Avarice

CHAPTER SIX

Rosemaria was looking forward to her father’s visit, even though she couldn’t stand up to greet him. She was learning, with the help of Madelaine, to maneuver herself in and out of her bed, to do her bad arm finger exercises and leg lifts with her good leg, to get into the bathroom and on and off the toilet. Her broken arm and the non-life-threatening bodily injuries she had sustained were still too painful for her to be able to handle crutches. The good thing was that neither Madelaine nor Kirsten was hovering over her, which would have driven her mad. If she was going to be a prisoner, at least she needed some semblance of privacy.

She heard Cameron’s buzz and gave him her quick two-buzz answer from the button on her wheelchair. The door opened, and her father quickly strode into the room to her side, a big smile on his face. He bent down and hugged her gently and sat in a chair next to her. She was very happy to see him but was perplexed at the still-open door. That was very unusual.

“I have a surprise for you,” her dad said. “She had to go through a rigid security check, but she passed with flying colors.”

Cameron came in holding Suzi the cockatoo in her cage. Rosemaria squealed like a teenager having been asked to the junior prom by the class stud. “Suzi!”

“Gilbert get down! Gilbert get down!” Suzi shouted and fluttered around her cage excitedly.

“Thank you, Dad. I’m so happy to see her.” After Rosemaria made sure Cameron had closed the door behind him, she opened Suzi’s cage, and the bird hopped out and flew around the room in several circles before finally landing on Rosemaria’s shoulder.

Her dad explained, “Josh has been so busy finishing up recording a commercial campaign for Wilson’s Furniture Stores and making plans for the tour and the premiere, he thought the two of you might like to keep each other company.”

“And he didn’t even tell me. I’m really sweet on that guy, Dad.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Anyway, I felt like I was in a spy movie getting her out of there. Cameron made it clear I would not be able to pick her up in case I was being followed. So Mrs. Wilkes from next door took her to the vet, making it look like she needed treatment, and then my friend Sandy picked her up at the back door and drove her home, where I picked her up and drove her over here.”

“Sandy, huh?”

“Nothing like that. Don’t get any ideas.”

“You’d tell me if there’s anything there, right? It’s been a lifetime since Mom died.”

“Enough about that. With all this time on your hands, I know you haven’t spent it watching Netflix.”

“I love how you know me better than anybody, and yeah, I’ve been thinking about the case. You’re the only person in my life besides Josh who truly gets me and accepts me as I am.”

“I like what you are.”

“Some find the way I am annoying.”

“You have the instincts of a born detective. Enough said.”

“Keeping that astute observation in mind, the more I go over it, the more I’m convinced this has to do with Ramin Hassan and David Marchand. It’s just too coincidental that Marchand was killed two weeks after I went to see him about helping him clear his name, and you know how I hate coincidences.”

“You also hate the obvious, and that seems too obvious, like a movie script convenience.”

“Maybe the killer didn’t care about being obvious. Maybe he just wanted David’s story to die with him.”

“Mack and Loshi are going through the records of everybody of any consequence who might have a grudge against you. You know very well that Walter Atkins is insane, and now that he’s been permanently let go from the LA DA’s office and is scrambling to make a living as an ambulance chaser, he just might come up with the money to hire a couple of pros to put you out of his misery.”

“He’d never hire anybody, Dad. He wants to see the fear in my eyes as he strangles me to death.” She snorted. “As if that could ever happen.”

“Vick is another consideration. Cons make all kinds of deals in the pen. He could have made a deal with someone in exchange for something he could do for them in prison. The cops need to investigate killings in San Quentin and see if any can be traced to him.”

“Cons killing each other is not unusual.”

“Exactly my point. Someone inside might have wanted to kill David for reasons known only to his fellow inmates. We’ll never find that out.”

She sighed. “Dad, why do you have to make so much sense just when I get my mind set in one direction?”

“You never liked that the detectives on the Hassan case made up their minds early that Marchand was guilty. Jumping to conclusions is also something you hate, even back when you were in uniform. But you’re doing it now.”

“Doggone it. You always did pull me up short when I stampeded full steam ahead.”

“You have a lot of time now. Not like when you were investigating the murder of Maria Ramirez and trying to find the people threatening Tiffany and Maryanne and working as a prosecutor at the same time.”

“Yeah, that was a little sticky, but you’re right. I just wish I could do a little leg work if I come up with something.”

“This may surprise you a bit—I have agreed to work with Waite. Osborne is busy on other investigations, so he’s okay with it, and so are the captain and the lieutenant.”

“Holy horse feathers, Batman. When did you decide this?”

“Today. We’ll work with you. We have a few ideas of our own and can travel anywhere. Sargeant Osborne is giving Waite plenty of space. Larry is the official liaison with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, but he has a full plate right now investigating the murder of the couple in Bel Air. But as soon as San Diego gives him any info, he’ll be passing it on to us.

“Is Larry making progress on the Bel Air case?”

“Seems pretty cut and dried. The son and his girlfriend are the obvious suspects. Just plugging up the holes and looking at other people.”

“To avoid the ‘rush to judgement’ accusation, I gather.”

“You got it.”

“Why didn’t downtown take the case?”

“Larry and Harvey were first on the scene, and robbery homicide have their hands full with a string of unsolved murders downtown.”

“I guess they’ll try the case in Van Nuys.”

“Probably. But let’s get back to you.”

“Investigating this could be dangerous for you, Dad.”

“I was a cop for more years than you’ve been alive, daughter. And I’ve survived in one piece so far—of course, with a little help from you that one time.”

“You probably would have gotten out of that scrape without me. But I did good, didn’t I?”

“You did. Selfishly speaking, saving my life was absolutely a good thing. Now I intend to return the favor. I can’t just sit on the sidelines when you’re in danger. With all due respect to Mack and Loshi, I know that you, me, and Waite are just as highly qualified a team as they are. We’d like to have first crack at Atkins, but Mack and Loshi will beat us to it. If they eliminate him, we’ll confab with you and decide on our next moves. Okay with you?”

“Confab, Dad? That is so Hollywood. I’m stunned.”

He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Buzz your bodyguard to get me out of here. Time’s a wastin’.