Point of Betrayal (13 page)

“Yeah, but appearances can be deceiving. She was wearing stilettos and big hair so she looked taller, and she definitely padded her bra. It made her seem more buxom. Whoever worked with her knew what she was doing. She understood how to create a disguise.”

They watched a brunette at the lat pull-down machine. Her back muscles flexed each time the seventy-pound weights soared from the base. Molly dreamed of the day when she would look that fine. She knew she’d never be as skinny because of her bone structure, but she’d be grateful to shed the final ten pounds she needed to lose.

“I’ll go get the desk clerk,” Andre said.

“Excuse me, but could you tell me if my tag is showing?”

The brunette was moving through her circuit and had stopped in front of Molly, showing off a fabulous rear end covered in skintight workout pants.

“Um, no, you’re fine,” she squeaked.

The woman turned around, and Molly saw her front was just as appetizing as her backside. Her little white sports bra could barely keep her D-cups in place, and from the amount of makeup she wore, Molly knew she was here to troll, not exercise. She had worked out hard enough to generate a slight sheen of perspiration but nothing more. She was in her early fifties, but she wore it well.

She leaned closer and whispered, “When I wear this thong, I always worry that I’ll embarrass myself. Do you think I look okay?”

“You look fine.” Her throat was completely dry, and she decided she very much wanted to know what color thong was hiding under the black workout pants.

“Lime green,” the woman said, reading her thoughts. “I’m Sienna. And you are?”

“Molly.”

“Are you considering joining the gym, Molly? You and your friend?”

“Um, well I might.”

“How fabulous. Will you be here for a while? I’ve got about twenty more minutes on my circuit and then I’m free for the rest of the afternoon. Do you have plans?”

Molly thought about the light switch in 3D and the bathtub caulking in 2B. Then she thought about the picture that
wasn’t
in Ari’s bedroom anymore.           

“I don’t have any plans at all.”

Sienna’s ruby lips curled into a smile. “Perfect. I drive a little red Miata that’s parked outside. I’ll see you in twenty.”

Andre reappeared with a goth girl who looked slightly dazed and confused. “Molly, this is Jordan. She’s the daytime desk clerk.” Jordan nodded in her direction and followed his pointed finger to the buff woman Molly had identified.

“Well, there’s a lot of people who look like that. It’s a gym.”

Molly rolled her eyes, remembering she was no longer a policeman and this wasn’t her investigation.

“How many would you say?” he asked.

“Well, just among the regulars there’s Heather and Jackie and Sykes and D.D. and Wanda and Curly and JuJu and well…probably a few more if I thought about it.”

“So maybe ten or so?”

“Yeah, maybe a few more.”

“Could I see their IDs in the computer? You guys have that on file, right?”

Suddenly Jordan looked much less confused. “Yeah, but you’d need a warrant for that, right?” She glanced at Molly, who shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, technically, yes,” he hedged, “but that could take a long time and I could really use your help.”

He flashed his most pathetic face, the one he always used on women to get his way, and for a brief moment Molly felt like she was back in the game and this was another case they were running together. But it wasn’t. She couldn’t wait to meet Sienna at her red Miata and see her lime green thong.

“I should probably call my manager and see if she can come over. She’s over at the downtown location right now.”

“Let’s do that,” he agreed. “Mol, are you sticking around?”

“No,” she said flatly. “Call me when you’ve got something.”

* * *

The Miata was far too small for her lanky frame; she felt like a folded sandwich as they cruised down Camelback Road.

“I live on the mountain,” Sienna said, turning onto one of the few roads that actually led up Camelback Mountain. “But we’re not superrich so we don’t live up too high.”

She chuckled at her own joke and made a few more turns until they reached a large electric gate. She punched a code into the keypad and the gate slowly opened. When it was just wide enough for the Miata to squeeze through, she gunned the engine and shot ahead.

“Don’t want to waste time,” she said, roaring up the driveway and into a garage whose door was already opened. She parked next to a new black Hummer that seemed to swallow the Miata in its shadow.

“Is that your
other
car?” Molly joked.

“Actually it is,” she said. “C’mon.”

They passed through a laundry room and a small storage area before they entered a pristine kitchen with a gorgeous mountain view. She tossed her gym bag onto a chair and headed for the bar, stripping off her clothes until all she was wearing was her thong, which was indeed lime green.

“What would you like to drink?” she asked. “I’m making a martini.”

“Uh, I don’t drink,” Molly replied.

She looked up with a knowing look. “Took a second. How long have you been sober?”

“About six months.”

“Good for you,” she said. “Then I won’t tempt you.” She picked up two highballs and filled each with ice and seltzer. When she presented the drink she said, “The last thing I want you thinking about right now is booze. All I want you to picture is the body in front of you. Do you think I have a great figure?”

Molly coated her throat with the seltzer. “Beautiful,” she mumbled.

Sienna playfully rubbed the sweating glass against her nipples until they were erect. “I just love that feeling.”

She stared at her perfect breasts. They were a little larger than Ari’s, and she was certain they weren’t real, but she respected a woman who recognized that plastic surgery was about the whole body, not just making one part stand out.

“Follow me, Molly.”

They wandered down a hallway and up a staircase lined with family photos. She stopped and gazed at Sienna’s blatant heterosexual life, complete with a handsome husband and two adorable children. Some photos depicted the happy family skiing, hiking and celebrating Christmas while others were formal studio setups at various points in the children’s lives.

“Surprised?” Sienna asked.

“Not really,” she said. “I’ve known lots of curious straight women.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, baby, I’m not straight. I have an amazing husband and two great kids, one’s in college and the other’s a senior in high school, but I’m completely bisexual with a lot of needs to be met. Thank God Louie gets that.”

“He knows? Now I’m surprised.”

“He’s always known. He caught me with my maid of honor the day before our wedding and I gave him a choice: share or leave. He’s been happily sharing me ever since.”

She glanced back down the stairs. “Where are they now?”

She answered as if she’d been asked the question dozens of times before. “At this very moment? Well, I imagine my daughter’s in the Harvard library studying, my son is at wrestling practice until seven and my husband, the amazing plastic surgeon,” she said, gesturing at her body, “is at a conference in London. Satisfactory answers?”

She nodded and followed her upstairs into a beautiful guest room with a daybed. “What do you think of my boudoir?”

“It’s lovely,” she said.

A small white cabinet stocked with oils and candles sat against one wall and faced a much larger matching cabinet on the opposite wall. She worried it was stocked with bondage equipment and was relieved to see it housed a stereo and TV. Sienna opened the doors, grabbed the remote and filled the room with soft jazz.

“You don’t look like the kind of woman who needs videos to get in the mood, do you?”

“Um, no,” she said nervously.

Sienna faced her and stroked her arms, releasing a hunger she’d forgotten existed. Taking a new lover was sexy, and the anticipation of that first touch was like a plane seconds from touchdown, a combination of anxiety and exhilaration. As if she could read her mind, Sienna pressed her lips against Molly’s ever so slightly, asking permission and previewing her skills.

Before she could pull her into a deep kiss, Sienna stepped to the bed. “You’ve been deprived, haven’t you? Let’s fix that.”

Molly kicked off her black boots and stripped off her jeans, but when it came to unbuttoning the simple button-down shirt, she couldn’t get her fingers to cooperate.

“Come here,” Sienna cooed.

She joined her on the bed. “Sorry, I’m…sorry.”

“You’re fine.”

Sienna slowly parted the fabric and caressed Molly’s face and neck. “You have the most beautiful blue eyes.”

She should have mumbled at least a thank you, but the wetness between her thighs easily destroyed nearly four decades of good manners. The remaining scraps of cloth dropped to the floor so kisses could be bestowed on the bare flesh. Sienna smelled flowery and fresh after her shower at the gym, and Molly longed to be swallowed up by something so clean and pure.

“I have a rule,” Sienna whispered.

Lost in anticipation, Sienna’s fingers burning heat inches from her center, Molly couldn’t bring herself to inquire—or care—about rules.

“The first time it’s only fingers. I want us to have something to look forward to.”

“Yes,” she moaned, rocking her hips forward, greeting Sienna.

The wait was over.

The whir of power tools reverberated against the steel walls of Lenny’s Auto. Ari passed the service bays, noticing that Bobby Arco was standing under a car suspended on a lift, gazing upward, a tattoo in the shape of a serpent’s tail poking his Adam’s apple. She headed toward the office where Eden worked as the secretary/bookkeeper for her father Lenny. She’d rehearsed a story in the event that it wasn’t possible to catch her alone, but her experience with auto shops had taught her usually only one person staffed the office since the money was in the bays.

She’d left Jane at the resort nursing her “burgeoning migraine” as she put it, which magically appeared after Rory agreed to stop by and analyze the Shakespearean references when her last class was over. She shook her head at the thought of Rory arriving without a chaperone or bodyguard, and she guessed she’d return to find them screaming at each other or nestled under the covers of Jane’s bed.

Eden stood at the counter, squaring off with an elderly customer who was waving his bill at her.

“I’m not paying this! This isn’t what we agreed to,” he insisted. “Lenny said it would be three-fifty.”

Eden nodded and replied, “That was for
one
drum. You needed two of them. I’m sorry, Mr. Rosen, but I think you misunderstood what my dad said.”

He ranted about shoddy workmanship and false advertising while Eden listened politely. Only when he brought up the old days when honest businessmen ruled the world did she interrupt, her face turning red.

“My father is honest and I resent your comment. This is the cost of the work. You’ll pay it if you want your car back.”

He pulled out his wallet and threw his credit card on the counter. Not another word was spoken as she processed the transaction and he claimed his keys. Ari imagined he would never return to Lenny’s, and she was completely unimpressed with Eden’s customer service skills. Lenny probably lost a lot of customers if he relied on his daughter to smooth over the problems.

“May I help you?”

Eden wasn’t smiling. Ari guessed the
last
thing she wanted to do was work for her dad. She was in her early twenties, which meant she’d become a mother while she was in high school since Michaela was seven. Despite the baggy sweatshirt she wore, her large bosom practically rested on the counter.

“Hi, are you Eden?”

“Yeah,” she asked suspiciously. “Who are you?”

Ari held up a hand. “I’m not a cop. I’m a friend of Nina Hunter, and I’m just trying to get some answers to help her family.” Eden stared at her keenly, and she added, “I know that Michaela loved Nina and I’m guessing she’s heartbroken over losing her.”

Eden’s expression softened and she knew she’d found her weak spot.

“She’s still crying about it. I keep telling her that Miss Hunter is in heaven and that seems to help her calm down for a little while.”

Her voice started to crack and Ari thought she might cry herself. She couldn’t imagine having a child during high school, and she guessed Michaela and Eden were growing up together.

“I heard that Michaela really enjoyed spending time with Nina.”

“Yeah.”

“Was Nina her counselor?”

She wiped a tear away and shook her head. “No, Bobby thought it was a waste of time. It’s not like Michaela needs any help. She’s just a kid who does kid things.”

“How did you meet him?”

“He started working here for my dad about a year ago. We hooked up one night and it just kept going.” She spoke with great pride, as if they’d been married for years. “I think my dad may give him the shop someday. He’s really good with his hands.”

Her grin widened and Ari’s skin crawled. She paused before she asked, “Do you think Bobby didn’t want Michaela visiting Nina because of the CPS calls?”

“Well, of course he was mad,” she said, her temper flaring. “She had no right to accuse him of that stuff. He’d never hurt us. We’re a family.”

“I understand. Why do you think she got that idea in her head?”

“Because Michaela makes up stuff,” she said emphatically. “She’s a little liar, all kids are. They just say stuff that they see on TV. One time she got mad at Bobby because he made her eat green beans. The next day she told Miss Hunter that Bobby was abusing her.”

“Is it true he threatened Nina?”

She gasped and said, “Not really. I mean, he said some things he shouldn’t have said, but he wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“But did those things make him a suspect?”

“I guess,” Eden said, slouching. “He was here working late that night, but he was by himself.”

“Is there anything that can prove he didn’t leave? Did he make a phone call from the landline or did anyone come by?”