“I think.”
“Well, I’ve been worried about you, darling. Do you have supply?”
Rachel switched the phone from hand to hand, so she could rub her itching sides. “No, and I really need some. I’ve been sick. It would make me feel better.”
“Sarasota, huh? If you’re coming back to Ray City not too long from now, I might be able to front you a few bags. I’m sure you’ll be good for it. That’s awfully far—but I’ll find a way to fix you up. Do you have the address where you’ll be staying at this Anna Maria place?”
“Not yet.”
“Have you told anyone about me?”
“No, no, I haven’t told about you.”
“Text me when you’re settled and give me the address.”
Gary grunted.
“Are you all right, Gary? Did I hear another voice?”
“No,” was the hasty response. “Must be the TV. I was thinking I might even come over myself. I’ll take care of you, honey.” He hung up.
Arthur Temkin had been sitting head to head with Gary, listening. He straightened and relaxed his grip on Gary’s privates. Gary closed his eyes.
Temkin said, “That was good. Now, text me when you’ve got an address. Everything will be fine, unless you screw up. If you do, I’ll give you plenty of pain before I kill you.”
Gary’s eyes remained closed as Temkin laughed. “I’ll be back,” he said, and let himself out.
The Camry cruised in light traffic on a Sarasota street, turned, and continued on a thoroughfare past a series of residential developments.
Shivani adjusted his sunglasses. “Something’s wrong. I can feel it.”
“What do you mean?” Jake said.
“I’m not sure. A feeling. We need to be alert for anything unusual.”
“What is this, ESP?”
“Something like that. But I can’t discern anything specific. Just stay alert.” Shivani checked his watch. “We’ve been in Sarasota fifteen minutes, and it takes at least another thirty to the island. I thought we’d zip right through on a freeway, not travel a scenic route. Maybe this is the only way to go. Pretty drive but a pain in the ass.”
In a few more minutes, they came to a divided highway that took them across a causeway to the island.
“Find Gulf Drive and let’s take a look,” Sharon said.
After the commercial district were beach houses and resort hotels, some painted in hues of ocean blue, pastel green, pale yellow, and dusty rose. White houses bore trim in one of these colors.
Sharon removed her sunglasses. “I wonder if you can only use certain approved colors on the homes here. This place reminds me of something, but I can’t remember what.”
Jake turned his head left and right. “Look at all the parking spots. I’ll be this place is covered in cars during the peak season.”
They stopped at a rental office called Island Dream Rentals and Sales.
Shivani said, “Sharon, take your sister in and pick something. All Jake and I would do is get in the way.”
The blue house they picked, with a sign saying Blue Dreams affixed to its siding, sat on the beachfront. Inside were three bathrooms and three bedrooms, a large living area, and a small open kitchen with granite counter, three bar stools, white cabinets, and top-end appliances.
Medium-dark wood furniture prevailed throughout, Mediterranean and colonial styles mixed together. Sharon said, “This house is wonderful, but they’ve decorated it with hand-me-downs.” She walked toward a picture on the wall and leaned close. “They must have ordered a cheap package of beach paintings. Still, the upholstery is fine, and the beds look comfortable.”
She opened the sliding doors to a covered porch that ran the width of the house. With cushioned wicker furniture, wood rockers, and a glass-topped table, all in white, it faced out over the beach to the Gulf beyond. Below, a pool sparkled in the sun, privacy assured by tropical landscaping on each side. A boardwalk led through low dunes to the beach. She took a lungful of the pungent Gulf air. “This is more like it. Wow.”
“Beautiful,” Jake said.
Shivani nodded in approval, and Rachel hugged her sister, laying her head on Sharon’s shoulder.
“I’m not sure, but the pool furniture could be Brown Jordan. Double wow. Let’s go and buy some beach togs.” Sharon turned to the house.
In the beach store, under tall ceilings, Sharon scanned a sea of chest-level carousel racks, short so store personnel could observe everything. Dark, shiny domes containing security cameras hung from the ceiling on pipes. Sharon strolled past the sweatshirts and hats to a rack of beach cover-ups and fingered the thin fabric. “Jake, check and see if you can find another store. I don’t like this one.”
Jake directed them to another, larger store. Inside, Sharon touched her sister’s forearm and groaned. “It’s all the same crap. It’s even laid out the same way. Who do they think they’re kidding by putting a different store name on the sign?”
Shivani, who was fifteen feet away trying on sunglasses, removed a pair and put them back on the rack. “America. This is America.”
“Oh, well.” Sharon removed a cover-up from a rack and held it up. “We’re only here for a while. Same colors as the houses. Wait, here’s another one with purple.” She checked the tag and held the garment to her chest. “Help yourself, sis. We need a couple of these each, bathing suits, and hats. If you find any sunglasses you like, get them. And sunscreen.”
“What about sandals?” Jake asked, holding up a pair.
“Yes. And you, Shivani?” Sharon said. “Are sunglasses the only thing you’re interested in?”
“I’m dark enough, thank you. Also, I don’t want melanoma, which is something you ought to consider.”
“Consider it considered.”
Back at the house, Rachel sent a text before coming into the living room to show off her attire for Sharon, who said, “Lovely. Is everything okay?”
“Sure.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Rachel reddened and looked sheepish. “No, I’m fine. Uhh—I’m getting the pip.”
“The pip? Oh, your time. Sis, if you want to stay here and rest while Jake and I explore, go ahead. Shivani will be on the porch.”
On the beach, Sharon and Jake walked ankle-deep in the warm water, silent.
Jake said, “We’re all good. Hard to realize, isn’t it? All we have to do now is find a quiet lifestyle in a beautiful place.”
Sharon stopped. “But not in the boonies. Great restaurants, shopping, and entertainment, remember?”
Jake laughed. “I knew that was coming. Of course, all that.”
They walked up the path from the beach to the house, Jake pulling ahead, not speaking. He kept his face down as he held the low gate for her. When they drew even with the pool, Sharon pointed to a table with an umbrella in the center. Jake adjusted it so they were both shaded when they sat. He rested his forearms on the table, his eyes closed, his breath measured.
“Jake, you’re getting that way again. Is something specific bothering you?”
“No.”
“I’d like to say you can relax, but I’m not okay myself.”
“What’s wrong? Can I get something for you at the drugstore?”
“No, I mean, I’m on edge about things. I ought to feel great now that we’re away, but instead I have an uneasiness in my body. Something’s wrong. I don’t know what; I just feel danger.”
“But we’re all clear. There isn’t a soul out there who can bother us. I think you’re just decompressing.”
Sharon leaned close. “What about that guy Arthur Temkin?”
“He has no way to find us. He’ll be looking for a needle in a haystack, even if he tries.”
Sharon closed her eyes and sighed.
In the beach house, Rachel�
��s phone buzzed. A text from Gary. I want to see Anna Maria Island. I’m going to bring what you need. Be there tomorrow.
After Gary sent the text, Temkin held his hand out for the drug dealer’s phone. “I’ll take it with me.”
“Hey, I need it for my business. I can’t operate without it.”
“Find a way.” Temkin took the phone and turned it off. “Don’t worry. I won’t be talking to any of your addicts—I mean clients. Except Rachel.” The door closed quietly as he left.
Chapter 29
Jake stood on the porch next to Shivani, who said, “What happens now?”
“Playing it by ear. Don’t worry, you’ll receive a share. By the way, you never said how much you want.”
Sharon strolled through the door and stood next to Jake. “I’ve been listening. He’s right. Kind of strange, don’t you think, that we got this far without an agreement about the money?”
Shivani gazed at the emerald water near the shore, deep blue farther out. “As I said, I’m a reasonable man. I won’t press the point that I know you did the crime, and I know both sets of your names. I’m not greedy. You got $3 million plus.”
Jake reared back. “Where did you get that?”
“Malcolm told me. He hired me to find you, and I did. I decided I didn’t like him, and I would enjoy working with you. The way things turned out, I think half is the fairest thing all around.”
“You what?” Jake lowered his voice, scowling. “You what? You can’t be serious. You want a million and a half? This deed was all done before you even showed up.” Jake rotated his scowl to Sharon. “He’s being ridiculous. Trying to anchor the price.”
“I rescued her sister.” Shivani smiled. “Let’s sit.”
Jake lowered himself into a chair and leaned forward. “Okay, point taken. But you don’t give a rat’s ass about the money, do you? This whole thing is a joke to you. In fact, life itself is a big joke. All you want is to have fun. So, what the hell? You’re not going to report us. Go away.”
Shivani crossed his legs and waited.
Rachel came to the door. “I thought we were going to dinner.”
Sharon waved her back in. “We are. Put some makeup on, and we’ll go soon.”
“Shivani.” Jake shook his head. “I’ll bet that’s not your name. How hard do you think it would be to find out your background? You’re just another criminal in Florida with something to hide. I’m not worried.”
“That’s speculation.” Shivani smiled. “Maybe I have nothing to conceal and I call the authorities. You lose.”
Jake studied Shivani’s relaxed, noncommittal face for a clue. Receiving none, he thought, Shivani’s playing poker with me. He knows our cards, and we don’t know his. He might have something to protect in his background, or he might not. And we’ve got too much to lose. He could put us in jail.
Easy decision—rationally, Jake should make a counteroffer, try to negotiate him down to a million. But that’s hard to swallow, letting this guy roll over us like this. Jake decided to test Shivani another way, to find out if there was any weakness in his position, a reason to seek a middle ground.
“We’re at a standoff,” Jake said. “I don’t want to be wrong and have you turn us in. You don’t want us to drag you down—and believe me, we will if you get us in trouble. Who do you think we’ll implicate? You want to be blamed in this theft, on top of whatever else is hanging over your head?”
Shivani uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “If you want to try that, you’ll be sorry.”
Jake regarded Shivani, his casual posture, his calm face, his stillness. Too still. Contrived. He’s concerned about something in his history. I can shift this train to another track.
“Okay, Shivani. Let’s find a way to resolve this. My idea might sound crazy at first, but listen to me. This will work.
“I saw an Elks Club on the road to Sarasota. Their sign says a DJ is playing every Saturday. Let’s go over and put on a two-man dance contest for them. You’re so proud of your dancing; put the money where your mouth is. You win, we give you $500,000. I win, we give you nothing.”
Shivani bent over laughing, hand to his face. Tears in his eyes, still laughing, he managed to say, “I think that’s the nuttiest thing I’ve ever heard. You are losing your mind.”
“You don’t think I can dance?”
Shivani straightened and narrowed his eyes, examining Jake’s face first, then Sharon’s. “From what I have observed, you are not well coordinated. Do you really want to do this?”
Jake’s thin smile telegraphed his answer. “Don’t worry about me, beach boy. I can dance, all right. You move like a drunken rooster, judging from the performance you gave at McDonald’s.”
Sharon said, “I believe your phrase was ‘a chicken in shackles.’” She pulled Jake aside, serious. “Are you bonkers? I’ve never seen you dance, but I’m sure it’s not pretty.”
“Quiet,” Jake said. “There are still some things you don’t know about me. There are professional singers who stutter when they’re talking but sing flawlessly. Same sort of thing.”
Shivani laughed softly. “Okay, sure, I’m a sport. I could go for this, but five hundred is ridiculous. Stakes of a million and a half. Remember, I got her sister out of that motel.”
“He sure did, Jake.”
Jake glared at Sharon. “Seven fifty.”
After a silence of thirty seconds, Shivani said, “A million.”
“You want a million dollars? Way too much.” Jake paced the length of the porch and back. He sat silent for several minutes, thinking maybe he should stick … no, that would be asking for a fight. “Tell -you what. To make this happen, I’ll split the difference at $875,000. Assuming it’s okay with Sharon.”
“It’s fair.”
Shivani gazed at Sharon. “Who’d have thought this guy was tough?” He gave a breathy laugh. “In the unlikely event I lose, pay me six hundred.”
“Okay, deal.”
“Six hundred is the lowest amount I receive. You give me that no matter what, but I can make it eight seventy-five when I win this silly contest.”
Jake’s voice betrayed irritation. “That’s almost what I said. It’s if you win, not when.”
“Just making sure. It will be fun to show you what a rooster can do.”
Chapter 30
The next night, after an early dinner of delivery pizza, Sharon and Rachel left the house to walk on the beach. Jake called out, “Wear something on your feet. You can’t always see rocks or shells.”
Jake and Shivani sprawled on the living room furniture, Jake using the remote control to scroll through the cable guide. He settled on a soccer game involving countries he was only vaguely familiar with and said, “I assume soccer is okay with you.”
“Sure. I always like soccer.”
Jake went to the kitchen and got a beer for himself and a soft drink for Shivani. They watched the flow of action up and down the field, not talking. Jake took his empty to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water to find Shivani peeking out the front window.
“Jake, a car’s across the street that wasn’t there when we got back from dinner.”
Shivani stepped back, and Jake pulled the blind a couple inches away from the window frame. “You mean that silver Tahoe parked under the security light? What’s the problem with it?”
“Like I said, it wasn’t there a short while ago. I never heard it come in. There are no lights on at any of the houses over there.”
Jake and Shivani clattered down the stairs and jogged through the pool area and out to the beach. They looked in both directions and saw nothing. Shivani took a small flashlight from his pocket and pointed at footprints leading north, left by two pairs of flat beach sandals. Three hundred yards on, a set of running-shoe prints came out from a dune, leaving deep toe prints with clumps of sand kicke
d up in front. The sandal prints became disordered, then chaotic when they were joined by the running shoes. Indentations in the sand revealed a struggle, someone on the ground. All the sets of footprints led through the dunes, before a darkened house, then to a sidewalk between houses.
Jake and Shivani raced up the street toward their rental home. The silver Tahoe was gone. While Shivani stood in the street, straining to see in both directions, Jake ran up the stairs to the house and opened it with his key. After a moment, he came back out, holding up two phones. “Nobody there. Better take these. Rachel’s and Sharon’s. He may call one of them.
Shivani stood where the Tahoe had been, looking at an earring on the pavement. He held it up. “Is this Sharon’s?”
“Yeah, I’ll bet she dropped it as a signal to us.”
The Camry sped southward. “This is the direction we came in, so it’s the logical direction to go—I think,” Shivani said.
“We’re too late. We’re not going to catch them.” Jake pounded the dash in frustration. “What do we do now?”
“Wait for him to call. The money’s still in my trunk if we need it.”
Jake nodded. “What if it’s been stolen from there?”
“It hasn’t been disturbed. The security system on this car is the best. It would wake the dead,” Shivani said. “Let’s go back through Sarasota and find a place to wait. That way, we’ll be closer to wherever he is.”
“All we can do.” Jake’s expression was murderous.
“Midnight.” Jake sipped his fourth cup of fast-food coffee. “What’s he doing? Why haven’t we heard anything?”
“He wants us tired and strung out. Let’s find a truck stop near the interstate where we can rest in the car. It would be safer than this neighborhood.”
At the truck stop, they parked next to a motorhome, engine off and the windows cracked open. Jake chewed on a thumbnail, while Shivani sat with the driver’s seat reclined and his fedora pulled down over his eyes. Jake’s nostrils wrinkled at the diesel stench wafting in the open windows. After it dissipated, his breathing slowed, and he folded his hands in his lap.
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