He opened it. He smelled it. He dumped it out.
He rebuilt the phones. He reread the story. Arden Breen Bruvick/Carlos and Jane.
He clipped the piece. He cropped the pic. He taped them inside the front door. He taped them at Jane's eye-level.
Jane was late. Jane was due--Arden Breen Bruvick Smith Coates.
Littell grabbed a chair. Littell sat outside. The terrace view enticed. West L.A/count the lights/gauge that long drop.
There's the key. It's her. It's Arden Breen Bruv-- The lock clicked. The door slammed. There's the pause. There's the gasp.
She dropped her keys. She scraped a match. She's scheming. She's lighting up. She needs hand props.
Littell heard her foot scuffs. High heels tapped hardwood. Littell smelled her smoke.
There--she's behind you.
"It's not what you're thinking. There's an explanation for all of it."
His neck went warm. He felt her breath. He stared at the lights. He hid from her face.
"Carlos protected you before Dallas. I protected you after. You went back to Carlos and started spying on me."
Jane traced his shoulders. Jane traced his neck. She probed. She worked his kinks. Geisha/spy/whore.
"Carlos found me after Dallas. He knew I had to be the Arden at the safe house. He lied to Pete and pretended that he didn't know who I was."
She probed. She worked his neck. Call girl/liar/whore.
"Carlos was hiding my husband. He said he'd hand us up to Jimmy Hoff a if I didn't report back on you. I'd had a thing with Jules Schiffrin, and Carlos told me about your Teamster-book plan."
Her hands worked. Her voice worked. Concubine/whore.
"But I loved you, and I loved our life, and I loved what you'd done for me."
She traced his neck. She kissed his neck. Mob slattern/whore.
"Yes, I went through your things. But I didn't tell Carlos that you were stealing from Howard Hughes, or that you were sending money to the SCLC, or that you sleep with Janice Tedrow when you're not sleeping with me, or that you hoard these pathetic mementos of Robert Kennedy."
Littell rubbed his eyes. Streetlights blurred. Littell gauged the drop.
"You've got a file. You're too good not to have one."
Jane dropped her hands. Jane went through her purse. Jane dropped a key in his lap.
"The Encino B. of A. You can have it. That's how much it means to me now."
Littell squeezed the key. Jane kissed his neck.
"I loved my father. That rumor that I hated him was nonsense. Danny and I didn't kill him. Jimmy Hoff a did."
Littell rubbed his eyes. Jane leaned in. Jane rubbed her tears on his neck.
"This all goes back to Jimmy and the Outfit. I was going to complete my commitment to Carlos and go to the FBI. I was going to give them everything I had on every Outfit man I knew, and try to cut a deal to save you."
Littell rubbed his eyes. Littell rubbed his neck. Traitor/spy/whore.
He stood up. He turned around. He saw Jane. He made fists. Her eyes were wet. Her cheeks were wet. She'd trashed her makeup.
The phone rang. He stared at Jane. Jane stared hard back. The phone rang. He stared. He saw: New gray hairs. New face lines. Neck veins on a roar.
The phone rang. He stared. He saw: One hip cocked/those cheekbones/her pulse on a roar.
The phone rang. Jane broke the stare. Jane walked and got it. She said, "Hello." She trembled--pulse on a roar.
He followed her. He stared at her. He saw her neck veins and cheek veins. He saw her pulse on a roar.
She turned away. She cupped the receiver. He walked around her. He grabbed the hall phone.
He heard a man. He heard "run." He heard "blown with Littell." He heard the man falter. He heard Jane get strong.
She said, "Run." She said, "Hush now." She said, "Carlos will care."
She hung up. The line-click boomed. Littell dropped his phone.
He walked over. He saw her eyes start to dry. He saw her pulse ebb off that roar.
"Were we ever real?"
"I think we loved risk more than we ever loved each other."
"You were always an Arden. You were never really a Jane."
DOCUMENT INSERT: 10/2/65. Atlanta Constitution headline:
FBI RAIDS MISSISSIPPI HATE-MAIL RING.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 10/11/65. Miami Herald subhead:
GRAND JURY INDICTS KLAN LEADERS FOR.
MAIL-FRAUD AND INTERSTATE COMMERCE VIOLATIONS.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 10/20/65. Jackson Sentinel headline and subhead:
NEO-NAZI LEADERS INDICTED.
MEMBERS BLAST "FBI POGROM".
DOCUMENT INSERT: 10/26/65. Mobile Daily Journal headline and subhead:
MYSTERY AT BON SECOUR.
POPULAR CHARTER SKIPPER AND BOAT DISAPPEAR.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 10/31/65. San Francisco Chronicle headline and subhead:
VIETNAMESE TROOP COUNT AT 240,000.
KING CALLS FOR PROTESTS TO INFLUENCE NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 11/4/65. Mobile Daily Journal headline and subhead:
BON SECOUR SKIPPER'S BOAT FOUND IN FLORIDA KEYS.
MYSTERY DEEPENS: SKIPPER NOT ON BOARD.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 11/8/65. Los Angeles Times subhead:
RFK SAYS NO PREZ'L BID IN '68.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 11 / 18/65. Chicago Tribune headline and subhead:
U.S. ATTORNEY CITES "BRILLIANT WORK" IN FBI HATE WAR.
RECORD NUMBER OF MAIL-FRAUD INDICTMENTS.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 11/20/65. Milwaukee Sentinel headline: