Pretty Dangerous (6 page)

“I thought you never met him, Miss Landry.”
Det. Aguilar leaned both elbows on the table. He gazed at her with
a “Gotcha!” expression.

“I saw him at a court hearing or maybe a
police photo spread,” MiMi replied, not missing a beat. She didn’t
look away from the detective’s scrutiny.

Estrada looked at Aguilar. “Is that all,
detective?”

Aguilar continued to eye Roderick for a few
seconds before he slid the note pad back into his jacket pocket. “I
believe so. We have your contact information in America should we
have more questions.”

“Of course. I hope you catch the killer,
detective. I really do. His family needs closure.” Roderick stood
and glanced at his cell phone as he talked.

The detective wore a frown of contempt for a
brief moment. Then his impassive mask dropped into place. He stood.
“Thanks for your cooperation. Have a safe flight.” He gave Estrada
a curt nod and then strode out.

“We handled him alright,” Roderick said and
grinned at the others.

MiMi sprung from her chair toward him. “One
more word and I swear, Aguilar will be investigating another
homicide.”

Roderick raised both hands, palms out. He
took a step back from MiMi. “You’re under a huge strain, baby. I
understand. I’ll give you some space for a minute.”

“Give me space? Give me space?” MiMi
sputtered more sounds in speechless rage.

“We leave now,” Estrada said quietly.

The lawyer pulled Roderick by the arm and
they left. Fortunately, only three other people were in the lounge
watching, and all of them were strangers. MiMi took in gulps of air
to calm down as Willa continued to counsel her about self-control.
Jazz left and came back with more drinks on a tray.

“We need these.” Jazz drank half the beer in
her mug and sighed.

“Damn, MiMi. Couldn’t you just get the usual
vacation trouble like everybody else? You know, lost luggage,
insect bites, diarrhea.” Willa drank a mouthful of white wine.

“I’m going to make Roddy pay,” MiMi said
through tight lips.

“Stay away from Mister Bad News That Gets
Worse.” Willa put down the wine glass and shook MiMi by the arm.
“Hey, you better listen to me.”

“I hafta agree with Willa, girl. Take a
cooling off period before you hook up with him again.” Jazz nodded.
She hissed when Willa scowled at her.

“Cooling off period? Dump that chump,” Willa
shot back.

“I guess you missed the part about him being
rich.” Jazz waved a hand at her sister and looked at MiMi. “I say,
don’t write him off completely.”

“Unbelievable,” Willa muttered into her wine
glass.

An hour later, they went through boarding and
got on the plane. MiMi sat in the window seat. Jazz squirmed to get
comfortable in the aisle seat. She made eye contact with a handsome
man on the next row. Soon they were flirting in Spanish. Willa
sighed deeply, but didn’t say anything to her sister. Then she
looked at MiMi.

“It’s finally over, okay? I know you’re
disappointed Roderick turned out to be an asshole and all, but at
least you found out. You can move on to somebody better.” Willa
gave her hand a pat.

MiMi smiled at her with a sigh. “You’re
absolutely right.”

MiMi gazed at the clouds through the glass.
She looked forward to the hours she’d spend with Sage. The happy
mental images faded when she thought about work and her boss.
Providing for Sage was her top priority. If only she found that
missing cash, Sage’s future would be secured. So MiMi decided on
her to-do list. She would keep her job and find the money Jack had
so carefully hidden away. Then she added another item; figuring out
a way to deliver some much deserved payback to Roderick Conwell
Jefferson.

Willa and Jazz napped on the flight from the
Dominican Republic to their stop at the Atlanta airport and again
on the flight to Louisiana. During their stopover, MiMi called her
sister to check on Sage and arrange to pick her up. Adrienne
cheerily described how much Sage loved being with her cousins.
Despite Adrienne’s assurances, MiMi only felt more anxious to see
Sage for herself. MiMi tried to release the tension by keeping her
eyes open but couldn’t. She gave in after the first fifteen minutes
in the air. Instead she looked over her research on money
laundering. Willa would probably flip out, and Jazz would call her
crazy. MiMi didn’t care. The more she dug, the more she became
convinced her deceased lover had hidden almost one million dollars.
She couldn’t write off that kind of change. Sage deserved it, and
MiMi felt she’d earned it.

MiMi sighed when they touched down at
Armstrong International Airport in Kenner, outside of New Orleans.
Irrational as it seemed, she expected an air marshal to pop up out
of nowhere and take her away. Yet the end of their journey was
blessedly uneventful. They caught a shuttle to the airport lot
where Willa had left her SUV. An hour and half later they were in
Baton Rouge. They pulled up to MiMi’s house first. The afternoon
April sun still beamed down just as hot as though it was midday.
She gazed at the lovely landscaped front yard and tan brick three
bedroom ranch with love.

“Thank you Lord!” MiMi breathed.

Willa got out and helped carry MiMi’s three
bags to the front door. “Yeah, now get some rest and figure out how
to stay out of trouble for the next decade.”

“Amen,” Jazz called from her seat in the SUV.
“I don’t want to visit anymore jails or courtrooms. I’ve been in
enough of those on my own shit. Don’t need yours, too.”

“What a sweet sentiment,” MiMi retorted. She
grinned when Jazz gave her the finger. “Seriously, I really owe
y’all.”

“Oh hell yes you do,” Willa replied promptly,
a hand on one hip. “Now look, I hope this little episode has
convinced you to forget Jack’s shady money. You have a child to
think about.”

“I was thinking about Sage, but you’re
right,” MiMi said quickly when Willa started to speak again. “I
have to let go of the past.”

“Exactly. Not living the rich life isn’t a
death sentence. Work hard, do what you gotta do.” Willa pointed a
finger at MiMi for emphasis.

MiMi frowned. “Right. My job, if I still have
one.”

“Set a meeting with your boss as soon as
possible.”

“Yes, mother.” MiMi gave Willa a quick hug.
Then she blew a kiss at Jazz. “I love my two BFFs.”

Jazz waved at her. She had ear buds in and
was bobbing her head to an unheard beat from the playlist on her
smartphone. “Whatever.”

MiMi laughed and turned to Willa. “I’m going
to pick up Sage before I do anything though.”

“Give her a kiss for us.” Willa yawned. “I’m
going to the office for a minute after I drop off Jazz. See
ya.”

“Bye, and thanks again for everything,” MiMi
called as Willa walked back to the SUV.

After texting her sister again, MiMi put away
the luggage without unpacking. She had a doll from the Dominican
Republic sitting in Sage’s car seat as a surprise. Twenty minutes
later, she pulled up to Adrienne’s two story home on Brister
Boulevard. Arriving in her sister’s circular driveway never ceased
to impress MiMi. And that was exactly the effect Adrienne and her
husband had gone for when they bought the seven hundred thousand
dollar home. Never mind that they only had one child, her son
Brayden. MiMi smiled at the thought of her eight year old nephew.
Brayden smiled his way into female hearts easily. And Sage adored
him. He laughed a lot, and accepted others without judgment. MiMi
hoped he would hold onto his personality, and not become his
parents. Or his grandparents for that matter.

MiMi parked her Lexus GX behind a sleek gray
BMW 328i and tried not to have car envy. Her sister and
brother-in-law also had a shiny new BMW X5 SUV. The front door
swung open as she got out of her vehicle. Adrienne’s husband,
Christopher, strode out. He stood six feet tall with cafe au lait
skin. Snatching him off the market had made a host of debutants
depressed. As usual her big sister beat out the competition.

He didn’t look up from his Blackberry. She
watched with amusement as he kept going down the brick sidewalk
without seeing her or the SUV. MiMi gave his wool and silk blend
thousand dollar black suit an appreciative nod. Chris had his
faults, but selecting his outfits wasn’t one of them.

“Hi Chris.” MiMi was about to tease him but
stopped. Christopher Jameson Fortenberry, IV had little, if any,
sense of humor.

“Hi MiMi. Adrienne’s inside. I have to go
back to the office. Hope you had a nice trip.” Chris gave her a
brief smile.

“I had a real bang up time.” MiMi couldn’t be
mad at him because Chris had no sense of irony either. He always
said exactly what he meant, or he kept quiet.

“Great.”

“Yeah, great,” MiMi said dryly.”

“So I have to go. A group of Chinese
shareholders are in town and we’re having a business dinner.” Chris
smoothed down his expensive silk tie.

“I’m surprised Adrienne’s not in one of her
fabulous cocktail dresses and already in the car. She loves those
international social affairs.”

Adrienne missed no opportunity to hit up the
well-heeled for her charities. Not to mention she’d make contacts
for her private consulting business. Supporting her man was way
down on the list. Chris knew it, too. As usual, her small arrow of
sarcasm missed the target with Chris.

“Hmm, she claimed she couldn’t find a
babysitter. I think she didn’t want to share Sage with anyone,”
Chris said as he looked at his Blackberry again.

MiMi felt a twinge of nerves at his
observation. “Adrienne? She worked at home when Brayden was a
newborn to stay in the game.”

“Maybe having a little girl makes the
difference. Brayden stopped wanting to be fussed over when he was
four. He’d rather be out with me and my brothers, listening to us
talk business and sports.” Chris smiled in a way that actually lit
up his hazel eyes.

MiMi smiled back at him. His chief redeeming
quality in her eyes was his genuine devotion to his son. It
probably helped that Brayden looked so much like his father.
“Strong kid if he won’t let Adrienne boss him around.”

“Yeah, drove her nuts until she realized it
was a losing battle. He’s got her genes after all.” Chris held up
his Blackberry with a frown. “Wow, I have to go. Sorry to rush off,
MiMi. You know how it is.”

“Yes, I do,” MiMi said and watched him rush
off.

Chris glanced at one of the bay windows. His
face lit up when he saw Brayden waving energetically at him through
the glass. He waved back and then got in the BMW. MiMi blew a kiss
at her nephew which got her a wide boyishly handsome grin. When she
turned to the door, Adrienne stood staring past MiMi down the
driveway.

“He’s working late at least twice a week
these days. Business is good.” Adrienne gave a short laugh that
contained no humor. Then she focused on MiMi. “Welcome back to
freedom.”

MiMi ignored the subtle dig about her time in
jail. “You look well.”

“This old thing? I’m taking it to our charity
designer consignment shop next week.” Adrienne smoothed a hand down
one leg of the lovely blue cotton lounge jumpsuit. Pewter gray
leather flats completed her look as the wealthy lady who does
lunch. “Well come on in. Sage is still playing with her doll house.
She’s absolutely in love with the thing, and the set of dolls
mother got her.”

“I hope they don’t have any small parts.”

“Give me some credit. They’re all organic
cotton cloth dolls, the best by the way, from Children’s Palace.
It’s a new store in Towne Center.” Adrienne closed the door behind
them once inside. She glanced at MiMi from head to toe as they
stood in the spacious foyer. “You don’t look the worse for wear
being in the big house. Do they still call it that, or have I been
watching too many vintage gangster movies?”

“I’m not in the mood to hear your attempts at
humor about it either.”

“Trust me, none of us were laughing,”
Adrienne replied mildly. “Daddy ranted on and on. Mother spent
hours on the phone putting out feelers to make sure none of our
friends knew. Thank God Roderick’s parents have the sense to be
discreet.”

“Please. Your ‘friends’ have their own
skeletons rattling around various closets. They should talk.” MiMi
crossed her arms.

“True, but another exciting tale about you
being in trouble again would drown out the noise,” Adrienne said.
Her full lips lifted at one corner.

MiMi held her temper in check. Adrienne had a
special skill of pushing MiMi’s buttons until she exploded. Not
today. “Chris didn’t seem scandalized or eager to rub my face in
it. At least he’s showing some compassion.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know. Only
Roderick’s parents, our parents and I know. We plan to keep it that
way.” Adrienne spun around and strolled into the large open plan
living room. Just beyond was a formal dining room that flowed into
a large kitchen. She sat down on a sofa.

“You’re keeping secrets from Chris?” MiMi
tried to make it into a mocking tease, but something about her
sister’s behavior bothered her.

“He’s mostly interested in work these days
and getting the next big bonus.” Adrienne’s pretty face grew stony
as she gazed ahead.

“You like those healthy shots of money. More
fun shopping for you,” MiMi quipped. She glanced around at perfect
order. The room, like the outside of the house out front, looked
ready for a model home design magazine.

Adrienne picked up a silver framed photo of
her husband on a lovely teakwood table. “I’m a bit deeper than the
next pair of two hundred dollar ballet flats.”

MiMi glanced at her sister. The bitterness
just beneath the surface of her statement came through clearly. “I
doubt anyone considers you a lightweight, Adrienne.”