Chapter 46
I FELT LIKE my initial meeting with the mysterious man from Los Angeles had gone pretty well.
But Gary Trilling seemed spooked by the whole ordeal.
He clearly wasn’t used to threats, either direct or subtle.
He was a businessman, not a cop. He’d never done anything wrong or crossed anyone.
He lived in one of the safest areas of the country.
He couldn’t be expected to handle someone like Arnold Marks without being a little nervous.
Gary drove us back to his house in the van, with his brother in the front passenger seat and me sitting in the rear with Fido the llama directly behind.
Gary said being at the car lot made him nervous, and he didn’t intend on opening for business again for at least a week.
On top of everything else, he was deeply saddened by the death of his bookkeeper, Lillian.
As he drove, Gary kept hitting the same regret over and over.
“If I had sold the lot when Marks made me the first big offer, I’d have a hell of a lot of cash, and more importantly, Lillian would still be alive.”
Rob Trilling shook his head. “You have no way of knowing what would or wouldn’t have happened. None of this is your fault. It’s being done to you. Now both Mike and I are here to help you.” That seemed to calm his brother down.
Gary looked in the rearview mirror as he addressed me. “When Marks showed up, I was rattled. He wanted to test-drive the Camaro, and I didn’t know what to do. Guess I freaked out a little bit.”
I said, “Don’t worry about it.”
“You sure as shit made Marks mad. I mean really mad.”
I had to smile as I said, “Good. That’s when people make mistakes.”
Gary nodded as he kept driving down the empty road. The van occasionally skidded on a patch of ice, and the heater inside was not particularly effective.
We didn’t even bother going inside Gary’s house once we arrived, though he took a moment to lock up the llama in a pen next to his house. The llama spit at me again and tried to bite me twice. Dogs usually love me, but apparently there was something about me that rubbed Fido the wrong way.
Gary led us to the house next door, where his mother and grandfather lived. Even though I’d met Mona and Chet Trilling only once before, when they were on the East Coast visiting Trilling’s sister, they immediately made me feel right at home.
Chet patted the leather couch next to him.
I sat down, assuming he wanted to talk to me.
But he was content to sit quietly next to me as he listened to everything that was going on around him: his grandsons trading juvenile barbs, the TV in the next room that was tuned to the weather station, Mona working in the kitchen.
But he never said a word. I didn’t get the feeling it had anything to do with his mental decline.
I had the distinct impression this had been his personality throughout his long life.
It made me understand where Trilling got his quiet personality.
I asked Mona if she needed any help in the kitchen.
She shook her head. “I’m staying busy to try and keep my mind off Lillian.
I’m making some dishes for her service. I spent the morning over at Lillian’s apartment with her mother.
The poor woman is just devastated, has no idea what to do.
I tried to get her to stay here for the evening, but she wouldn’t. ”
With that little exchange I also realized where Rob Trilling got his strong sense of duty and compassion. He’d inherited the best traits from his grandfather and mother.
I considered what I had discovered about my partner. I’d never learned so much about someone without them saying a word. Now Trilling was even surprising me when he wasn’t doing anything.