City of the Dead (Alex Delaware, #37)(70)

Bloomfield said, “That’s something. A doctor fetching H2O.”

I handed the cup to Montag. She drank greedily.

Al Bloomfield said, “Need more, dear? I’m sure the doctor will be happy to fetch you more.”

She shook her head, returned to the front sheet, and scanned.

“Take your time,” said Bloomfield. “There’s no rush.”

Montag didn’t respond to him. Stayed robotic as she ran her finger down to a paragraph and cleared her throat again.

“So men were coming in more and more and one of them was Forrest and I got him because the day he came in my chair was empty. The cut and style went great. He had great hair and I did a great job. He started coming in regularly, sometimes even once a week for a trim. Then I suggested some skin work because the desert sun can do so much damage and he said let’s try it and I gave him an herbal wrap and he really liked it. Then he said he was looking for a place to get his body in shape so I said I work out…” Quaking chin. “I work out at this place up the block called The Sweat Box, it’s owned by a guy named Tyler Hoffgarden, he really works you hard, like a boot camp but you see results. That’s what I told Forrest and he said thanks Lisette and then I actually took him over to The Sweat Box and he liked it and started working out there.”

Her eyes shut.

Bloomfield said, “We know it’s tough.”

She faced him. “It’s my fault. I introduced them.”

“You had no way to know, dear. Your intentions were nothing but positive.”

“I know, I know…still…”

“Still nothing, dear. You shared your own positive experiences with someone out of the goodness of your heart. That’s nothing to regret, absolutely nothing.”

Talking to us as he made a gym referral sound like something in Mother Teresa’s appointment book.

Milo knows keeping them talking is the big thing so he said, “Sounds like it started off pretty innocently.”

Lisette Montag said, “Not pretty. Totally.”

Bloomfield said, “No malice, no hidden agenda, she was being nice and the fact that things happened is not her fault.”

I pictured Montag directing the Tabash twins as they overpowered, transported, and lugged Hoffgarden to the kill-spot. Telling them go and wait by the Explorer, then finishing the job.

Milo said, “Got it.”

Bloomfield touched Montag’s hand. “Go on, Lissy.”

Her finger landed at the bottom of the first sheet. Her eyes moved back and forth.

Sighing, she said, “We became friends, a group. Me, Tyler, and Forrest. We went out for Mexican food, which we all liked. We all liked margaritas so we tried different places for margaritas. We liked Italian so we tried that, even though Tyler was a fitness guy he was pretty normal in his eating. We hung out. Then…”

Shaking. “Then…then Forrest and I became more than friends. We…got close. We…started making love. We fell in love. He was divorced from his second wife, came to the desert because he was lonely and wanted to start over and I had broke up with a loser boyfriend so we started a relationship.”

The shaking got worse. She slapped the paper down. “I can’t do this.”

Al Bloomfield said, “Easy and slow, dear.”

I said, “You had a relationship with Tyler at the same time as Slope.”

Montag stared at me.

Bloomfield’s smile turned sour. “Psychology.” Still showing off his bridgework but his voice had steeled.

I said, “Am I wrong?”

“Yes!” said Montag.

Milo said, “You and Tyler were just friends.”

“Yes. No. It’s…I don’t know what to say.”

Bloomfield said, “Why don’t you just read, dear.”

“I don’t want to read,” she said. “I just want to speak truth to power. I just want…”

Her shoulders dropped. “Okay, yes, Tyler and I slept together. Before and later. But only a little.”

Milo said, “Before you met Forrest and afterward.”

“I never cheated on Forrest,” she said.

“Forrest knew.”

“No, no, he didn’t, and there was really nothing, with Tyler it was just fu— just sex, Tyler never had my heart, never once. Forrest had my heart. He was older, he knew how to treat a woman. He was…nice.”

“Tyler wasn’t.”

“Tyler just wanted to jump my bones.”

“No emotional attachment,” I said.

“Exactly.”

“Did Tyler get jealous?”

“No! That was me, I did!”

Milo and I looked at each other.

Al Bloomfield pointed to the paper. “It’s all in here, gentlemen. We took time and pains to be accurate so I suggest she reads and you listen.”

Milo said, “Sure, if she wants to.”

“Lisette? Please. For your sake. Talk truth to power.”

Looking unconvinced, she picked up the paper. Put it down and resumed reciting in a softer, weaker voice. “…I had broke up with a loser—…I already said that…okay…Forrest and I were in love and Tyler was our friend but then Tyler and Forrest started something.”