Bella slid her cards across the table. “I’m coming too.”
“But what about us?” asked Gennie.
“I’ll get the other girl to cover me. But I’ll probably be back in time given how slowly they’re moving.”
Gennie nodded. “All right. Good luck.”
“Yeah, good luck,” called Cleo as the trailer door shut behind
them.
THE ECHO GROVE COUNTRY CLUB
was next to a golf course overlooking the valley below. Peter asked the hostess at the club’s
restaurant to point him to the District Attorney, Jeremy Hayes, which she did without question, which Bella found odd. No one in
Los Angeles would do that. People were so trusting here. It was weird.
Mr. Hayes was dining alone. He was a large man, not
overweight but oversized, with shoulders the size of a linebacker and legs that stretched almost the entire length of the table. There was a half-eaten steak and baked potato on his plate and a diet soda with lemon next to it. He looked up from his dinner when they approached, with an expression of curiosity on his square face. Bella guessed he was in his fifties but his skin was dark and unlined. His nose was hawk-like and his eyes the color of bitter coffee next to high, deep cheekbones. Native American, Bella wondered?
“Mr. Hayes, I’m Peter Ball from the Seattle Police Department. I apologize for interrupting your dinner but I need a word with you about a personal matter.”
Hayes nodded at him, his thick eyebrows knotting together like two caterpillars kissing. He set aside his plate and indicated for them
to sit. “I know who you are. I’ll choose to ignore the fact you’re
clearly working outside your jurisdiction.” His voice was low and deep and without inflection.
Peter looked surprised. “You know who I am?”
“My people know you’ve been looking into the Tiffany Archer murder.”
“Oh, well, do you know why?” Peter and Bella both sat.
Hayes ignored the question. “I knew your father back in the day.”
Peter flinched like Hayes had suddenly moved to strike him. “Oh.”
Hayes moved his eyes to Bella. Although he spoke to Peter he
kept his gaze upon her. “Played football with him at Oregon. Shame what
happened to his knee. These are defining moments, I’m afraid. How
we react to something catastrophic can determine the path of our lives.”
Bella squirmed in her seat. Was it unusually hot in here? She
shrugged out of her jacket, slipping it around her waist where it
stayed, like a child’s inner tube.
“Yeah, well, all indications were he was an asshole even before
he blew out his knee.” Peter played with the tablecloth, his fingers
gathering the material into a bunch before smoothing it with his other hand.
Shocked, Bella turned to look at her new friend. This was not the Peter she knew and had grown so fond of the last several days. His voice had sounded like someone young and petulant but at the same time weary and sour.
Hayes turned his gaze back to Peter. “Ah, well, the sins of the father are evident here.”
Peter stared back at him with the eyes of a wounded child but was silent.
Hayes’s glittering black eyes moved to her, resting without blinking on her face. “You’re Drake Webber’s sister.” It wasn’t a
question.
“Yeah. You know him?”
“I know of him. He’s a generous man. There are several philanthropic endeavors he’s committed to here in Echo Grove very
close to my heart.” He pushed back his chair slightly from the table and crossed one enormous leg over the other. “You’re both here to talk to me about Ben Fleck’s innocence. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s right,” said Bella, somewhat alarmed. Did he know everything about them? Hayes was like the male, suit-wearing
version of the freaky medicine woman telling fortunes out of her shack in the bayou.
“I’m good at my job, Mr. Hayes,” said Peter, sounding again like a child talking to his father.
“I know. I’ve followed your career.”
“You have?” Peter was still now. Was he breathing?
“Yes.” Hayes said this simply, as if it were of no consequence and therefore needed no explanation. “You’re a man of character.” He spread his enormous hands over his chest and took in a deep breath. “Tell me your theory.”
Peter did so, telling him what they’d discovered and his
suspicions
about Hough and Carrot Cop. Hayes kept his gaze focused on
Peter’s face the entire time but did not react in any discernible way. After he
finished, Hayes sat forward and took a sip of his soda. “I’ve
suspected
all along Ben Fleck was innocent. And I believed there was
something
rotten inside our police department. However, I wasn’t sure why
they would pin it on someone who would surely be cleared the minute a DNA test came back and I could not imagine the motive for doing so. Therefore, I’ve chosen to let it unfold, hoping the guilty parties would become obvious. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Fleck but up until now, I’ve had nothing concrete in which to substantiate my suspicions other than an anonymous tip from someone inside the police force. Mr. Ball, you’re indeed good at your job. I expect my colleagues in Los Angeles and my Echo Grove team can adequately
take it from here. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the office. Expect all charges against Ben Fleck to be dismissed within the hour.” He rose to his feet and it seemed to Bella it must take
great strength to heave such a body out of a chair. “Before I go, tell me about young Fred Hughes.”
“Green, but a man of character,” said Peter.
“Excellent. I’ll call you later, Mr. Ball, to apprise you of the
situation. Good night, then.” He shook both their hands in succession. “The sins of the father, Bella Webber, needn’t dictate your life. You’re a woman of character, despite it all.” He headed toward the exit in long strides, surprisingly graceful for a man his size. And then he was gone. The room seemed smaller, somehow, and dimmer.
And although it would have been normal for them, in elation and relief, to hug or shout or do a cartwheel, they did not. Instead, they stared at one another across the discarded steak and potato dinner in a kind of shock. Finally, Bella spoke. “What the hell just happened?”
“I don’t know but I wish he’d adopt me.”
“Yeah, me too.”
***
Peter dropped her off at the set less than thirty minutes later. As she suspected, they hadn’t yet started to film. They did only four takes of the scene and the minute they were done, Bella left, leaving Gennie and Cleo behind to watch the dailies. By the time she arrived at her brother’s, Ben, Peter, and Drake were sprawled on the couches in the front room with their feet on the coffee table. There was a roaring fire in the stone fireplace and several bottles of wine open.
When he saw her, Ben stood, his face twisting with emotion. He
came
to her and brought her into his arms, lifting her off her feet and
holding her tight against him. “Bella, I missed you.”
He smelled as he always did; she breathed in his scent,
wrapping her arms around his neck. “I missed you too.”
Peter motioned for them to sit. “Bella, have a glass of wine. I just heard from Hayes.”
After they’d met with the Hayes, Hough, his lawyer at his side,
was brought into the LAPD and questioned. He confessed rather
quickly to, as he put it, “Sleeping with Tiffany. She liked it rough.” And yes, he’d gone to scare her, to put a stop to the blackmail scheme. When she opened the door of her room at a little after one in the morning, disheveled and still somewhat out of it, he’d pushed her inside and told her the reason for his visit. She denied the blackmail, saying she
had no idea what he was talking about. She pretended to know
nothing
about the client book and told him she was broke. “I have the
almost-
empty bank accounts to prove it. If I’m blackmailing you, then
where’s the money?”
During questioning, he’d become agitated at this point. “I just wanted the little bitch to own up to what she’d done and I had my ways of getting her to confess. What started out as a little physical intimidation turned into hot, rough sex. She liked it that way and so do I. Is this a crime? Not in my experience.”
Given the bruising and tearing, though, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind, according to Peter, that it was anything other than
rape.
Regardless, Hough would not admit to killing her. He told them he’d torn the room apart looking for the book but adamantly denied
murdering her, saying he left her a little before two o’clock in the morning, very much alive.
His brother, Carrot Cop, was also brought in for questioning and immediately admitted to pinning the entire thing on Ben Fleck in order to protect his brother. Peter said Hayes told him it was pitiful
the way he gave in so quickly. “I just wanted to help my brother,” Carrot Cop said. “So he’d finally respect me.”
And just as it had begun in an instant, so it was done. Ben was free of suspicion. “This is really over?” Bella asked Peter.
“At least as far as Ben’s concerned. Proving Hough killed her
may or may not be easy.” Peter smiled. “But it’s no longer our problem.”
“Ben, it’s done.” Bella held his hand and put her head on his shoulder. He was home where he belonged.
“Tonight, we celebrate,” declared Annie, bringing in a plate of
appetizers. “I’ll invite everyone over and make whatever you want to eat, Ben.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Coq au Vin.”
“Done,” said Annie, hugging him. “I’m so happy this is over.”
“So am I,” he said, making eye contact with Bella. His eyes were laughing.
***
That night, the gang gathered once again around the long table
in Drake’s dining room. Besides the immediate family and their houseguests, in attendance were: Tommy and Lee, Peter and Cleo, Ellen and Verle, Alder and Ellie-Rose, Mike and Sharon, Linus and his boyfriend John, Cindi, and Gennie and Stefan. Everyone talked
and laughed. To Bella it felt as if nothing could possibly ever bother any of them again. Ben was free.
Before they began the first course, Ben rose to his feet, tapping his glass with a spoon. “I don’t know what to say in way of thanks, really, to any of you. I’d be facing a long trial if it weren’t for you all. I’m not sure why you all believed in my innocence without knowing me better than you do. But I’m grateful. Especially to Peter and Bella,
obviously. Knowing how easily I could have lost everything that
mattered to me brings everything into crystal clarity. Who I am. What I want. How grateful I am for my life, for freedom, for all of you.” He held up his glass. “To freedom. To friends. To life.” They
all toasted, the table exploding with voices and laughter. Then, Ben set his glass on the table, wiped his eyes with the cloth napkin and
reached
inside his jacket pocket. “I have one more thing I want to say before we dig into Annie’s amazing food.” In his hand was a small blue box. Bella stared at him, her heart pounding against the fabric of her
blouse.
He went down on one knee. “Bella.” He choked, tears filling his eyes. “Dammit, I can get through this.”
Bella put her hands to her mouth, afraid to breathe.
“Bella Webber, I feel as if we lived a lifetime together the last week. You proved to me I can count on you during the worst of times. No one has ever gotten me like you have. There is no one I’d
rather spend time with. From the moment I met you last summer traipsing around here in your bathing suit I have loved you. Everything’s brighter with you in it. My life makes sense with you in it. Will you give me the
chance to spend the rest of my life trying to give you the best of
times? Will you marry me?”
She couldn’t see through her tears. She nodded and whispered, “Yes.” He slipped the ring on her finger. The diamond was a blur of light. She leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Around them the room was loud with shouts and claps but it was nothing but a dull roar in her ears because it was only Ben and this moment. Destiny, she thought. This was her destiny.
“Do you like the diamond?” he said into her ear.
She spoke quietly, wanting the moment to be just between the two of them. “Can’t see a thing, you’ve got me crying so much.” She
removed her arms from around his neck and held up her hand. It
was
princess cut and seemed enormous on her small hand. “It’s
beautiful. But I could care less about the ring as long as I have you.”
“I know. But it’s important to me. I want the world to know how proud I am you decided to spend your life with a schmuck like me.”
“Can we live part of the time in Venice and part of the time
here?” She would propose her idea of renting Lee Tucker’s farmhouse later.
“I will follow you wherever you go,” he said, pulling her close.
By the time they turned back to the rest of the table, Annie and Gennie were already planning the wedding. “I’m thinking here in June. Or do you want a church wedding?” Annie asked them. “Ben, we’ll have to invite your parents down for a visit. They should get to know us before the big day.”
“We should have a weekend in Portland for the bachelorette
party,” said Ellen. “You know, stay in a fancy hotel and go out for,
what do you call them, the pink drink, you know, Cindi.”
“Cosmopolitans?” asked Cindi.
Ellen snapped her fingers. “Yes, that’s it.”
Gennie waved her salad fork in the air. “We could have the
wedding at my place in Malibu. Looks right out to the ocean, which is Bella’s special place.” She turned to Bella. “How big do you want this to be? Just us?” She indicated the room with a sweep of her hand. “Or big? Ben, what’s your family like? Will your mother want to invite a lot of people?”