Medina left the room.

Munro snapped shut the briefcase, indicating his work was done. Pryce realized the lawyer hadn’t removed anything from the briefcase or added to it the whole time they’d been in the room. The guy was all show, and not very good at it.

“Not so fast,” Pryce said. “I’m going to need some details about your boss, Mr. Daniels. About these odd jobs he has you doing for him. Otherwise, I’m charging you with aiding and abetting in a homicide. Alibi or no alibi. Believe me, you’ll have plenty of time for push-ups and squats while locked up in a prison cell for the next ten years.”

Daniels leaned back on the chair’s two rear legs again and looked at Pryce for a long moment.

Finally, he nodded. “It’s not him,” he said. “It’s her. My boss is a woman.”

35 ELEANOR

35

ELEANOR

OCTOBER 2, 1992

Eleanor touched the spot on her cheek where Darla had smacked her hard.

The redness had subsided, as had the sharp snap of pain, but she still felt stung. Not by the act itself but by Darla’s need to lash out. Maybe Eleanor was a little bit impressed, too, she admitted to herself grudgingly. Frumpy, dumpy Darla, who would never speak up for herself, finally finding a backbone.

She had been right, of course. Darla was too good for Eleanor. Brad too.

Brad.

The poor guy had even had to change his name because of Eleanor.

She sipped from another full glass of wine and felt the heat in her cheeks as she thought of how he had tracked her down to Eagle Rock a few months earlier. Terrified and begging for her help after being beaten up outside a bar in Hollywood by two guys who had been caught up in their Tahiti Club scam years ago.

Or Eleanor’s scam, to be precise. Brad always did just go along with whatever she wanted him to do, whether he was happy about it or not.

If Darla knew the truth, that his real name wasn’t Rob Young, the reason why he’d adopted an alias, she would have hit Eleanor even harder.

Eleanor thought about her friend’s advice, trying to work things out with Brad. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. She would still leave Eagle Rock, of course, but maybe he could go with them. Be a proper family. Eleanor, Brad, and Alicia, just like Darla said.

She drank some more wine, and a warm feeling spread inside her. Eleanor wasn’t sure if it was the booze or the thought of a different future from the one she had imagined. One that included Brad.