Swindled in Paradise (33 page)

"Me?" I beamed at her, sliding behind the wheel.

"Try not to get a ticket this time," she said, shaking her finger at me.

Didier held the back door open, and they slid inside.

I checked the rearview and side mirrors. “Remember that cop, Watters? He showed up here. Creeped me out, the way he looked at me.”

“We need to find out what he wants.” Fab turned, looking out the back window. “Do you see him anywhere?”

“He disappeared again.” I heaved a sigh.

I maneuvered around several cars. "You okay, Didier?" It worried me that he was so quiet. A first kidnapping takes a while to get over.

"I used to think I was good judge of character," he said on a low growl.

"Don’t be so hard on yourself; some people are masters of deception. So good, they slip under the radar.” Fab kissed his cheek.

Driving through the security gates, I adhered strictly to the posted speed limit. I didn’t want to give Watters an excuse to pull me over, if he was still lurking around.

"Watching Fab in action, I can see why you like having her by your side in a tight situation. She never gives up, does she?" Didier combed her hair with his fingers.

"No, she doesn't." I smiled in the mirror. "Hang on back there, you're in for a wild ride."

"You don't need to impress us." Fab stretched out, laying her head in Didier's lap. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but just be your pokey self. I'm lying down, and what I can't see won't bother me."

"I have your permission to not blow through yellow lights?" I asked.

Didier laughed. "After the day we’ve had, just get us home in one piece."

I inserted one of Fab's favorite CDs into the player and turned it down low. They could talk in privacy. As much as Fab liked to eavesdrop, she'd do the same for me.

Chapter 47

The bed dipped, and I rolled into Creole's arms. "About time," I said sleepily.

"The boss gave me a few days off," he said in my ear. "You know what that means?"

"Hot sex at your house." I tried not smile.

Creole slid under the sheet. "Why aren't you naked?" he asked.

"You have to get dressed,” I said, kicking off the sheets.

"Why?" he growled. "Expecting someone else?"

"You need to sneak me out and back to your house, so we can have loud, noisy sex." I smiled sweetly.

“Nice try.” He rolled me away from him, removing my clothing with efficiency and sending it airborne.

“You appear to have practice removing women’s clothing.”

“Behave yourself,” he barked a laugh. “We’re not doing anything. You have a house full of people downstairs. Get some sleep; you’ll have to face your mother in the morning.” He wrapped his arms around me, tightening his hold. “You’re not getting me in trouble.”

* * *

I’d lucked out the night before. By the time we pulled up at the house, Mother and Spoon had left. No doubt, after finding out we were all safe, they hadn’t seen any point in staying, knowing questioning by law enforcement would take an unknown amount of time.

"We're here. I feel compelled to warn you, Didier, that Mother and Spoon were not happy that we snuck out earlier.”

Fab, who’d gone to sleep, had woken up when I cut the engine. “Looks like we lucked out. Spoon’s silver Mercedes isn’t here."

"I’ve got your back,” Didier said flexing his muscles.

"Hurry up and get out." Fab pushed Didier's shoulder. "This is where she’ll get all emotional."

Brad stood in the doorway, and I slid by first. "You're in the doghouse," he sing-songed as he hugged and twirled me around. Finally, he put me down and inspected me carefully. “Good thing you’re in one piece.”

"I followed orders for a change and didn’t do anything life-threatening. I hope this means I can sneak up to my room?”

“Mother won’t be back until morning.”

I scooped up Jazz and left my brother standing there laughing at me.

* * *

Creole jerked into a sitting position. “What the hell was that?” He grabbed his pants off the floor.

“You don’t need your gun. It’s only Fab’s idea of a wake-up call, kicking the hell out of the door,” I said sleepily. “We’ve got a few minutes before she comes back.”

“Like hell.” He threw open the door and yelled, “You do that again, and I’ll break your foot!”

“Look who woke up in a bad mood.” Fab’s voice came from down the hall.

She must have kicked and ran.
I pulled the sheet to my nose, trying not to laugh.

“Breakfast is ready,” Mother called cheerfully.

Creole, quick on his feet, managed to catch the door before it banged shut and closed it quietly.

* * *

Mother had brought a ton of food—enough to feed an army—and spread it out on the counter. As I entered the kitchen, Didier held out a blender container filled with his fresh green concoction.

I squeezed my eyes closed and shook my head. I’d tasted it once and thought my mouth would fall out.

Everyone filled a plate, and we moved outside to the patio. Brad pointed to a seat next to Mother and mouthed, “Sit.”

“I suppose this means the real estate deal is dead,” Spoon quipped.

I’d never have guessed he’d be the one to break the ice and jump-start the conversation. Everyone had questions, but no one had wanted to be the first to ask.

“We’ll find another one,” Didier joked.

“You’re quiet,” Spoon said to me from the other side of mother. “You okay?”

“Not a scratch. Just tired.” I squeezed Creole’s leg under the table, thinking about his days off, and hoped he could read my mind and we’d leave early.

“I wish the two of you had stayed home and thought more about your safety.” Mother glared at Fab and me. “And sneaking out!” she huffed.

“Would you have sat at home if it had been one of your family members?” Fab asked evenly. “As selfish as it is, I don’t want to go on a job without your daughter.” She reached across the table and gripped my hand.

I leaned over and kissed Mother’s cheek, whispering, “I love you,” in her ear.

“What she said.” Fab flashed Mother a deranged smile.

Mother laughed and shook her finger at her. “It’s a damn good thing the two of you are okay.”

Brad tapped a glass with his spoon. “Who’s going first? We’re here for details and, of course, food.”

I kicked Fab under the table. “Fab can tell our part.”

Fab started her story with how it was my idea to sneak out and she’d felt it was her duty to follow for my safety. She ignored my snort and continued, stopping short of confessing that she’d defied Creole and jumped the wall, impatient at the slow speed of Didier’s rescue.

“How did you end up in the house?” Spoon asked, maintaining eye contact with Fab. “I’m surprised the cops would sanction you going anywhere near the property.”

“The back door was open,” she said.

I squeezed Creole’s hand and hoped he wouldn’t out her and tell them all that she’d had her own plan and taken off after being ordered not to.

Didier put his arm around her, a grin on his face. “I guess it’s my turn to explain how
I
got there. It surprised me when I got a frantic call from Balcazar, begging me to come to a meeting at his office. When I got there, however, he and Nado were waiting for me in the underground garage. As soon as I got out of my car, both of those bastards had guns pointed at my chest.”

I gave him a big smile, reminding myself to use his choice of language against him in the future.

He frowned, as though he could read my mind, then continued, “While Balcazar kept his gun on me, Nado shoved me in the trunk of my own car. Then Balcazar told Nado, ‘Go pick up the other two.’”

He continued talking so eloquently, describing his conversation with Balcazar after he’d found himself tied up in his “friend’s” mansion that I almost felt I’d been there.

“You forced my hand. If only you were in jail,” Balcazar spit. “Now that you’re not the prime suspect, I have the cops breathing down my neck. I can’t risk that you and your snooping friends have dug up too much dirt, and now I’ll have to get rid of you all.”

“Murder? You’ll never get away with it.”

“Sure I will; I have before,” Balcazar boasted. “You, your girlfriend, and her redheaded friend are going to disappear—no trace. I’m very good at that, and it’s a lot less messy than leaving a bloody body to be found.”

“You murdered Lauren?”

“Actually no, it wasn’t planned, though it was going to happen eventually—some point in the future perhaps. Women are so damn nosey. My wife had a bug planted in my phone, listened to all of my conversations. Unfortunately, the one where I swore my undying love to Lauren and told her I’d be leaving my wife for her... Well, my wife didn’t take the news well. She had no way of knowing that I would never leave her; I just had to keep Lauren happy. She ran the office with efficiency and fulfilled every perverted fantasy of mine in bed.”

“How did Lauren end up dead?”

“Tina confronted her. She assured me that she only went to her condo to threaten her to back off, not kill her. Lauren’s confidence that she would be the next Mrs. Balcazar pushed my wife over the edge. Shot her. She did say she enjoyed messing up her face.”

“Why try to frame me? Was I your first choice?”

“Nothing personal,” Balcazar sneered. “You’re just another pretty face in underwear. Who’d miss you? Your fault, really—you left your suit jacket in my car. The business deal is dead, was never going to happen. I’d have taken the money and given you a worthless title. This might surprise you, but I never liked you and your snotty European demeanor… Ah, but you have connected, wealthy friends. You were useful. I called in a couple of favors in your name. People are so stupid, never knowing when they’re being used.” He threw his head back and laughed.

“You won’t get away with this.”

“I already have.” He continued to laugh. “I’ve sold that property four times in the last month. What a cluster when the docs arrived at the clerk’s office all at once. I should’ve paid closer attention to the paperwork; Lauren didn’t have the timing down yet. It’s an art, you know, pulling off a multimillion-dollar fraud. The authorities can investigate all they like; they won’t come up with anything. I kept my hands clean with layers of dummy corps. The only glitch to framing you is that I had to let all that beautiful money slip through my fingers.”

“You belong in jail. You think my partners won’t track you down?”

“Where did you find such common people? They’ll be kept busy chasing their tails, searching for you and those girls, and ultimately grieving.”

Didier ground to a halt and shook his head. “It’s my fault he was ever a part of our lives. I apologize to all of you.” Didier looked around the table.

“Nonsense,” Mother said. “This family knows only too well how someone seemingly sane can sneak into our midst and turn out to be a lunatic.”

“Why did Balcazar want Fab and me?” I asked. “We were silent partners.”

“I was ready to beg for your lives. Not that it would have done any good, but I’d have done it anyway,” he said sadly. “The night you two went to Lauren’s condo, the Hummer showed up on the surveillance tapes. That, plus an unidentified woman seen briefly on the same floor as Lauren’s, made Balcazar suspicious; he’d bribed the security guard to let him know if anything out of the ordinary happened. He had the plates run, which led back to this house.”

“Next time we park around the corner,” Fab said.

Everyone at the table glared at her. I hung my head and smiled,
That’s my girl.

Didier continued, “Then the SUV showed up again the night you broke into the corporate offices.”

“No wonder he called to get info.” Creole shook his head. “I knew he was up to something. At the time, I wondered, what?”

“He knew it was the same woman who showed up at Lauren’s condo and the office, though he never got a clear photo. After a little digging, he figured you two were involved up to your necks.”

Fab leaned into Didier, hugging him.

We sat in silence for a moment, each thinking of how badly it all could have turned out.

Finally, I stood and stretched, collecting dishes and stacking them on a tray as I contemplated various getaway plans. Creole’s look let me know that he wouldn’t be the one to tell Mother we were doing an eat-and-dash. I gave him a meaningful glance. If I listened hard enough, I could hear a margarita and the bubbles in a big tub with a water view shouting, “I’m waiting!”

Brad moved up behind me, reaching for the tray and carrying it to the kitchen. “I can hear you thinking. I’ll do these while you go to your room.”

“Remember when we thought that was the worst punishment? Now one of my favorite things is to lie in bed and read." I hip-bumped him away from in front of the dishwasher. He could rinse; I would load. “You’re lucky you don’t have a mind-reading superpower; you’d be blushing. Creole has three days off—”

“If you’re going to sneak out
again
, let me know so I can leave first. That could pave the way for you to make an exit, but then you’d owe me and I’d have deniability later.”

“This isn’t about me.” I sniffed. “You’ve got plans and you’re also looking to slip away, drama free.”

Brad and I had shared kitchen duty since we were in junior high and cleaned up in record time. I wrapped the last of the leftovers and was wiping the countertops when Fab skidded across the floor.

“How do we get rid of everyone?” she whispered hoarsely.

I shrugged in Brad’s direction.

“Didn’t see you standing there,” Fab said.

“I’m leaving,” he said, crooking his finger at me before hugging Fab.

“This is for Liam.” I handed him a bag of leftovers. “His favorites.”

“As hard as it is, have a few minutes of patience,” he said to Fab before opening the front door and pushing me outside.

He grabbed me up in a smothering hug. “I wanted to thank you for handling the Striker situation and taking care of Julie and Liam and giving her a chance to tell me, even if she was slow about it. I was hurt by that, but she assured me that it wasn’t because she didn’t trust me. She was afraid that I’d leave her. I told her that I’d never hold some whack-job ex against her. Then I told her about one of my exes who ended up in a hospital for psychos.”