No Hiding Behind the Potted Palms! A Dance with Danger Mystery #7 (8 page)

“I see you’re still a fan of
the Brazilian sound,” I smiled up at him as he began to remove my
clothes.

“Oh, yes,” he agreed. “It’s
the language of love. How can one not feel romantic under such a
magic spell?”

Chapter Eight
--

“Where do we go from here?”
I asked, as I lay with my head on his naked chest, listening to the
rhythm of his heart beating.

“Into the kitchen. We have
dinner to make.”

I watched Bosco get dressed,
thinking of how long it had been since we last made love, how it
felt like we were strangers as we went through the motions on a
dull grey Saturday morning. That distance was gone now.

“Chop, chop. Let’s get
moving, Mama. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”

“We do?” I was surprised at
his sudden burst of energy.

“Absolutely!”

“What are we doing?” I
wanted to know.

“First, I’m throwing that
steak on the grill. I’m famished. And then we’re going to do a full
assessment of those creeps. We’re going to taken them down, beat
them at their own game, and then put them in jail. You do
understand what I do for work, don’t you?”

“You uncover financial
fraud,” I responded. “You follow the money trail.”

“I do a lot more than that,
babe. I find the hidden networks. And now that we know that I’m
also a target, because of that stock, we’ll get some help from my
colleagues.”

“Because it affects your
career?”

“No, no. Because the Winks
are professionals, and maybe we can learn some things about how
they do business, for whom they do business, and we may be able to
link it to cases we’re currently working. And it’s great PR for
Honshield Walker when we solve it. In other words, this is an
opportunity for us. But first, we have to shake, rattle and roll
the coconut tree.”

“What does that
mean?”

“We’re going to flip Ralph.
He owes us money. We’re going to apply pressure, let him know we
know he’s screwing us. We want to see the books. When he’s feeling
miserable about being a complete jerk, we’ll explain how he was set
up. Unless, of course, he was a willing participant.”

“That’s rotten,” I told
Bosco, disapproval dripping off my lips. “How can you even think of
doing something like that?”

“Reality check. Tell me
again, Dori, how much money you no longer have. Do you feel so bad
for Ralph that you don’t want your money back?”

“Of course not!” I scoffed.
“But you can’t find a way to do the same thing without torturing
him?”

“Let me ask you something.
And I want an honest answer. Do you think Ralph lost a lot of sleep
over his offer to buy us out, even though it means we’d lose nearly
$25,000? Or did he think that he was getting a better deal than us,
because we were desperate, thanks to his new friends?”

“I just hate that we have to
do it this way. I’ve known Ralph for fifteen years. I owe him my
loyalty.” We headed for the kitchen, with me leading the
way.

“Are you sure about that?
How do you know this is the first time he’s cheated you? Maybe all
those times you took stock instead of a salary, he actually had the
money to pay you.”

Bosco took the steak out of
its package and put it on a platter before he grabbed his tongs
from the drawer. He kissed my cheek as he passed me.

“Buck up, kid. It’s not as
bad as you think. We’ll get the answers and we won’t destroy Ralph
unless he’s a complete idiot.”

I thought about that as I
finished the salad. This was the part of Bosco that I didn’t
understand. He could be tough. But was he wrong? Maybe the reason I
didn’t completely trust Ralph now was because I had often wondered
if he was taking the easy road when he asked me to forgo my salary
in favor of stock options. A part of me wanted to believe he was
telling the truth, but another part of me sometimes wondered if he
did it to keep me humble, so that I wouldn’t ask for more control
of the business. After all, Bosco had some shares, but I had the
majority of them, and I could have insisted on a bigger role in
Dynamic Productions. Why hadn’t I done that? Because Ralph played
the nice guy card whenever I considered summoning my courage to ask
for more?

We ate in near silence,
breaking into conversation only to ask for the steak sauce to be
passed or for more cabernet sauvignon from the bottle sitting on
the table between us. But when I finished the last piece of meat, I
put down my silverware and looked hard at Bosco.

“How much of a fool have I
been over the years?” I asked. His eyebrows went up, leaving his
face with a puzzled expression. “I want to know.”

“I’m not sure what you’re
asking me,” he replied, his tone cautious, almost as if he expected
this comment to be concealing an ambush of some kind.

“I’ve come to the conclusion
that I’ve been a complete and utter fool. I gave people the benefit
of the doubt, even when I had doubts about them.”

“Theodora Williams Baer,
what in the world are you talking about?”

“You asked me if Ralph feels
bad about cheating us of the money we’re due from Dynamic
Productions. I don’t think he does. And I also think I was due a
bigger job with Dynamic, especially after I enabled Ralph to build
the company.”

“That a girl!” cried Bosco,
throwing his arms around me. “Finally, some gumption!”

“Is that what you think I
lack?” I sat back in my chair, my hands folded in my
lap.

“You want me to be honest?”
he asked, studying my face closely. “You really want to
know?”

I took a deep breath,
knowing that if I said yes, he would tell me what I didn’t want to
hear, and knowing that if I said no, he would keep me at arm’s
length again, like a young girl needing to be protected from the
truth about herself.

“Do I lack gumption?” I
asked again.

“You lack the courage of
your convictions. I’ve often thought you second-guess yourself,
talk yourself out of the truth about people when it’s ugly, as if
having a rosy vision of things will make it so. Ralph should have
made you a partner some time ago. You’re certainly capable of doing
more for the business, and yet he doesn’t want you onboard as an
equal. Why?”

“What are you getting
at?”

“Why blow up the house? Why
seduce you? Why steal all your money, right down to your 401K, but
not take your stock shares? Ralph knew about the stock. He thought
he was covering himself by leaving those alone. But more
importantly, he was out to ruin you, so you’d be gone from Dynamic.
Why not just rob you if it’s about needing money? Why not just take
your money in one fell swoop? Instead, George romanced you for
several months before moving in for two months Your fake lover
pretended to care for eight weeks. He maintained his scam because
he needed something. We may find that they set us up even more than
we’ve discovered. There could be a lot more to this game that has
yet to be revealed.”

“Maybe,” I said slowly,
pensively, “Ralph and the Winks need the money.”

“But there are faster ways
of getting it and getting out without getting caught.”

“True, but they don’t
actually know they got caught. They all still think they got away
with it.”

“They do, don’t they?” I
could see Bosco playing that scenario in his head. “Get your shoes
on.”

“Why? Where are we
going?”

“We’re going to do a little
recon.”

“Is that something you do
for work?” I wondered.

“Something I did as a
Marine. I was attached to military intelligence,” he said
matter-of-factly.

“You never told me that
before. I thought you were an analyst.”

“Guess there are still some
things left to learn about me,” he grinned.

“I guess so,” I agreed with
a laugh.

We drove over to Ralph’s
house. There were a few lights on at 88 Rockledge Drive. We parked
a couple of houses down from the fifties ranch with the immaculate
lawn. After five minutes, Bosco asked if I knew where Gloria
lived.

“Why?”

“Cherchez la
femme.”

“But I don’t think there’s
anything going on there,” I insisted. “Gloria acts like she doesn’t
even notice Ralph as a man.”

“Can’t hurt to check it out,
can it?” Bosco was already heading down Route 3. “I’ll tell you
what. If I’m wrong, I’ll work on being not so cynical. If you’re
wrong, you’ll work on not being so naive. Agreed?”

“Kind of hard not to take a
bet like that,” I laughed.

“Indeed.”

Bosco followed my directions
to the Millstone Condominiums, driving down the winding lane to
where the units built in the eighties sat by the Parkman River. The
style was contemporary, with floor-to-ceiling glass along the
riverside and narrow, tiny windows on the driveway side.

“Come on, lover. Let’s take
a moonlight stroll,” he instructed me. I didn’t think it had
anything to do with his romantic intentions towards me, and I was
right. He grabbed something out of the glove
compartment.

“What’s that?” I wondered,
as he reached across me.

“My binocs.”

“You have binoculars in your
car?”

“I use them when I go
hiking. For bird-watching.”

“You never used to carry
them when we went hiking,” I pointed out.

“That’s because I was
watching a different kind of bird,” he said, leaning over to kiss
my ear. I felt his beard against my skin and smelled the scent of
him, the combination of shampoo and soap with a musky fragrance. It
wasn’t familiar to me. Left on his own, Bosco had become a
different man. The prospect was at once exciting and more than a
little frightening. What if the new version of him didn’t find me
as fascinating, once the novelty of our rekindled relationship wore
off?

We followed the path between
two buildings, our arms around each other, down to the little strip
of sand that kissed the river. There was a boat slip with a few
power boats tied up to it.

“Which unit is
Gloria’s?”

“She’s in number 6,” I
responded. “The middle one.”

“Great. Come on.” He took me
by the hand and led me up the ramp of the floating dock, all the
way to the “t”.

“But, Bosco, the sign says
‘No Trespassing’,” I told him. “We’re not boat owners.”

“Dori, we’re not here to
steal a boat. We’re here to catch a thief. Relax. I promise to bail
you out of jail if the cops haul us off.”

“Fine,” I said, still
feeling like a stalker in the night. There was little moonlight,
which was a comfort. At least our silhouettes weren’t as
noticeable.

“Wrap your arms around my
waist and hug me like you mean it. I’m going to rest the binocs on
your shoulder, so it looks like we’re kissing. If we look like a
couple, folks will just think we’re enjoying the night air. Now,
let me see what’s going on at Gloria’s place.”

I waited as Bosco adjusted
his sight on the middle unit. I couldn’t see anything, so I waited
for his play-by-play.

“Well, what do you know? I
was right. There’s your love nest.”

“Love nest?” I took a step
back, wanting to turn around, but Bosco stopped me. He held me fast
with his left arm while he kept his binoculars trained at the
condo.

“I’ll be happy to fill you
in, Dori, but please don’t blow our cover. I can see Gloria and
Ralph on the deck. They’re sitting in chairs, with what looks like
cocktails on the table.”

“Maybe they’re just having a
meeting,” I offered. “After all, Ralph’s been married for more than
thirty years. Besides, I don’t think Gloria is his type. She’s
too...too....”

“Sexy?” He filled in the
blank.

“You think Gloria is
sexy?”

“Sure. Look at her.
Everything about her says mistress.”

“You mean to tell me you can
look at a woman and tell if she’s some guy’s mistress?” This was a
new side of Bosco I had never seen. I didn’t even think he was
interested in that kind of thing.

“Hell, yes. Gloria is one of
those women who will wait for a man to divorce his wife, but only
up to a point. After that, she goes rogue and hunts for another
sugar daddy.”

“You think Ralph is her
sugar daddy? Isn’t she a little old for all that? Besides, she’s
been working for Ralph for nearly five years now. She gets a
salary.”

“Maybe,” he whispered in my
ear, “she gets
your
salary.”

His arms went tight around
me, as if he anticipated my reaction. I tried to pull
away.

“What?”

“I’m just saying....” He
didn’t let go of me, even as I struggled. “Maybe we know now where
Ralph’s money has been going, to pay for his mistress.”

“Of all the nerve!” I felt
my blood beginning to heat up, headed for a boil.

“Don’t get mad at me, babe.
I’m just the bearer of possibly bad news.”