Keepsake Crimes (28 page)

“I was worried about me,” said Carmela. “Oh, no . . .” Once again she tried to struggle to a sitting position. “Poor Boo! She’s been stuck in my apartment for—” Carmela began.

“Shhh, Boo’s fine,” said Shamus, patting her shoulder. “She stayed with me last night. At Glory’s.”

Carmela winced. “Glory’ll make Boo sleep outside,” she whispered. “She hates dogs.”

“Honey . . . no.” Now Shamus’s fingers caressed the top of Carmela’s bandage-wrapped head. “Boo slept on the bed with me all last night. She’s fine, really. In fact, she’s having the time of her life chasing the vacuum cleaner around.”

“Is Ruby hurt real bad?” Carmela asked in a small voice.

“You banged her up pretty good,” said Shamus. Carmela could tell he was trying to put a lighthearted spin on things, but his face was tight with concern.

“I thought Jimmy Earl was killed because of a real estate deal,” said Carmela. “I thought Bufford Maple and Michael Theriot were involved.”

“They
are
involved in a real estate deal,” said Shamus, looking grim now. “Just not the one you were hell-bent on pursuing. Maple and Theriot are under investigation by the SEC for real estate fraud. Phony bonds and some mortgage flipping.”

“What’s mortgage flipping?” asked Carmela.

“It’s kind of like a real estate ponzi scheme,” explained Shamus. “You trade properties back and forth to avoid taxes and declare paper profits. Dace Wilcox has been investigating them for several months now.”

“Dace?” said Carmela weakly. “I thought he might be involved with Jimmy Earl, too.”

“He was, but as an investigator. Dace is a special agent for the IRS, although it’s not widely known. Just as well to keep it under wraps.”

Carmela settled back against her pillows.
Boy, did I have a wrong number with Dace! Who knew he was working on the side of justice?

“What about Jack Dumaine? And Granger Rathbone?” asked Carmela.

“Apparently Jack hired Granger to try to figure out how much I knew. You see, I was the whistle-blower on the deal. Maple and Theriot also tried to tap Crescent City Bank for financing and, in reviewing some paperwork that came over from Clayton Crown Securities, a few things started to look hinky. Anyway, you kind of got pulled along for the ride.” Shamus ducked his head. “Sorry about that.”

“So Jack Dumaine was involved in this real estate fraud, too?” said Carmela.

“Yes, he was,” said Shamus. “But apparently not Jimmy Earl. Strangely enough, Jimmy Earl seems to have been the innocent one.”

“But Jack knew what Ruby did to Jimmy Earl? With the ketamine?” asked Carmela.

Shamus shook his head. “No. Jack was as shocked as we are. At least that’s what he claims.”

Carmela snuggled against her pillow, trying to digest all these layers of information. “Jack Dumaine and Rhonda Lee Clayton are having an affair,” she told Shamus. Her voice was still hoarse, almost husky sounding.

“You mentioned that the other night, remember?”

Carmela blinked. “I did?”

Shamus leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. The small part that wasn’t bandaged. “You look so helpless lying there,” he said, the words catching in his throat.

“I’ll be just as helpless when I get out of here,” said Carmela. “Poor Samantha . . . completely totaled.” She sighed. “I really loved that old car.”

“I know you did,” said Shamus slowly. “Think you can get used to driving something else?”

“I suppose I’ll have to,” said Carmela. “Eventually.”

“Why not right now,” said Shamus. His right hand dug into the pocket of his khaki slacks and Carmela heard a faint, metallic
clink
.

Suddenly, a set of car keys dangled before her eyes.

“What’s that?” Carmela asked warily.

“Keys to your new car,” said Shamus.

She peered at him. A shit-eating grin was spread across his handsome face.
Oh no.

“You bought me a car,” she said. She was shocked.
What does this mean? He loves me, he loves me not? Oh, I wish my poor head didn’t ache so much. If ever there was a time I needed to think straight, it’s right now.

“Don’t think about it so hard,” said Shamus, watching her closely.

Carmela sighed and closed her eyes. “Don’t try to read my mind,” she murmured, feeling slightly perturbed. She lay there for a moment until one eye peeked open, then the other. Now the slightest hint of curiosity danced in her blue eyes. “What exactly did you buy?”

“Mercedes.” The pride was evident in his voice. “Five hundred SL.”

Carmela was shocked. “No way!”

“I can see you in a Mercedes,” said Shamus. “Classy woman, classy car.”

“There’s no way I can accept this.” Carmela turned her head so she wouldn’t have to look at the keys that dangled from his fingers.

“Look, you’ve got a concussion,” Shamus told her. “You’re not thinking straight yet. So just . . . think about the car. Okay?” His face shone with kindness and concern.

Carmela stared at him. Damn, he looked good. Cute, eager to please. Just like the fella she married that fine day at Christ Church. “Okay,” she finally answered. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” His hand brushed her shoulder. “Better get some sleep now. I’ll stop by again later, okay?”

“Okay,” she said and closed her eyes again, half aware of a whispered exchange at the door.

More than anything, Carmela wanted to drift off to sleep, but someone was standing at her bedside, plucking at the sleeve of her stylish polka-dot hospital johnny. She lifted a lid tiredly. It was Ava. “What?” she asked her friend.

“You’re going to accept it, right?” said Ava expectantly.

Carmela shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Honey,” said Ava, dangling the keys in front of Carmela’s face. “The keys I have clutched in my hot little hand are for a Mercedes Five hundred SL. We’re talking three oh two horsepower with a V-eight engine. Sticker priced at over eighty-five grand. Like it or not, you just grabbed the brass ring!”

“It doesn’t seem right,” said Carmela stubbornly. “Especially since Shamus and I seem headed for divorce.”

“Now you’re headed for divorce,” said Ava. “Two days ago, you were sticking by him out of loyalty.”

“Shamus is a good man, and I love him dearly. But he’s having trouble with the commitment part,” sniffled Carmela.

“All men have trouble with the commitment part,” answered Ava. She pulled a half dozen tissues from the box near the bed, stuck them in Carmela’s hand.

Carmela held one up to her leaky eyes, sighed heavily.

“You know,” said Ava in an upbeat, conspiratorial tone, “there are lots of mechanical devices on the market today that can bring pleasure to a woman. But the best by far is a Mercedes-Benz!” She gently placed the car keys in Carmela’s hand.

Carmela closed her fingers around the shiny new keys. There was no denying it, a Mercedes-Benz
was
an awfully nice car. Beyond nice, actually. Bordering on splendiferous. She narrowed her eyes, gazed down at the keys. With the sun pouring in her hospital window, the keys looked like they were plated in twenty-four-karat gold. Like keys to a magical kingdom. The promise of something new and bright, like sunlight bouncing off Lake Pontchartrain.

She thought back to the tarot card reader at Baby’s party. Maybe
these
were the keys in her future.
Could they be?

“You think I should accept?” said Carmela, trying to stifle a yawn.
Damn, I’m feeling tired.

“I think it would be
rude
not to,” said Ava, doing a masterful job of maintaining a straight face.

Carmela’s fingers closed tightly around the keys as she smiled up at Ava. “You know what?” she said, “I think you may be right.”

Be sure to add snippets of poetry, favorite sayings, or your very own jottings to your scrapbook pages. One easy way is to compose your words on a computer using a nice, funky type, then output those words on a sheet of see-through vellum. You can tear around your words to achieve a deckled-edged cloud effect or even cut the vellum into a square and lay it across your photo for a ghost effect.

Have you seen the wonderful tags that are available in various shapes, sizes, and colors? They really add interest to a scrapbook page. You can paste smaller photos on tags, rubber stamp the tags, or add stickers if you want. And be sure to thread a piece of ribbon, lace, or raffia through the punched holes in your tags to complete the look!

Tiny charms and other three-dimensional objects really make scrapbook pages come to life. Depending on the story your page is telling, think about adding tiny brass keys, old coins, paper butterflies, scrabble tiles, tiny beads and buttons, even little squares of foil that you’ve embossed.

When using embossed papers as backgrounds, drybrush a little bit of gold acrylic paint over a few select areas to add elegant highlights.

Why not create your own scrapbook background page? Try painting a beach scene with white clouds, scalloped waves, and gentle, undulating yellow sand. Once you lay your summer photos over it and rubber stamp a fish and starfish, you might be surprised at how impressive your artwork looks!

Buy a simple album and make you own elaborate cover. Silk flowers and ribbons are easily glued on. You can use charms, beads, quilted squares, or a piece of needlepoint. Lace and dried flower petals also lend an elegant touch. Or get a yard of fabric and cover the entire book!

A tiny mirror surrounded with lace, an old embroidered hankie, paper dolls, even a tiny locket or string of inexpensive pearls adds a personal touch and is very symbolic of a keepsake motif.

You can create a special book that you use for journaling, sketching, jotting down poems or special phrases, or even recording vacations, special events, favorite memories of your children, or your best recipes.

Using a Dutch oven, sauté onion, celery, green pepper, parsley, and garlic in butter until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomatoes, chicken stock, water, sugar, thyme, chili powder, black pepper, Tabasco sauce, and sausage or ham. Bring to a boil, then stir in rice. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes. While mixture cooks, peel and devein shrimp. Add to rice mixture and simmer uncovered for an additional 10 minutes. Yields 6 servings.

In large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, sugar, and prunes. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, milk, and shortening, then add to flour mixture, stirring until moistened. Pour into two 9” × 5” greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove bread from pans and cool on wire rack.