Deborah Brown - Madison Westin 07 - Kidnapped in Paradise (9 page)

“Mrs. Ricci is a sly one.” Fab jammed the down button outside the elevator and nothing happened. The light above the door was dark. “She locked the elevator.”

“We’ll use the stairs,” I said, and pointed down the hallway. “At least we’ll be going down and not up. And stay off the hand railing”––I shook my finger at her––“or you’ll end up black and blue if I have to drag you down the stairs.”

“You first.” She shoved me into the stairwell. “Who
’
s going to tell Brick that another job went south?”

“I say we show up at his office, sweet smiles in place. Actually, maybe not. He’ll get suspicious. We’ll gracefully accept cash and then scream obscenities in unison.” 

“
Unison?
” Fab asked, looking skeptical that we could pull it off. “We
’
d need to practice.”

“I
’
ve got a few choice words all ready for us. Then, after we lock him in a closet at gunpoint, we
’
ll see how long it takes him to get free. If we get bored, we
’
ll leave him for the cleaning team.”

We exited the building on the far side, and even though I knew the Hummer was gone, I hoped it would be there as I peered around the corner. Creole paced the driveway.

“Do you have a scarf I can use for a gag?” I asked Fab. “Creole
’
s going to be testy because I hung up on him.”

“Another lecture before sex?” 

“Our boyfriends are a lot alike in some ways,” I said.

“They also talk.” Fab wiggled her nose.

Creole shoved his phone in his pocket and raced over to us, turning me around so that he could make sure I
’
d made it through my latest job in one piece.

He snapped his fingers at Fab. “Turn around,” he growled at her. “It does give me some comfort when you two get into trouble together.”

Fab gave him the finger and walked away.

“Local police just picked up the old lady and your SUV. Do you want her arrested?” Creole asked.

“Any chance that local law will give her a free ride to her criminal son
’
s house? What about my Hummer?”

“We’ll take Mrs. Ricci,” Fab said, “when we pick up the SUV.”

“She
’
s a handful, full of colorful language,” Creole said, and opened his truck door. He picked me up and kissed me.
Hop in, ladies.
You
’
re going to lose your job with Brick Ass, because I
’
m going to beat the holy hell him out of him and let him know if I ever hear his name again, I’ll give a fisherman a fifty to give him a one-way ride out into the Gulf.”

“Did you forget about his brother, one of your co-workers? That will start a war.”

“I’ll give that bald bastard the same free ride as his brother. I could probably get a discount for two,” he growled.

Creole wasn’t completely wrong about that. There were certain parts of the docks where a person could hire most any job done for a few bucks.

Fab vaulted herself into the truck, making me look bad since I needed the foot rail. She stuck her head out the window and hollered at us.

“Kissy time is over. Let
’
s get moving.” She seated herself between me and Creole.

I tried to climb over her, but she crossed her arms and wouldn’t
budge.

“Do you tell Didier to hurry up?”

She returned my dirty look.

“Of course not. But do I need to point out that you
’
re not him?”

I looked around Fab to see Creole.

“How did you find the SUV so fast?”

“Activated the GPS,” he said matter-of-factly.

Uh-oh! Busted. Thank goodness I looked shocked, because Fab didn’t need to know that I knew he
’
d replaced it after she rendered it useless once again.

“You planted another tracker without telling us?” Fab hissed at Creole as she looked at me, eyebrows arched.

I shrugged, wide-eyed. Let them do combat. I was fairly certain Creole would survive unscathed.

Creole slowed.

“Listen to me good. If you tamper with this unit in any fashion, I’ll narc on you to Didier in a hot second. It
’
s a small thing to ask and it
’
s for your safety.”

“Stop with the Didier threat. It
’
s old and it doesn’t work anymore.” Fab sat rigid, eyes straight ahead.

“Ha! Didier looks like an easygoing pretty boy, but I know him; and if there
’
s one man who can control your wild streak, it
’
s him. In fact, let
’
s test your theory. How about the three of us have a sit down, where I explain what I
’
m doing to keep you safe and how your response is to tell me to ‘shove it
’?
See what he has to say?”

I knew Didier. He
’
d be livid if he were to find out that she'd disconnected the GPS, especially when it had to do with her safety.

“You say one word and I’ll maim you.” She glared at him.

Creole chuckled.

Chapter 10

A big neon arrow that Mac found at a yard sale hung on the office door at The Cottages. The sign pointed down the walkway, which meant she had escaped to the pool.

In addition to the property, I also inherited two half-dead tenants, both suffering from cancer: Miss January and Joseph. The doctors continued to insist that one day soon, my tenants would suck their last breath. Their response: the middle finger. Followed by a cigarette and vodka for Miss January and beer for Joseph, as they both insisted on maintaining their 'healthy' lifestyle.

Brad
’
s girlfriend, Julie, and her teenage son hadn’t moved out yet, much to her brother, Kevin’s disgust, and lately he had begun to ratchet up the pressure. Kevin let me know that he thought my managerial skills sucked, as though I had personally invited the felons and other assorted riff-raff to occupy the units. The only normal tenant, besides Julie, was Shirl, a registered nurse at the local hospital, who came to stay for a few days and never left. The rest were tourists from the UK and Canada.

It was a quiet day in general. I cased the block, finding that no one lurked in the alley, and no one slept in the bushes. Everything looked peaceful, but anyone who knew The Cottages knew that could looks be deceiving. 

Fab and I rounded the corner to the pool to find that best friends Shirl and Mac were in a heated game of ping pong, drinking beer between points. A sane property owner would ask where the worn, but still usable, table came from, but it looked fun, and I knew without a doubt it wasn’t stolen.

“
You can’t
drink on the job.” I pushed open the gate.

“Then
I quit!
” Mac yelled and threw her middle-aged body in a chair, her ample chest bouncing around. She wore a pair of obscene short-shorts. I sighed, happy to see her skirt slung over a chaise. It only took me two days of sitting in the property office all day to know that I didn’t want the job. I never regretted hiring the woman.

I gave Fab a nudge.

      
“It
’
s your job to make sure she doesn’t go anywhere. She leaves, and you can work in the office.”

Shirl belly laughed, her body poured into an ill-fitting two-piece. “That would end any tenant problems. She
’
d whip her gun out and empty the place.” She threw a raft into the pool and dove in after it.

Both women were curvy, fun, and always doing something outrageous. They didn’t give a damn what people thought. It was an unwritten rule that Mac wasn’t allowed to quit, and Shirl was the only tenant not allowed to move out. Shirl reminded me of the nurse in elementary school, a calming presence that always knew the right thing to say to convince you that you wouldn’t die of a stomach ache.

I kicked off my shoes and sat on the edge of the pool, sliding my feet into the warm water.

Mac dove into the pool after Shirl and made herself comfortable, leaning back against the side, her head resting on the ledge.

“Let
’
s get a few things straight,” I said. “You go anywhere, and I’ll send Fab to drag you back. And on the off chance you elude her, I’ll send Creole after you.”

“Creole!” Mac licked her lips, her brown eyes sparkling. “
I won’t
ask for a raise if you arrange for a little game of hide and seek.”

“He
’
s mine, and I don’t share.” I glared at her. “Besides, what would your husband say?”

“Yeah, him,” she laughed. “Your ex-husband broke into Cottage Seven and spent a couple of nights. Left it clean. He looked a little paranoid when I confronted him.”

Last time Jax showed up in town, he moved into one of the units. He and his friends overstayed their welcome, ignoring threats of eviction. It surprised me that Jax moved out this time and so quickly, which had me worrying about him again.

“Did you talk to him?” I asked. He hadn’t called me back, and now he
’
d shut his phone off.

“I blocked his path when he tried to sneak down the driveway.” Mac played with the ties on her bathing suit top. I fully expected her friends to make an appearance any second. “He looked good, asked me not to tell anyone he
’
d been here. I told him I wouldn’t say a word except to you, and he said you were cool.”

“You couldn’t call me so I could check the ex out?” Shirl huffed at Mac.

“Did he leave a forwarding address?” Fab asked.

Mac shook her head and launched into her version of the news.

“Miss January and Score were so drunk, they sat on the curb fighting. ‘You
’
re drunk. No, I
’
m not, you are.
’
I told them if they didn’t take it inside, I would turn the hose on them. The sheriff hasn’t been here in a while for nuisance calls, and I want to keep it that way.”

Miss January looked eighty instead of the forty listed on her driver
’
s license. It didn’t help that she resembled the color of death, minus the blue tinge when your time is truly up. Good-natured, always smiling in an uncomprehending way, she wandered through her days in a liquored-up stupor.

“Did those two get into a brawl?” Fab’s eyes glittered with excitement.

“Miss January backhanded Score in the head, and he started whining. I guess she felt guilty, because she rolled over and crawled on his lap and kissed his hair a few times. Reminded me of two old cats: lick, lick, fight. I had Shirl check on them. We left him passed out on the bed and her on the couch, both snoring so loud made my ears ring, and I ran for the door.” She imitated the noise interspersed with what sounded like choking noises.

Shirl nodded her head.

“Miss January shared with me that she and Score have regular sex, and then she gets out of bed and sleeps on the couch.”

I burst out laughing at the look of absolute disgust on Fab
’
s face. That was the kind of news I liked to spring on her.

“Sounds like business as usual. So far you don’t have a single good reason for quitting.” I flicked water on Mac.

Fab nudged Mac
’
s shoulder.

“Don’t spread it all over town, but I like you two. I
’
d hate to tie you to your office chair; it
’
s not good for business.”