Page 35 of Compelling Urges

She admired her loot for a moment as the others watched her silently. Then she looked up and asked, “You said Blair followed you to California. Does that mean she died there?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bodhi answered. “From what I can gather, the doctor in London couldn’t help her. He referred her to a special clinic in California, knowing they were conducting their own trial. I’m sorry to say she was turned down because her cancer was too advanced.”

“Oh.” Lauren dropped her bag of goodies into her lap and grabbed a tissue. She dabbed her eyes. “Well, at least I got my stuff back—or some of it anyway.” She made a sour face. “Blair was always a problem child, you know. I guess I’m not surprised she’s been lying and stealing.”

Bodhi thought he had whiplash. Just a moment before Blair was beautiful and talented, and now she was a lying, stealing bother? “You have no idea,” he muttered under his breath. He took that moment to look around the room and noticed several table surfaces and the fireplace mantle had photos of Blair. She seemed to have been in a few local pageants, judging from the outfits and sashes. The pageants must have started when she was about five years old. A large, framed picture in the middle of the mantle showed Blair wearing a tiara and a sash proclaiming her to be Chuckwalla Tumbleweed Festival Princess. The cheesy smile and vacant look in Blair’s eyes creeped Bodhi out.

Deciding he’d had enough, Bodhi placed the shopping bag in front of Lauren and said, “There are a few more of Blair’s things in this. I’m sorry we got rid of the rest of her clothes. She didn’t have a lot, really, but you ought to have these.”

Lauren pawed through the contents of the bag murmuring, “What a lovely fragrance.” She breathed it in as if savoring it, making the others cringe to themselves. Then she pulled out the passport. “Hendrix?” she asked. “Who’s Hendrix?”

“That’s how Blair introduced herself to me, so I believed it was her name. Then the doctor at the clinic said it was Henry. Do you think the passport is a fake possibly?”

“I don’t know. It could be. I didn’t have a birth certificate for her because she was… um… well… Let’s just say I was too young to be having a daughter. I’m sure you can tell by looking at me that we were often mistaken for sisters,” she simpered as the others tried to keep a straight face. “Anyway, she was very upset about the birth certificate problem. We fought about it, actually. Eventually she said she’d get a passport somehow, and I shouldn’t worry about it.” She paused a moment. “That was right before the burglary…” Lauren sighed and then asked suddenly, “Was she in a lot of pain?”

This was the moment Bodhi had feared the most. “I don’t think she suffered too badly,” he explained evasively. “She was very tired and slept a lot… toward the end.” He dreaded telling Lauren that her daughter had taken her own life. And no way in the world did he want to bring up the false pregnancy claims.

But Lauren surprised them all by snapping at Bodhi. “Tell me the truth, young man. I know my daughter was not one whoenjoyedsuffering, and she told me before she left for England that if she couldn’t get treatment she’d kill herself. So, how’d she do it? Pills?”

“Oh, uh, no. Actually, she jumped off the Coronado Bridge.”

Lauren’s eyes lit up and she smiled victoriously. “That’s my girl! She went out in style her own way! Did they find her body?”

“Yes. They did right away. And I took care of her… remains. She was cremated and the Telophase Society did an off-shore burial at sea. I hope that’s all right with you.”

“It’s fine. She always liked water. Maybe that’s why the bridge appealed to her. When she was little, she asked all the time to go see the ocean.” Lauren held up the baggie of loot again and smiled at it.

Bodhi’s stomach roiled, and he felt the beginning of a migraine stabbing at him. It was time to get out of here. He stood and nodded at Ivy and Cooper. “Mrs. Henry, I’m terribly sorry for your loss, and I’m sorry we had so much bad news for you, but I think we ought to be on our way now. We have a long drive ahead of us.”

Ivy blinked at him, and Cooper stood, giving him a small, understanding smile. They both shook hands with Lauren and offered her their condolences, then scooted toward the door. They watched as Lauren draped herself around Bodhi in a far too friendly manner, whispering something into his ear.

Bodhi winced and extracted himself quickly as he stepped out of her clutches. “Ma’am,” was all he said with a curt nod and then bolted for the door. “Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he muttered to his friends as they rushed out.

“What did she say to you, Bodhi?” Ivy asked with a small smirk. “You sure wanted to get out of there in a hurry.”

“She told me to ditch the two losers and come back to party with her tonight. Apparently, she’s quite proud of her skills involving dicks and her mouth. She also has a platinum pussy I shouldn’t miss. Something tells me that’s how she makes her living because she didn’t offer it for free.”

Ivy made a gagging sound.

“If it’s okay with the two of you, I’d really rather just get our shit and get out of this place. I’ll be happy to drive back if you’re tired, Coop.”

Cooper smiled at his friend and said, “I’m fine. Let’s go grab our stuff and head home. I’ve seen enough of Chuckwalla. I need to breathe some ocean air before I choke.”

As they walked back to the car, Ivy noticed that Bodhi was limping more than usual.That scrape on his leg must be bothering him, she thought. But just then a wasp buzzed around her head, and she frantically swatted it away, forgetting about Bodhi’s limp.

When they were in the roasting car again, Cooper cranked up the AC as high as it would go and hit the gas.

Chapter 27

As they drove back toward Yuma, Bodhi’s headache grew worse and worse, and he was sweating through his shirt. As he rubbed his forehead and tried to loosen the muscles in his neck, Cooper looked over at him. “You okay? You’re looking kind of pale all of a sudden.”

At that moment, Bodhi’s sweating stopped, and he started shivering. He growled, “I’ll be fine if you turn down the AC.”

“Sure thing. It was just so hot when we got in…” Cooper looked back at the road and turned the air down to a normal temperature. Then he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Bodhi was kneading the muscle of his thigh just above his knee. “Is your leg bothering you?”

“Yeah. It aches like a motherfucker.”

“I have some ibuprofen in my purse. Would you like some?” Ivy asked. “Here’s some water too. It’s probably pretty warm by now from sitting in the car, but it ought to help.” She passed two pills and the water bottle to the front seat for Bodhi, who accepted them gratefully. “Has it been hurting all day?”

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