Sea Change

“Dumb and dumber,” Coca said after awhile. “Yeah, they were here.”

“When.”

“Early in the summer. Memorial Day weekend, I think.

Kinda cool. Not good party weather.”

“How long did they stay?”

“Too long,” Coca said. “I kicked them out after about three days.”

“Why?”

“They didn’t fit in,” Coca said.

“How so?”

“They’re fucking crazy, awright? They were drunk by noon. Walked around topless. I got a lot of top-drawer people here. Christ, I got the president of a real estate development company. Big company. International. He’s sitting outside with his wife, having a cocktail before lunch. One of them, who the fuck knows which one, topless, thong bikini bottom, goes and sits in his lap. Takes a drink from his glass. Man!”

“Wasn’t she cold?” Jesse said.

“Who, Missy Hot Bottom? I don’t know. Why?”

“You said it was cool.”

“Well, hell,” Coca said. “I’m not even sure what weekend.

All my weekends are pretty lively. But I’m pretty sure nobody was swimming.”

“So the bikini was for effect.”

“Sure, those two assholes don’t do anything except for effect. For crissake, some of my important guests left because of them.”

2 2 5

R O B E R T B . P A R K E R

“And how do you know them?” Jesse said.

“Their sister.”

“Florence?”

“Yeah. Now there was a babe. She was even wilder than the twins, but she had a little class. You know? She never of-fended any of my guests. And she could hold her booze.”

“She brought her sisters to party with you?” Jesse said.

“Not this year, they came on their own, but yeah, they used to come with her. Hell, they were still jailbait when they started coming here. The jailbait twins.”

“They get along?”

“Sure. It was like Florence was showing them the ropes.

Like she was breaking them in.”

“Lot of sex at your parties?” Jesse said.

“Hey,” Coca said. “What about privacy here. I’m entitled to my privacy.”

“I don’t care if your guests had carnal knowledge of a vending machine,” Jesse said. “I’m only interested in my case. Anything you tell me is off the record.”

“Well, sure. There’s usually some sex at a big weekend party, you know? Why wouldn’t there be? I think it’s one reason Flo brought her sisters. Learn their way around, in a safe environment.”

“Safe environment?” Jesse said.

“Yeah. There’s always a good class of people at my parties.

Good place for young girls to, you know, grow up.”

“Even when they were jailbait?” Jesse said.

2 2 6

S E A C H A N G E

“Not with me,” Coca said. “But yeah. There’s guys like them young. It wasn’t like anyone’s first time.”

“Any idea where anyone might have lost her cherry?”

“Got me,” Coca said. “Flo told me they weren’t virgins.”

“Know where they were headed when you gave them the boot?” Jesse said.

“Nope. They packed up, and my driver took them into the city and dropped them.”

“Where?”

“He said he took them to the Peninsula Hotel.”

“And this would have been the beginning of June?”

“Yeah, sure, first week or so for sure.”

“And you haven’t heard from them since?”

“No. What’s this all about, anyway? What’d they do?”

“Just routine stuff, Mr. Coca, names came up in a case here.”

“Flo involved?”

“Indirectly,” Jesse said.

“Well, Flo had more class, but they’re all crazy. Whole goddamned family was crazy, Flo said.”

“Whole family?”

“Yeah. That’s what she used to say.”

“Any details?”

“No, just that they were all crazy. That the money had ruined them all.”

“You think she was including her parents?” Jesse said.

“She never said. All of them seemed kind of hung up on the old man.”

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R O B E R T B . P A R K E R

“How so?” Jesse said.

“What am I, fucking Dr. Phil? They just talked about him a lot. Daddy this, Daddy that. Like he mattered.”

“Parents do,” Jesse said.

“Yeah. I’ve heard that.”

“Can you think of anything they said about Daddy?”

“You listen to those fucking twins for long, your brain fries,” Coca said. “You know what I’m saying? I worked my fucking ass off not to pay any attention to them. Mostly they fucking giggle.”

“So you can’t remember an example.”

“What’d I just say, for crissake.”

“That you can’t remember an example,” Jesse said.

“Thanks for your time, Mr. Coca. I may call back in a few days, see if anything has occurred to you.”

“I hope not,” Coca said.

After he had hung up the phone Jesse sat in his office and swiveled his chair aimlessly. Then he swiveled back and picked up the phone and called Kelly Cruz.

2 2 8

48

K elly Cruz sat in the small living room of Kimmy Young’s apartment in Coconut

Grove.

“How’d you find me?” Kimmy said.

“Vandersea alumnae office,” Kelly Cruz said.

“God,” Kimmy said. “They never lose you, do they? CIA ought to use them.”

Kelly Cruz smiled.

“Let me tell you why I’m here,” she said.

“Yes ma’am,” Kimmy said.

“My name is Kelly Cruz, I hope you’ll call me Kelly.”

R O B E R T B . P A R K E R

“I’m Kimmy.”

“Okay,” Kelly Cruz said. “We have that settled.”

Kimmy was blond, of course. Everyone is blond, except Detec -