by Kieran York
“Debra,” Lilia’s words were fiery punches. “This suggestion is totally inappropriate. You’ve been like a stepdaughter to me since you were very young.” She looked away.
“Come on,” Debra persisted. “If you liked my mother, you’d love me.”
Summer grabbed Debra’s arm. “I don’t know how long you can hold your breath underwater, but open your mouth again, and you’ll be put to the test.”
“Relax, Summer,” Helene got her jab in. “Debra is just being friendly. After all, this is the team’s favorite place to go au natural. Almost a nightly ritual, right, Beryl?”
Lilia turned, rushing away. My glare back at the four was hotter than the hot tub. To Rachel, I suggested, “Dunk her, too, will you?”
“Gladly,” I heard Rachel declare as I hastened after Lilia.
Suddenly, I was little more than bona vacantia. Unclaimed property.
I followed Lilia out. My scream across the marina to the parking lot went unnoticed. I sprinted toward her car. By the time I reached it, the Jag’s engine was racing. Pounding frantically on the window, I pleaded, “I have to explain.” she lowered the window slightly. “Lilia,” my words stalled. My hand reached inside, pulling the door’s handle. When it opened, I crouched down beside her. “Please, listen to me. You’re getting a mistaken impression.”
“Go back to them. You all disgust me. It is improper. I’ve turned down roles that required my nudity. Because I refused to perform nude, I would rather starve. But you believe it to be acceptable. What else do you believe to be acceptable?” Her foot pressed the accelerator. I was grateful the car wasn’t in gear. The Jag’s engine roared.
“Move over, let me drive. I’m going with you,” I insisted.
“Go back to your party. You want me to believe your partners are not also lovers. It was like an orgy.”
“Let me explain,” I implored. Before she could nix me, I rapidly bunched my body against hers, pushing her into the other bucket seat. “We’ve got to talk.”
“I wish to be alone. It’s better if you go.”
“It isn’t better,” I disputed. The engine purred. Before love totally iced up, I was determined to kidnap her, if it was needed. “I’m driving to a beach where we can talk. We owe one another that much.”
Other than the romantic music from the Jag’s speakers, silence prevailed as I drove. Not far was a deserted beachfront. After parking, I reached for her. She pulled away. Opening her door with a vengeance, she threw her high heels on the car’s floor. She began walking on clotted sand. Suddenly, she pivoted back to me. “You wish to talk?”
Fumbling with the keys, I attempted to shut the engine without cutting the soft marimba music. Music and a balmy midnight beach might soothe her heart, I thought. I kicked off my shoes. Grabbing a blanket from the backseat, I made my way through the pearlescent sand. As I chased her, I drafted the text of my statement. When I reached Lilia’s side, my recitation skidded to a stop. “Lilia, please.”
“Beryl, we are so different.”
“I can’t continue to apologize for my past. Before I met you, I didn’t understand love. But I swear to you, my partners and I have never made love with one another. I’ve never touched either of them in that way. And they’ve never touched each other. Yes, we’ve been in the spa in the raw. But it never occurred to me to do more than admire their bodies. I admire the human form. I swear to you, it was never sexual. Summer was a kid I tried to keep on the straight and narrow. Rachel and I always were at odds about my former career. It wasn’t possible.”
“It is my belief that the human body isn’t to be viewed by everyone. Only special ones.”
“Rachel and Summer aren’t just everyone.” I paused. I then added, “Lilia, we’re like sisters. You wouldn’t think twice about disrobing in front of your sister, would you?”
“No.” Her searing glare cooled slightly.
“Well, they’re my sisters. The closest I’ll ever have. And I’m sorry about my past. It’s over. You expect my love for you to have always been. Maybe it was, but you weren’t in my life. How can I be judged by standards I didn’t even know existed?” With a sinking heart, I turned to go back to the car. “I’ll take you to your suite. I can catch a cab home.”
“Beryl,” she called after me. Returning to her side, I lifted her chin in my hands and tears spilled down over my fingers. Her extended arms clasped me. Recanting, she whispered, “I’m sorry. Perhaps I overreacted. You’re correct. I can’t judge you by my standards. Sylvia betrayed me. Now I see women as transgressors. My anger comes from my fear of losing you.”
Once inside her embrace, I felt the desperation of our clasp. “Please don’t doubt my love. I want to belong to you alone. I’ve never lied to you. I never will. All I request is your honesty in return, and your acceptance.”
Her head fell against my shoulder as she clutched me. The blanket slipped from my grasp. Lilia was in my arms as the music brought us nearer one another. We soon swayed with the romantic serenade. As our bodies clung together and with the music, she tenderly sang in my ear. One of my arms looped her waist, the other softly traced her shoulder. Our forms glided as passion pelted us. She sang of her love in Spanish.
An unwritten eroticism unraveled inside me. Each time her hips shifted, I shivered. Her fingers glided down my back, unzipping my gown. I stepped over it when it slid from my body. Soon her gown was ruffled beside mine. I was before her nude. The touch of her lingerie against my bare skin detonated my desire.
When I undressed her, she moaned a song. My arms anchored her to me. Like a rippling sheet of fire, our bodies drifted together. We paused only long enough to toss the blanket on the beach floor. We knotted together with circlets of passion. Our embrace corded us until we reached an untamed, vaulting orgasm.
When my eyelids finally twitched open, I viewed her face. My fingers traced her lips. Tears filled her lucent eyes. I kissed them, tasting their saltiness. We twined romantically for nearly an hour. Then I stood, brushed sand from my feet, and offered her my hand. Together, we walked under the veil of the moon’s brightness. We kicked at the surf, splashed one another with sea foam, and promised our love.
After dressing, with her hand in mine, we returned to the Jag. She opened the rear door and tenderly eased me into the backseat’s leather thicket. Her voluptuous body covered mine. My breathing heightened. I drew her to me.
I swallowed, “I’ve never done this before.”
“In the backseat?” she questioned, beaming mischievously.
“In the backseat of a Jag,” I responded.
With great relish, her perambulating lips then took me to Venus.
14
UNDER AN EARLY morning dandelion sun, we jogged. Summer was several strides ahead when she slowed, then ran in place. I sprinted to catch her.
“Whew!” I exclaimed when we finally collapsed on the sand. We’d found a picturesque part of a shell studded beach. I studied the driftwood and designs of floating spume. Frothy semicircles edged the ocean. I wrestled for my breath. “Quite a run.”
“Yeah. You and Lilia get things patched last night?”
“Things are fine. I figured Debra was the strife of the party. Helene was the knife of the party.”
“We thought you and Argentine had already left. We never would have climbed in the Jacuzzi nude if we knew Lilia was aboard. I’m really sorry.”
“No problem.” I emptied sand from my running shoes. “How are things with Debra?”
“Cruz provides all the cocaine Deb can snort. As long as that’s going on, there’s no chance.” Summer’s words were halting. “Last night I’d hoped someone would let something slip.”
“They were all concentrating on fun. No loose lips. Summer, I wish you could find someone special.”
“Deb is special.”
“Lilia cares what happens to her. But she’s the last person Debra would talk to about her habit.”
“Lilia isn’t so bad,” Summer admitted. “She s
aid she wanted to be my friend.”
“She does. But that’s only because I didn’t tell her you called her the chi-chi czarina.”
We laughed. It was good to be laughing with Summer again. She asked, “Are you going to settle down with her? Leave the team?”
“We’ll always be the trio. And they’ll always be The Radclyffe.”
“I know you keep saying she’s innocent, but what happens if she’s involved?”
“What happens if Deb is involved?”
“I don’t think she was. But I don’t put anything past Cruz and Hammer.”
“If they’re guilty, Deb might be an accomplice by providing them with entry. And with an alibi, if nothing else.”
“Deb said she felt abandoned by her mother.”
“Maybe Sylvia didn’t want her around because she loved her too much to subject her to the emotional instability of an addict. Posh boarding schools aren’t prisons.”
“You’re thinking about your own mother, aren’t you?” Summer questioned.
“I guess so. I’ve never understood her actions.” I wondered if the letter in the safe explained anything. She had left it behind. I had kept it like a relic, yet never read its contents. It remained sealed.
“After you and Lilia left, Deb said that even if she was mean to Lilia, she actually cared for her. Lilia had been better to her than her own mother had. Lilia negotiated in favor of her staying with them.”
“I don’t understand the animosity. You saw how Lilia reached out to Deb.”
“Lilia is alive. Her mother is dead. She’s taking it out on the only one alive. Back to my question about what if Lilia is guilty?”
“Summer, she’s not really even on my suspect list. I truly love her. It’s astounding how quickly life turns us around.” I ruffled Summer’s hair. “We’ll all be okay.”
She stood, extended her hand, and helped me to my feet. “Race you back.”
I couldn’t and didn’t match her athletic stride. It didn’t matter. She was limber and tall. Yes, she was an athletic, steep woman. She was also a good-hearted young woman. After our talk, I guessed that we were again both fine with one another.
Arriving back, I breathlessly sagged into an office chair across from Rachel’s desk. “Where’s Summer?” she inquired.
“Took her cycle for a check. Said she’ll be back before noon.” I gasped for air. “Why?”
“Debra called. She left her purse behind. I told her Summer was coming back after her run.” Rachel checked her log. “Oh, and Lieutenant Powers called. Said the tape with the Latin accent on the call the night of Sylvia’s murder is available. He dubbed a copy for us. He’s still on about Lilia killing Jeremy.” She hesitated. “And you’ll like this. I asked him why they weren’t releasing the missing medical report. I told him we were expecting more support. He said he gives us more support than we deserve.”
With amusement, I asked, “And you said?”
“I get more support from my pantyhose.”
We both laughed. “If he tells me one more time about his four wonderful, very straight daughters, and how happy he is they’re straight, I’ll scream.”
We both snickered. Rachel leaned back in her chair. “Next time he says that, I’ll ask if they’re virgins, too.”
Laughing, I gulped for air. “He’s a hell of an enforcer, but he’d buy into anything his kids might tell him. I’ll say it was nice of him to provide us with the tape. I can pick it up later. I want to stop by the florists. Send Lilia roses.”
“As long as you’re passing there, if you wouldn’t mind sending a bouquet to Kim, I’d appreciate it.” Rachel’s eyes filled. “Get something with daisies—a spray of daisies. When we were kids, she loved drawing daisies.”
“I’ll send daisies. I’m sorry, Rach.” My arm circled her shoulder. Whenever her sister’s condition worsened, it impacted Rachel. I tried to console her. “There are new drugs being discovered every day. Maybe doctors will hit on the right one for her.”
“New drugs won’t take care of the judicial system.” Rachel stiffened as she drew away from me. She then went to the file cabinet where she rested her head on the top drawer for a moment. “Beryl, I want for us to solve this murder case.”
“Me, too. For all of us. Maybe the recording of the Latina’s voice will help. And it would help if we could get the missing portion of the report. There’s something wrong with all this. Powers runs a tight ship. His evidence vault is well guarded. I know damned well he’s not a dirty cop. On homicide cases, he sleeps with the murder book. So how did the report go missing?”
“I’ve worked every payback and favor I can. I don’t get it either.” Rachel emphasized, “Every favor.”
“Maybe they’re feeding us bite-sized clues so we don’t solve the mystery before they do. What do you bet the dub isn’t clean, and we can’t tell who made the phone call?”
“I’m certain Powers had their copy as clean as they could pull. He says this case is his priority,” she accessed.
“I thought keeping his daughters straight was his priority.”
We chuckled. “So this is his second priority.”
“Good for us. Because it’s our first. And Rach, deflowering his daughter is way down on my list. At the end.” I laughed. “They probably all chain smoke cigars and say eh.”
“I just wish last night’s fiesta would have pressed a clue out of someone. They were so guarded. It was like each word spoken by each suspect was scrubbed and cleaned before they opened their mouths.”
“We’re knee-deep in suspects. And eventually, someone will slip up. Clues are caroming, even as we speak. So I’ll shower, order flowers, pick up the tape, and then curse because the tape is distorted. I’ll be back about noon. Maybe we can do some snorkeling later. You need a little relaxation, Rach.”
“There’s supposed to be an afternoon storm. Mother Nature can be a slurry bomber.”
“If it rains, we could watch an old flick.” I stopped at the door. “Rach, hang in there.”
“Oh, before I forget. You got a letter from the bar association. Inviting you to speak at their next meeting.” Rachel handed me the letter.
After I had read it, I said, “They want me to discuss how a private investigator can assist the legal profession. From one of their own. Even if I am considered a runaway.”
“An escapee is more like it. Most of Florida’s prosecuting attorneys are happy you’re out of the courtroom. Must be why they’re showering you with honorariums.”
“Ego ransom pays off,” I guessed.
After my errands, I returned back.
Before boarding, I walked to where Summer was bent over her new cycle. “Still isn’t purring,” she complained as she rubbed her oily hands. “Where did Rachel go?”
“I don’t know. I’m just getting back myself. Deb was going to stop by and pick up the purse she left. Oh, and I got the tape. Played it on my way back. The copy is of such poor quality, I can’t honestly tell who it is. Powers said it couldn’t be identified with their technology, so what chance do we have? Voice patterns may be able to be pulled. If we can lose some of the distortion, it will help. Hey, want to go snorkeling with Rach and me this afternoon? Weather permitting.”
“Are you nuts? Have fun with friends when I can be pulling my brand new engine apart?”
I wrapped my arm around her waist as we entered the office. “Aw, come on.” I glanced back a Summer. Her face was bone-white. I whirled around to check the board. “Rachel sent up a flare.” The red marker said to check the computer. When I pulled up the emergency file, I read aloud, “Beryl, Debra came by. During the conversation, she slipped and said her mother’s body would still be lying there in the den. When I inquired, she caught herself. She left quickly. Deb then called and was hysterical. Said Cruz and Hammer have Summer held captive. No police or they’ll kill her. I’m on my way to the Grant Mansion to see if I can help Summer.”
“Hell!” Summer cursed. “A setup and she wal
ked right into it. What now?”
The phone’s ring startled us both. I answered, expecting Rachel, or Deb. It was Jesse. I began to tell her that I’m in the middle of an emergency and couldn’t talk when she told me she’d just seen The Turquoise Debra headed toward Boca. When I hung up, I instructed, “Summer, get armed. They’ve taken Rachel captive and are now headed down to Boca. I think they have a head start on us. We’re going to Boca.”
“They want us to keep jumping around until they’ve bought enough time to make sure we’re in a no-win trap.”
“Right.” We raced to the rental car. “What a hell of a time for the Firebird to be out of action. You drive. It isn’t a muscle machine, but get all you can out of it.”
Summer mashed the accelerator. “Maybe we can beat them there.”
“If Cruz is going down the Intracoastal, ‘No-Wakes’ will slow their craft.”
“The putter-through will definitely rein them. And I know some shortcuts. What if they call and instruct us to go to Miami?”
Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. “Boca is closer. My gut instinct tells me they aren’t going to take us all the way to Miami just to ice us. They want enough time to set up their trap, but they don’t want to give us time to gather forces. They’ll go to Boca.”
Summer pressed the car to its utmost. We were over the bridge and onto the highway before I even began to construct a plan. As she weaved in and out of traffic, directing the auto with precision speed, I formulated a strategy.
“Looks like you were right. Deb’s in on it. She was there.”
“I’m sorry, Summer,” I commiserated. “She’s a conspirator at best.”
Summer’s eyes were steely and smoking. “Deb knew Rachel was on to her. She needed to be silenced. They put together their trap.”
My pulse quickened. “We’ve got to set our own trap now.”
As we approached Cruz’s Boca Raton condo and the marina, I was certain we’d beaten them there. We had time to hatch our plot. Cruz figured we were still in Palm, waiting for their call. They figured they had half an hour’s head start. Summer drove the car to a spot where we could see The Turquoise Debra’s slip was empty. When she docked, it would be in our full view.