"Can't say as I do."
"You really should, detective."
"Call me Sugar."
"You really should, Sugar. I'm a distributor for some of the best chelated vitamins on the market. No sugars, no starches, no fillers. They boost your energy level naturally."
"I guess we could all use a little more energy." Sugar leaned against the oven. It was warm but not hot. "You're a real good businesswoman. I like that. Shows character."
"It's not really a choice." Stephanie broke another piece of cookie off. "I'm a single parent. Somebody's got to pay the bills."
"Maybe I'll pick up a couple bottles of vitamin C when we're done here. I don't know much about vitamins, but I heard that's good for colds."
"I have a very good thousand-milligram time-release C available. If you buy two bottles, the third one is free. I also have some aloe vera gel that will help that eczema of yours."
Sugar grinned at her. "Looks like this is my lucky day. I almost hate to have to talk business with you, but I have to." She took a longer drink, and he watched her white throat shiver as she swallowed. "This gentleman you were talking to"-he flipped through his notebook-"Jimmy Gage. What exactly did he ask you about?"
Stephanie drooped like a week-old daisy. "I'm not in any trouble, am I?"
Sugar patted her arm. "I've got the inside track with the district attorney. Not to brag, but if I say you're a friend of the department, that will pretty much settle things."
"I really never knew what was going on. Not until it was too late. Could you write that down?"
Sugar wrote it down in his notebook, while Stephanie leaned over to watch. "You told that to Mr. Gage?"
"Yes, I did. I certainly did."
"You said you didn't know what was going on until it was too late. So later you did realize what was going on?"
"Well, yes, but by then-"
"By then it was too late. Not your fault." Sugar wrote that down too.
"Jimmy said I was going to be an unnamed source. He promised me."
"Jimmy Gage is interfering in a police investigation. He can't promise you anything."
"I see." Stephanie's hand shook. "You meet someone, you think you can trust them… It's my own fault. As I said, I used to be mildly obese. A fat girl, she always trusts a man who smiles at her. I guess, deep down, I'm still a fat girl."
"Stephanie, I need to know exactly what you told him. The whole investigation could be compromised. I'm sure he mentioned a photographer that April McCoy used."
"Willard Burton. Yes, Jimmy knew all about him."
Sugar looked up from his notes. "Would you mind pulling the drapes? I'm getting a wicked reflection off the window." He waited until Stephanie had closed the drapes and returned to the sofa. The room was darker now, cooler.
"Jimmy wasn't really that interested in Willard Burton," said Stephanie.
"No, I expect he was interested in Heather Grimm. He thinks somebody put her up to going to Garrett Walsh's beach house."
"Well, actually he knows that April sent her there." Stephanie drank the last of her water, the ice cubes tumbling against her upper lip. She looked pleased with herself. Nothing nicer than being able to correct a police officer. "What he wanted from me was who it was put April up to it."
Sugar took it all down. "And who did put April up to it?"
"I have no idea. That's what I told him."
"Was that the truth?"
"Yes, sir, it was."
"I know this Jimmy Gage, Stephanie. He doesn't take no for an answer. I'm sure you must have told him something he could use."
"Well, I told him that April put Heather under contract. He seemed excited by that. April said Heather had a real career in front of her. She had her lined up for a big part, a real movie, with stars and everything. Then she got killed."
"Did April ever tell you what the movie was?"
"That's just what Jimmy wanted to know." Stephanie shook her head.
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him I couldn't remember. It was the truth too."
It didn't matter. If Jimmy asked the question, he was already halfway to the answer. Sugar saw her glance at her watch. "What time does your daughter get off the bus?"
"Quarter to three."
Sugar closed his notebook. "I'd like some of that fancy vitamin C."
Stephanie beamed and headed toward the back of the house. "How about some aloe vera too?" she called over her shoulder. "No reason you should have to wear those hot gloves all the time."
"Sold." Sugar followed her into the hallway and waited until she disappeared, then went back into the kitchen. He stared at the child's drawings taped on the refrigerator: a stick-figure picture of a girl and a woman riding bicycles under a smiling, yellow sun. It made his stomach hurt. He turned away, opened the stove, slid out the wire shelves, and laid them against the wall. On one knee now, he blew out the pilot light and closed the oven door. He thought for a second, then snagged a small cushion off one of the kitchen chairs, laid it in the bottom of the oven, and closed the door again. He turned on the gas full blast, listening to it hiss. "Stephanie? Make it two tubes of that aloe vera gel."
"You got it, detective," Stephanie called from the rear of the house.
Sugar listened to the hissing oven for a few more minutes, then strolled back down the hallway and saw Stephanie coming out of a bedroom holding a paper bag.
"I put in a few skin-care samples. I know a big strong man like you doesn't care about things like that, but the lady in your life will appreciate it."
"There is no lady in my life."
Stephanie cocked her head. "Really?"
Sugar smiled. "I've never been much of a ladies' man."
"I find that hard to believe, detective."
Sugar looked inside the bag. "You really think these pills and potions will help me?"
Stephanie sniffed. "I smell gas."
Sugar followed her into the kitchen and found her holding the door to the oven open, waving at the rank air. He stopped her as she went to turn off the gas.
"What are you doing?"
Sugar closed the door. "We have to talk."
Stephanie lunged again for the stove dial. "The pilot light must have gone out again."
Sugar held her tightly against him, felt her struggle, and the heat and friction aroused him. "Listen. Just listen. Stephanie, listen. That's better," he said, as she stopped for a moment. "I want you to know, this is not my fault."
"What's not your fault?"
"What's going to happen next."
"Detective, you're scaring me."
"Not as bad as I scare myself."
Stephanie moistened her lips. "I want you to turn off the gas." Sugar shook his head. "I'm sorry."
Stephanie bolted for the back door, but Sugar caught her, She kicked and struggled, screaming now, her voice high-pitched and shrill.
Sugar pushed her face against his chest as she screamed, his flesh muffling her cries. He patted her head, endured her kicks, and kept on talking, his voice soft and soothing. "I don't blame you. It's a lousy thing to happen to a good woman like you, coming out of the blue like this, but that's the way it's got to be."
Stephanie pulled half away from him, howling for help, but there were no neighbors to hear her, they both knew that.
Sugar drew her closer and wrapped his big arms around her. "Shhhhh."
Stephanie kneed him, but he had been kneed by experts, and it hadn't stopped him.
"We haven't got time for this," said Sugar, his lips brushing against the pink shell of her ear. "Your little girl is going to be home soon. You don't want me to be here when she comes in through the door." He felt her shudder. "She's going to walk in, call your name, maybe ask why you weren't there at the bus stop-and then she's going to see me, and I'm not going to be able to stop myself."
Stephanie whimpered and pulled away. She was stronger than she looked. "Why are you doing this?"