High Deceit

by C. E. Waterman

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

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  31

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  38

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  42

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  44

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  46

  47

  Thank you…

  You Can Help!

  God Can Help!

  Free Book Offer

  High Deceit

  C.E. Waterman

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  High Deceit

  COPYRIGHT 2019 by C.E. Waterman

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or Pelican Ventures, LLC except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  eBook editions are licensed for your personal enjoyment only. eBooks may not be re-sold, copied or given away to other people. If you would like to share an eBook edition, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.

  Contact Information: titleadmin@pelicanbookgroup.com

  Cover Art by N. Martinez

  Harbourlight Books, a division of Pelican Ventures, LLC

  www.pelicanbookgroup.com PO Box 1738 *Aztec, NM * 87410

  Harbourlight Books sail and mast logo is a trademark of Pelican Ventures, LLC

  Publishing History

  First Harbourlight Edition, 2019

  Paperback Edition ISBN 978-1-5223-0245-2

  Electronic Edition ISBN 978-1-5223-0244-5

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  To the people in my life who have read and re-read my awful first drafts, who helped me make them better and who encouraged me along the way. Thank you.

  1

  Cindy Carroll crept to the back entrance of the warehouse, grateful early morning darkness still covered her. The door squeaked a little, and she froze, holding her breath.

  “Are you going to tell me why we had to show up here in the middle of the night?” The male voice increased as he and his friend drew closer.

  “Yeah, the boss explained his whole plan to me over coffee and a pastry.”

  “Funny, Lou.” The first man laughed.

  Cindy released her breath and tiptoed toward the stairs. Moonlight streaming through high windows revealed broken glass and clutter waiting to scream her presence to the drug dealers outside.

  On the mezzanine, she settled into deep shadows behind a rotting wooden banister. Something whispered at her shoulder. She stifled a shriek and swatted at it. A cobweb stuck to her fingers, and she wiped them on her jeans. The back door squeaked again, louder this time. A click produced a dim glow from a bulb dangling over the heads of the two men she’d slipped past in the parking lot. She backed a little and tried not to breathe as they moved into her line of sight. A large dark-haired man carried a black briefcase. His friend brushed something off his shoulder with a flick of his wrist. The hint of a cufflink sparkled.

  “This is my best suit. If I’d known we were coming to this dump, I would’ve changed first.”

  “I’ll register your complaint. Stop whining, will ya? You can buy another suit. A hundred suits.”

  The man she’d been waiting for, known to her as Boss, and a younger man in jeans entered through the open door at the front, their footsteps a hollow echo as they approached. Cindy ducked outside the ring of light

  “Hey, Boss.”

  “Lou.”

  Lou shifted the briefcase to his other hand. “I haven’t seen anyone yet.”

  “They’ll be here. Don’t worry.”

  Three more men entered through the front. The tallest gripped a briefcase identical to Lou’s.

  Boss held out his hand. “Good to see you, Leon. You got the money?”

  Leon clasped the offered hand. “You got the product?”

  Dust puffed up from an old wooden table as the two men threw their briefcases on top. It wobbled then steadied. Cindy scooted forward for a better look, almost touching the grimy two-by-four railing. A nail protruding from the decayed support barely held it in place. She winced. Announcing herself by falling into the middle of their transaction didn’t seem like a good idea.

  They flipped the briefcase locks and the others leaned in. She peered down, hoping this wasn’t a giant mistake. Maybe the phone call she received had been a trap. Maybe they knew she’d been following them, and they led her here to dispose of her. She crouched lower and inched closer to the splintery post. The cases fell open. Sure enough, one was full of money and the other one contained little white packets.

  Everyone stepped back. After nods from Boss and Leon, the men who had carried the cases switched places, snapped the other’s shut, and yanked them off the table.

  Boss smirked. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

  Cindy slid away from the edge. What was she going to do? Where was Detective Clayton? Had it been a mistake to call him? Was he part of it? They couldn’t get away. There had to be something she could do.

  “Freeze, police!”

  Finally.

  “Everybody put your hands up and face the wall.” Though she heard him, he remained out of her sight, under the mezzanine. He strode forward his gun drawn, alone as he had promised. What had she done? He looked so vulnerable down there by himself, facing seven men. When was she ever going to learn? Someone moved behind him.

  She sprang to her feet. “Mark, look out!”

  He swung around as a shot rang out. His body jerked, and he fell. Cindy screamed. A click sounded behind her, and she spun around.

  “So you’re the reason he showed up here.”

  She stared at the muzzle of a Glock. Everything else faded. She saw it move but never heard the shot.

  2

  Robin Clayton smiled at the very pregnant young woman. Smiled might have been an overstatement, grimaced was a better word. Another nursery. Why did she put herself through it? Why didn’t she turn them over to Maggie? OK, forget everything else and get into the head of your client. She glanced around the spartan living room. Come on, you can do this. The pep talk wasn’t working this time. Her face was going to crack from all the smiling.

  Maggie stepped forward and held out her hand. “Mrs. Miller, I’m Maggie Schreiber, and this is my business partner, Robin Clayton. You have a lovely home.”

  Robin’s face unstuck, allowing her to speak. “It’s wonderful to meet you. How long do you have until the baby comes?”

  Courtney Miller rubbed her huge belly. “I’m due in three weeks, but the doctor says they could come any time now.”

  “They? You’re having twins?”

  Courtney smiled that special mom-smile and nodded. “A boy and a girl.”

  “Congratulations!” Robin lowered her he
ad and scribbled on her clipboard, hiding the tears forming against her will. She blinked them away.

  Maggie produced a tape measure. “Can we see the room?”

  Courtney twirled and headed to the back of the house. “Our room is here.” She pointed. “And the babies are going to be in here, right across the hall.”

  Square and of average size, with builder-white walls and neutral tan carpet, the room had no personality yet. Robin normally loved that in a new project.

  “My parents bought these for us. Aren’t they pretty?” Courtney ran her fingers along the top of one of two new cribs made from shiny dark wood.

  “They’re beautiful.” Maggie handed Robin the tape measure and took the end to the other side of the room. “It’ll be a great place to start.”

  While Robin called out the measurements, Maggie wrote them down. This simple act, so routine, calmed her. A nursery began to take shape in her head. She saw baby animals dancing on each wall, butterflies and daisies on one side and maybe some fun dinosaurs, not scary ones, on the other. She sighed. Yes, it was working.

  Courtney led them to the kitchen and, unaware she was practically levitating, introduced her husband, Ken.

  Robin had thought she’d heard someone pacing the kitchen’s squeaky floor. His pacing transferred to the pen he picked up from the table. He clicked while Robin started to sketch her vision.

  Maggie threw out suggestions, and Robin sketched them in. “Of course, this is a rough drawing.” She placed the sketches on the table between the couple. “We can give you a more detailed idea when we’ve had a chance to put it together. What do you think? Is this the direction you want us to go?”

  “Ooooh.” Courtney clapped. “I love it. Don’t you love it, honey?”

  “Is it expensive?” Ken started clicking again.

  Maggie gave her a slow wink.

  Robin couldn’t help smiling. They were so in sync. “If we paint the full mural with the animals we talked about, it will run into the neighborhood of fifty-six hundred dollars.”

  The pen clicked faster.

  “However, we have some wallpaper left from another job. If you guys wanted to cut some of the characters out, we could paint the background and paste them in. It would look as wonderful for about half the cost of a custom mural. Is that something you might want to consider?”

  Courtney beamed, and the clicking stopped.

  Ken’s face smoothed into a grin as he rubbed his wife’s back. “I could help after work, honey. What do you think?”

  Courtney’s eyes sparkled, and her contagious smile made it impossible not to join her.

  On their way out, Maggie promised to mail a contract the next day.

  As she stepped out of the door, the wind hit Robin in the face, stealing her breath. Hugging her coat tighter around her, she hurried to the van, and Maggie started it, flipping on the heat.

  Resting her hand on the gearshift, Maggie paused. “Are you OK?”

  Robin adjusted the briefcase at her feet to avoid meeting Maggie’s eyes. “You realize I just promised them a job that will probably cost us money, don’t you?”

  “Yes, but that isn’t what I’m talking about.” Maggie put the van in reverse and backed out of the driveway. “I know how hard nurseries are on you. I’d be happy to work with Sara on this one.”

  “No. I have to do it.” Did her voice sound as choked to Maggie as it did to her?

  “Why?”

  Robin faced her. “Because I need to get over it, that’s why. It’s been eight months since the last miscarriage. I need to do my job without falling apart every time it involves children. It’s not the Millers’ fault I can’t have a child.”

  Maggie drifted to a stop, her eyes huge and her forehead furrowed. “The doctor didn’t say you couldn’t have children…did she?”

  “No.” Robin sighed. “I didn’t mean that. I guess I’m trying to see how it feels to say it out loud.”

  “So how’d it feel?” Maggie eased the van away from the stop sign, mercifully not looking at her.

  “Awful. I kind of wanted to hate Courtney though, you know? But how could you hate someone so young and cute and ecstatic about being pregnant?”

  “I know.” Maggie’s tone lowered. “At least they want theirs. I don’t understand how the ones who don’t want babies get them and you and Mark, who are desperate to have them, can’t. How fair is that?”

  Robin stared at her hands. She shouldn’t have complained and handed Maggie another reason to think God was this monster never giving people a break. And did she come across as desperate? She must. She wriggled her fingers, moving her wedding ring so the diamond faced out, struggling for a way out of the hole she had dug.

  “Those two were cute together, didn’t you think?” She removed her drawings from the case and stared at the frolicking dinosaurs. “These dinos would have been so fun to paint.” She shrugged. “It’ll be fun to paste in the other ones, too. I couldn’t make that poor husband disappoint his wife when she was so excited.”

  “Me neither.” Maggie turned into the parking lot of Sunshine Interiors. “I know we’ll barely break even, but I don’t care. I guess we’re both suckers.”

  Robin’s musical ringtone interrupted their laughter. She fumbled the cell out of her purse and unlocked the display. Her smile wobbled. “Uh-oh, it’s the chief. This can’t be good.”

  3

  Robin and Maggie raced into the emergency room. Police Chief Donovan and her husband’s partner, Peter, waited by the information desk. “What happened? How is he? Will he be all right?” The questions flew from Robin’s mouth before her brain could control them.

  Chief Donovan stepped forward, grabbed her hands, and gave them a squeeze. “He was shot in the shoulder, a pretty clean wound. They’re extracting the bullet. I’m sure he’ll be OK.”

  Shot. The word reverberated against her skull. He hadn’t said shot on the phone. He’d said hurt, not shot.

  Peter gave her a hug. “The chief’s right, Robin. Mark will be fine.”

  He eased her toward the blue plastic chairs lining scuffed white walls. People in various stages of crisis filled the chairs, either needing care themselves or watching for information about a loved one. An older woman sat in a corner alone, arms hugging herself. Was she waiting for news of a husband? She, like the detectives from Mark’s unit, some sitting, some standing, watched her with a studied calm. Robin joined them, adding her less than calm face to the mix.

  She tried to sit, but a combination of antiseptic and the heavy perfume of a woman a few chairs away assaulted her nostrils, and her stomach lurched. Fighting to keep her breakfast down, she moved to the other side of the room, breathing shallow breaths through her mouth.

  Maggie dropped into the chair next to her.

  “This feels unreal.” Robin shook her head. “I thought I’d accepted the risks when I married Mark, and after the first few years, I didn’t think about it anymore.” She shifted in her seat, but the plastic still pinched. “I felt safe here. The most he usually deals with is shoplifting and pickpockets.” A gasp ricocheted from her chest. “You don’t think they’re keeping something from me, do you? They’d tell me if it was more serious, wouldn’t they?”

  “Of course, they wouldn’t keep that from you. Someone will be out soon, and we’ll know everything then.”

  Robin swallowed her panic. Maggie was right, it wouldn’t do any good to imagine the worst. She picked up a magazine and pretended to read. Maggie fell silent, and Robin was grateful for the time to think. With a shoulder injury, Mark would be OK. He had to be. Laying the magazine on her lap, she leaned her head against the wall, closed her eyes, and tried to pray. Nothing would come. Her stomach quivered.

  The routine of a busy emergency room streamed around her. A doctor spoke to a small group huddled in the center of the room. A couple of them followed him out. Good news or bad, it was hard to tell from the faces of those who remained. A young woman raced through the doors, eyes wil
d and searching. She found the older woman and threw her arms around her. Good to know she had someone. Robin rotated her shoulders, trying to relax.

  Finally, a doctor came through the door and scanned the waiting room. “Mrs. Clayton?”

  “I’m Mrs. Clayton.” Robin jumped up, and the magazine slipped to the floor.

  The others gathered around.

  “Your husband came through surgery very well. The bullet lodged in his shoulder, and we removed it without much trouble.”

  She released the breath she’d been holding. The doctor wasn’t smiling. Why wasn’t he smiling?

  He patted his pockets and reached in for a hard candy. Unwrapping it, he popped it into his mouth.

  She wanted to yank the words—and the candy—out of him.

  “I’m more concerned about his head injury. He hit pretty hard, and he has a small skull fracture, so I’m listing him as critical until he wakes up.”

  Robin’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She couldn’t get the words out.

  Chief Donovan answered for her. “Thank you, doctor. When can Robin see him?”

  “He’s in recovery now, and we’ll be transferring him to ICU in about half an hour.” The doctor gave Robin a smile.

  Now, he smiled?

  “One of the nurses will come for you when we have him settled.”

  When she nodded, he left, and she started pacing. “He’s not dead…he’s not dead.”

  “Of course he’s not dead, honey. Did you think that?” Maggie said.

  Robin winced. Had she been chanting aloud? She stopped and sat again. “I guess so. I think in the back of my mind I figured they wouldn’t tell me over the phone if he was dead.”

  Maggie closed her mouth. She probably agreed.

  Robin sprang from her chair. Mark’s parents! How could she have forgotten them? They would want to be here. “I can’t believe I haven’t called Silvia and Ed. What was I thinking?” She fished in her purse for her phone.

  “Don’t worry. Peter called, and they’re on their way. Do you want me to update them?” Maggie asked.

  Robin agreed and gave Maggie her phone.

  “Hi, Mrs. Clayton. No, this is Robin’s friend, Maggie. She’s fine. She just wanted to make sure you were kept up to date.”