see Chandler's parents in the morning for breakfast, but after that I'm free.
She stood up. "I'd better get going. It's late, and you should jump in that Jacuzzi and get your neck loosened. I'll see you manana." She gathered up her things and headed toward the house.
He got up and followed. At the door, he gave her a quick hug, remembering to keep it sexless. He watched her drive away. But after she was gone, he beamed.
Man, he was good. You just can't teach this shit, he thought.
PART 4
Chapter 33
DRIVING BACK TO THE LANGHAM HUNTINGTON IN PASAdena I wondered how I could have allowed myself to get talked into this. What on earth had I been thinking?
At the hotel, I gave the Mustang to the valet and took the elevator up to my room. When I walked in the telephone message light was on. I picked up the receiver, punched the right button, and listened to a recorded message from Peter Ellis notifying me that breakfast tomorrow was at 10 A. M. at the family offices on Wilshire Boulevard.
Then I played my second message. It was from Bob Butler.
"Mrs. Ellis, it's Detective Butler. I've been trying to reach you, but your cell phone must be off 'cause I'm going straight to voice-mail. Anyway, here's my update: The body and fender guy in Virginia remembers the car had New York plates and a Hertz sticker on the mirror. He helped me refine the sketch, which I'll be sending to you once the artist is done. I'm flying to New York to recheck the Hertz agencies there. I think I'm on the verge of solving this. Please call ASAP. God bless you."
I cursed myself that I'd left the damn cell-phone charger at home. I tried Bob's number, but he was either out of range or already on the plane. I finally stripped off my clothes and fell into bed. But, as tired as I was, I couldn't go to sleep.
The more I thought about my trip to the mountains with Chick, the more second thoughts I had.
I knew that impulsive decision was tied up with Chandler's death and a sense that I no longer fit in. I was trying to feel needed.
I tossed and turned and began to look for a way out. A way to renege. I got up, pulled some Evian out of the minibar, then turned on the TV and plopped back down on the bed and started absently roaming through the channels looking for something to take my mind off it. I stopped at The Late News on Channel Five, just as the blonde anchorwoman was saying:
"Evelyn Best, the slain wife of Internet exec Charles Best, was buried today at Forest Lawn Cemetery. While that event was taking place in front of several hundred family members and friends, across town the key suspect in her murder, Delroy Washington, was arraigned before the Superior Court Magistrate?'
The picture switched to a shot of Delroy being led into the courthouse in handcuffs. The insolent teenager glared at the camera.
"Assistant District Attorney Brent Briggs had these words for our KTLA camera outside the courthouse?'
The shot switched to a young D. A. with a serious expression. He was standing in front of the mahogany door to Superior Court Six.
"The physical evidence here is pretty overwhelming, and pending an arraignment on capital murder, we are going to ask that Mr. Washington be held without bail."
The shot switched to a black woman in her mid-forties wearing a print dress. She was with a heavyset man, who turned out to be her attorney. The anchorwoman's voice continued over the shot.
"Delroy Washington's attorney, David Atwater, had this to say… "
I was now sitting up straight in bed. I turned up the volume as the attorney spoke.
"Delroy Washington was at home with his mother when Mrs. Best's Mercedes was carjacked. This is just another example of police scapegoating. Because my client had a history of carjacking, they're trying to pin this crime on him, despite his alibi. This case is shortly going to be exposed for the rail job it actually is."
I thought of Chick and what he'd said at the funeral, how he had pledged himself to live a better life-use Evelyn's death to improve his life. I was suddenly ashamed about wanting to duck out. I decided anew to help him through this task in Big Bear. It was only going to take a few hours. I could certainly get through that.
I shut off the light and turned over on my side. Just before sleep took me, the same subconscious voice I'd heard earlier delivered another warning.
"Don't go," it whispered softly.
Chapter 34
THE NEXT MORNING CHANDLER'S PARENTS AND I SAT IN the handsome wood-paneled dining room in their corporate offices at a beautifully appointed table and picked at our food. Chandler's death was still a wall none of us could get over. After the meal was cleared away, we finally talked about what Peter Ellis called my next life option.
What it came down to was I had to get off my ass and start moving forward again.
The real reason the Ellis's had invited me to breakfast was to propose that I become managing director of Chandler's learning foundation. Peter said he and Sophia would continue to sit on the board as advisers without compensation. I would have full discretion on how to spend the foundation's capital distributions. I could manage the fiscal resources, decide what research equipment to buy, what new projects we would fund and develop.
There was important research being conducted on dyslexia at Yale by Drs. Sally and Bennett Shaywitz using MRIs to determine what part of the brain was activated when reading. Chandler had been excited with Sally and Bennett's work and had invested foundation money to speed their research. Peter said that I was the natural choice to run Chandler's foundation.
I was exhilarated by the challenge but scared to death of the responsibility. I also knew this was just what I needed to kick-start my life.
I was definitely interested but wanted the rest of the weekend to think it over. I told them that I had promised to go to Big Bear with Chick Best to help him clear Evelyn's things out of their cabin and would give them my decision when I returned.
It was noon by the time I left. I got caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic and didn't arrive back at the Langham until after one. I valeted the rental car and walked into the lobby. The concierge stopped me and handed me a fax in a sealed envelope. I was starting to open it when I heard my name.
"Paige?"
I turned, and standing there, dressed in black steel-toed cowboy boots, a blazer, and stretch designer jeans, was Chick.