True Detectives

“It never happened,” said Book. As if he still regretted that.

“What did happen, Mason?”

“We went to a hotel.”

“Which one?”

“The Hyatt.”

“Which Hyatt?” said Aaron, certain he knew the answer.

Book said, “Sunset.”

Five-minute drive from Swallowsong. “Next to the Comedy Store.”

“Yeah.”

“The party was at the hotel.”

“When we got there, Ax said no, let's do it different, out in the open.”

“Outdoor party.”

“Sounded good to me,” said Book. “Ax went in and came out with her.” Book shivered. “You know about the baby, right?”

Aaron's heart pinged with joy. He kept his face grave. “Like I said, Mason, I know all kinds of things. So Adella came out of the hotel with Ax and the baby.”

Nod.

“Where were you?”

“In the truck.”

“Where was the truck?”

“Parking lot of the hotel.”

“Ax wasn't afraid of leaving someone famous like you in a truck in a hotel parking lot?”

“He told me to lay down in the back. We do that.”

“When?”

“When we don't want me to be seen.”

And you just obeyed because you're a brain-damaged fool.

Book said, “It was all wrapped up. Blue blanket. Guess it was a boy.”

“She goes to a party with a baby.”

“Pretty weird,” Book agreed. “She got in the back of the truck. I sat up and she was real happy.”

“Why?”

“Because she saw it was me.”

No brag, just stating the facts.

“You were the reason she was there.”

“Yup.”

“She thought she was hooking up for a date with just you.”

“Ax likes that,” said Book. “I meet girls, he meets girls.”

“Girls Ax couldn't meet on his own.”

Book smiled. “He's a little fat.”

“So he uses you as a lure.”

“Yup.”

“He did that with Adella.”

Book said, “Because he wanted to kill her.”

Aaron's airway constricted. He forced himself to breathe easy. “He told you that.”

“I figured it out. When she didn't come out.”

“I thought she did come out of the hotel.”

“She came out of there,” said Book. “But not the park.”

“The park,” said Aaron. “Let's back up for a minute, Mason. You picked up Adella at the Hyatt, where you thought the date was going to be. But Ax wanted to party outdoors so you drove to a park.”

“Yup.”

Killed where she was dumped? Moe had said no. “Griffith Park.”

“Not that park,” said Book. “One near the beach. She said it was too far. I paid her some money and she was okay. Even with the baby in front and crying a little.”

“The baby was in front of the truck?”

“In a baby seat,” said Book.

“Ax brought a baby seat.”

“He told her don't worry, we got a baby seat. Said he was a daddy himself. He had other stuff, too.”

“Like what?”

“Diapers, bottles.”

“Did you find that weird?”

Book blinked. “I guess. I wasn't thinking about babies.”

“Is Ax a daddy?”

“No,” said Book. “He murdered her, so I guess lying was no big deal.”

First time the idiot had expressed anything resembling insight. Maybe his head was clearing. Aaron preferred him zoned out and blabbing, decided to keep the questions minimally threatening. “I think I've got the scene, Mason. You and Adella are in the backseat of the truck, the baby's in front, in a baby seat, everyone's chilled out.”

“Not her,” said Book. “She was a little… like nervous. I gave her more money.”

“How much?”

“I don't know… maybe five thousand?”

“Five thousand dollars?”

“Maybe two. Three, six, I don't know, it was a bunch of hundreds, I get them in stacks for allowance.”

“You get cash delivered.”

“By Myron,” said Book. “He's my business manager. Sometimes Ax goes to the ATM.”

“Ax has your PIN number.”

“I don't like to go places.”

“Okay,” said Aaron. “Back to that night. Which park at what beach?” Knowing the answer.

“Way out,” said Book. “Past where his dad lives, his dad's got a big place somewhere.”

“You've been to his dad's place?”

“Nope, it's on the land side. I like the beach side.”

“This way-out beach-”

“Leo Carrillo,” said Book. “He was an actor.”

“Who was?”

“Leo Carrillo.”

“That so.”

“Yup.” A trace of smugness had oozed into the actor's voice. Guy was a shriveled wreck, but he could still one-up an outsider. “He played Mexicans in cowboy movies. They named a beach after him.”

Aaron said, “I know Carrillo. Pretty place.”

“Real pretty,” Book agreed. “The park's on the land side but the water's right across the highway, you can hear it. I like that sound, maybe I'll move to the Colony or something, so I can sleep.”

“Did Adella think she was going to Ax's dad's place?”

Book gaped. “You really know stuff.”

Aaron smiled. “Then when Ax passed the turnoff for his dad's place…”

“She said, ‘Hey, where we going.’”

“And Ax said…”

“Nothing. He just kept driving. It wasn't that far after.”

“Then what, Mason?”

Book licked his lips. Rotated his head, like some yoga exercise. Creaked audibly.

“Ax pulls in front of some gates, gets out of the truck, she's saying ‘What the fuck?’ He opens the door, pulls her out. Real hard.”

Book's eyes closed. “I hate guns.”

“Ax had a gun.”

“When he brings it I always say put that away.”

“What happened next?”

“The baby cried. Ax put the gun in her back and told her to walk.”

“Into the park.”

“Yup. She said ‘Fuck you!’ and started to cuss him out. Ax twisted her arm real hard and real quick and she started screaming. The baby was really screaming. I put my hands over my ears.”

Demonstrating.

Gently, Aaron lowered Book's hands. “Then what did Ax do?”

“Hit her in back of the head with the gun and when she fell he put his hands around her neck.” Another lip-lick. “Cars were driving by on PCH. It was weird.”

“Too dark for them to see anything, but you could see it.”

“I didn't look. The baby was crying. Ax finished with her, put her back in the truck. Next to me. It smelled.”

“What did?”

“She shit herself. The baby's really crying.”

“Must've been scary for you, seeing as you didn't expect anything but a three-way party.”

Book went silent.

“Your feelings are important, Mason. To me.”

“I was… it was like… I was pretty wasted.”

“On what?”

“A little blow, a little ice. To get up.”

“Up from what?”

“Xanax. Restoril, Valium, Ambien… stuff.”

Unwilling to admit to sniffing heroin. Aaron had seen that before. Upscale junkies 'fessing to everything but H.

Book said, “We did some E, too. It wasn't making me happy.”

“Because you'd just seen Ax murder Adella.”

“My whole head was… I was surprised.”

“By what happened.”

“She was so pretty,” said Book. “I was surprised at how she got to smelling real bad. After that…”

“After that, what, Mason?”

“We-ell… my head got real noisy. I stopped sleeping. Stopped eating, too.”

“Because you felt bad about what happened.”

“I went to the hospital,” said Book. “I wasn't sick but my doctor said go.”

“Because you weren't eating and sleeping.”

“They wanted to feed me in the veins,” said Book. “I said no, not there yet.”

“Not ready to be fed.”

Book's arms shot out. Begging to be touched.

Aaron sat there. “Feeling guilty's what good people do, Mason.”

“She came to meet me. She wanted to be famous”

“What happened after Ax put Adella back in the truck?”

Book's arms dropped. “He said, ‘We got to dump her somewhere.’”

“That's when you went to Griffith Park.”

“Really long drive,” said Book. “It smelled gross and the baby was screaming. Ax told it to shutthefuckup but that didn't help so he played Pink Floyd really loud.”

“What happened at Griffith Park?”