Twisted Arrangement 2 (4 page)

“My fiancé values her privacy too.” The words were out of his mouth before he could think them through. All Josh knew was that William Ransler was sitting here with his smug expression and his perfect marriage, calling him a womanizer, and it pissed him off. But he couldn’t alienate the man and sacrifice all his work just for the sake of his own wounded pride. So he lied.

Ransler’s mouth dropped open. “You’re engaged?” Josh mentally scrambled for a response. How was he supposed to save himself from this blunder?

“We’re keeping it very, very hush. My fiancé isn’t in the business and prefers to keep it that way.” He was praying silently that Ransler wouldn’t pry. What would he say if the man asked for a name or details about this supposed fiancé?

William Ransler crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “You want me to believe that you - the poster boy for the playboy lifestyle -  have a serious, long term, loving relationship with a regular, everyday woman and she’s agreed to marry you?”

Josh gritted his teeth. “You needn’t sound so surprised. Despite what you may think, I actually am quite fond of women.” At Ransler’s raised eyebrow, he clarified. “This one in particular.”

“What’s her name?”

“What?” Josh’s fingers tightened reflexively on his beer bottle. He raised it to his lips, draining the last few sips, buying himself some time. Ransler chuckled, ready to call his bluff.

“Your lovely fiancé. What’s her name?”

Josh’s guts churned. Two years of his life about to go down the drain. Hundreds of people out of work. All because William Ransler bought into the tabloid’s portrayal of Josh as a Love-’Em-And-Leave-’Em type. Again, his mouth popped open and words poured out without the permission of his conscious mind. “Emma.”

William blinked in surprise. Josh dug his fingernails into the palm of his hand to keep the shock from his own face. Where had that come from? Emma? Well, he reasoned, he did find the quiet but efficient party promoter attractive. And he had just left her office. It made sense her name would jump to his tongue so quickly. He could hardly tell Ransler his fiancé’s name was ‘Madame Butterfly’, though she was the other woman who came immediately to his mind.

Ransler stood and knocked his knuckles against the table. “I’ll tell you what, Josh. You have Emma call my assistant. She and I can have a little chat. Then we’ll see. Otherwise, don’t bother trying to get in touch with me again.”

“You’re kidding me.” Josh’s beer bottle tipped. It was empty, but the hollow clink of the glass made him flinch. Ransler shook his head.

“I’m really not. Goodbye, Mr. Owens. And congratulations.” He flashed Josh his famous grin and strolled away.

Emma tripped over a pair of muddy sneakers lying right in front of her door. She caught herself before she fell, barely. She set the bag of groceries she was carrying on the counter and bent to pick the shoes up, placing them gingerly on the mat beside the door. The mat she kept specifically to put muddy shoes on. Clearly her little brother was still too injured to move and extra two inches to the left when taking off his sneakers.

“Todd?”

The TV was on in her postage stamp-sized living room, but there was no sign of her brother. She turned off the TV and cocked her head. Now that the blaring commercials were silenced, she could hear the shower running. Emma shrugged out of her coat and turned back toward the coatrack in the kitchen. The sound of Todd’s voice stopped her.

Her brother’s words were muffled, but he was definitely talking to someone. Heat stung Emma’s cheeks. Did he have a girl in her house? Beyond her slight embarrassment at possibly walking in on a romantic encounter, she felt concerned. She was pretty sure he shouldn’t be attempting to do
that
yet. Especially not any sort of fancy in-the-shower maneuvers.

But the tone of his voice wasn’t seductive. He sounded... placating. Emma knew that tone well. Todd used it on her constantly. She dropped her coat on the back of the couch and slunk closer to the bathroom door. She cracked her knuckles nervously before pressing her ear to the cool wood.

“... gonna fix it. It’s just going to take some time. I’m still recuperating!” Todd paused, but Emma didn’t hear another voice responding. She bit her lip. He had to be on the phone. But while in the shower? Todd gave an aggrieved sigh.

“I promised, didn’t I? What has you so bent out of shape?”

She heard the faucet turn on for just a moment and then the click of the cabinet over the toilet. What was he doing in there? Not taking a shower, even though it was running, and talking on the phone at the same time? Emma pressed harder against the door.

“And what did you tell this Ben-something?” Todd’s voice had dropped from jovial placating mode to a serious concerned tone. A moment later though, he laughed. The sound was sharper than his usual jovial chuckle. “
Carla
? Oh wow. No, don’t worry about it. Probably a new boyfriend or something. Just let me know if he comes by again. Listen man, I have to go. Em’s going to be home any minute and I need to get this cleaned up. But I swear I’ll be by the shop to help with the buggy. Thursday at the latest. Cool?”

Emma had begun to relax at the sound of her younger brother’s carefree laughter, but the bit about cleaning something up before she got home stiffened her spine again. She twisted the knob and pushed open the bathroom door just as Todd was setting his phone down on the toilet.

Todd was wearing a pair of blue boxer shorts with jet planes on them. His state of undress didn’t bother her. She’d changed his diapers, after all. The wide-eyed look of guilt on his face and the mud-caked outfit hanging in the running shower were a bit disturbing, however.

“Todd, what’s going on?”

He tried to block her view of the shower and tub by spreading his arms out in welcome. His smile was too wide. “Ems! You’re home early.”

Emma ducked under his arm and gasped when she saw her bathtub. It was nearly half full with dark, reddish-brown mud. One of her window screens was wedged in sideways, apparently serving as a filter for the mucky mess. Thin brown water ran through the fine mesh and down the drain. The shower’s spray was aimed at the shirt and pants hanging from a coatrack that stood in the middle of the tub, its base sunk in the pile of clay. The water washed the mud from the clothes and the screen prevented the mud from slipping down the drain.

“Ems--”

“Todd, what is going on here?”

He stretched his arm past her and turned off the shower. “Some of the guys were out mud-buggin’--”

“You were
not
riding a dune buggy again!” Emma knew what mud-bugging was. She’d seen a show about it on the Travel channel. Basically the whole point was to get as filthy as possible while riding your dune buggy around. She supposed she was lucky Todd hadn’t tracked mud
all
the way through her house.

“I wasn’t riding, I promise, Ems. Just watching. Anyway, some of the guys found this new place to go mud-buggin’. A couple of them brought their girlfriends along. And Tammy, she’s Russ’ latest girl, was complaining about getting mud all over her face.”

Emma sank down onto the closed toilet lid. “I’m assuming this story has a point?”

Todd flicked water at her. “This other girl, I don’t know her name, she says how Tammy should be grateful because the rich ladies in LA pay top dollar to get mud on their faces.” He grinned at her, as if he’d just imparted the wisdom of the ages.

“So, you decided to bring it home and give it a bath?” She rubbed her temple. A headache had flared to life there the minute she’d heard Todd utter the words ‘Em’s going to be home any minute.’

“I was already pretty coated in it, but I made sure it was nice and thick before I came back. Now I’m just rinsing it out of my clothes. And once the water drains out, I can have it analyzed by a cosmetician or whatever!” He scooped up some of the thick mud on his fingers and held it out to her. “Go on, feel it, Ems.”

Emma held up her hands and leaned away. “No thanks. I’m sure it’s perfectly lovely mud. But why are you having it analyzed?”

The look he gave her was one she was pretty sure younger siblings earned the rights to at birth. It was the ‘My god, I clearly got the brains in the family’ look. “To sell to the spas, Ems. They’re not just going to buy a barrel of random mud from some guy.”

“No.” Emma chuckled, staring at the pile of muck in the bottom of her shower. “Why would they?”

“Exactly. But if I’ve got, like, lab reports that say it’s
good
mud? Then we’re golden. We’ll rake in the cash and we won’t have to worry about anything. No jobs, no guys snooping around, nothing.”

Emma’s brow furrowed. “What guys snooping around?” She recalled the portion of the conversation she’d overheard and grabbed Todd’s wrist. Cold fingers of dread brushed against her belly from inside. “Who is Carla and what did Ben-something want to know about her?”

He yanked his wrist out of her grip and rubbed it. “Carla’s just a... friend. Or she was, back when I was riding rodeo. Some guy came around Jimmy’s shop asking about her. That’s all. He’s probably an ex looking for her. Or a bail bondsmen.”

“Carla sounds like a real peach. But I think maybe we should find out more about this guy. It worries me that someone is asking about you right after we... you know...” She wriggled her fingers. “Josh Owens.”

“We did magic on Josh Owens?” Todd snorted. Emma narrowed her eyes, but before she could reprimand him, Todd touched her cheek gently. “Don’t sweat it, Ems. I told Jimmy to let me know if he comes by again. But I doubt he will. Carla was pretty wild. I’m sure it was some crap about her. Not me. Not
us
. Okay?”

Todd sounded sure. But she wasn’t. Emma didn’t believe in coincidences. Someone came looking for Todd not two weeks after they’d stolen The Watch back from Josh Owens? No. She didn’t believe for a second that the two events were unrelated. She needed more information on this Ben guy. But until he showed up again, she doubted she’d be able to get any. It’s wasn’t as if
Ben
was an unusual name. And anyway, he could have used a fake name.

“Okay.” She twisted around on the toilet and pulled open the cabinet. She reached inside and fished out a sponge and some Soft Scrub. She extended them to Todd with a grin. “Now clean this mess up.”

“But, Ems... the mud!” Todd made a gesture that encompassed the sticky pile in the middle of her tub and was obviously supposed to convey to her how much it was worth. Emma raised a single eyebrow, unimpressed. She stood and set the sponge and cleaner directly into Todd’s outstretched hands.

“I don’t care if you box some up and send it out to a lab or something. Just get it out of my tub.”

“You didn’t find a single thing?” Josh plucked at the napkin beside his plate in agitation as he stared down his friend.

Ben rubbed his palm against the slight scruff of a one day beard. “That’s not what I said. I
said
I didn’t find a single thing to indicate that there’s any women in Todd Ness’s life who’d be willing to steal for him.”

The waiter came over to refill their coffees, but Josh waved him away. He forked up another bite of his Belgian waffle and chewed thoughtfully. “You tracked down all the girlfriends?”

Ben slathered butter on a piece of pumpernickel toast. “No. There’s one, Carla Fiorentino, who I haven’t been able to locate.”

“Isn’t she the felon?” Josh swiped a finger through the leftover whipped cream on his plate and licked it clean. Ben stretched his arms over his head and motioned to the waiter for more coffee.

“Your table manners are atrocious. And yes, she’s the felon.” Ben pulled out his phone and flicked through a few screens, reading off his notes. “Convicted of grand larceny in the 4th degree in Greene County, New York, four years ago. Served 18 months of a two year sentence and got early release for good behavior. She met Ness less than a month after she got out of jail. On the rodeo circuit. Apparently, she’s what they call a ‘buckle bunny’.”

Josh contemplated Ben’s last rasher of bacon. “What is a ‘buckle bunny’? Or do I not want to know?”

“Basically what it sounds like. They’re the groupies of the rodeo circuit. The guys who win the big buckles are like rock stars in those circles.” Ben raised the bacon to his mouth and bit into it with a toothy grin.

“So how did she hook up with Ness? I thought you said he never won.” Josh curled his hands around his coffee mug, sipping slowly. Light and sweet, just like he liked it.

Ben leaned back in his chair and brushed toast crumbs from his chest. “I told you Ness has a way with the ladies. Guess she didn’t care that he didn’t have any buckles.”

“And you have no leads on her at all? That seems convenient.”

“Maybe. I’m still looking. But here...” Ben prodded his phone’s touch screen and slid it across the table to Josh. “I got a picture.”

Josh snatched up the phone, his heart thumping. The photo was from a newspaper, the quality grainy. Though the article had been cropped by Ben’s phone, Josh could see that it was some piece on a cowboy who’d won something at a rodeo in St. Paul. The corral was in the background and the cowboy was holding a large gold buckle over his head.

But Josh only had eyes for the woman in the photo. She was grinning up at the cowboy, her side to the camera, so he could only see her in profile. Was her nose wider than he remembered? The hair was the right shade, thought it was longer here. Then again, this had been taken several years ago, so that was no real indication. The woman in the photo looked a bit curvier than he thought Madame Butterfly had been, too. Yet another thing that could change with time. If she’d lost a little weight...

“I can’t tell.” Josh shoved the phone back at Ben. “That photo is crap. It could be her, but... Haven’t you got anything better?”

Ben tucked his phone back into his pocket, brows curving upward. “She doesn’t have a Facebook page, if that’s what you’re asking. This girl clearly doesn’t want to be found. I’m trying to get hold of her mugshot, but she’s not Lindsay Lohan. It’ll take a bit of doing.”

“Then do it,” Josh growled. He scrubbed a hand through his hair. Ben tapped his fingers on the table.

“You think this is her?”

Josh fished out his wallet. The waiter was by their side in an instant with the check. Josh handed him his black Amex. “I’d like a better picture, but it seems likely. And according to you, she’s the only one in his life who fits the bill, right?”

“I didn’t say that. You did.”

“Whatever. She’s his most recent girlfriend, she has a criminal history, and you can’t find any trace of her. That seems pretty conclusive to me.”