“What makes you think I’m not the star?”
The kid, maybe fifteen and wearing a red Sooners ball cap, took a long look at my black pickup and said, “We figured, with that truck...”
“What’s wrong with my truck?”
There was some conversation in the station wagon I couldn’t hear, and the wagon started to pull away. The kid in the Sooners cap stuck his head out of the window and said
, “Your truck looks like that fish at Sea World!”
“It’s not a fish, it’s a mammal!”
The station wagon drove out of sight and I went through the gate. Tourists.
Bond opened the door and let me in. She was wearing a white Turkish robe and her hair was wet. The inside of the house was spacious, elegant, with a winding stairway leading to the second floor. I followed her through the house for what seemed like the length of a football field before we emerged in the back yard beside an Olympic-sized pool complete with ten-meter diving platform. Surrounding the pool and lounge area was a manicured garden that went all the way to the rock wall surrounding the three-acre yard.
Huge topiary figures shaped from the shrubs and bushes bordered the pool area. The closest ones were of a rhino that was ten feet high, rearing on its hind legs like a stallion, and a twelve-foot high kangaroo with a joey’s head sticking out of the pouch. Completing the lineup were elephants, lions, bears, a pod of three porpoises surfing on green leafy waves, and what looked like a cross between a ten-foot vulture and a smiling pterodactyl. Creepy things like these had haunted my childhood dreams and I kept picking them up from of the corner of my eye as if they had moved.
Bond led us to a shaded table and we sat in patio chairs that were more comfortable than anything I had in my apartment, including the bed. There was a magnum of champagne iced in a bucket and two glasses on the table beside us. It was Cristal.
Bond shook her wet hair and the drops caught the sun like sparkling lights. The white Turkish bathrobe had somehow come undone during our walk and revealed large glimpses of tanned, taut skin and rounded breasts.
Bond asked, “Would you like some champagne?”
“No thank you.” She poured herself a glass and I watched to make sure she didn’t flip the bottle and grab it by the neck. As she poured, the robe opened like a coin purse, revealing a tight, perfect stomach as golden as the rest of her. I felt the urge to flex but held off. I didn’t want her to swoon before we talked.
“We talked to Mickey at Landman’s home. She seems stressed about his disappearance. I was wondering, did you tell her not to notify the police?”
“Yes. We talked it over and both agreed it would serve nothing at this point.”
“Okay, at what point do you think it would serve something?”
She sat up, “You can get that tone out of your voice. Mickey and I made the decision together and I felt that hiring you would be the best thing to do. It seemed a hell of a lot better than calling the police before we even know if anything’s wrong. What’s the matter, aren’t I paying you enough?” She shifted and a lot more sleek skin showed.
“The pay’s fine. Looking at your body is very fine. But there may come a time when the police will need to be notified. You understand?”
She said, “My, aren’t you forceful?”
If she knew how strong her pheromones were affecting me, she wouldn’t have mentioned forceful. I was ready to bellow and attack matadors with my horns. But I controlled it and said, “Look, you hired me to find him, and I will. But if I discover things that make me worry about his well being, I will contact the police.”
“Without me authorizing it?” She leaned forward as if to make a point and her breasts pushed further out of the robe, revealing two brown crescents.
I reached forward and pulled her robe together. “Keep it that way while we talk.”
She sat back, and then tied the robe together. Her eyes held a look I couldn’t make out.
I said, “You’re a beautiful woman, but this is business. If I feel Landman’s in danger, I won’t wait for you to tell me to wag my tail or to fetch. There’s no negotiation on this.”
We sat there for several minutes. She looked at the water in the pool for most of the time, then watched me before saying, “I can live with that. You’ll keep me informed of everything you find out. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” With most of her body covered, my pulse slowed down. My heart had been banging so hard I was worried about my pocket pen springing a leak. I asked, “Where’s your husband? I’ll need to talk to him.”
“He’s at his office on the lot.” She bit at her lip after she spoke.
I nodded. “I’ll try and catch him there. I won’t say who hired me.”
“If he’s not at Americas, you might try Siberia on the Sunset Strip. He’s there a great deal lately. Usually with his personal assistant, Carl Rakes.”
“What about this Rakes?”