Page 111 of Sunset Beach
Colleen threw the door open and stepped into the darkened room, holding the raincoat open to reveal the outfit she’d spent a week’s grocery money on: black lace push-up bra, black lace garter belt, black fishnet hose.
“Surprise!”
He was reclined on the bed, illuminated only by the blue flicker of the television set, wreathed in a cloud of cigarette smoke.
His chuckle was low and throaty and only vaguely familiar.
“Well now, that is a nice surprise.” He stubbed out the cigarette in an ashtray resting on his chest.
The blood drained from her face, and her fingers fumbled as she hastily belted and buttoned the raincoat.
“What is this?” she demanded. “Where’s Brice?”
Her lover’s partner, the cop he called Jimmy Zee, was obviously highly amused. “Brice couldn’t make it tonight. He sent me instead. In fact, your boyfriend won’t be making it with you ever again. It’s over.”
“I don’t believe you.” She glanced around the room, unsure of her next move.
Before she could leave, he made a show of holding up a rectangle of laminated paper. “What? You’re going to leave without taking what you came here for?”
She felt herself flush, and she released the doorknob and tightened the raincoat belt. “What I came here for is none of your business,” she said haughtily.
Jimmy Zee swung his feet off the bed and laid the rectangle on the nightstand. He reached into the pocket of his sports shirt and produced another rectangle of paper, which he placed beside the first.
“Driver’s license. Social security card.”
He studied her face. “You’re now officially Donna Woods. You look like a Donna, you know that?”
Colleen edged closer to the bed. She snatched up the documents, then turned on the lamp on the nightstand to get a better look.
“This picture,” she said coldly, holding up the driver’s license, “looks nothing like me. The hair is the wrong color. The weight? Are you kidding me? I’ve never weighed one hundred sixty pounds in my life. Ever. This thing is a joke.”
Zee was unmoved. “Women change their hair color all the time. They lose weight. That’s what Donna Woods did.”
“I want to see Brice,” Colleen said. “Does he even know you’re here?”
“How else would I know to show up to this dump on a Thursday night? He sent me.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said. “Why would he do something like that?”
“Because you and Brice are through,Donna. The two of you had somelaughs, but that’s all it was. He’s not leaving his wife for you. And he’s not giving up his job and his future to run away with you.”
Colleen walked over to the desk on the opposite side of the room and picked up the phone. “We’ll see about that.”
“What? You’re gonna call the house again and hang up when his wife answers? Put the phone down,Donna.”
Zee’s tone was calm. “Like I said, you’ve got what you need. A new set of ID papers. You can go anyplace you want, be Donna Woods. But you’re done threatening Brice Campbell. And you’re done driving past his house and harassing his wife.”
“I never…”
“Shut up,” Zee said. “You’re done. End of story.”
He took a stick of gum and popped it in his mouth, dropping the foil wrapper to the floor.
“And what if that’s not what I want?”
“Tough shit. Do you want your husband to find out about your Thursday night action at the Dreamland motel? The same joint where you were screwing his brains out last December? Because I can make that happen. And then what, after he finds out you’ve been screwing around on him?”
“Allen would kill me,” Colleen said, lifting her chin defiantly. “Brice knows that. He wouldn’t let you…”
