Double Lucky

  Ace swerved the car, narrowly missing a coyote that suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.

  Max could see he was sweating, but she had to admit he was doing a great job of getting them away from the Volvo, which seemed to be slowing down. She was trying to remain calm for the sake of the kid, but it wasn’t easy, since her heart was pounding so hard she thought it might burst right out of her skin.

  “When?” Jed asked.

  “When what?”

  “When I gonna get me one of them CD things?”

  “Soon,” she said. “Like that’s a faithful promise.”

  * * *

  Henry hit the coyote full on. The animal rose up in the air and came thumping down on the hood of the car with a sickening thud, blood trickling down the windshield.

  Henry pressed his foot down on the brake and promptly lost control. The Volvo veered across the road, finally shuddering to a stop in a ditch.

  Henry hit his head on the windshield, and then there was nothing but silence.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  Lucky drove over to Cookie’s house all set to catch her off guard. This time she was determined to find out more information. Enough fudging around from Cookie—there was only so much pretending she could get away with. Cookie had to know something and Lucky was going to find out what that something was.

  Once she’d driven through the impenetrable gates and high-tech security cameras—a way of life in Bel-Air and Beverly Hills—Gerald M. himself opened the massive front door. Barefoot and attractive in an “I am a big star and don’t you forget it” kind of way, Gerald ushered her in. “Hey, Lucky, you gotta come out to my studio,” he enthused, fiddling with a large diamond cross hanging on a diamond-studded gold chain around his neck. “I laid down a track yesterday that’s gonna blow your ass from here to the Bahamas!”

  Somewhere in the background a beautiful Latina girl clad in a barely-there bikini flitted from one room to another. Gerald M. ignored her.

  “Actually, I came by to see Cookie,” Lucky said.

  “Some party last night,” Gerald continued. “You stage that fight thing or what?”

  “Sure I did, Gerald,” she said patiently. “It was all staged, couldn’t you tell?”

  “Genius, baby!” he chortled.

  “Thanks,” she said, fast becoming impatient. This was not a social call, she wanted action. “Is Cookie around?”

  “Still sleepin’ it off.”

  “Do you mind if I go upstairs?”

  “Sure,” he said, fingering his cross. “Then you gotta come by my studio out by the pool.”

  “I’ll do that,” she said, heading for the ornate staircase.

  “First door on the right,” Gerald called out as a petite blonde emerged from the kitchen drinking Diet Coke from the can.

  First door on the right was locked. Lucky knocked loudly several times, until eventually a bleary-eyed Cookie opened up. She was clad in an oversized Snoop Dogg T-shirt and nothing else.

  “Mrs. Go— I mean, Lucky!” Cookie exclaimed. “What’re you doin’ here?”

  Lucky glanced pointedly at her watch. “It’s almost noon and no daughter, so I thought you and I should have a little talk. Can I come in?”

  “Uh … sure,” Cookie said, reluctantly backing up to allow Lucky access to her darkened bedroom.

  The room reeked of pot and incense and the walls were painted dark brown. Curled up in a sleeping bag on the floor was a male figure.

  “Am I disturbing something?” Lucky inquired, black eyes glittering with impatience.

  “No, course not,” Cookie said, poking the male figure with her foot. “It’s only Harry. He sleeps over when it’s late.”

  “Too far to drive to Brentwood,” Lucky said dryly.

  “Too wasted,” Cookie giggled.

  Great, Lucky thought. And these two are Max’s best friends.

  “So,” she said as Harry surfaced, spiky black hair standing on end, “I need more information about Max.”

  Cookie rubbed her eyes. “I wish we like knew more,” she ventured. “But honestly, we don’t.”

  “Come on, Cookie. I understand what it’s like to be sixteen—loyalty to your friends and all that. Only this is getting serious. I have to speak to Max, and I have to speak to her today.”

  * * *

  Cookie gave her nothing, and by the time Lucky got back to the house, she was steaming. Paige was outside the house supervising Gino Junior, who was loading their luggage into the car.

  “What happened?” she asked. “I thought Gino was all set for a round of golf. Why are you leaving so soon?”

  “Gino has decided we should beat the traffic,” Paige explained. “And who am I to fight with your father? He’s the worst backseat driver in the world, so I try to avoid all the nagging I can.”

  “You’re a smart lady, Paige.”

  “Living with Gino, I have to be.”

  “Hey, Mom,” Gino Junior said, almost dropping a heavy Vuitton bag. “Granddad says I can go stay. Is that okay with you?”

  “If you promise to behave yourself,” Lucky said. Gino Junior always had a good time with his grandfather, and that suited her fine since she’d be spending so much time in Vegas.

  Gino emerged from the house. “You’re back, kiddo,” he said. “I wondered where you were.”

  “Yes, Gino, I’m back, and I’m looking forward to seeing you in Vegas.”

  “Can’t wait! We’ll be there. The party was the greatest, kiddo. Now come over here an’ give an old man a hug.”

  She hugged her father, told Gino Junior to behave himself, and instructed Paige to drive carefully.

  Once they’d left, she went into the house and looked for Lennie. He was sitting in front of his computer.

  “Any new info?” he asked.

  “Cookie’s stonewalling me,” she said, shaking her head. “Says she’s sure Max is okay. As if she would know. She and Harry are lying around in her room totally stoned.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  “I guess we’ll wait until four, then if we haven’t heard from her, I’m reporting her missing.”

  “Isn’t that kind of drastic?” Lennie said. “She called yesterday and left a message that she’d be home today. I’m thinking that would hardly put her on the missing list.”

  “And what if she’s not home today?” Lucky demanded, getting more anxious and frustrated by the minute.

  “We’ll deal with that if it happens. And believe me, sweetheart, it won’t, she’ll be back today.”

  “I’m glad you’re so sure.”

  “I am. Everything’s gonna work out.”

  Sometimes Lennie drove her crazy with his laid-back attitude. Here she was hanging around L.A. waiting for Max, when she should be in Vegas meeting with the heads of all the different departments. The Keys was due to open in two weeks and that’s exactly where she should be right now. She had so much to do it was ridiculous. But no. Max was screwing up all her plans, and there was nothing she could do about it except sit and worry that her daughter was okay.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

  Once they’d lost Internet Freak, it didn’t take long before everyone realized the old man wasn’t merely asleep, there was something seriously wrong. He’d slumped forward in his seat, and when Jed tried to wake him, he’d failed to respond.

  Jed immediately began to panic. Max attempted to calm him. “Has your grandpa been sick?” she asked.

  “He takes pills,” Jed said, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

  Max shook the old man’s shoulders. No reaction. “I think he might be unconscious,” she whispered to Ace.

  “Okay, we’re almost at Big Bear,” Ace said, his eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead. “Keep it together and find out where they live.”

  Jed mumbled that they lived way back where they’d come from. According to him, they were on their way to visit the old man’s sister. Unfortunately, he didn’t know her exact address, although
he knew that she lived somewhere in Big Bear.

  “This sucks,” Ace muttered.

  Jed looked as if he was about to cry.

  Max squeezed his hand. “Your grandpa’s going to be okay,” she assured him.

  “You shouldn’t’ve been driving so fast,” he muttered. “That’s what did it.”

  “No, it didn’t,” she argued. “Going fast had like nothing to do with it. Your grandpa might have, I dunno, some kind of heart condition.”

  “He sleeps a lot,” Jed admitted.

  “How old is he?”

  “Eighty-three.”

  “Well, my grandfather’s a whole lot older than that,” she said encouragingly. “And he’s really healthy, so chances are your gramps will be kicking around for years.”

  Finally they reached a gas station. Ace hurriedly jumped out of the car and rushed to a pay phone.

  “Are you calling your brother?” Max asked, putting her head out the window.

  “Yes,” Ace replied. “He’ll figure out where we should take him. The old man needs a doctor right away.”

  She thought it was pretty cool the way he was taking charge. She imagined how different it might’ve been if only he had turned out to be her Internet guy. Oh yes, they would have gone off and spent a fantastic weekend together, most likely fallen in love and lived happily ever after.

  Instead of which … what a nightmare!

  Ace’s brother, Hart, met them in Big Bear. He was taller and older than Ace. He leaned in the car, checked on the old man, then instructed his brother to follow his truck to a nearby clinic where he’d arranged to have an orderly waiting outside with a wheelchair.

  At the clinic, the three men managed to get the old man into the chair. Then Hart had to leave for work, so Ace suggested they stay around to see if they could help. Max agreed it was the least they could do.

  Once inside the clinic a doctor took over, leaving them in the waiting area while he whisked the old man off.

  Max hurried to the ladies’ room where she attempted to clean herself up. Staring in the mirror she realized what a lucky escape they’d had. Internet Freak could have done anything to them. He’d had them trapped, or so he’d thought. Ace escaping was pretty darn brave. He could’ve got himself shot, but he hadn’t been scared, he’d stayed around to rescue her like some kind of superhero. Without him doing that …

  She shuddered. She didn’t want to think about what might have happened.

  When she got back, Ace went off to the men’s room.

  She sat down next to Jed, who looked at her forlornly. “Is my gramps gonna be okay?” he asked.

  “Sure he is,” she replied cheerfully. “Do you live with him?”

  He nodded his head.

  “Where’s your parents?” she asked curiously.

  He shrugged. “Don’t have none.”

  “How come?”

  “My mom ran off when I was three. Dad went after her. At least that’s what Gramps told me.”

  “Do you know if they’re still alive?”

  He shrugged again. “Dunno.”

  Ace came back with a couple of chocolate bars and sodas he’d gotten from the vending machine. Max grabbed a chocolate bar, peeled off the wrapper, and stuffed it in her mouth. “Sooo good,” she sighed.

  After a while the doctor returned and informed them that the old man’s condition was not as serious as they’d thought. Apparently he suffered from narcolepsy and had fallen into an extremely deep sleep.

  “You can come in and see him now,” the doctor said. “He’s awake and doing fine.”

  They all trooped into a room where the old man was sitting in an armchair. “What happened?” he asked, looking quite alert. “Why’d you bring me here?”

  “You shouldn’t be driving with your condition,” the doctor scolded. “Especially long distances.”

  “Who, me? I’m strong as iron,” the old man retaliated. “An’ I gotta drive, it’s my living. Besides, Jed here’s gonna learn soon enough—ain’t ya, son?”

  “You had me worried, Gramps.”

  “Nonsense. I took a little nap an’ you all panicked. Kids today!”

  “Well, now that you’re okay,” Ace said, “we gotta get going. So, uh … thanks for the ride.”

  “Jed,” Max said, “I’ll send you that CD player. I promise I won’t forget.”

  “What player?” Gramps asked grumpily.

  “She’s buyin’ me a CD player, Gramps,” Jed said excitedly. “She’s sendin’ it to me.”

  “We’ll see about that,” the old man huffed. “We’ve never bin acceptin’ of nobody’s charity.”

  “Write down your address,” Max said, taking a piece of paper from the table.

  Jed looked pleadingly at his grandfather, who reluctantly nodded that it was okay.

  Jed scribbled on the piece of paper and handed it to her. “You’re nice,” he said shyly. “And you’re pretty.”

  “Thanks,” she said, almost blushing.

  “S’long, everyone,” Ace said. “We’re on our way.”

  They left the old man and the boy at the clinic and began to walk the fifteen minutes to Kmart.

  “I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my car’s there,” Max said, walking fast to keep up with him. “What do you think?”

  “I think this is one weekend neither of us will ever forget,” he said, shooting her a long look.

  “What did you tell your brother about being gone all weekend?”

  “That I was with my girlfriend.”

  “You’ve got a girlfriend?” she said, feeling horribly disappointed.

  “Yeah,” he answered casually. “Didn’t I mention her?”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Sometimes I spend the weekends at her place. He doesn’t care what I do, he’s a brother, not a parent. Big difference.”

  She was silent, thinking, Is this it? When I find my car do I just say good-bye to Ace and that’s it?

  “Uh, is there a way I can, y’know, thank you for rescuing me this weekend?” she said, biting down hard on her bottom lip. “Are you on e-mail?”

  “Very funny,” he said wryly. “You wanna start with me now? One Internet Freak wasn’t enough?”

  “No, seriously,” she said, breaking a smile. “What’s your e-mail?”

  “I’m not into e-mail.”

  “You’re not?”

  “Who’s got the time?”

  “You have plenty of time. The day I ran into you, you were lurking around doing exactly nothing.”

  “That’s ’cause I kinda had a fight with my girlfriend.”

  “You did?”

  “Yeah, she works at Kmart. I hooked up with you to make her jealous.”

  “So the whole bank robbery thing—”

  “It was a story,” he admitted.

  “I knew that,” she said quickly.

  “No you didn’t.”

  “Yes I did.”

  “Okay, and I knew you weren’t eighteen,” he said, squinting at her. “Why’d you lie?”

  “It wasn’t a lie.”

  “It was blatant.”

  “I’ll be seventeen soon enough.”

  “When’s your birthday?”

  “In about eight months!”

  “You’re too much,” he said, laughing. “And I don’t have e-mail. But,” he added casually, “maybe I’ll call you sometime.”

  “No you won’t,” she said, thinking, No he won’t.

  “Yeah, I will.”

  “Instead of calling, come visit me in L.A.,” she answered boldly, stopping for a minute to catch her breath.

  “With my girlfriend?” he countered.

  “If you want.”

  They exchanged a long look.

  “We could double-date,” she added, starting to walk again. “You and her, me and my boyfriend.”

  “Thought you said you broke up with your boyfriend?”

  “I was lying. This weekend was all about making him jealous.??
? A long beat. “You know what that’s like, don’t you?”

  “Are you trying to one-up me?” he said, grinning.

  “Maybe,” she replied, thinking how hot he was with the smile and the great white teeth and the appealing cleft in his chin.

  “Hey,” he said nonchalantly, “the kid was right.”

  “About what?”

  “You are pretty.”

  She held her breath for a moment. Pretty … hmm … And she looked like crap—they both did. Apparently he didn’t think so.

  “Uh, you should see me when I try,” she said, going for flippant.

  “Guess I’ll havta raincheck that.”

  They exchanged another look.

  Five more minutes and they reached the Kmart parking lot. “Wow!” Max said, quickening her pace. “I think I see my car. How exciting is this?”

  “Let’s hope he hasn’t left a bomb under the hood,” Ace said.

  “Oh, great!” she groaned. “Make me feel secure.”

  “You’re always secure, aren’t you? You’re that kind of girl.”

  “How can you say that? You hardly know me.”

  “Oh, I know you.”

  “Good, ’cause that means you trust me, and I’ll need money for emergencies ’cause the Freak took my wallet with everything in it.”

  “Rescuing you isn’t enough,” he grumbled, digging in the back pocket of his jeans. “Now she wants my money.”

  “I’ll pay you back, I promise.”

  “You’d better,” he said, handing her two crumpled ten-dollar bills. “That’s all I’ve got.”

  “Thanks,” she said, taking the bills.

  “Y’know,” he said thoughtfully, “I still think we should tell the cops. The dude’s a predator, he threatened us with a gun. And if I hadn’t gotten out … who knows what would’ve happened to us.”

  “No!” she said sharply. “We have to walk away. We’re safe, that’s all that matters.”

  “You’re just scared your mom’s gonna be mad at you.”

  “So?”

  “Okay. If that’s what you want. But don’t forget he’s got all your shit. Laptop, credit cards, phone.”

  “It can all be replaced.”

  “Whatever.”

  A few minutes later he’d hot-wired her car, given her a stern warning not to stop until she got to her destination, and said good-bye.