Welcome To Wherever You Are (33 page)

‘So you know it’s a boy, then?’

‘Oh, no, I haven’t asked about the sex. I just have a feeling.’

‘Will you miss the hostel when you leave?’

‘Yeah, I’ve made some friends and I have someone who’s been there for me when I needed him the most.’

FIVE MONTHS EARLIER – SUNSET BOULEVARD

A blown socket in the air conditioning unit meant conditions in the Flesh For Fantasy strip bar in downtown LA were unbearable.

Savannah put the handful of $5 and $10 bills she’d scooped from the stage into her bag, then grabbed a towel from her locker and patted herself down. She drank two thirds of a bottle of sparkling water she’d left by her mirror, and once she’d showered, she finished off her drink and put on her civilian wardrobe.

On her arrival in LA a month earlier, work had been much harder to find than Savannah expected. The cash she’d taken from her father’s wallet and the money she’d withdrawn using his ATM card in Alabama would, she calculated, last her ten days at most once she found herself a cheap motel to book into. And then she would need to find a job. But her only experience in the working world had been to volunteer at a charity for the elderly with friends from the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority house. And without any experience, restaurants and shops weren’t willing to take a punt on an inexperienced girl from the south-west.

‘You should use that body to make yourself some money,’ suggested one waitress at a diner Savannah frequented.

‘I’m not a hooker,’ Savannah replied, indignantly.

‘That’s not what I meant,’ laughed the waitress. ‘If you can shake your ass and don’t mind being leered at by horny guys, you could make a bunch of Benjamins dancing at one of the clubs on Sunset. Just an idea.’

It was an idea that didn’t appeal to Savannah, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, and right now she was a beggar. She was also a beggar who’d spent her youth participating in beauty and teen pageants thanks to a pushy mother with more interest in showing her off than asking if that’s what she wanted to do. Now all those years of modern dance classes and cheerleading might have been worth it.

Two days and one audition later, and Savannah had a trial at Flesh For Fantasy, not the classiest of joints, but by no means the worst of the clubs in LA. And although the cheap motel she had made home was a dive, she couldn’t wait to get back there as the humidity in the club was making her tired and dizzy.

*

The driver slammed on his brakes when the girl stumbled across the sidewalk and fell into the road.

He leapt out of his car ready to yell at her for being drunk, but once he reached for her limp body, he knew alcohol was not the cause of her intoxication.

‘Help me, please,’ she mumbled, her eyes darting across his face, looking for kindness. ‘Drugged . . . been drugged . . . my water . . .’ Savannah’s head lolled to one side, so the man picked her up and carried her to his car, laying her across the rear seats.

‘I’ll take you to the hospital,’ he said, closing the door.

‘No . . .’ she continued, ‘he’ll find me . . .’

The driver was at a loss as to what to do, so he rummaged through her handbag to find an address or a cell phone with a name he could call. He found it peculiar that for a girl her age, she had no phone but around $400 in cash.

Thirty-five minutes after finding a key for the Marigold Motel, Savannah was safely lying on her bed in her room and fast asleep as Peyk made himself at home in an armchair.

TODAY

Eric rushed back to the hostel from the multi-storey car park and managed to slip past the lounge while Nicole and a group of others were preoccupied by something on the television screen.

He didn’t have the time or the inclination to discover what had them so silently engrossed, and instead, bolted up the stairs and along the corridor into their dormitory, where he began to rummage through Nicole’s suitcase. But as each pocket only yielded socks, underwear, fridge magnets and postcards Nicole had purchased on their travels, Eric became more and more frustrated.

‘Looking for something?’ came Nicole’s voice from the doorway.

Eric stopped his search, switched on a smile and turned around. ‘Oh hi, Nicole,’ he replied chirpily. ‘Where’ve you hidden the Paracetamol?’

‘Unzip the top of the backpack and they’re in there with the plasters.’

‘Cool.’

By the time Eric found them and turned around to thank her, Nicole had disappeared as quietly as she’d arrived.

Peyk didn’t question Tommy when a taxi pulled up outside the hostel and he darted out, grabbing Peyk’s arm and leading him up the stairs and into Room 23.

‘How safe is this room?’ Tommy asked breathlessly.

‘Three deadbolt locks and a reinforced steel door, I fitted them myself.’

‘Well your DIY skills don’t inspire me with confidence, what with the number of times you fell through the ceiling or electrocuted yourself.’

‘Do you see anyone else creating a cannabis farm under the noses of 150 unsuspecting people?’

Peyk glanced down and noticed two large, bulging holdalls with the name and logo of a dry cleaners emblazoned across their sides. ’Don’t ask,’ Tommy muttered, his eyes darting around the room.

Peyk’s ability to keep secrets was something Tommy appreciated, and even though he’d yet to discover what made Peyk tick, his gut instinct was that the wiry-haired clown had a serious side and could be trusted.

‘The room at the back, under the ceiling tiles, store them there,’ Peyk replied.

Tommy made his way towards the storeroom and used a stool to reach and remove one of the polystyrene ceiling tiles, where he placed the bags containing Nicole’s cash out of view. As he stepped down, his eyes were drawn to a bathroom beyond the storeroom, separated only by a pane of clear glass. He walked towards it, then took a startled step backwards when he saw Savannah enter. She pulled down her shorts and underwear and sat on the toilet. Tommy remained perfectly still so he wouldn’t be spotted, before realising he was on the other side of a two-way mirror.

‘You okay in there, Tommy-boy?’ yelled Peyk, and Tommy joined him back inside the room.

‘I’ll keep your business private if you do the same with mine,’ Peyk added, and Tommy nodded his agreement.

‘He called me Nicole. In three years he has never called me by my full name, so don’t ask me how, but I’m sure Eric’s found out I know who he is.’

Nicole waited nervously for Tommy to finish serving a customer at the hotdog stand.

‘You could always admit what Mrs Baker left you?’ Tommy asked. ‘You’d get him off your back by splitting the cash.’ Nicole pondered his suggestion for a moment before politely dismissing it.

‘I’m not being greedy, but clearly his mum didn’t want him to have it. And if he’s gone to all this trouble to hide who he is, what else is he capable of doing?’

‘Well that might be a good enough reason to pay him off, if he frightens you. Keep yourself safe.’

Nicole had left Eric in their dormitory searching for headache tablets and gone straight to meet Tommy at their prearranged destination. He’d explained that while he could have likely got more money if he’d sold the diamonds legitimately, he’d done what she’d asked and made a decision he thought was right.

‘This has been a messed up few days,’ Nicole continued. ‘First I discover my best friend has been lying to me about who he is, then I find his secret mum has left me half a million dollars worth of diamonds and, to top it all, the naive girl I shared a room with goes and murders Hollywood’s biggest star.’

‘You haven’t heard the update, then?’ asked Tommy tentatively, unsure whether Nicole was ready to hear more bad news. ‘According to the radio in the taxi, police in Australia reckon she killed her mum and little brother before she came over here.’

‘You’re not serious! Am I just the worst judge of character in the world?’

‘It’s looking that way,’ Tommy joked, but Nicole didn’t laugh. ‘No,’ he added, ‘you’ve just been bang out of luck.’

Nicole let out a long breath and brushed her fingers through her hair. ‘What the hell is going on, Tommy? I thought this trip was going to be a new start for me, and it’s turned out to be worst thing I’ve ever done.’

Tommy didn’t know how to respond, so he placed his hand on Nicole’s to comfort her as two middle-aged women approached him.

‘Three hotdogs, no mustard, just salad,’ smiled one and winked. Nicole was too preoccupied to notice Tommy twice flash three fingers to José behind him in the trailer or see José putting three sausages in buns, and then three small bags of pot in each of them. The customer smiled and handed Tommy $50 in return. Moments later, two police officers cycled past and waved at a smiling Tommy.

‘So how far are you willing to go to take Eric out of the picture?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean you can’t spend much longer living under the same roof as him and avoiding being alone with each other. You need to make a pre-emptive strike, because if he’s cottoned on that you’ve found what Mrs Baker’s left you and haven’t told him, he’s going to be mightily pissed off.’

‘I’m worried about him, Tommy,’ Nicole admitted, and shuffled awkwardly on the spot. ‘Actually, I’m terrified to be around him. But you know what? Above all else, I hate him. I absolutely hate him. And the more I think about his lies, the angrier I get. So over my dead body is he getting any of that money.’

‘If you need a head start to get away from here, there is a way,’ Tommy replied, his brain slowly formulating a plan. ‘But it’s pretty fucking harsh and it’ll cost you about $20,000.’

‘How about you?’ Savannah asked Jane as they placed their bags of shopping on their beds. ‘Do you like being in Los Angeles?’

‘I’m falling in love with it, actually,’ Jane replied. ‘I’ve often toyed with the idea of trying my hand at writing . . . I even took a course a couple of years ago, and I think I have a few stories inside me. Not
about
me, of course, there’s enough of those “woe is me, isn’t life crap?” memoirs without my contribution. But this city inspires me.’

‘So what’s stopping you?’

‘I think I need a permanent base and to set down some roots. And I can’t really do that in a hostel. It’s just a thought, and promise me you’ll tell me if I’m being silly here, but what would you think about us finding a place to share together?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Savannah replied, feeling herself flinch. She wasn’t at ease being put on the spot, even by a friend, and instantly she questioned if this was part of some plan to get her away from the hostel and on her own. Why else would Jane offer a home to a pregnant pole dancer? But it was almost too tempting.

‘My baby will be here in a few months,’ Savannah continued carefully. ‘Do you really want to live with me and a screaming kid?’

‘You have no idea how much I’d like to hear that sound again,’ Jane replied wistfully.

Savannah felt ashamed of her insensitivity and watched Jane look away and absent-mindedly fumble with a gold crucifix she wore on a chain around her wrist.

‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,’ replied Savannah.

‘No, no, you didn’t say anything wrong. And you’re right, darling, it’s a daft idea. A young girl like you wouldn’t want to live with an old codger like me.’

‘On no, that’s not what I meant. It’s just I can only afford somewhere low budget, like above a store or something.’

‘Well if money is the only thing holding you back, my husband’s life insurance means we could afford a little place in West Hollywood. Nothing big, mind, but I can cover the rent for at least eight or nine months. Maybe my husband can finally do something good in death that he couldn’t do while he was alive.’

Savannah was unsure of what to say to Jane. While the offer was undoubtedly kind, relying on someone else for help hadn’t been part of her plan. But Savannah was desperate for Jane to be real.

‘Well, if you’re sure, we could give it a go, I guess?’ Savannah replied, and Jane held her hand out to shake Savannah’s.

‘Well it’s a deal then,’ beamed Jane, and Savannah began to tell herself that maybe her fairy godmother had been sent to her for a reason.

‘Hey, lazy bollocks, you missed a hell of a day – wall-to-wall
Playboy
bunnies, volleyball, silicone and swimsuits . . . even if you’d dreamed it, it couldn’t have been better,’ Declan began as he walked into their room.

Matty didn’t respond, and lay on his side facing the wall while Declan covered his burned red face and shoulders with aftersun and continued to boast.

‘And – get this – I’ve lined us up a couple of bunnies for tonight. You’ve got to see them – they’re beautiful, Matty. Matty?’

Declan held his breath when he realised Matty’s body had remained motionless. He had spent many, many hours watching his best friend sleeping and studying his breathing patterns, and this wasn’t normal. Slowly, Declan moved towards him and steeled himself. He put his hand on Matty’s shoulder and pulled him over onto his back where Matty remained still, his eyes firmly closed.