City of the Dead (Alex Delaware, #37)(48)

“There was no one she was scared of.”

“I never saw her scared of anything. She was much stronger than me because she had to be. Like annealing steel. You heat it then cool it—basically you stress it and it gets harder.”

“Aha.”

Aaron Blanding said, “I learned it in physics, no big deal.”

Milo said, “Now I’m going to tell you something your dad didn’t tell you. Cordi wasn’t the only person who died. There was a second victim.”

Aaron gaped. “You’re saying she did have a boyfriend, it was some kind of…passion deal?”

“No, this person was just a friend. Her hairdresser, actually.”

“Caspian? Caspian was also…oh, fuck-shit. It was…like a massacre? Was there anyone else?”

“Thankfully no, Aaron. So you knew Caspian.”

“I met him once. At Starbucks in Westwood. Cordi brought him along because she had a photo shoot in an hour and he was doing her hair and neither of them had eaten. Cordi still wasn’t going to eat because she wanted to look thin for the shoot, she said the camera put on like ten pounds. But she wanted to make sure Caspian got some nutrition, was joking that if she didn’t feed him he’d mess up her hair. She got him a whole wheat roll and some…avocado spread, I think. Something spread. He ate it all up, so obviously my sister was right.”

“What was your impression of Caspian?”

“Nice,” he said. “Respectful.”

“Respectful of Cordi?”

“Of Cordi and me. Of our meetings. He told me they were a great thing, it was great to have a sibling to talk to. By respectful I mean that when he got his roll, he went off to another table so we could have our time. That doesn’t always happen. An adult treating someone my age like a person. It’s like he didn’t make a difference between Cordi and me because of our ages. Now you’re telling me…fuck that to hell. Fuck.”

A fist pounded a palm. “I can’t believe this. Oh, man, this sucks, it’s…it’s…it fucking sucks.”

Milo said, “That’s for sure, Aaron. And what’s making the investigation even more difficult is we don’t even have Caspian’s real name yet.”

“You don’t?” Amazed. “That I can tell you. Charlie Bankster. He said it sounded too much like gangster so he changed it. Joking about it. The whole time was like that, Cordi joking, Caspian joking.” A breath. “I laughed a lot, which was…then Caspian went to eat and Cordi and I hung out.”

Sad smile. “I didn’t joke. A sense of humor is something I’m working on.”



* * *



—

He finished the water, refused Milo’s offer of a second.

“How about some grub, Aaron? I’m sure I can scare up some pastries or a bag of chips.”

“No, thanks, Lieutenant. My stomach’s turning inside out.” Placing a hand in the middle of his abdomen to demonstrate.

“Got it. Anything else you want to tell us?”

“I wish,” said the boy. “I wish I knew something…oh man, Cordi and Caspian. The time I was with both of them was nice. And now I’m the only one still alive.”



* * *



—

We walked him downstairs and out to the street. No more curiosity about his surroundings. He looked smaller, younger.

“Need a lift home?” said Milo.

“No, I’ll catch the bus. Obviously, I should keep this meeting secret, right?”

“From your parents?”

“Mostly from Mom. She’ll go nuts and probably want to take my temperature or something.”

“Well,” said Milo, “I can’t order you to go covert but sounds like a good idea.”

“Covert.” Aaron Blanding dredged up a smile. “Like a secret agent. Bye, Dr. Delaware. If I have questions about psychology, could I ask you?”

“Sure.” I gave him my office email.

“Great. Thanks. Excellent.”

We watched him walk north on Butler, a softly built adolescent with an ungainly, waddling walk.

Milo said, “Some kid. Renata was right, he is brilliant.”

“Brilliant with a stainless-steel moral core,” I said. “Also helpful: Charlie Bankster.”

“Better get the troops off Baxter and onto Bankster. Unusual name, gift from the gods.”

We took our usual places in his closet-sized office: Milo sinking into his wheelie chair as I wedged myself into a corner, barely able to flex a limb.

He called Reed and informed him of the name change, extracted a wooden-tipped cigar from his desk, jammed it into his mouth. Strong, white teeth embarked on the destruction of the wood.

He said, “Maybe the kid was helpful on a whole other level.”

“Insights into the family?”

“This is gonna sound out there, Alex, but given what we just heard, maybe I should be looking at an evil-mom deal. When we talked to Renata, it was obvious there was no love lost, but the kid just made it sound a helluva lot worse. Renata trying to erase Cordi because Cordi upset the idea of her perfect little family. What if, on top of that, she found out Cordi and Aaron were meeting, worried Cordi was influencing the kid? Or divulging Renata’s past. Talk about a serious sense of threat.”