Free The XXX Files Season Two (Episodes 5-8) by Lexi Maxxwell Page B

 
    “What what?” he said.
    “What led to the change,” Brad clarified.  
    “No,” gangly face shook his head again, his Adam’s apple still bouncing. “I do remember that the anniversary couple Frank and Stella seemed to be getting extra nervous as the evening wore on. I thought that before all the crazy started.”  
    Gangly face shivered.  
    “What do you mean?” Brad asked. This was the first time anyone had said anything of the sort.
    “Well,” the kid pinched the bridge of his nose, seeming to think. “Stella seemed to be drinking a lot, and she was coming on to her husband. When I came in to refill her water she asked if she could have a glass that was just ice since ‘things were getting hot.’ It was about 15 minutes after that when things got out of control.”  
    Brad thanked gangly face, then went to find Courtney. It wasn’t much of a lead, but it was the best they’d found all day, and maybe something that might inch them the fuck out of Florida.  
    “That doesn’t sound like much,” Courtney confirmed what he already knew. “But it’s better than nothing.”  
    She had uncovered a dick hair less than he had, so together they went to the Goldblatts for a follow-up interview.
    As with the first interview, the Goldblatts were deeply embarrassed, though Courtney and Brad agreed that they didn’t seem to be hiding anything. They couldn’t make eye contact with either agent, and all the other signs of bald-faced lying were there: Physical expressions were limited and stiff, with few arm and hand movements; their hands were constantly touching their face, throat and mouth; they both scratched their nose and behind their ears; emotions seemed off , almost delayed. Yet, Brad trusted his instinct, and it said the Goldblatts weren’t lying, so much as deeply humiliated that they’d found themselves at the bottom of a hoary orgy, and by the looks of the YouTube video, had been eating their way out from the bottom.  
    “So there’s nothing you can remember?” Courtney asked, for what might have been the 20th time.
    Frank held his wife’s hand, shaking his head as Stella stared at the floor.
    “OK, then,” Courtney smiled. “Thanks again for your time.”  
    Brad was in a hurry to leave, but even so, his agent’s eyes couldn’t miss a clue on his way from their small Shady Palms apartment. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered to Courtney, crossing the living room to a hutch set against the far wall. He picked up a bottle of champagne from a cluster of many, looked at the label, then turned to the couple.
    “This says, Happy 60 th Frank and Stella, right here on the bottle. That’s custom, right?”  
    Stella nodded.
    Brad broke into a smile. “Was everyone drinking?”  
    “Oh, yeah,” Frank said. “Someone sent us 50 bottles for our anniversary. Must have been a damn good friend, since we both asked everyone who sent it, and no one wanted to take any credit. I’m telling you, if I sent 50 bottles of bubbly to someone, I’d want everyone and their Grandpa Joe to know about it. Stella thought it might be our daughter, Suze, but she’s in France right now and having a tough time with some personal stuff. She completely forgot our anniversary.”
    “Until the YouTube video,” Stella said.  
    “Yeah,” Frank repeated, looking at his feet. “Until the YouTube video.”  
    “Weird,” Courtney said, perked like Brad to the brand new clue. “And did you ask at the restaurant? Did anyone there know who sent it?”
    “Yeah, we asked. But no, they had no idea. They had everything laid out for us when we arrived for the party, and seemed surprised that we didn’t know anything about it. They figured Stella and I bought the bottles ourselves.”
    Brad said, “Mind if I take a bottle to send to the lab?”  
    Frank looked surprised, if not downright shocked. Again, Brad’s instinct said the old man knew nothing. “You think someone drugged us?”  
    Brad held the