by B R Snow
“But I made him do it,” I said. “So, there’s no reason to be mad at him, Mom.”
“I don’t think you’re in any position to tell me who I can be mad at, young lady.”
“Just get it over with, Mom,” I said. “Start blasting away, and then we’ll move on with our lives, okay?”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be blasting,” she said. “And I’m going to start just as soon as I can convince the authorities that, while your actions tonight were beyond the pale, there’s no reason to deport you.”
“Deportation?” Josie whispered.
“Yes,” my mother said.
Gerald nodded when I looked at him for confirmation.
“All we did was save some helpless roosters from certain death,” I said, deciding I wasn’t going down without a fight. “Maybe we were a bit over the top, but it’s not like we had a lot of options.”
“A bit over the top?” my mother said. “You almost caused a public riot, and people could have been seriously hurt. And you called a police officer every name in the book.”
“It was just some choice words I learned from you,” I said, shrugging.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got a few new ones I’m sure I’ll be using on you later,” she said. “And then you bit him?”
“Just on the hand,” I said. “And he was such a big baby about it. Oh, she bit me. I can’t believe she bit me. I’m surprised he didn’t call in an officer down.”
My mother took several deep breaths, appeared to be on the verge of hyperventilating, then exhaled audibly.
“I’ll deal with you later,” she said, then turned to Gerald. “Where do we go from here?”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to post bail,” he said. “But I have no idea if they’ll decide to go ahead and formally press charges.”
“Oh, I doubt if they’ll press charges,” I whispered.
“Do you now?” my mother said.
“Yes, they won’t want the bad publicity,” I said.
“I doubt if the police will worry about bad publicity from the arrest of a lunatic charged with stealing roosters,” my mother said.
“No, probably not,” I said. “But they might be worried about the press getting hold of how the police didn’t do anything to break up an illegal cockfighting operation they knew existed. Not to mention the word getting out about some of the people who were there tonight.”
“Like who?” she said.
“Whom.”
“Geez, Suzy. I’m beginning to think you do have a death wish,” Josie said, shaking her head. “Don’t start.”
“Fine. Like whom?” my mother said, glaring at me.
“Like the Finance Minister,” I whispered.
Gerald twitched in his chair, and my mother slowly turned to look at him.
“What?” my mother said. “You were there?”
“Yes,” Gerald said, staring in disbelief at me. “I was there.”
“So, you’re not a fan of cockfighting, huh, Gerald?” I said. “By the way, nice outfit you were wearing. And if you are moonlighting as a gardener, our lawn could use a trim.”
Gerald pursed his lips and shifted in his chair.
“Gerald, what were you doing there?” my mother said. “We’ve always agreed how barbaric it is.”
“It is,” he said with a sigh. “I have my reasons.”
“Good enough reasons to want to keep it out of the papers?” I said.
Gerald got to his feet and shook his head.
“You really can be very annoying, Suzy.”
“Yeah, I need to start working on that.”
“Let me go have a chat with Detective Rollins,” he said, heading for the door.
“Just like that?” my mother said, bewildered.
“Yeah,” Gerald said, pausing at the door to look back at us. “Just like that.”
“There you go. Problem solved,” I said, glancing back and forth at my mother and Josie.
“I’m afraid not, young lady,” she said. “Your problems are far from over.”
“C’mon, Mom,” I said, giving her a hug she eventually returned. “No harm, no foul. And we even managed to save the lives of some roosters in the process.”
“Good for the roosters,” she said, the air now taken out of her anger.
“Oh, and Josie has agreed to be my maid of honor. We’re thinking about doing the bachelorette party in Vegas.”
“Vegas? That could work,” she said, nodding.
“Have you given any thought to who might be interested in giving me away?”
“I’m sure I’ll have a long list of volunteers,” she said, glaring at me.
“Oh, good one, Mom,” I said. “It’s nice to see you’ve got your sense of humor back.”
“Don’t push it, young lady.”
Chapter 16
Given the lack of sleep, combined with our desire to keep a low profile for the next few days, we spent the morning lounging by the pool with the dogs. I checked in with Max, which only made me miss him even more, and was crushed when he told me that he would be away for at least another two weeks. I slid my phone into my bag and spent the next several minutes feeling sorry for myself. While I pouted, I watched the dogs roughhouse in the pool until they wore themselves out and settled down underneath the overhead misting system that lowered the external temperature on the verandah about twenty degrees.
Polly, who had been excited and almost seemed surprised to see us when we finally arrived home a little after three in the morning, was now sleeping between Al and Dente while Captain and Chloe were, as usual, curled together in a large, furry ball with one of the Newfie’s front paws draped over the Aussie shepherd’s back.
“They have a pretty good life, don’t they?” Josie said as she studied the sprawled dogs.
“It’s certainly better than the roosters,” I said. “Teresa called a few minutes ago to tell us the cops swung by this morning.”
“To return the birds to their owners?” Josie said.
“No, they want her to let them know if anybody stops by to claim them,” I said. “All of a sudden, they’re interested in shutting down the cockfighting operation. I guess there’s nothing like the threat of a political scandal to get people’s attention.”
“Well, maybe we did end up doing some good after all,” Josie said, her eyes wandering to the ocean-side section of the fence that ringed our property. The gate that led down to the beach opened, and she nudged me to get my attention.
“What’s he doing here?” I said, watching as Gerald made his way toward us.
“Probably covering his tracks,” Josie said. “Good afternoon, Gerald. How goes the war?”
“Josie,” he said, beaming at her. “Hello, Suzy. What are you two up to today?”
“Just enjoying our new-found freedom,” I said, pushing the chair next to me back from the table with my bare foot. “Since you came up from the beach, I guess that means you’ve been at my mom’s place.”
“I have,” Gerald said, glancing around the lawn. “You’re right, it does need cutting.”
“Knock yourself out,” Josie said, laughing. “The mower’s in the garage.”
“How’s my mom’s mood today?”
“Dark is the word that comes to mind,” he said with a shrug. “When I left she was still railing at Rooster and Henry for agreeing to play along with what she’s calling your latest descent into madness. I had to get out of there for a while.”
“Good call about us keeping our distance today,” I said, glancing over at Josie. “Why aren’t you at work?”
“It’s Saturday,” he said, sitting down and helping himself to some fruit and cheese.
“That’s right,” I said. “I completely forgot it was the weekend.”
“Extended periods in jail can cause severe time distortion,” Gerald said, waving to Chef Claire who was heading our way carrying a tray of sandwiches. “I believe the doctors call it dyschronometria.”
“Good for the doctor
s,” I said, making a face at him. “Do you need to talk to us about something, or did you just come for the free lunch?”
“Both,” he said, getting up to offer Chef Claire his seat. He gave her a quick hug, grabbed another chair then sat back down and selected one of the sandwiches. “I assume you noticed that I wasn’t alone last night.”
“We noticed,” Josie said.
“Thanks for not mentioning it at the police station last night,” Gerald said, taking a big bite of his sandwich and nodding his approval.
“The thought didn’t even cross my mind. In fact, I’d completely forgotten about it,” I said, frowning. “Does it matter who you were there with?”
“It could,” Gerald said, pouring himself a glass of iced tea.
“Who was he?” Josie said.
“That was William,” Gerald said, refocusing on his sandwich. Then he glanced around at us and shrugged. “He’s the Premier’s son.”
“You took the Premier’s son to an illegal cockfight? Your boss’s son?” I said, baffled. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Now you understand why I’m grateful you didn’t mention it to the cops,” he said.
“The press would have a field day with that,” Josie said.
“Indeed,” Gerald said, taking a long swig of tea. “But I didn’t take him with me. I met him there.”
“Does that make a difference?” I said. “Great sandwich, Chef Claire.”
“Thanks,” she said, making a racket as she bit into the end piece of the baguette and sprayed breadcrumbs in several directions. “I call it the Cayman Cheesesteak.”
“William asked me to meet him there because he was worried about his safety,” Gerald said.
“Okay,” I said, leaning forward. “You have my undivided attention.”
“Mine too,” Josie said.
“William has made some bad choices in his life,” Gerald said.
“Like going to cockfights?” I said.
“Unfortunately, that bad choice is way down the list,” he said, taking a big bite of his sandwich. “William wasn’t as interested in the cockfight as he was in seeing who else might have been there last night.”
“Like the people who have him worried about his safety?” I said.
“Yes.”
I sat back and waited for my thoughts to unscramble and eventually coalesce. But nothing solidified, and I frowned across the table at him.
“I guess my first question is why are you telling us all this?” I said. “A couple of minutes ago, you were thanking us for not mentioning it. Now, you want to talk about it?”
“As much as I hate saying this, I need your help,” Gerald said casually as he picked at an imaginary piece of lint on his shirt. “Actually, it’s William who needs your help. But I will be eternally grateful if there’s anything you can do. He’s my godson.”
“Why isn’t his father helping him?” I said. “After all, the guy is the head of the government down here.”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Josie said.
“This isn’t something William can talk to his father about,” Gerald said.
“Because of what he’s doing or what it might do to his father’s reputation if it got out?” I said.
“Possibly a whole lot of both,” Gerald said.
“So, you’re saying that William is doing something he shouldn’t?” I said, rubbing my forehead.
“He says no,” Gerald said. “But I’m not sure.”
“And you don’t feel comfortable talking to his dad about it?” I said.
“I promised William I wouldn’t. At least for the time being.”
I sat back and folded my arms across my chest, confused and struggling to piece together a thread I could follow.
“Gerald, given your reputation as an animal lover and advocate, I can see why you wouldn’t want the word to leak that you were at a cockfight. But I can’t see how it could do any real damage to the Premier.”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Gerald said.
“So, it’s got nothing to do with the cockfight,” I said, shrugging. “You and William are worried that, if whatever this thing that he might be involved in gets leaked or attracts the attention of the cops, it could do some real damage to the Premier.”
“Yes,” Gerald said. “And I’m afraid it’s already attracted the attention of the police.”
I processed his last comment then bolted upright in my chair. Josie jumped and spilled her iced tea.
“Don’t do that,” she snapped, reaching for a napkin.
“Sorry,” I said, helping her clean up the mess. “When I challenged Detective Renfro about the police not shutting down the cockfighting, he said that they had their reasons.” I paused, then smiled at Gerald. “Then that proves there must be a connection between the cockfighting and the drug smuggling. The cops weren’t shutting it down because they were in the middle of some sort of undercover investigation. That’s it, isn’t it?”
“You’re good. Yeah, that’s part of it,” he said. “And when Detective Renfro saw you there last night, he was worried you might blow his cover.”
“Detective Renfro was at the cockfight?” I said, surprised.
“He certainly was. And when he heard Rooster yell that it was a police raid, he freaked out. Now, he’s worried that months of hard work could be going down the drain.”
“I had no idea he was there,” Josie said.
“He was the beer vendor,” Gerald said.
“Really?” I said, impressed. “Great disguise.” Then a thought popped, and I scowled. “He’s the one who took the picture of us in the jeep, wasn’t he?”
“He was,” Gerald said, grinning. “He thought about paying you a visit, then decided to send the photo to the officers on patrol. Just to teach you a lesson.”
“That little sneak,” I said, frowning.
“Well, mission accomplished,” Josie said. “I certainly learned a few things.”
“Like not to listen to her hairbrained ideas?” Gerald said with a big grin.
“No, I always to listen to them for the entertainment value,” Josie said. “I’m just rethinking the whole playing along part.”
“So, all that stuff about us going to jail or being deported was just a bluff?” I said, ignoring both of them.
“No, not at all. There were some serious discussions about both of those possibilities,” Gerald said. “But Detective Renfro and I eventually managed to calm the right people down. By the way, they’re going to drop all the charges, but you need to make a generous donation to the Police Youth League.”
“How many zeroes do you need on the check?”
“Four should do the trick,” he said.
“Okay,” I said, then refocused on the burning question. “So, somebody who was at that cockfight is smuggling dope?”
“It appears that way,” Gerald said.
“But not William?”
“That’s one of the problems,” Gerald said. “In the past, William was involved in that particular activity. And his father had to pull every string and burn a lot of his political capital to make the problem go away after he got caught. But the Premier’s reputation took a serious hit, and he almost lost his last election. If it turns out that William is still involved, he won’t survive a second scandal.”
“Again, why can’t William just talk to his father about it?” Josie said.
“Because after the first incident, they stopped speaking,” Gerald said. “His father basically disowned him. William has been doing everything he can to get back in his father’s good graces, but he’s convinced that a second incident would make their falling-out permanent.”
“Detective Renfro thinks that William could be the one he’s looking for, right?” I said.
“The thought has crossed his mind, but he really doesn’t have any proof,” Gerald said. “But given his track record, you can see why Detective Renfro might think that. But even though he swears he’s innocent, William isn’t co
mfortable going to the police.”
“I’d be going to the police,” Josie said. “Assuming I was innocent.”
“William doesn’t trust the police,” Gerald said, shrugging. “And after his last experience with them, I can’t say that I really blame him.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said, frowning. “I thought Officer Jones was an absolute delight to deal with.”
“Suzy, you bit the guy,” Gerald said. “What do you expect?”
“He’s lucky that’s all I did,” I said. “William can’t go to his dad, and he can’t go to the police. So, he came to you?”
“He did,” Gerald said. “William trusts me.”
“And now you’re coming to us,” I said, beaming at him. “Because you trust us.”
“Actually, I’m coming to you because I’m out of options,” Gerald said with a shrug. “But we need to keep this strictly confidential.”
“You told Detective Renfro you were going to ask us for help?” I said, raising an eyebrow at him.
“I did.”
“Because you want someone around to make sure I stay safe.”
“Your personal safety is certainly a major concern,” Gerald said, nodding.
“And neither one of you would put me in the middle of an undercover operation unless you were pretty sure you could keep a close eye on what I was doing. I imagine Detective Renfro expects me to keep him in the loop.”
“After he finally agreed to your involvement, that was the first thing that came out of his mouth. Actually, the term he used was joined at the hip.”
“I take it Detective Renfro isn’t thrilled with your plan,” I said.
“He hates the idea,” Gerald said.
“Then why did he agree?” Josie said, listening closely to the conversation.
“Good question,” I said.
“Thanks. I thought so, too.”
“Your little stunt last night put a serious crimp in his undercover operation since the police were forced to shut the cockfighting down. Now, Detective Renfro needs to regroup, and he finally agreed with me that you might be able to have a few conversations he can’t.”
I smiled at him and shook my head.
“Nice try, Gerald,” I said, laughing. “Please, don’t start blowing smoke up my skirt. Just tell me the real reason he finally agreed.”