Mystery_ An Alex Delaware Novel Part 42

Divana said, "Grundy sounds like an old lady. Like from a movie or something."

"Unfortunately for Tiara, she'll never get old."

"b.u.mmer," said Divana. "What does that have to do with us?"

Milo showed them Tiara's SukRose bikini shot.

Divana's smugness vaporized. Lori said, "Oh. OmiG.o.d."

Divana said, "That's crazy-I need a drink. Anyone else?"

"c.o.ke Zero," said Lori.

"We're fine," said Milo.

"I'm not fine," said Lori. "I'm freaked out."

Half a b.l.o.o.d.y Mary later, Divana licked brick-colored grit from her lips. "Yeah, we know who she is, she's their father's girlfriend, so what?"

"You met her."

"No, they told us about her." Pause. "Showed us her picture."

"In what context?"

"What do you mean?"

"How did she come up?"

"Hmm," said Divana. "I think it was at Cabo...no, it was Sedona, right? Yeah, Sedona. Right, Lore?"

Lori drew her legs up, yoga-like, tapped a sandal. "I'm thinking yes." She nudged an earring. "Yeah, definitely Sedona."

I said, "One of your trips with Phil and Frank."

Nods.

"You do a lot of those?"

"Not enough, let me tell you," said Divana.

"Their schedules," said Lori.

"At least they don't have kids," said Divana. "Just business."

"And wives."

I said, "Kids tie you down."

"That's what they tell us."

"Phil and Frank?"

"No, our friends who have them."

"But even with wives, the brothers manage to get away."

"The brothers," said Divana, shooting a lopsided grin. As if she'd never thought of them that way. "They're the best little boys."

"How did the subject of their father's girlfriend come up?"

"Hmm...we were...I guess in bed. Right, Lore?"

"Probably."

"We spend lots of time in bed," said Divana. "Room service, champagne, pay-per-view, what's better? That day, they went off to see some red rocks. Frankie and Philly, not us. We said suit yourselves, boys, we're staying here with Mr. Moet and Mr. Chandon."

I said, "But at some point all of you were in bed and the subject of Markham Suss's love life came up."

"Love life?" said Divana. "More like s.e.x life. They said he was a total horndog, that's where they got it from."

"Proud of their heritage."

"Huh?"

"They liked taking after their father."

"Yeah, exactly. And then one of them said-I'm not sure if it was Philly or Frankie-he said guess what, the old guy's hooked up with some piece he found online, he didn't even used to like the computer. They thought it was funny."

"They knew that because..."

"I don't know," said Divana. "Maybe he told them."

Lori said, "Maybe he was proud so he told them."

"At his age, Lore? Probably super-proud. Probably v.i.a.g.r.a, but still."

"One thing I didn't didn't like," said Lori, "was their making a big deal about her being young." like," said Lori, "was their making a big deal about her being young."

"Tiara."

Nod. "They were like, 'She's fresh, not a wrinkle.' I said keep pus.h.i.+ng it, Bad Boys, and we'll kick you hard in the you-know-whats."

"They like to be talked to that way," said Divana.

I said, "Submissive."

"Not really, they just like when we have spirit."

Lori said, "That's what they call it. Spirit."

"So they were impressed with how young Tiara was."

Lori said, "Philly started, I remember 'cause that time I was with Frankie and she was with Philly and Frankie started to laugh after Philly said it and his chin b.u.mped me and I got p.o.'d, almost pushed him off."

"That time you were with Frankie," I said. "Other times you're with Phil?"

Both women looked at the floor.

I said, "There's no formal arrangement, everything's relaxed."

Divana's eyes locked on mine. "It's not illegal, okay?"

"You bet."

"Think of it like a club. Fun Club, exclusive members.h.i.+p."

I said, "This may be a stupid question but do their wives know?"

"Maybe," said Lori.

"I think so, too," said Divana. "Maybe."

I said, "Really."

"They don't seem real careful. Use credit cards for everything and they're like gone a lot."

"With us," said Lori. "Two months ago we went to Jackson Hole, hot-air ballooning. Private balloon. It was beautiful."

"So was the Four Seasons," said Divana. "That fireplace. Yum chocolates."

I said, "What did Frankie and Philly really think about Tiara?"

"We just told you," whined Lori. "They were happy. That he was having fun. They thought it was funny. It didn't bug them."

"They didn't resent her?"

"No way."

"Any money their father gave her they'd never get."

"They don't care about money," said Lori.

"They've got tons of money," said Divana. "All they care about is you-know-what."

"They never expressed any bad feelings at all toward Tiara?"

"They're not like that, they're happy. Like little boys."

"Boys," Lori echoed.

Milo spelled out the time of the murder. "Do either of you have any idea what Phil and Frank were doing then?"

Lori said, "C'mon, you can't really think they would do something horrible like that."

"If we find out they had opportunity, we'll be after them and you won't be able to stay under the radar."

"What did we do?" said Divana.

"Had the wrong kind of friends."

"You're wrong. They're not wrong. They're not like like that." that."

He repeated the time frame. "Can you vouch for their whereabouts?"

Lori shook her head. "But that doesn't mean anything."

I said, "It does sound like a fun club."

"We're just having a good time, what they do with their wives is their problem."

"Or don't do," said Lori, giggling.

"About Tara Sly," I said. "What else did they tell you?"

"Just that."

"Their father's girlfriend."

"Yup."

"It didn't bother them."

"Not at all."

Lori said, "Who killed her?"

"That's what we're trying to find out."

"How'd she die?"

"She got her face blown off."

Divana said, "With like dynamite?"

"With guns."

"Oh, no," said Lori.