Bad Behavior (7 page)

Justin was exhausted. He’d been running around all day, first dealing with the authorities and then handling the wedding announcement. He’d spent most of the afternoon entertaining the press and his head ached with a dull intensity that left him feeling moody and irritable.

But he couldn’t stop himself from coming. From checking on her. He’d had to make sure for himself that she was alright. She was a little worse for wear but as far as he could see she seemed to be resting comfortably.

Now that he’d laid eyes on her he could focus on what the hell had happened this morning. The attack on Rei hadn’t been random and Justin was determined to find out what had brought a would be killer into his office. Leaning down, he pushed her bangs back long enough to press a kiss to her forehead. She rolled over, mumbling something about crazy white women and he smiled despite the serious nature of the situation.

When Rei’s eyes opened a moment later, she found herself alone. It was easy enough to let exhaustion take hold of her once again and soon she was fast asleep.

♀♂

Stanly Williams cursed, throwing his cell across the room with such force that it crashed against the wall. That idiot. The job had been a simple one. Stan had laid out every detail for that moron Oscar, personally. Yet he still hadn’t been able to pull it off. He hadn’t wanted to take things this far so quickly but Rei had forced his hand. It didn’t help that his plans had begun to backfire. It was a shame since things had been going so well just a few days ago.

He’d started thinking that maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to get away with one more dip into Justin’s finances. Just a little something to see him off and make sure the first few years
of his retirement were as comfortable as they could be. Some would call him selfish. Greedy.

Stan liked to think of himself as an opportunist.

If Rei had just minded her own business, he wouldn’t have had to take things so far. But she’d taken the decision out of his hands the second she’d started asking questions. It would only be a matter of time before she tried to take her findings to Justin. He’d needed to shut her up. It didn’t matter at the time if his methods were a little messy. After all, he’d only needed enough time to tie up some loose ends and get out of the country.

He was patting himself on the back for a job well done when he’d gotten the phone call from Bethany. She’d been pleased to inform him that Rei was doing fine and that the police had her attacker in custody. The news was enough to make him sweat. There was no way to get to Oscar now that the police had him locked up, and if they were even the smallest bit suspicious (which they would be unless they were completely incompetent), it wouldn’t take long before they started questioning Oscar about his motives.

Now that the job had been botched, Oscar had to know that he wouldn’t be getting paid. Which meant that Stan had 24 hours, maybe less, before Oscar told the cops everything they needed to know about who had hired him and why. Why was everything falling apart so quickly? What the hell had Justin been doing at work so early anyway? It had fucked up everything and killing Rei at this point wouldn’t make any difference. Everyone would find out what he’d been up to no matter what he did. He needed to leave, cut his losses, grab what money he could, and get out of the country.

Going into his closet he reached up and grabbed a suitcase from his top shelf. He was throwing clothes into the
recesses of it when his phone rang. He thought about ignoring it, then figured that he couldn’t really afford to be out of the information loop. Going over to the corner of the room he reached down and picked the phone up off the floor, he answered it just as it was about to go to voicemail.

“Hello?”

“Stan? I know it’s late but I need your help with something.”

If Stanly had believed that things couldn’t get much worse, hearing Justin’s voice on the other end of that call disabused him of the notion. He pulled the cell away from his face and stared at it in abject disbelief.

“Hello?”

Justin’s voice was faint, and wide eyed, Stan put his ear to the receiver and tried his best to sound normal.

“Hello. Sorry. It was a bad connection there for a second. What can I help you with?”

“Can you see what you can find out about an Oscar Kennedy?”

Shit. Shit. Shit. Stan closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face.

“Yeah.” He said finally. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Rei sighed as she stepped into her apartment, flipping on the light in her living room and trying to figure out how the hell Bethany had managed to convince her to go shopping for wedding dresses.

It was one thing to help Justin make plans, it was another to hang out with his future wife like they were the very best of friends. Rei wondered if there was any way that she could get out of it, but figured that Bethany would come looking for her if she didn’t have someone to tell her how lovely she looked in everything she tried on.

The only upside was that she’d managed to swing by the office that morning before coming home. Now her arms were full of the paperwork implicating Stanly for embezzlement and spent most of the day going through it all and highlighting the pertinent points, faxing her findings to Detective Warren.

It was with bleary eyed surprise that she looked at her desk clock only to realize that it she was supposed to be meeting Bethany in half an hour. The woman had called her a few hours ago to let her know what time to meet her at Antonio’s. Apparently Bethany wanted lunch before they left to meet the dressmaker. Antonio’s was more expensive than Rei was used to and she was both pleased at the thought of eating there and apprehensive about spending the money that a decent meal would cost.

This was why she didn’t like hanging out with people who were used to spending money. Their version of a good time was often above her pay grade and there usually came the
awkward moment in which Rei had to explain that she couldn’t afford eating out and shopping and etc. on a regular basis.

Rei didn’t think that Bethany would accept such an explanation. She seemed like the kind of person who expected the women around her to keep up with whatever whim struck her fancy whether it involved money or not. Rei was going to have to ask Justin for a raise if Bethany was going to make a habit of dragging her places.

She pulled up outside of Antonio’s fifteen minutes late. She hurried into the intimate bistro and glanced around nervously. Trying to juggle her purse and straighten her clothes all at the same time occupied the nervous fidget in her fingers as she walked through the restaurant in search of Bethany. A flash of sapphire blue caught her eye and Rei looked past the occupied tables to see the future Mrs. Reese waving enthusiastically in her direction, floppy blue sun hat like a neon sign.

Rei walked briskly towards her, surreptitiously trying to check her reflection’s appearance in the windows. Her image was a little blurry, but she saw enough to know that she looked presentable enough. She sent Bethany a smile of apology as she pulled up a seat.

“Sorry I’m late.” She said with a sigh, tossing her purse in the chair beside her.

Bethany’s eyes tracked the motion and her lips pursed momentarily before she put on a bright smile.

“It’s perfectly fine. I haven’t been waiting that long. I hope you don’t mind but I went ahead and ordered for us both.” She shrugged, “We are on a bit of a time schedule after all.”

Rei did mind but she only smiled stiffly in response. “I understand. What will I be eating?”

“The smoked salmon with a house salad.”

Rei’s nose wrinkled in distaste.

“I’m allergic to fish.”

Bethany blinked. “Oh. Well there’s still the salad at least.”

“I’m a reverse vegetarian.”

“Reverse vegetarian?”

“I’m a carnivore. Strictly meat.”

Bethany stared at her and Rei let the silence grow uncomfortable.

“I was joking.” She said, completely deadpan and Bethany’s eyes narrowed.

“Funny.”

They looked away from one another and didn’t speak again until the food arrived. When the waitress set Rei’s plate before her, Bethany waved a fork in her general direction.

“Are you really allergic to fish?”

“Severely.” Rei stated shortly.

Bethany grinned and took a large bite out of her New York strip.

“Bon appétit.”

♀♂

“What do you think about this one?”

Bethany was standing on a platform in the center of a semicircle of lighted mirrors. The gown she was currently modeling was white (of course) with a line of diamonds along the back of the bodice that drew attention to the lace up design. It was a beautiful dress but Rei’s eyes kept going to those diamonds. The dressmaker was a tall, slim woman in a skirt suit. Her hair had been pulled back in a no nonsense bun and she was currently trying to pull off ‘gracious’ and ‘interested’ but with her sharp features and thin mouth only managed to look constipated.

“Are those real?” Rei asked, indicating the multitude of shimmering jewels.

The dressmaker, whose name was Leanna, scoffed and lifted her nose in the air. “Of course they are. My dresses are made from the finest materials and I would only offer to the best to Justin Reese’s lovely fiancé.” As she spoke she stepped forward to touch Bethany’s hand and they smiled at one another.

Gag.

Rei barely refrained from rolling her eyes.

“The dress is beautiful Ms. Marcus but isn’t it a little…”

Rei hesitated, and slowly Bethany turned on her platform to glare at her.

“A little what?”

“Gaudy.” Rei finished, shrugging in apology at her choice of words but unable to think of a replacement. “Heavy.” She continued. “Uncomfortable. You’re going to be stuck in that dress for hours. Do you really want diamonds digging into your back the whole time?”

Bethany’s expression morphed from blistering ire to honest consideration and she ran her hands over her hips, fingers absorbing the weight and feel of the dress.

“She’s right.” She finally told a red faced Leanna. “Let’s try another.”

The dressmaker nodded stiffly and turned away, leaving to go into a back room that housed all of her creations. The next
dress was black. Well, half of it was black. The top part of it was as white as the driven snow and about midway down it began to darken as if the bride had walked through ashes.

“It looks dirty. And what is it supposed to represent anyway? That she’s some sort of sullied bride? The guests are going to think it means she’s a slut.” Rei told them both, uncaring of the rage that was making Leanna’s lips even thinner than they were. Bethany on the other hand, rather than looking irritated as Rei had expected, seemed delighted.

Leanna drew herself up to her full height and indicated the dress as if it were on display before a crowd of admirers instead of for one obviously unimpressed African American.

“This dress says that the Bride is a woman and not some paragon of virtue that society demands she must be. She has been touched by her own share of hardships but has been able to rise above them. That,” she finished with obvious satisfaction, “is what this design of this dress means.”

Defiant, Rei crossed her arms over her chest and muttered, “Or it could mean that she’s a slut.”

The dressmaker made an unintelligible sound and Bethany laughed out loud.

“Bring me another please.” Bethany ordered imperiously and Leanna stomped out of the room without a word.

The third dress was a disaster. The first words out of Bethany’s mouth as she stared at herself in horror was, “Ew.”

Exasperated, Rei threw up her hands. “Is she a chia pet? Get that the hell outta here.”

The fourth dress had so many ruffles Bethany could have easily been mistaken for a poodle and both women shook their heads in silent denial before Leanna could even finish carting the behemoth into the dressing area.

It was strange, but by the time the flustered dressmaker had carted out her fifth selection, Rei thought that she might just be having fun.

If she wasn’t mistaken, Bethany was experiencing the same conundrum and both women frowned at one another. Displeased to find that they were getting along when both wanted nothing more than to do the opposite. Rei’s cell phone rang and while Bethany pulled off her current dress to try on the next, Rei looked at the caller ID to see that it was none other than Detective Warren.

Her heart leapt as she answered.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Donovan?”

Indicating that she would be just a minute, Rei got up from her seat and left the room. “What is it Detective? Did you get the files I sent over?”

“We did, but that’s not why I was calling.”

“What’s wrong now?”

“I just wanted to let you know that we went to pick up Mr. Williams for questioning but none of my men have been able to locate him.”

“You mean he’s missing?”

“I mean he ran and you should probably keep an eye out in case he decides to pay you a visit before he hops a plane.”

Her lips felt numb and it took her a second to calm her nerves before she was able to respond.

“Do you really think he’d try to hurt me again?”

“It’s not likely, but I wouldn’t put it past him. If he’s angry enough there’s no telling what he might do. If you don’t mind I’m going assign one of our uniforms to keep an eye on you until further notice.”

“No, I don’t mind at all.”

They talked for a few minutes more and then Rei disconnected.

When she stepped back into the dressing room she found Bethany finishing up a call of her own. The other woman noticed her and hung up on whoever she was talking to without saying goodbye.

Rei frowned.

“Everything alright?” she asked.

Bethany shook her head. “Not really. Something came up. We’ll have to cut this short.”

“That’s too bad.” Thank god. Now Rei could get back to the office and get some real work done. Maybe talk to Justin about everything that was going on, assuming that the police hadn’t done so already.

“It’s alright. We’ll reschedule.”

Rei’s shoulders slumped and Bethany smirked.

“Thanks for coming today.” She continued. “You were a big help.”

“Anytime.” Rei assured her.

“Really?”

There was something in her eyes, some spark of mischief that made Rei suspicious.

“Yes really.”

“I’m so glad you feel that way. You see, I was hoping you’d agree to be my Maid of Honor.”

Rei blinked.

“What?” the question came out more rudely than she’d intended but Bethany didn’t seem to notice as she started gathering her things together and putting on the clothes she’d come in with.

“I have to run the idea past Justin of course, but I thought you could help me plan the wedding and get everything
together. I’m awful at things like this and I figured if you could keep a man like Justin on track then you’d do wonders for me.”

Rei almost said it. Almost told her, ‘
I’m sleeping with your fiancé and I have no intention of stopping.’
but common sense reared its head just in time. What finally came out of her mouth was much more politically correct.

“That…would be nice. As long as Justin doesn’t mind of course.” She amended quickly, hoping beyond hope that Justin would find the idea repellent for some reason and forbid it.

“As if it would matter even if he did mind.” Bethany confided. The woman's laugh was indulgent and Rei felt her optimism dying a slow and painful death. She tried laughing along with Bethany but was pretty sure that the sound came out sounding strained. Maybe even a little crazed. Rei was relieved when a few moments later, Bethany thanked her once again, hugged her, and left. Rei followed soon after, wondering if being a Maid of Honor would be as awful as she imagined it would be. For some reason, Rei was afraid that the experience would prove to be much, much, worse.

♀♂

Stan never made it to the airport.

Further proof that his luck was taking a nosedive.

By the time he’d left his apartment the police already had people out looking for him. His picture was plastered all over the television and any hope Stan had of doing things the
easy way went out the window. So instead he hunkered down, and tried to bide his time. He was sure that the heat would die down soon, even if it was only long enough for him to cross state lines. What he would do after that was a mystery, though Stan was confident that he would figure something else out by the time he was ready to make his next move.

♀♂

Rei stepped into Justin’s office only to find him sitting motionless at his desk. She knew just by looking at him that he’d found out. The knowledge weighed heavy on his shoulders, brought a dull kind of anger to his eyes like an old penny that had been worn smooth with constant handling. He looked sick, pale but flushed all at once.

Behind the anger as if using it like a shield, was hurt.