Breeze popped a piece of Big Red into her rosebud mouth and leaned against the CSI Tahoe, waiting for Detective Jim Brass at the end of the long driveway of Sean Gentileschi's mansion, the House of Lomi. She had not turned the car off and had the radio on, tuned to her favorite rock station. She put on her pink-tinted J-Lo sunglasses and hummed to "Paradise By The Dashboard Light". Down the street she could be mistaken for a high schooler and as she was leaning against the Tahoe in her hip-huggers and rhinestone-appliquéd Santana baby tee, a car-full of teenaged boys had slowed down and honked and whistled. She lowered her sunglasses and winked but when she didn't acknowledge them any further, they drove off.
As she used a few minutes to relax before she had to actually work, she decided it was more than nice of Brass to take the time to take the hour drive and come to Indian Springs and get Sean Gentileschi's alibi from his girlfriend, Keil Anson, when he could be doing bigger and better things.
"Gil was a good friend of mine," he had said over the phone when Breeze called him earlier. "I'd like to help in any way possible."
Breeze played with her gum and took out her cell phone, a little gift she bought herself with her first CSI paycheck, along with the camera attachment. Greg had helped her download a handful of games on it and managed to play a few rounds of virtual bowling before Brass's Taurus pulled up.
"Hey there, Jim," she greeted him, turning her cell off. "'Bout time."
"Had to finish some damn paperwork," Brass puffed, fixing his tie as he slammed closed the door of the Taurus.
"No big. I kept myself occupied," Breeze gave a half-smile.
Brass approached Breeze, who opened the driver's side door of the Tahoe and turned the key to shut the vehicle down.
"Who are we checking out again?" he asked. Being somewhat of the head detective of CSI, he obviously knew everything about the Grissom case.
"Keil Anson," Breeze reminded him. She clipped her cell to her hip-hugger jeans. "Current girlfriend of Sean Gentileschi."
"Who's the former husband of Sara Sidle."
"You are correct, sir."
The pair began walking up the tree-lined driveway to the House of Lomi, an extremely large house that looked like it was a small hotel.
Breeze liked working with Brass, whom she imagined was once a devastatingly handsome man in his prime. He reminded her of her father, minus the long hippie hair her father was known for. Brass in return liked Breeze Hamelin, who reminded him of his daughter Ellie, but more serious and much less reckless. In fact, he wished Ellie was more like Breeze.
When they reached the front gallery, both were somewhat out of breath.
"Quite a workout, huh?" Breeze panted.
"A long driveway like that is used for only one thing," Brass said. "To keep out people who don't belong."
Breeze pursed her lips before ringing the doorbell of the House of Lomi. It was an extremely large house, with a Romanesque front; columns made of glass blocks; large stained-glass windows depicting Roman gods and goddesses frolicking in gardens splayed a colorful tie-die pattern on the white granite steps and front gallery. The Nevada sun was flaming hot and high in the sky, burning through Breeze's sunglasses. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a tissue and spit her gum into it. She crumpled the tissue in her hand and stuffed it into her pocket. Brass had a private smile with himself. Then she rang the bell, and it played Minuet in G. They were expecting to be greeted by a maid or butler. When the door opened, they got a little surprise: it was Keil herself.
Keil Anson was, truthfully, thirty-five years old—almost as old as Sara—but she looked much younger, possibly younger than Breeze, who was twenty-six. Her hair was streaked in several shades of blonde and brown, so telling which was her true color was impossible. It was pulled back from her face with a white headband. Her hazel eyes were round and large like a deer in headlights. She has a true hourglass shape with large pillowy breasts and swingy hips and a waist so small that one could put their arms all the way around it. Her white haltered sundress emphasized her shape and her deep tan and her white high-heeled sandals were strapped tightly on her small feet.
"Can I help you?" she asked in a breathy voice with a hint of a New York accent when she opened the door of the mansion.
"Ms. Keil Anson?" Breeze began, "My name is Breeze Hamelin of the Las Vegas Criminalistics Bureau and this is Detective Jim Brass of the Las Vegas PD. I just need to ask you a few questions regarding the whereabouts of Sean Gentileschi."
"That's my boyfriend," Keil flashed a smile so bright Breeze was almost blinded.
"I know…I'm from the Crime Lab? In Las Vegas?…" Breeze flashed her ID. Brass showed his badge.
"Oh," Keil's face fell with realization, "Oh."
"May we come in?"
Keil opened the door a little wider and Brass and Breeze stepped into Sean Gentileschi's Indian Springs mansion. He was obviously a fan of objects d'art—glass, porcelain and ceramic knickknacks took up almost every flat surface. Photographs were few, each one framed in gold or silver. Breeze saw that nearly all were of Evie, Sean and Sara's daughter. The décor of the living room in which the two women were standing was strict: tailored, white and beige with mahogany accents. A white marble fountain stood to the right of the front door. The room was ridiculously large for two people. Breeze's entire apartment could fit into it.
"Your home…it's really…big, I mean, nice," was all Breeze could say. Brass just quietly surveyed everything.
"Thank you. Actually, it's not really mine. It's Sean's," Keil replied, closing the front door behind her. "Would you like to sit down?"
"Yes, please. Thank you," Breeze took off her sunglasses. Keil led them into the sunken living room, down two steps, and perched on a beige loveseat.
"I'll stand, thank you," Brass said, positioning himself behind the couch.
"So…Breeze…I love your name. Is it your real name?" Keil asked innocently.
Breeze sat diagonal from her on the couch. She got this a lot. "Yes. Is Keil your real name?"
Brass coughed to hide a chuckle and Keil giggled, obviously missing the insult, and clicked off the large-screen television that was showing a re-run of Port Charles and turned to face Brass and Breeze.
"So, what's this about my boyfriend?" she asked, cocking her head.
"I just need to know where he was on October ninth?" Breeze asked
"The ninth?" Keil frowned. "That was a few days ago."
"Yes…I know."
Keil sighed, "I'm not too great at remembering dates."
"You're gonna have to try," Breeze coaxed.
"Did Sean tell you that he's a suspect in a murder investigation?" Brass asked.
Keil's expression told Brass that he hadn't. Her richly tanned complexion turned the color of her dress. "He told me he had to go to Las Vegas…something that has to do with his wife…what's her name again? Sandra?"
"Sara," Breeze corrected
"Oh, right. Yeah, he said he was going in for a questioning and no, he didn't tell me for what. Sean's very cut-and-dry when it comes to his wife, so as soon as she was mentioned I knew I wasn't gonna get a lot of information from him."
"When you say wife…do you mean ex-wife?"
"No. He and Sandra never formally split-up, or at least, that's what Layla told me."
"Sara," Brass corrected.
"No, Layla. She's Sean's secretary."
"What do you mean they 'never formally split-up'?" Breeze asked, confused now.
"That's what I mean. Sean just up and left, they didn't file for divorce or anything," Keil said, as innocent as a second-grader, toying with a piece of her hair.
"So Sean is still married to Sara?" Breeze asked, a bit confused.
Keil shrugged, "I guess so."
Breeze racked her brain and then realized that Keil was right. Every time Sara spoke about Sean—which was rare—the word divorce was never once mentioned. "Do you know why Sean left Sara?"
"Nope," Keil shook her head. "Like I said, cut-and-dry."
"Hm." Breeze sighed, "I know you said you were bad with dates, Keil, but I'm practically begging you to remember…where was Sean on October ninth? Between, say, seven AM and nine PM?"
Keil paused, crinkling her brow, "Um…okay, let's see…seven o'clock, he was here, of course. We had breakfast together. His secretary Layla arrived around seven-thirty. I remember that 'cause I was still watching the news in my pajamas. I never dress before nine. Well, I guess around eight, Sean left the office. He told me he had to do some 'business abroad', which, in his language, means he's going to Eve's Garden—that's his spa, you know."
"I know," Breeze saw Brass take a pad and pen out of the inside pocket of his sports coat and begin to jot everything down. "Was he carrying anything? When he left?"
Keil's eyes squinted in thought, "A briefcase. His briefcase…camel tooled leather with his monogram engraved on it. I got him that," she added proudly.
"Uh-huh…anything else?" She may suck with dates but the girl knows her accessories.
"I don't think so. Oh! He was carrying his boots!"
"Boots?" Brass piped up.
Keil rolled her eyes. "Those damn boots of his, the Italian what's-its. Aquilas. They drive me crazy. He wears them everywhere but in his own home. Would you believe," Keil laughed, "he wore those damned things to my sister's wedding? I mean, tux and all! I told him to keep his feet under the table during the reception; I was so embarrassed!"
"Did he say anything else to you about where he was going?" Brass asked.
"Just the 'business abroad' spiel…he always tells me if I need anything I was to ask Layla and then he promised to meet me at Stepping Stones for lunch, which he did."
"What time?"
"Did he meet me for lunch? Ten after eleven. No…not ten. That's when I got there. No, Sean came at eleven-twenty."
"Where did he go after lunch?"
"Back to his office here, I guess. That's what he told me. I went shopping with Kerry, that's my sister. But around four, Sean and I went to pick up Evie."
"Evie?" Breeze jumped in.
"Sean's daughter," Keil said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That's her in the picture here." She pointed to a nearby photo in a gilded frame. It was a Christmas portrait. Evie was set in front of a Christmas tree wearing a long, burgundy velvet dress with puffy sleeves and a frilly lace collar, looking quite angelic.
"Yes, I've seen her. I work with her mother."
"Oh. Well, we picked up Evie around four, brought her back here. She slept over, like she usually does. She has her own bedroom here and everything. Sean just absolutely lavishes gifts on her. Anyway, Evie stayed overnight and then her mother picked her up around eight. That's it."
"You stayed in all night?"
"Yes. Well, Sean and Layla were in the office and I stayed with Evie. I just adore her, so it's not like I minded. We played with dolls and things. While I stayed with Evie, Sean saw two clients and then Layla left around nine, like always. Then we had dinner, put Evie to bed and watched TV. We went to bed around eleven."
Brass noted everything Keil said. Breeze turned to him and he nodded. Breeze stood, as did Keil.
Breeze held out her hand and Keil took it, "Thank you, Keil. You've been very helpful."