Madison Westin 02-Deception in Paradise (25 page)

The dark-haired guy practically ran out of the door.

“And stay out of the bars!” Blondie yelled. He leaned back in his chair and picked up the phone. “Big problem. I need some help, and Dad can’t find out.”

Whoever was on the line must have been yelling, because Blondie held the phone away from his ear. After a second, he said, “The guy they pulled from the water worked for us. Keep the cops away from here. In fact, make all of this go away.”

After a pause, Blondie said, “I didn’t kill him.” Another pause. “Thanks, I owe you big for this.” He smirked. “Remember, not one word to Dad.”

Once he hung up, his phone rang again. He checked the screen and didn’t answer. He jumped out of his chair, picked up his jacket, and flew down the stairs.

I hit the rewind button and watched the DVD again. Afterward, I picked up my phone. “Where are you?” I asked when Fab answered.

“I’m on my way home.”

“You need to turn around and come to my house. I have something you need to see.” I hit the rewind button.

I sat in my overstuffed chair, a favorite of my aunt’s. Jazz leaped onto my lap, and we waited for Fab. Twenty minutes later, she walked through the French doors.

I handed her the remote control. “Press
Play
.”

She sat in the chair opposite me and watched the tape. “What the hell was that?” Fab asked as she hit rewind. “So trigger-happy didn’t even know if Pavel was on to them? This is the smoking gun we needed.”

“Do you know the blonde one? The dark-haired guy was the one who hit me on the docks.”

“The blond-haired one is Alex Byce, heir apparent. I’ve never seen the other one before. My guess is if he’s smart he’s no longer around.”

“Who do we give this to?” I asked.

“I think we should hand it over to Kevin. Zach won’t like being the last to know, but oh well.”

“I thought of Zach as basically a good guy. Now I wonder if he knew about the drugs and looked the other way because Byce is his friend.”

“It’s more involved than that. When you try to catch a big fish like Byce, you have to cover your bases and check and recheck them. To complicate matters, Sid and Zach are friends.”

“As it turns out, it was never Sid Byce, but Alexander,” I said.

“Even more complicated, Byce’s over-the-top reaction says he either knew about Alexander’s involvement or suspected. In the end, will Zach do the right thing?”

“I agree with you. Give it to Kevin,” I told Fab.

“What’s up with you and Zach anyway?”

“Nothing. Jax kissed me today, and I kissed him back.” I sighed.

“Do you want him back?”

“We can’t make each other happy. We tried and failed. But I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.”

“What was today all about?” Fab asked.

“Guilt. I still feel guilty I couldn’t fix our marriage.”

“Why do we women always blame ourselves?”

“Good question. Jax and I were a lot alike. We had the same interests, the seemingly perfect couple, or so I thought. I loved his family. He introduced me to NASCAR, for which I dumped my old love of football.”

“I don’t do sports.”

I didn’t see Fab as a spectator, more like she’d race her own car and crew chief at the same time. “You can stay the night.”

“I think I’ll drop this DVD off to Kevin. I feel like waking up in my own bed.”

“Call me if you hear anything.”

Fab stopped and looked at me. “I know that look. What are you up to?”

“I’m going to go ask Joseph tomorrow for the lowdown on Alex.”

“You’re going to hear he’s a big piece of shit,” Fab said. “I’ll call you tomorrow. I’m serving move-out notices on a flop house building in the morning.”

“You’re so funny. Be careful.”

“The building has a new owner, and his motto is pay or move.”

A couple of minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. I wondered what Fab had forgotten, and why she didn’t just walk in.

“What did you forget?” I asked to an empty doorstep.

I walked into the courtyard, and chills went up my spine. I turned to hurry back inside and saw a knife stuck in the middle of my door. I looked over my shoulder, then pulled the knife out of the wood, grabbing the note it held before it could fall. Inside the house, I slammed and locked the door.

This is your last warning
.

I ran to the kitchen windows and dropped the blinds, and then I moved to the patio doors, closing and locking them. I picked up the side table that hid my floor safe. I opened it and took out a loaded Glock.

I sat at the bottom of my stairs, wondering what to do next. I had no one to call. I knew Fab and I had rattled cages. I’d rushed headlong into danger. So there I sat, gun in my lap.

CHAPTER 36

The next morning, I slid my SUV into a space at the back of the main beach parking lot. I kicked off my shoes and walked the three blocks to The Cottages.

I snuck alongside the garage and cut between two cottages. Turning the corner, I was grabbed from behind, one arm across my chest, another clamped over my mouth. I struggled, and the grip tightened.

“Calm down,” a male voice whispered in my ear. “Don’t scream.” He slowly took his hand away his hand from my mouth. “Why are you sneaking around?”

He loosened his grip and turned me around to face him. Creole smiled down at me. He pushed my back against the side of the cottage, covering my body with his. He wrapped his finger around a strand of my hair. “I like red curls.”

My face pressed to his chest, I wanted to run my hands under his shirt and rip it off him. “Let me go.” I tried to sound stern. Instead, it came out a throaty whisper, my post-sex, out-of-breath voice.

“You tell me what you’re up to, and I’ll think about it.” He ran a finger across my lips.

“I own this property, and I can come and go as I please.”

“I’m disappointed. I thought you’d do better than that.”

He reached into my shirt pocket, sending a shock through my breast, and pulled out my cell phone. “In case you ever need my help.” He programmed his number and put the phone back in my pocket.

“I always enjoy running into you.” He lowered his mouth to mine, and then kissed my cheek and walked away.

I stumbled back against the wall of the cottage, exhaled slowly, and forced myself to breathe. I could still feel the imprints of his hands.

* * *

Joseph’s door stood open. “Anyone home?” I called.

Joseph walked out of the bathroom, zipping his shorts. A cigarette was stuck between his lips. “Wanna beer?”

“I want information on Alex Byce.” I pushed some newspapers aside and sat down.

“You need to stay away from him. He’s an unstable S.O.B.” He looked out the door. “Did anyone see you?” He kicked the door shut and threw the bolt.

“Paranoid much?”

Joseph was looking a lot less like death, and his ankles were back to their normal size. He’d gotten sun on his cheeks, giving color to his usual putrid pallor.

“Where’s your pimp ride?” he asked, looking out the window.

“It’s out there.”

“Limo tint, squatty antenna on the back, your ride is as recognizable as your friend’s.” He stared at me.

“It’s over in the main lot.”

He looked me over. “From one paranoid to another, you need to do more sneaking around. I like this side of you.”

“Can we get back to little Byce?” I asked.

“Your smart mouth needs to stay out of his way.”

“I save this mouth for special people.”

Joseph rolled his eyes. “He’s spoiled. What’s his is his, and what’s yours is his. He’s a poor imitation of the old man; looks are all they have in common. The DNA definitely got watered down in the next generation.”

“I need another favor.”

“No, no, and no,” he yelled. “I’m done. Someone’s going to get hurt, and it isn’t going to be me.”

“Hey, I came through on the dogs, didn’t I?”

“Ellie brought me back from a doctor’s appointment earlier, and we stopped at Tropical Slumber. There were no cars in the parking lot, so I went in to see for myself that Astro and Necco were okay.”

“And?”

“You did good. Raul was out in the back tossing a Frisbee with them. The dogs were jumping around, having a great time. Dickie seems less weird when he’s with Raul, if that makes any sense.”

“You’re becoming such a softie.” I smiled.

“What’s the favor?” he grumbled.

“Find out what you can on Alex.”

“Hey, I’m not asking one single question to anyone about Alexander Byce. Is that clear enough?”

“Why not?”

“You start with the questions, and you’re going to become worm food.” He shook his finger at me. “I’ll die when I’m good and ready, and it won’t be this week.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Think quick. In the meantime, you’d better learn to walk with one eye looking over your shoulder. Tell me you’re going to stop all the questions. Both Byces will find out,” he warned. “You’re on your own.”

“You can’t desert me now.”

“If you die, I might have to move.”

“Don’t you want to know what really happened to Pavel?”

“No.” He covered his ears with his hands. “La, la, la.”

After he stopped chanting, I asked, “Does Alex deal?”

“There’s talk, but he doesn’t deal at the street level. I’m not saying…” He hesitated. “I’ve heard when he gets in a shipment, he puts out the call to his distributors, and they show up within the hour. Drugs gone, stacks of cash left behind, business closed.”

“That’s efficient. If there’s talk, why hasn’t he been arrested?”

“The family’s powerful. The cops will continue to turn a blind eye until they’re forced into action by someone at the top of the police food chain.”

“Thanks.” I stood to leave.

“When are you getting rid of the big butthole next door? After everyone else has moved out?”

“He’s gone in two weeks.”

“I’m marking my calendar.”

Before leaving, I peeked out the window. Seeing no one, I waved at Joseph and slipped outside. I cut around the backside of his cottage, down a small path, and out to the beach.

CHAPTER 37

“Zach is having me followed,” I told Fab. I sat at my kitchen counter with a bowl of caramel ice cream, made healthy by adding fresh raspberries and a touch of whipped cream. The can said only fifteen calories.

“Then this is a bad idea.” She picked out one of the raspberries, ran it through the whipped cream, and devoured it.

“It’s your job to make it a good one.” I had to eat my raspberries fast, or they’d be gone.

“You owe me again.”

“Stop with that. Friends don’t owe friends.”

“I knew this friend thing would come back to bite me.”

“Leave, and I’ll turn off the lights. Pick me up down by the hourly motel. Make sure you’re not followed.” I went out the French doors and cut through my neighbor’s yard to a narrow pathway that only residents knew about. I kicked off my shoes and ran down the beach.

“News from Kevin,” Fab said, as I slid into the passenger seat. “The DVD had an abnormality in it and has been discredited.”

“Now what?”

“There’s more. Kevin said he was ordered by his superior to stay out of it. Kevin knows we’re telling the truth, but he doesn’t want to get involved. He lives in this town. In a couple of hours, we’ll have all the evidence we need to prove what we’re saying. What about your promise to stay out of it?”

“After tonight, I won’t drive by these docks every day.”

Fab looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “You come down here every day? Someone had to see you.”

“I didn’t turn down the one-way road. I parked across the channel and used binoculars.”

“What’d you find out, Sherlock?” Fab asked.

“Sarcasm is unnecessary.” I paused. “Nothing, but it made me feel like I was doing something. I hate waiting.”

“I bet you opened your Christmas presents early.”

“You bet I did. I was in college before I dropped that bad habit. What about you?”

Fab looked a little sad. “I didn’t bother. I never got what I wanted, anyway. I got what my parents wanted me to want.”

“I’ve had a few of those gifts, and they blow.”

“We’re parking here and walking back.” Fab pointed at a small parking lot in front of a deserted section of the docks. “I’m planting a bug in the phone, and one under his desk.” She held up a boat figurine. “This is a camera, so we can listen and watch from my laptop.”

“How long will it take?”

“A few minutes. If we get separated, we’ll meet back here.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

We cut across someone’s backyard. Music blared from the opposite corner of the house next to an overgrown vacant lot. I was happy I had changed into sweatpants. They kept the skin on my legs from being ripped off by the waist-high weeds and concealed the Glock holstered at the small of my back. We’d figured out the delivery schedule, and the path where we stood ended at the back corner of the warehouse.

Fab turned the knob on the steel door. I was surprised when the door opened. Fear shot through every muscle as I followed her inside.

The only light in the warehouse came from an office at the back. The door stood open, male voices coming from inside.

“What do we do now?” I whispered.

“I say we get out of here,” Fab said.

“Get out of my office,” a male voice shouted. “And close the door.”

Fab pushed me behind some wooden crates. I stepped into the small space and Fab squeezed in beside me.

Three men armed with automatic weapons walked down the stairs into the main warehouse. “He’s an asshole,” one of them said. They looked like triplets, dark hair, olive skin, and tattooed. What was it with the wife-beater shirts?

“I’d love to kick his ass, but that’ll have to wait for another time.” All of them laughed.

One of them hit a switch on the wall. The warehouse roll door started to go up, and all the lights came on. Alex Byce walked out of the office, a watered-down version of his father. Dressed in expensive shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, he looked like someone you’d see on the tennis courts of a country club, not a drug dealer.