“You help me.”
“I mean professional help.”
“Let’s not start that again. I don’t need anyone else but you.”
He didn’t answer, didn’t give me any reassurance or say he’d always be there to look after me.
The night had just become longer.
CHAPTER 25
Somewhere around four I drifted off and awoke about eight to the sound of a chainsaw. I was out of bed and on my feet, hunting for a weapon before I identified the enemy. With my heart still racing, I slowly realized that no one was coming through the walls to get at me. It was the beginning of the renovations on the house next door.
Light flooded through the thin curtains. Daylight took away most of my anxiety but still I crept through the house with the pepper spray in my hand, waiting for someone to jump out at me. I was more than prepared to cause the temporary blindness, choking and nausea the manufacturer promised.
I wished I’d also bought the stun gun, for twenty-seven dollars and ninety-nine cents, which was on special when I bought the spray. One more night like the last one and a stun gun was going to be a mandatory part of my arsenal. My ways of coping with my terror might be ratcheting up my feelings of panic rather than diminishing them, but they had the advantage of being affordable and immediate. Nothing says safe like a stun gun.
And all because of a light, a tiny little firefly of a light that I saw for maybe ten seconds. Maybe Marley and Clay were right and I was a card-carrying member of the crazy party and it was time to get professional help. Even knowing what I feared was all in my head didn’t offer any relief. Bummer.
I went for a short run, wearing my pepper spray, my can of comfort, in a little tube container around my neck. It did more to make me feel secure than any therapist ever could.
When I switched on my cell there were calls from Marley and Clay, but it was the voicemail from my former mother-in-law, saying, “Let’s do lunch and talk things out,” that had me hyperventilating.
“Yeah, when hell freezes over, bitch,” I screamed at my cell.
I could wipe away her voice but not the burning anger that shot through me. I had a stock of things that would bring me joy to tell Bernice, a long list of stuff I’d been holding onto since I first met her, but there was no way I was going to risk losing what Aunt Kay was paying me by taking time off. Still, there was one small, mean way to get even. After my shower, I called Bernice and told her I would meet her for lunch. Leaving Bernice sitting there, waiting for me to show up, would be almost as sweet as telling the bitch a few colorful truths.
Aunt Kay opened the door and stepped back into the kitchen. “Did you find out why Cal was in Jacaranda?”
“Well, good morning to you to.” She frowned.
I closed the door and took a good look at her. She was dressed in pink . . . hot pink. Her cropped pink pants were topped with a square-cut pink top emblazoned with a pink sequined flamingo. In a crowd I’d be able to find her. She flashed like neon.
I said, “I’m not sure what either of them wanted.”
“Either?”
“Yup, Vachess times two.”
“Oh dear.” Her forehead wrinkled in thought. “Was it just a coincidence that they came to the Sunset?”
“Please.”
She pulled out a chair and sat down. “How did they know where to find you?”
“The same way Sunny knew. Holly told them about me, although why she talked about me, I’ll never know.”
“Let’s face it, your life has been more exciting than most. Make a guess why they came to the Sunset.”
“Ryan was still high and thought I came to Sarasota searching for him. Maybe he was excited by the thought of a woman hunting for him, some kind of sexual turn on.”
“And Cal, why was he there?”
“Cal seemed to know Ryan was going to show up at the Sunset and was there to try to control him. That’s what I made of it, but maybe I got it wrong.”
She nodded her head, thinking it through. “So it wasn’t about Holly?”
“I’m not sure.” I took a deep breath. “This is the bottom line. I don’t want anything to do with those guys, Aunt Kay.” I could see the Sunset going down the tubes as I said it. “They’re out of our league.”
She straightened. “We’ll stay well away from them, but I still want to see if we can find Angel, okay? That’s all I’m interested in.”
“Fine. But if we seem to be crossing into their territory, I’m done. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” She picked up her purse and got to her feet, waving me towards the door. “Now let’s go.”
The name of the lawyer was Shane Deveral. It took a little talking on Aunt Kay’s part to get him to see us without an appointment. When he heard why we were there, he suggested, none too politely, that we leave.
Aunt Kay heaved a resigned sigh and said, “All right, dear.”
“Oh, oh,” I said to myself. I’d worked out that when Aunt Kay said “dear” like that, what she was really saying to Shane was, “All right, asshole, this is where I get tough.”
“All right, dear,” she said again to old Shane, “I didn’t want to turn this over to the police. I wanted to keep it all quiet and casual, as it were. I just want to know where Angel is, but perhaps the police need to know about your work here. Maybe they need to look into the adoptions you handle.”
“Don’t be silly,” Shane said.
I could have cautioned him not to diss Aunt Kay, but I hadn’t warmed to old Shane. Let him find out for himself.
He said, “Everything is perfectly legal.”
“I’m sure it is,” Aunt Kay said sweetly. “I’m not one to complain, but I did hear a rumor.” She turned to me. “Sherri, what was the name of that friend of yours who bought a baby?”
Shane looked like a wolverine had just clamped down on his testicles.
“Wasn’t the lawyer that arranged it a Mr. Deveral too?” She swung around to study him. “Well, perhaps bought is too strong a word, but there was a lot of money involved.”
She leaned towards Shane. “My nephew is in the district attorney’s office. I’m sure he would be interested enough to help his auntie out.”
Aunt Kay didn’t have any family but I figured I’d keep that to myself.
Shane’s eye twitched. Not much, but the twitch hadn’t been there when we came in.
“Everything is by the book,” he said.
“What book would that be, dear?” Aunt Kay’s voice was louder and more demanding when she said, “What was the name of you friend, Sherri?”
Before I needed to deliver an answer Shane lifted his palms and said, “Okay, no need to bring others into it. Yes, Holly Mitchell got in touch with me and asked if I could find a nice family for her baby. I did. But Holly never went through with it.” His handsome features twisted. “Left me with a real problem.”
“Did she say why she changed her mind?”
“Not exactly. She brought the baby in when the couple were here and showed them her little girl. She didn’t know the adopting family’s name but they all seemed happy enough with their agreement. Everything was fine, a done deal, but they wanted the baby to have a complete physical before they signed the papers. I made the appointment. It was for three days later. The day after the doctor’s appointment, Holly was supposed to bring in the baby and turn her over to her new parents. Holly didn’t show up. When I called her, she just said something silly like she wasn’t going to let a man like that raise her child. She said she found out he was using some escort service. I’m not sure where she got that idea, but I couldn’t talk her out of it. I never saw her or the baby again, didn’t even talk to her again. Now if you don’t mind, I have a practice to run.”
“Yes, dear, a very valuable one I’m sure,” Aunt K
ay said. “Now if you could just give me his name, the name of this man who wanted to adopt Holly’s baby.”
Shane was beyond outraged. “No way. That’s confidential.”
Aunt Kay said, “I suppose you found this couple another child, even after you knew about the escort service. I’m not sure that would disqualify him but . . .” She left the sentence unfinished. “Do you know Sean Contrell, the district attorney in Sarasota? Such a nice boy, always my favorite nephew.”
All these years I’d been blaming Tully Jenkins and his family for my lying ways, but maybe my inspiration had come from another source.
“I’m sure Sean could clarify if you acted irresponsibly in finding them another baby. And I’m sure Sean could find Holly’s baby for me. But I do hate to disturb him.”
Shane clenched his jaw, grinding money for his dentist.
“You don’t have to write it down,” Aunt Kay told him. “I have a very good memory, and no one will ever know where I got the name and address from.” She looked up at me and smiled. “If it ever comes up I’ll say it came from Holly. It will be fine.”
“Gary and Melissa Hunt. He owns Elegant Dressing.”
Aunt Kay pushed herself to her feet, a queen in hot pink. She didn’t thank him and didn’t say goodbye. I followed her out of the office like a good little puppy dog.
CHAPTER 26
Elegant Dressing is a premier clothing store in Sarasota, representing all the big name designers, and selling both women’s clothes and men’s. Clay had brought me here to buy what he called “the one good suit” that everyone apparently needs in their wardrobe. Turned out that the bank was unimpressed by my black suit and they still wanted their money.
Gary Hunt was about forty, slim and impeccably dressed in a charcoal suit with a pink striped tie. Now even faux pearls give me hives, and I’ll never be into dressing like a member of the Christian Right at a Republican convention, but still I wished I’d been wearing my funeral suit instead of black jeans, a tee-shirt and flip-flops. He was just so perfect. And he was also beyond annoyed with us. He knew we didn’t belong in a store like his, could tell we weren’t there to buy a good suit.
I watched a master at work with awe and amazement. It didn’t take Aunt Kay long to sort Gary out. If a room of screaming kids didn’t scare her there was no way this supercilious ass was going to accomplish it. He sure tried, though. Within five minutes she had him thinking she was either on the way to the police or else she was there to blackmail him. I wasn’t sure which of those scenarios she was actively working on and neither was he, but he wasn’t taking any chances by pissing her off. He quickly decided he needed to chat with us in the privacy of his office.
Aunt Kay followed him past the counters of cashmere sweaters and Gucci loafers as though it were stuff waiting for a Goodwill truck. She didn’t care that she should be wearing a good suit instead of hot pink.
The office was all dark shiny wood and the desk was covered in open books of material samples. Gary didn’t ask us to sit down. “I was never told that girl’s name. I just walked into the hotel room and knew she was the mother of the little girl we were supposed to adopt.”
“And Holly didn’t like you being a john,” I said.
He flushed. “Yeah, well she was in the room too, selling what I was buying, so what made her so high and mighty?”
Aunt Kay waved his words aside. “What happened next?”
“She told me I was never going to get her child and ran out of the room.”
“And of course you called Cal and complained,” I said.
He turned to look at me. His nose twitched like he’d caught a bad smell. “I called Angel Escort and told them I wasn’t happy with their service. It took them an hour to send over a replacement for that girl, one well below my normal standards. I haven’t used their service since.”
“Poor you.” My sarcasm was lost on him.
Aunt Kay was focused on finding out about Holly. “And you never saw or heard from Holly again?”
“No. I wanted no part of a crazy woman like her.”
He shouldn’t have said that in a tone of righteous indignation like he was the injured party. It made me want to strike him, to hurt him bad so I left him with something to worry over. “W-e-l-l,” I drew the word out like I was really uncertain, “I hope it won’t be necessary to bring you into it . . . with the police and everything. You see, Holly is dead and questions are being asked, but I’m sure you have nothing to be concerned about.”
I walked to the door and then turned back as if I remembered something. “And that private detective the family hired, I’m sure he’ll be discreet. He just wants to find the men Holly was involved with.” Why should I be the only one up at nights worrying? “I hope your wife won’t be too upset. And . . . well, never mind, no one will likely be charged for that so you won’t have to testify.”
He made a strangling sort of noise. I didn’t stop to see if he was merely expressing an opinion or having a stroke. I didn’t care much either way.
Aunt Kay joined me by the tie counter, linking her arm in mine and beaming up at me like a master who was proud of a star student.
We stepped out into the heat.
“To think, that shit intimidated me when Clay and I went in to buy my suit.”
Aunt Kay opened her eyes wide in mock surprise. “I didn’t think anyone could intimidate you.”
“I just bluster louder and swear more when people are getting to me.”
She laughed. “Oh, right. In that case I’ve seen you intimidated.” Her smile faded. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
“Sure, but tell me anyway.”
“Cal Vachess knew about the child, although he told us he didn’t. When Mr. Hunt called in outrage to complain, I’m sure he mentioned Holly’s baby.”
“Could be. Or maybe Gary Hunt just complained that the girl the escort service sent ran out on him. He wouldn’t want them to know anything personal.”
She halted. “Sherri, remember Holly told Sunny she gave Angel to friends? Friends might mean high school for Holly. She doesn’t seem to have made many friends since. If there was anyone closer to her than Sunny, they would have been driving her to appointments. And if she needed someone to look after Angel, wouldn’t she go back to the people she knew?”
“She did go back to people she knew. She came to you.”
“But where did she go after I said I couldn’t take Angel? She never came to you?”
“Don’t you think I’d have mentioned it if she had? Besides, I wouldn’t be anyone’s idea of a mother substitute.”
“So who is it? Who did she take Angel to?”
“Maybe her parents.”
Aunt Kay shook her head. “I don’t think so. Remember, her mother knew nothing about a baby when I saw her in May.”
Then she said, “I wish I could see Hannah.”
She sighed. “I suppose our next stop should be Marnie Mitchell. We’ll see her after lunch.” Her voice left no room for dissent. “I have to go to the hospital for a test. You can drop me off there and go find a yearbook from Holly’s class while I’m gone.”
“Bernice asked me to have lunch with her.”
“Oh.” The surprise was clear on her face. “Wait a minute, we have a deal, and this week is mine.”
“Even slaves are allowed to eat.”
“Are you really going to have lunch with her?”
“There are a few suggestions I’d like to make to Bernice.”
“Okay.” It was reluctant and then she added, “Wait until after my test and then I’ll come with you.”
“No. This isn’t going to be a Hallmark moment and you don’t want to hear what I’ve got to say to her.”
“Yes I do.”
I laughed. “Not going to
happen,” I said, although she’d probably enjoy our shit-slinging fest a whole lot. “You find out where Holly’s parents are and when they can see us. I’ll pick you up after I deal with Bernice.”
CHAPTER 27
I dropped Aunt Kay off and went back to the beach house to put on my dragon-slayer outfit. Forty minutes later I checked myself out in the mirror and said, “Hello, Mamma.” There she was, my mother, Ruth Ann Jenkins, wearing a leopard print top that crossed in front of her breasts and a skin-tight black leather skirt that was a little too short to be polite. To heighten the impact and make sure nothing important was overlooked a wide red belt separated the leather from the leopard. But best of all were the red leather stilettos with the platform soles. They brought me to my ideal height of six feet. Trashy but sexy is the look I do best.
Damn, I looked good . . . like a transvestite on the way to a gay bar for happy hour! My Chinese-red painted lips kissed the image in the mirror. “Welcome back.” I checked out the view from the rear. “Coming and going, you’ll give the bitch a heart attack.”
I stopped just inside the door of the restaurant and let the full impact of my outfit hit her.
Bernice didn’t faint and she didn’t spew out her disgust when I sat down across from her. That was a big disappointment. I could only hope that the pressure built up from holding all the venom in would rupture something vital.
She picked up the menu and said, “Let’s have the tuna. Jimmy loved it. Remember?”
Remember? The only way I could forget would be to cut off my head.
The waiter scurried over to our table. “Would you like a drink to start?”
What in hell was the fool talking about? I’d need a bucketful of booze if I was going to sit across from Bernice for an hour and not turn homicidal.
Bernice looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
I gave him my brightest smile. “Why don’t you just bring by a bottle of Glenlivet and a bucket of ice and I’ll take care of it from there?”
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