Breaking Even (15 page)

She wiped a tear from her eye. He would be
fine. She just had to get a grip.

Ben came out of his bedroom with a big
duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

“I’ve decided to move in with my uncle.
I’ll be out by the end of the week. One of my buddies is coming over with a
truck Wednesday afternoon.”

Lindsey took a deep breath. She knew she
was in the right. “It’s for the best.”

“That’s fine, but you know your Mr.
Moneybags isn’t all that. Your buddy Ric is all wrapped up with organized crime
in Atlanta. His cousin is well-known as one of the big human traffickers in
South America. My uncle told me the rumors. There has to at least be some truth
to them.”

“Ric is not a criminal. I would trust him
with my life.”

Ben shook his head and stalked out,
slamming the door behind him.

Lindsey watched Ben leave, frustrated that
it had come to this. How had things deteriorated so fast? Was Sarah right? Was
jealousy at the root of it all?

Ric would be happy that Ben was gone. He
would smile at her in that Latin-lover way and tell her that he had told her
so. She didn't want to hear it.

In her heart, she sensed Ric was a good
man, but she couldn't reconcile that with the rumors. If his cousin was part of
organized crime, how deep did it go? Had Ric done anything illegal to help his
family?

She called Sarah, wanting to talk. “Well,
the shit hit the fan last night.”

“What?”

“Well, you saw all those cars here when I
came home. Ben had ten people over here piled up smoking pot.”

“Wow. I'm sure that didn't make you
happy.”

“Are you kidding me? The whole place
smelled like pot. I was livid, and he wasn't too happy either. When he left a
few hours ago, he said he would be back Wednesday with a friend’s truck to pick
up his stuff.”

“I'm surprised y’all lasted this long.
Rumor has it that he's been selling pot on the side at the bar. It's only a
matter of time before they’re arrested. They send in undercover cops all the
time to those places.”

“Why didn't you say something?”

‘I didn't want to be the one to burst your
bubble. You seemed to like having him there. Yesterday’s the first day I've
heard you say anything negative at all.”

“You could have given me some warning.”
Lindsey frowned into the phone. Did everyone know except her?

“I didn't know he was having a party, and
I asked if you wanted me to come in with you and you didn’t. You were ready for
him to move anyway, so it sounds like that was a win-win.”

“I guess.” Lindsey still felt like a
coward for not trying harder to work out her issues with Ben. He was a good
friend while they lived in Tallahassee, but the move had changed everything.

Was Sarah right? Did it all come down to
jealousy? She didn't think so. She had been clear with Ben from the beginning
that she didn't want anything to do with drugs.

#

Javier moored the yacht on Santa Katerina
in the middle of pouring rain. He hadn’t been caught in the wind, but the rain
bands had slowed his return trip. He had taken twice as long to get back from
Calliope. The crew had been sullen the whole trip back, knowing they were
returning without their prize. Javier had watched Lindsey get on the plane to
go home and he couldn’t stop it.

The crew had wanted to grab a girl from
one of the shops on Calliope, just to have something to bring the boss, but
Javier wouldn’t risk it. The less Ricardo knew about the missing women, the
better.

He knew Miguel wouldn’t be happy. He had
stood
on the tarmac in Calliope and watched Ricardo and Lindsey get out of the SUV.
The island informant had warned them that the girl was leaving early because of
the hurricane. Javier had left as soon as he could, taking Miguel
’s thirty-foot
yacht, but it wasn’t soon enough. By the time he arrived, she was already
boarding the plane.
They couldn’t risk flying the plane in, since no new flights were coming into
the island because of the hurricane.

He could see his brother talking to
airport security. That was an unexpected development. At least his yellow
slicker covered him well enough to hide his identity. Running into his twin
would end the whole operation.

He might have still have had a chance to
snatch her, but Ricardo didn’t let her out of his sight for even a minute. Javier
turned away from watching the kiss in the rain, sneering his lips. Ricardo was
weak, paying attention to a woman when chaos threatened from the hurricane.

Javier waited until the plane took off
before he skulked back to the ship. He would have to find a way to explain to
Miguel that he had failed. It wasn’t his fault that the girl left early, but
Miguel wouldn't see it that way.

“I knew that you should have gone a day
earlier,” Miguel told him, his face red. Vaughn sat to the side and smirked.
Javier wanted to slap that smirk off the man’s face.

“It wouldn’t have mattered. From what I
was told, they were inseparable. You have to find a way to get them apart, or
else take her from the United States.”

Miguel grunted. “That presents its own
problems. I don’t trust Vaughn Bruce enough to do the job without help, and the
new passports for us aren’t ready yet. Maybe by Christmas. It’s getting more
difficult.”

“Why do you want that woman, anyway? She’s
not even that beautiful. We’ll find you a different woman.”

“Why do you want Giada, eh? Xavier had her
first, no?”

“We don’t speak of it,” Javier said, his
jaw tight.

Miguel slammed his hand down on the table.
“Your job is not to ask me why. Your job is to get what I require, understand?”

Javier lowered his eyes. “Yes, I
understand.”

Calliope had
survived the hurricane with minimal damage, but Ric still had work to do. A
tornado had felled trees and shattered windows in the main resort building. The
damage meant he couldn't visit Lindsey as soon as he wanted. By the time his
crew finished their projects, Lindsey was in the middle of finals.

Now that he had finished the repairs to
the resort, he had time to spend with Lindsey. Fortunately, fall semester had
also ended, so nothing stood in their way.

He had been researching properties
available in the Upstate South Carolina area. After a few calls, he learned
that one of his acquaintances wanted to sell a large estate. His friend was out
of town and invited him to stay there over the weekend and tour the estate. It
would be a perfect weekend getaway. If he could buy that estate, he would have
a base of operations in South Carolina. Near Lindsey. He told Lindsey he had a
surprise trip for her, and that they would leave early Saturday morning.

Ric boarded his jet for a weekend trip to
visit Lindsey. It had been a tough couple of months, and neither one of them
had found the time to get away.

He couldn’t wait to see Lindsey, but
first, he had plans to train with the young man from the fencing club. They had
struck up a friendship via email. He had invited Lindsey to join them, but she
declined. She claimed she wanted to finish cleaning her house before he
arrived.

Cayden met him at the gym where their club
usually gathered, and Ric gave him a few pointers. He thought Cayden could
increase his win ratio with just a few minor changes to his form. They were
halfway through the session when Cayden’s boyfriend Troy showed up. He looked
more jealous than a bride-to-be who had tracked her fiancé to a strip club.

When he saw that a fencing lesson was in
progress, the boyfriend stayed to watch, but tension poured off him. Cayden
lost his concentration and wasn’t making any more progress. After a few easy
hits from Ric that Cayden failed to parry, Cayden held up his hands.

“My mind’s not in the game any longer.” He
glared at his boyfriend sitting at the scoring table. “Thank you for helping
me, and I will let you know how my next competition goes.”

“It was a pleasure, and do keep me posted
on your matches.” Ric shook the young man’s hand and left. He could call
Lindsey and let her know he would be earlier than he thought. He stepped into
the locker room and changed out of his fencing attire before he left.

In his car, Ric checked his phone. He saw
an email from the private investigator that he had hired to look into Ben
Morton. He clicked open the attachment. He had waited for weeks, but her
outrageous fee had been worth it. He read the report and studied the pictures.

Apparently, Fox’s warnings that her
roommate was doing drugs weren’t enough for Lindsey. That didn’t matter now.
This woman had found the hard proof he needed. Ben was one of the biggest drug
dealers in Clemson.

He glanced at his watch. He still had
time. Lindsey could wait a little longer. On Friday night, Ben should be at
work at The Globe. He would go talk to him now.

It was still early, and the bar was almost
empty. Ric sat down at the bar and waited. When Ben saw him, he came over, his
lips tight.

“Salzana, is it?”

“Yes—Ric, remember?” he said, suppressing
his accent.

“I remember. What can I get for you?”

“Whiskey. Neat.”

When he delivered the drink, Ric pushed
his phone across the bar. “I’ve got something you need to see.”

Ben glanced at the screen of the phone and
then picked it up. His eyes widened. He passed the phone to Ric and leaned
closer so they wouldn’t be overheard. “What the hell do you want?”

“You know that I care a great deal for
Lindsey.”

“Good for you. What does that have to do
with me?”

Ric leaned back. “It’s simple. I don’t
want you as her roommate.”

Ben laughed. “Zorro, you’re late. I moved
out a month ago. She was cramping my style. The bar is successful enough now, so
I got my own place. Best decision I ever made.”

Ric stared at Ben, surprised. Knowing how
much it irritated him that she had a male roommate, why wouldn’t she have told
him this already?

“I told her about your cousin, and the
rumors about him and organized crime in Atlanta. She didn’t believe me, but
that doesn’t make it any less true. If anything happens to her, you’re the
first suspect the police will call.”

“I don’t sell drugs. Stay away from her.”

Ric downed the whiskey, laid a twenty on
the table, and left. Lindsey would be waiting, and they needed to talk.

#

After studying for
finals and grading freshman tests, Lindsey couldn't wait for Christmas break.
Since her plans were still up in the air, Ric offered to come up for a long
weekend. He had a friend in the mountains who offered to let them stay at his
house. Lindsey thought that was odd, but Ric seemed excited. He told her the
house was near the tunnel they had visited.

He had asked her to spend Christmas on
Calliope with him. Lindsey couldn't decide. She felt torn in two different
directions. She didn't want to hurt Laura's feelings. She had spent Christmas
with her sister since their mother had died, but now Laura had Fox. Lindsey
would have to give him an answer soon.

Ric planned to help Cayden with his
fencing technique on Friday afternoon. At first, she didn’t realize that he and
Ric had been in contact, but then Ric explained that they had exchanged emails
since his last visit. He said he would see her when they finished and to expect
a late dinner.

She liked that Ric was always willing to
help others. He had no obligation to help that guy with his fencing, but he did
it anyway. He had helped the islanders with their road, and rebuilding after
the hurricane. That was her man.

She straightened the house, putting away
the last of the clutter. She planned to surprise Ric with the news that Ben had
moved out. She should have already told him, but she had wanted to surprise him
with the news. He had been so busy after the hurricane, they hadn’t talked
much. The few times they managed to connect, she wasn’t thinking about Ben.

He called to tell her that he finished
earlier than expected and offered to pick up pizza for dinner.

“You got here sooner than I thought,” she
said. She took the pizza from him. He followed her into the kitchen.

“I gave Cayden some pointers, and he
seemed to be picking them up.” He smirked, as if remembering something. “Then
his ... boyfriend showed up.”

Lindsey laughed. “I told you he wasn't
interested in me.”

“I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong.”

When she put down the pizza, he took her
in his arms for a proper hug. Lindsey pressed herself into his arms, losing
herself in his touch.

“So you flew to Atlanta and drove up
here?”

“Yes, I had to pick up my car.”

“What do you do about your house when
you’re not there?” Lindsey asked.

“I rent a room to a graduate student. He
takes care of it for me.”

“I hope he doesn’t throw wild parties,”
she said, offhand.

“No, he’s very responsible,” he said. She
snorted at that, but didn’t say anything else. “Listen, I stopped by The Globe
on the way over. I wanted to talk to Ben.”

Lindsey froze. “Why would you do that?”

“I had proof that he was dealing pot, and
I wanted to force him to move out.”

“You never gave him a chance.”

He inclined his head. “You’re right. I
didn’t trust him from the beginning. Why didn’t you tell me he moved out weeks
ago?”

Lindsey turned away to get her thoughts
together. After a moment, she sat down on the couch. “Because you were right
about him all along.”

“But why not tell me? You know I hated
having him here.”

“Because I felt like you didn’t trust me
to make my own decisions. I don’t need a father figure to tell me what I can
and can’t do. I need to be able to make my own mistakes.”

“So, I should just let you drive off a
cliff?”

“No, it wasn’t like that. I meant to tell
you, but it happened right after I got back from Calliope, and you were busy.
By the time things settled down there and we had time to talk, I wasn’t
thinking about Ben.”

“So what happened? He just said he moved
out.”

“Fox told me that he had found drug stuff
in his room that weekend you were up here. I confronted Ben, and he said he
didn’t have any drugs. He showed me his room, where Fox had said the drugs
were, and I didn’t see anything. I believed Ben, but I agreed that he was
acting weird.”

Ric’s expression didn’t change, so Lindsey
continued. “When I came back early from Calliope, I interrupted a party with
his friends. He must have had ten or fifteen people over here smoking pot and
doing tequila shots. I told him that night I wanted him to leave. He moved out
by the following weekend.”

“I know you thought it was a good idea to
have him here, but I suspected something from the start.”

Lindsey glared at him. “Since then, I
learned that one of my friends needs somewhere else to stay in January, so
she’s going to move in.”

“Who's that?”

“Remember Sarah? She and her roommate have
done nothing but fight, so she's moving in here. It seems like a better fit.
Anyway, once Ben moved out, I hired a cleaning company. They cleaned the
carpets and the furniture, and I think most of the smell is gone.”

“I’m impressed,” Ric said.

“Can I get you something to drink? I have
water, iced tea, or Diet Mountain Dew to drink.” Lindsey wanted to change the
subject.

“Always with the Diet Mountain Dew,” he
said, laughing. “I’ll have water.”

She fixed two glasses of iced water and
sat down beside him at the table. She opened the pizza and gave them each a
slice. She bit into hers. “Hmm, I was hungrier than I thought.”

“Me, too. I should have eaten before the
fencing lesson, but I didn’t have time. Then as soon as I saw the investigator’s
report, I went to talk to Ben.”

Lindsey froze, pizza still in her mouth. “What
investigator?”

“The one who confirmed that Ben was
dealing pot.”

Lindsey put down the pizza. “You hired an
investigator? I don’t believe you did that! What dirt did he dig up on me?”

“The investigator was a she, and she
didn’t do any digging—as you say—on you. I only asked for information on Ben.”

Lindsey sighed, still irritated that Ric
had checked up on her. That he hadn’t trusted her. “Can you at least admit that
the investigator was a bad idea?”

He looked at her for a long minute before
he answered. “Maybe. You should have told me he moved out. If you had, I
wouldn’t have hired her. It only hired her a couple of weeks ago. You knew how
frustrated I was with him living here.”

Lindsey looked away, not meeting his eyes.
“You’re right. I should have. I screwed up. I just hated that everyone else was
right about him.”

“How about this? I agree to consult you on
major decisions going forward if you agree to do the same.”

Lindsey mentally took a step back. That
sounded too much like a merger of two lives. “I guess it depends on your
definition of major.”

“If we don’t start sharing decisions,
we’ll never move forward.”

“So the fact that Sarah will be my new
roommate—”

“Maybe I would have liked it if you talked
to me about it.”

“But she will be my roommate! What does
that have to do with you?”

“Well, if she hated me, for example, that
would make things awkward. And if I can visit more frequently, wouldn’t it be
better to leave the other bedroom empty?”

“Not if I don’t want to live by myself. I
like having someone else around. I get lonely,” she admitted.

“If you want her to move in, I don’t have
any issues with it. I get lonely, too.”

“You get lonely too?” Lindsey asked,
surprised he would admit such a thing.

“Of course I’m lonely. What, you think I’m
just partying it out on the town at the resort with other women?”

Lindsey shrugged. “No, but sometimes I
wonder.”

He took the water from her hand and sat it
beside him, and then pulled her over his lap.

“Look at me.”

Lindsey still wouldn’t meet his eyes, so
he cupped her chin and lifted until she would meet his eyes.

“There has been no one else since I met
you in Miami. Even before Calliope. I haven’t even looked at another woman.
I’ve worked long hours, but I haven’t had a single date. Now I know why. I was
waiting for you.”

“You haven’t gone out on any dates in all
this time?”