Chapter Five
“So let me get this straight,”Seth said as he pulled onto the freeway heading east on 210, toward the desert, just as the sun was setting behind them. “After Heavenly left the funeral, the first place she stopped was Gloria’s? Why?”
“Apparently, she wanted to apologize for sleeping with me.”
That blew Seth away. From what he gathered, Heavenly’s gesture was unnecessary, but it spoke to the purity of her character and made him love her even more. “What did Gloria say?”
“With her, it’s anyone’s guess, but she wouldn’t intentionally fuck this up for me. We’re friends. Hell, she’s my family. Even after the divorce, we’ll be close.”
Seth gaped in confusion. “I know you married for convenience, but how did you go from ‘I do’ to ‘just friends’?”
“We’ve always loved each other, but we were never in love.”
“Because of your fourteen-year age gap? Or because she’s a hooker?”
Beck’s head snapped in his direction. “Jesus, I know you’re a PI, but how fucking deep did you dig?”
“I can unearth facts all day long. Doesn’t mean I understand what’s going on.”
Beck sighed. “Gloria’s age and profession have nothing to do with our divorce. Besides, she’s not a hooker anymore; she’s a madam.”
“But while you were married, she fucked other people for money. That didn’t bother you?”
“No. I fucked other people, too. Not to make a living, but…” Beck seemed to grope for words. “Gloria has this uncanny ability to understand a person’s sexuality. It took her less than a week to figure out I needed BDSM. Hell, I didn’t even know what it was when she introduced me to folks in the lifestyle. They taught me fast, and I was all too happy to play hard.”
“So you stopped fucking each other? I don’t see anything convenient about that.”
“Simple. She needed a bodyguard. I needed a new name.”
A new name?“Because you were running from something? Or someone?”
Beck cut him a flinty glare. “Look, I had a past I didn’t want to carry into my future.”
Seth wasn’t satisfied with his half answer. “I already know Kenneth Beckman isn’t your real name. So who are you?”
“How did you know that?”
Seth shrugged. “I’m good.”
“You’re nosy, and it’s a long story.”
“We’ve got a long drive.”
“I’m not digging up those ghosts for you or anyone else.”
“Not even for Heavenly?”
Beck hesitated. “She knows who I am now. The past doesn’t matter.”
Seth scoffed. “It does if it bites us in the ass.”
“It won’t. It’s been a nonissue for twenty years.”
That didn’t tell Seth enough. Beck had a story—gangs, drugs, murder? He’d get to the bottom of it. If Beck’s sins had been serious enough to require something as drastic as marrying a hooker to change his name, they were significant enough to keep watch. Because he knew all too well that unless everyone who knew anything was dead and buried, the past had a way of rising from the grave.
“Twenty years ago, you were just a kid. What kind of trouble—”
“Drop it,” the doctor growled.