Say You Need Me (20 page)

Cecil replaced the receiver, but he wasn’t fast enough. Virginia had seen him.

She strolled toward him. “Who was that?”

“No one,” Cecil lied. “I was checking messages.”

“Really?” Virginia raised a dubious eyebrow.

Cecil shot to his feet when she neared him and reached for her. She swatted his hand.

“Cecil, what’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

Virginia planted her hands on her hips and stared at him.

“What?”

“I love spending time with you, Cecil, but you have to admit this is a little much for you.”

“C’mon, baby doll.” Cecil stroked her face. “You know I love being with you.”

“Oh, Cecil. Save your lies.”

Cecil frowned. “Why would I—”

“Cecil, you normally stay here for a night or two, max.”

“Yeah, well…I’ve missed you.”

Virginia said, “You think I don’t know the real reason you’ve been hanging out here? I’m sure it’s not because you like my new implants.”

“Of course I like them,” Cecil replied. He reached for a breast beneath her silk robe, but she knocked his hand away.

“I know you’re in some kind of trouble,” she continued. “And you obviously had no one else to turn to, or you wouldn’t be here.”

“That’s not true.”

“You’re not in any trouble?” she challenged.

Cecil gave her a sheepish look. “You were the first person I thought of to turn to.”

“You mean the only one who would take you in. Let’s face it, if any of the young women you play with would have you, you’d be there, not here.”

Cecil was about to respond that he liked mature women, but it would be a lie. At fifty, Virginia wasn’t exactly his first choice, even if she was still attractive and in excellent shape. She gave him a knowing smile. “I played this game once too, remember? So, tell me. How much do you need?”

“Two hundred thou.”

“Two hundred thousand?” Virginia repeated, mortified.

“I swear, baby doll, I will pay you back every cent just as soon as I can.”

“I doubt that.”

“Honestly.”

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I can’t help you.”

“
Please
, baby doll,” Cecil begged. “I wouldn’t ask if my life didn’t depend on it.”

“I can’t.” Virginia shrugged helplessly. “Walter’s kids are contesting his will, so all the money’s frozen.”

“Shit!”

“You can stay here for as long as you want—or until I get bored with you.” She softened the words with a grin. “But that’s all I can offer you. Sorry, sweetie.”

Kiana was on her second cup of coffee when she heard a banging at her front door. Expecting a package from her editor, she quickly hurried to answer it.

“Geoff,” she said breathlessly as she opened the door.

“Hey.”

She stood back to let him in. “I thought you were going to call me.”

“I was on my way to work, so I figured I’d stop by.”

“You have some information for me?”

“Yeah.”

Geoff was different today. He wasn’t his normal, bubbly self.

“What’s wrong?” Kiana asked.

“I don’t have much time,” he said, digging into his back pocket. “So, here’s what you wanted. Numbers for the people who accused Cecil of theft. Of course, you didn’t get these from me.”

He passed her a sheet of paper, but Kiana didn’t look at it as she accepted it. “Geoff, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing. You wanted information, I brought it to you.”

“And that’s…it?”

“What? You want something else?” His eyes held hers in challenge, and when Kiana didn’t respond, Geoff added, “That’s what I thought.”

“What’s with the attitude, Geoff?”

“You should be happy. Aren’t you the one who always says you don’t want me coming on to you?”

“So if you’re not coming on to me, you can’t be nice?”

“I’m gonna go.” Geoff turned to leave.

“Wait a minute,” Kiana said, scrambling after him. She placed a hand on his arm, and he stopped. “I don’t like this.”

Geoff first looked at her hand, then met her eyes. “You want to know something? I don’t like it either. You say you appreciate me and care about me, yet you only call me when you need me.”

“Is that what you think?”

“Tell me it’s not so.”

“Come here.” Kiana opened her arms and wrapped them around Geoff, hugging him tightly. “You know that’s not the case.”

Geoff didn’t hug her back, and after a few moments, abruptly stepped away from her. “Why do you do that?”

“What?”

“Hug me like that. You know I’m still attracted to you. Hell, I’m still in
love
with you. It almost seems like you’re deliberately teasing me.”

“No,” Kiana quickly replied, frowning. “Of course not.”

“I’m not sure you know what you want. When you look at me, touch me, I see your attraction. But when you open your mouth, something entirely different comes out.”

“I want us to be friends,” Kiana replied succinctly.

“Friends.” The muscle in Geoff’s jaw flinched. “Friends stay in touch, Kiana.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been busy.”

“Yeah, that’s what you always tell me when I call you. But the moment your sister needs info to track down her ex, you’re suddenly in touch with me, and I’m hearing from you a few times a day? You’ve got to realize how that looks to me. Maybe it wouldn’t bother me if I didn’t care about you, but I do. You told me before that I didn’t let you know how I feel enough, that that’s one of the reasons you ended things, but now that I tell you—”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to admit that you still have feelings for me.” He gave her a frank look. “Because I know you do.”

“I still…care.”

“You know, if I didn’t see that you still loved me every time I looked in your eyes, I wouldn’t bother you about us.”

“Why we broke up…it was about more than you not telling me how you feel. It’s what you do, it’s who you are.”

“My being a cop.”

“After the honeymoon phase was over, you worked way too much, canceled our dates. I worried about you all the time.”

“But being a cop is fine when you need something, right?”

“Do you not want me to call and ask you for anything anymore?” Kiana asked, exasperated. “Is that it?”

Geoff gave her a disappointed look. “Yeah,” he said softly, “maybe it is. If you can’t be honest with yourself and with me, maybe we shouldn’t talk at all.”

“Fine,” Kiana said, though her heart began to ache.

“All right. I hope what I’ve given you helps your sister out.”

Kiana knew she should say something to Geoff as he made his way to the door, tell him that she didn’t want him to walk out of her life, but she didn’t say a damn thing.

And when he left, she felt as if they’d broken up all over again.

Darrell wasn’t in the mood to be friendly when
they arrived at Cecil’s condo, and clearly the condo staff recognized that. When Miguel took the car he was cordial, but not chatty, which suited Darrell fine.

Serena had been silent for practically the entire trip there, except to give him directions. He didn’t like the tension between them, but he didn’t know what to say to change it.

In a way, he was mad at himself. He hadn’t come down to Miami for a holiday, and he felt like he’d been wasting time. His brother was in trouble, and he should be spending every waking moment trying to find him.

He had no time for duck feeding and talking about his past and thinking about getting naked with Serena. That he’d been so easily distracted in the face of his brother’s dilemma bothered him.

Darrell opened the door to the condo. “Okay,” he said,
getting right down to business. “I’ll go to my brother’s bedroom and search there. You start in the kitchen.”

“All right,” Serena agreed in a wooden voice.

“Look for anything you can find that seems relevant. Business cards. Scrawled numbers. His black book, of course.”

“Yeah.”

Darrell headed down the hallway, and Serena went to the kitchen. Pushing aside the bitter feeling in her stomach at the distance Darrell had put between them, she set herself to the task at hand. She rummaged through each drawer and cupboard, but found nothing other than everyday kitchen items. The place was pristine to the point where it pretty much didn’t look lived in.

Which, Serena realized, it probably wasn’t.

The place was lavish and way too large for one person. And given how much Cecil liked to socialize, he no doubt ate out most of the time.

Next, she went to the living room, but one complete glance told her there wasn’t anything in here that could help her. There wasn’t even so much as a scrap of paper on an end table.

Somewhat frustrated, she headed to the master bedroom, where she found Darrell sitting on the bed. Beside him, the night table drawer was open and he was carefully sifting through its contents.

“Did you find anything?” Serena asked.

“My brother is certainly neater than I remember him being.”

“There was nothing in the kitchen, not even a fork out of place.”

“I get the feeling he spent more time at his house in the
Grove. He had a computer there. Here, he has clothes, linens for the bed, but not much else.”

Serena wandered to the other night table. “Have you looked through here yet?”

“No. Go ahead.”

Serena sat and pulled open the drawer. Her face flamed as she saw the immediate contents. A pack of condoms, a bottle of lubricant. She cringed.

“What?” Darrell asked.

“Uh…maybe you should go through this drawer.”

“Why?”

“Well.” Serena rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s a little…
personal
.”

Darrell’s eyebrow peaked with curiosity. “Personal?”

“Yes,” Serena said emphatically. Her eyes caught something shiny. Handcuffs, she realized a moment later.

Darrell scooted around to her side of the bed and glanced down into the drawer. He chuckled for the first time today. “Oh. I see.”

Great, he thought this was funny, while she was so embarrassed she didn’t even want to touch anything.

He lifted a small aerosol can. “Stay hard spray. Hmm. Maybe Cecil wasn’t quite the don he thought he was.”

“Oh, my God!” Serena exclaimed, jumping up. “
Stay hard
spray?”

Darrell lifted something from the drawer that looked like a stiff condom. “Ah. A French tickler.”

Serena held up a hand and looked away. “I don’t even want to know.”

“And a whip.”

Serena groaned her disgust.

“I take it you’ve never used any of this stuff before?”

“God, no!”

Darrell shouldn’t tease her, but he couldn’t help it. This was the first laugh he’d had for the day. Serena’s initial reaction made it obvious she’d never used any of this kinky stuff, and he couldn’t help chuckling at her innocence. It pleased him to know that she was, at her core, still sweet.

“Have
you
used any of this stuff?” she asked.

“No,” Darrell replied.

Glancing at the drawer, she grimaced. “Then how do you know what all this stuff is?”

Darrell shrugged. “I’m a guy. You hear things from other guys growing up.”

She gave him a doubtful look.

He placed a hand over his heart. “Honestly. When I make love, I don’t need or want any of these toys.”

Staring at him, her expression softened. No, she thought, her heartbeat accelerating, she couldn’t imagine Darrell needing anything to help him in that department. The thought made her as hot as she’d been only hours ago.

“I don’t know how anyone can call that stuff toys,” she said after a moment.

“Neither do I. But, to each his own, I guess.”

Serena headed toward the bedroom’s closet. “Have you gone through here?”

“No, but I went through all his other drawers. Go ahead.”

Serena opened the closet door and cautiously peered inside. She didn’t want any more surprises. The interior was the size of her apartment kitchen. She stepped inside and looked around, but again, it looked to be in the same pristine shape as the living room and kitchen.

“Here we go!” Darrell exclaimed.

Spinning around, Serena darted out of the closet. Her eyes met Darrell’s across the room.

He slapped something against the palm of his hand, then lifted it to show her. “Cecil’s little black book. I found it.”

Cecil was glad when Virginia finally left the house. She said she was heading to Miami Beach to do some shopping, which meant she’d be gone for hours. He could use a little peace and quiet.

He supposed he should be thankful that she wasn’t kicking him out, even though she was onto him. What the hell, like she’d said, she’d been a player herself. She understood him. And most of all, she enjoyed his company. At least he hadn’t completely lost his touch.

He was waiting on Eddie to call him back before making a move, but the lying son of a bitch wasn’t keeping in touch. He beeped him; Eddie didn’t call. With each passing day, Cecil saw the reality of getting Jan’s jewelry back dying.

Yeah, Jan was pissed. But if it was just her he had to contend with, he was sure he could smooth things over. But her husband Rex was out for blood.

No doubt he was as good as dead if they ever found him. His only option was to offer Rex cold hard cash and hope that appeased him. He’d been counting on Virginia, but now that had fallen through. He couldn’t turn to Tamara. She was mad as hell with him as well. And there was no point going to Sylvia, a woman whose jewelry he’d already stolen and replaced. There was no way she’d give him the kind of cash he needed, not after he’d disappeared from her life without an explanation.

The only person he could logically turn to was Darrell.

He didn’t know if his brother had that much cash on hand, but if he explained the situation to him, that this was a matter of life and death, surely Darrell would do what he could to come up with the money. He could always count on Darrell in a bind.

After this, he was going straight. No more conning, no more crime.

Which would no doubt be easier than he hoped. Because if Jan’s husband didn’t kill him, he’d most likely end up in cell block D in the state pen.

It was pretty damn hard to remain a criminal from behind a jail cell.

“Cecil’s black book?” Serena asked, excited. She rushed to Darrell and plopped down beside him on the bed.

Darrell flipped through the book. “Oh yeah. This is it. Wow. There are a ton of numbers in here.”

Serena glanced over his shoulder. From what she could see, all the names were of women. But surprisingly, she felt no more disappointment or disillusionment over Cecil’s deceit.

She’d had to accept that Cecil was a liar, a cheat, and a thief. Now that she had, it was much easier to realize he was a master con artist. She’d stopped beating herself up for getting involved with him and was able now simply to concentrate on what was important—getting the necklace back.

“I should start calling some of these people,” Darrell announced. His nose still in the black book, he strolled around to the other side of the bed where the phone rested on that night table. He lifted the receiver. Then he
frowned as he replaced it. “There’s no dial tone. Cecil must have disconnected this phone, too.”

“Let’s head back to my place,” Serena said. “We can make the calls from there.”

“Okay.”

“Did you want to look around anymore?”

“I don’t see the point. Like you said, except for the sex toys, it doesn’t seem like my brother even lives here.”

Serena’s face warmed at the mention of the sex toys, and the realization that she had sat on a bed where Cecil had used them with God only knew how many women.

No, she had no desire to stay here any longer.

Darrell walked to the bedroom door. “You ready?”

Serena took one last look at the bed and the drawer that held the sex toys, and shuddered. “Yeah. I definitely am.”

“Yo,” Cecil said into the receiver. “How you doing, sweet thang?”

“Cecil?”

“Yeah, Mimi. It’s me.” It was a long shot, but Cecil thought he remembered Mimi telling him that her father was some business tycoon with tons of money. Maybe she could help him out.

Mimi yawned loudly. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Time I saw your lovely face again,” Cecil answered. “You miss me, baby?”

Mimi chuckled. “Your ego amazes me.”

“It’s just a question, sweet thang. Since I haven’t been around for a while.”

“Mmm hmm. You get rid of that goody-two-shoes girl you were hanging out with a few days ago? And spare me
the details about her being a friend. I saw the way she was looking at you.”

Cecil’s forehead scrunched. “Come again?”

“That girl you were with on Saturday. The one who looked like she escaped from the convent.”

“I wasn’t at Monty’s on Saturday.”

“Why are you even gonna lie?”

“I wasn’t,” Cecil insisted.

“What kind of drugs are you on? I served you, you idiot. You don’t remember Tamara staring you down like she wanted to kill you right there in the bar?”

“Sweet thang, I was
not
there this past Saturday.”

“Then you must have a twin.”

There was a pause as the truth hit Cecil.

“Come on,” Mimi said. “I talked to you like you were you. Even if it was your dead ringer, he wouldn’t have pretended he was you.”

“Oh, shit.”

“What?”

“Mimi, I
do
have a twin. Shit, he must have come to town.” Darrell must have gotten worried about him after their last phone call and headed to Miami.

And he’d
happened
to show up at Monty’s? What was going on?

“You have a twin?” Mimi asked, doubt lacing her tone.

“Yeah. That would explain why he played along like he was me.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“He was there with a woman?”

“Yeah,” Mimi began, still skeptical. “Like I said, she looked like she’d come straight from a convent.”

Serena.
How the hell had Darrell hooked up with her?

“I have to go,” Cecil announced.

“Wait, Cecil. What’s going on?”

“Hell if I know, sweet thang. Hell if I know.”

As Darrell had done the previous day when they returned to her place, Serena circled the block of her apartment complex a few times. Behind her, Darrell followed in the Viper. When she was sure the coast was clear, she turned into her apartment’s parking lot. She parked, and Darrell parked beside her. Minutes later, they were inside her apartment.

Kicking off her sandals, Serena asked, “How do you want to work this? Split up the list and we both make calls? I only have one phone line, but your brother’s got a car phone. You can use that.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Wait.” Frowning, Serena paced left and right. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea. If you call these women, they’ll think you’re Cecil—and considering he’s screwed at least some of them over, they won’t be happy to hear from you.” Serena shook her head. “No, I’d better make the calls.”

Darrell nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Well, there’s no time like the present. I’ll start now.”

“What are you going to say?” Darrell asked.

Serena stopped. She hadn’t thought about that. “I’m not sure. I suppose I’ll play a jilted girlfriend, someone who’s as pissed with Cecil as the rest of them probably are.”

“All right.”

“You have another idea?”

Darrell shook his head. “Here you go.” Darrell passed her the black book. “I’ll go to the Viper and call home for messages.”

Serena took the book into her bedroom. Sitting on her
bed, she flipped it open. She could hardly believe there were so many names and numbers in there. From the amount of time Cecil had spent with her in the time she’d known him, she would never guess he had such an extensive list of…
friends.

Oh, well. None of that mattered anymore.

Serena decided not to search for specific names and just started from the beginning of the book. She dialed the first number, which belonged to an Annie Collins.

The phone rang four times, then a machine picked up. Serena hung up. She certainly didn’t want to leave a message.

There was no answer at the first several numbers—obviously, given the time of day, people were at work.

Serena flipped the page. The next number belonged to Virginia LeBeau. After two rings, a woman answered. “Hello?”

Nerves tickled Serena’s stomach. “Hello.”

“Who is this?”

“Uh…” Her mind scrambled to come up with something. “My name is Carol. I’ll just come right out and be honest with you. I found your number in my boyfriend’s little black book. We had a bad fight, and I know he’s mad at me, and he moved out. I’m trying to locate him through his friends.” God, she hoped that sounded plausible. “His name is Cecil—”

“Cecil?”

“Yes. Have you been in touch with him?”