No Hiding Behind the Potted Palms! A Dance with Danger Mystery #7

by Barton, Sara M.

  I watched Bosco get dressed, thinking of how long it had been since we last made love, how it felt like we were strangers as we went through the motions on a dull grey Saturday morning. That distance was gone now.

  “Chop, chop. Let’s get moving, Mama. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”

  “We do?” I was surprised at his sudden burst of energy.

  “Absolutely!”

  “What are we doing?” I wanted to know.

  “First, I’m throwing that steak on the grill. I’m famished. And then we’re going to do a full assessment of those creeps. We’re going to taken them down, beat them at their own game, and then put them in jail. You do understand what I do for work, don’t you?”

  “You uncover financial fraud,” I responded. “You follow the money trail.”

  “I do a lot more than that, babe. I find the hidden networks. And now that we know that I’m also a target, because of that stock, we’ll get some help from my colleagues.”

  “Because it affects your career?”

  “No, no. Because the Winks are professionals, and maybe we can learn some things about how they do business, for whom they do business, and we may be able to link it to cases we’re currently working. And it’s great PR for Honshield Walker when we solve it. In other words, this is an opportunity for us. But first, we have to shake, rattle and roll the coconut tree.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “We’re going to flip Ralph. He owes us money. We’re going to apply pressure, let him know we know he’s screwing us. We want to see the books. When he’s feeling miserable about being a complete jerk, we’ll explain how he was set up. Unless, of course, he was a willing participant.”

  “That’s rotten,” I told Bosco, disapproval dripping off my lips. “How can you even think of doing something like that?”

  “Reality check. Tell me again, Dori, how much money you no longer have. Do you feel so bad for Ralph that you don’t want your money back?”

  “Of course not!” I scoffed. “But you can’t find a way to do the same thing without torturing him?”

  “Let me ask you something. And I want an honest answer. Do you think Ralph lost a lot of sleep over his offer to buy us out, even though it means we’d lose nearly $25,000? Or did he think that he was getting a better deal than us, because we were desperate, thanks to his new friends?”

  “I just hate that we have to do it this way. I’ve known Ralph for fifteen years. I owe him my loyalty.” We headed for the kitchen, with me leading the way.

  “Are you sure about that? How do you know this is the first time he’s cheated you? Maybe all those times you took stock instead of a salary, he actually had the money to pay you.”

  Bosco took the steak out of its package and put it on a platter before he grabbed his tongs from the drawer. He kissed my cheek as he passed me.

  “Buck up, kid. It’s not as bad as you think. We’ll get the answers and we won’t destroy Ralph unless he’s a complete idiot.”

  I thought about that as I finished the salad. This was the part of Bosco that I didn’t understand. He could be tough. But was he wrong? Maybe the reason I didn’t completely trust Ralph now was because I had often wondered if he was taking the easy road when he asked me to forgo my salary in favor of stock options. A part of me wanted to believe he was telling the truth, but another part of me sometimes wondered if he did it to keep me humble, so that I wouldn’t ask for more control of the business. After all, Bosco had some shares, but I had the majority of them, and I could have insisted on a bigger role in Dynamic Productions. Why hadn’t I done that? Because Ralph played the nice guy card whenever I considered summoning my courage to ask for more?

  We ate in near silence, breaking into conversation only to ask for the steak sauce to be passed or for more cabernet sauvignon from the bottle sitting on the table between us. But when I finished the last piece of meat, I put down my silverware and looked hard at Bosco.

  “How much of a fool have I been over the years?” I asked. His eyebrows went up, leaving his face with a puzzled expression. “I want to know.”

  “I’m not sure what you’re asking me,” he replied, his tone cautious, almost as if he expected this comment to be concealing an ambush of some kind.

  “I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve been a complete and utter fool. I gave people the benefit of the doubt, even when I had doubts about them.”

  “Theodora Williams Baer, what in the world are you talking about?”

  “You asked me if Ralph feels bad about cheating us of the money we’re due from Dynamic Productions. I don’t think he does. And I also think I was due a bigger job with Dynamic, especially after I enabled Ralph to build the company.”

  “That a girl!” cried Bosco, throwing his arms around me. “Finally, some gumption!”

  “Is that what you think I lack?” I sat back in my chair, my hands folded in my lap.

  “You want me to be honest?” he asked, studying my face closely. “You really want to know?”

  I took a deep breath, knowing that if I said yes, he would tell me what I didn’t want to hear, and knowing that if I said no, he would keep me at arm’s length again, like a young girl needing to be protected from the truth about herself.

  “Do I lack gumption?” I asked again.

  “You lack the courage of your convictions. I’ve often thought you second-guess yourself, talk yourself out of the truth about people when it’s ugly, as if having a rosy vision of things will make it so. Ralph should have made you a partner some time ago. You’re certainly capable of doing more for the business, and yet he doesn’t want you onboard as an equal. Why?”

  “What are you getting at?”

  “Why blow up the house? Why seduce you? Why steal all your money, right down to your 401K, but not take your stock shares? Ralph knew about the stock. He thought he was covering himself by leaving those alone. But more importantly, he was out to ruin you, so you’d be gone from Dynamic. Why not just rob you if it’s about needing money? Why not just take your money in one fell swoop? Instead, George romanced you for several months before moving in for two months Your fake lover pretended to care for eight weeks. He maintained his scam because he needed something. We may find that they set us up even more than we’ve discovered. There could be a lot more to this game that has yet to be revealed.”

  “Maybe,” I said slowly, pensively, “Ralph and the Winks need the money.”

  “But there are faster ways of getting it and getting out without getting caught.”

  “True, but they don’t actually know they got caught. They all still think they got away with it.”

  “They do, don’t they?” I could see Bosco playing that scenario in his head. “Get your shoes on.”

  “Why? Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to do a little recon.”

  “Is that something you do for work?” I wondered.

  “Something I did as a Marine. I was attached to military intelligence,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “You never told me that before. I thought you were an analyst.”

  “Guess there are still some things left to learn about me,” he grinned.

  “I guess so,” I agreed with a laugh.

  We drove over to Ralph’s house. There were a few lights on at 88 Rockledge Drive. We parked a couple of houses down from the fifties ranch with the immaculate lawn. After five minutes, Bosco asked if I knew where Gloria lived.

  “Why?”

  “Cherchez la femme.”

  “But I don’t think there’s anything going on there,” I insisted. “Gloria acts like she doesn’t even notice Ralph as a man.”

  “Can’t hurt to check it out, can it?” Bosco was already heading down Route 3. “I’ll tell you what. If I’m wrong, I’ll work on being not so cynical. If you’re wrong, you’ll work on not being so naive. Agreed?”

  “Kind of hard not to take a bet like that,” I laughed.

  “Indeed.”
<
br />   Bosco followed my directions to the Millstone Condominiums, driving down the winding lane to where the units built in the eighties sat by the Parkman River. The style was contemporary, with floor-to-ceiling glass along the riverside and narrow, tiny windows on the driveway side.

  “Come on, lover. Let’s take a moonlight stroll,” he instructed me. I didn’t think it had anything to do with his romantic intentions towards me, and I was right. He grabbed something out of the glove compartment.

  “What’s that?” I wondered, as he reached across me.

  “My binocs.”

  “You have binoculars in your car?”

  “I use them when I go hiking. For bird-watching.”

  “You never used to carry them when we went hiking,” I pointed out.

  “That’s because I was watching a different kind of bird,” he said, leaning over to kiss my ear. I felt his beard against my skin and smelled the scent of him, the combination of shampoo and soap with a musky fragrance. It wasn’t familiar to me. Left on his own, Bosco had become a different man. The prospect was at once exciting and more than a little frightening. What if the new version of him didn’t find me as fascinating, once the novelty of our rekindled relationship wore off?

  We followed the path between two buildings, our arms around each other, down to the little strip of sand that kissed the river. There was a boat slip with a few power boats tied up to it.

  “Which unit is Gloria’s?”

  “She’s in number 6,” I responded. “The middle one.”

  “Great. Come on.” He took me by the hand and led me up the ramp of the floating dock, all the way to the “t”.

  “But, Bosco, the sign says ‘No Trespassing’,” I told him. “We’re not boat owners.”

  “Dori, we’re not here to steal a boat. We’re here to catch a thief. Relax. I promise to bail you out of jail if the cops haul us off.”

  “Fine,” I said, still feeling like a stalker in the night. There was little moonlight, which was a comfort. At least our silhouettes weren’t as noticeable.

  “Wrap your arms around my waist and hug me like you mean it. I’m going to rest the binocs on your shoulder, so it looks like we’re kissing. If we look like a couple, folks will just think we’re enjoying the night air. Now, let me see what’s going on at Gloria’s place.”

  I waited as Bosco adjusted his sight on the middle unit. I couldn’t see anything, so I waited for his play-by-play.

  “Well, what do you know? I was right. There’s your love nest.”

  “Love nest?” I took a step back, wanting to turn around, but Bosco stopped me. He held me fast with his left arm while he kept his binoculars trained at the condo.

  “I’ll be happy to fill you in, Dori, but please don’t blow our cover. I can see Gloria and Ralph on the deck. They’re sitting in chairs, with what looks like cocktails on the table.”

  “Maybe they’re just having a meeting,” I offered. “After all, Ralph’s been married for more than thirty years. Besides, I don’t think Gloria is his type. She’s too…too….”

  “Sexy?” He filled in the blank.

  “You think Gloria is sexy?”

  “Sure. Look at her. Everything about her says mistress.”

  “You mean to tell me you can look at a woman and tell if she’s some guy’s mistress?” This was a new side of Bosco I had never seen. I didn’t even think he was interested in that kind of thing.

  “Hell, yes. Gloria is one of those women who will wait for a man to divorce his wife, but only up to a point. After that, she goes rogue and hunts for another sugar daddy.”

  “You think Ralph is her sugar daddy? Isn’t she a little old for all that? Besides, she’s been working for Ralph for nearly five years now. She gets a salary.”

  “Maybe,” he whispered in my ear, “she gets your salary.”

  His arms went tight around me, as if he anticipated my reaction. I tried to pull away.

  “What?”

  “I’m just saying….” He didn’t let go of me, even as I struggled. “Maybe we know now where Ralph’s money has been going, to pay for his mistress.”

  “Of all the nerve!” I felt my blood beginning to heat up, headed for a boil.

  “Don’t get mad at me, babe. I’m just the bearer of possibly bad news.”

  “I’m not mad at you,” I hissed through the shadows. “I’m mad at Ralph. I’m mad at myself!”

  “So, you’re saying you believe it’s true? They’re having wild, crazy monkey love at your expense?” Bosco pulled away, trying to look at me. “Is this the new Dori?”

  “You can bet your ass it’s the new Dori. What are we going to do about those two?”

  “Well, we’re going to go home, we’re going to have our own version of wild, crazy monkey love, and in the morning, we’re going to find out exactly who owns that condo and where the money came from to pay for it.”

  Chapter Nine —

  I woke up in Bosco’s bed the next morning, a little after seven. As I gazed around his bedroom, I took in all the details. The walls were a platinum grey, the trim white. There was a dresser in wenge wood, with very clean lines, with shiny nickel hardware. The bedside chests were simple open boxes in a warmer wood tone, but with similar lines. A pair of matching lamps that had rectangular lime green shades above textured nickel bases sat on top. Covering the window was a set of wide-slat white wood blinds that seemed to blend into the woodwork. Bosco had a large landscape print of the Hudson River framed above the dresser in an aluminum gallery frame, even though the artist was of a much earlier era. There was another small print of a summer day on a lake, framed in black, on the wall leading to the master bath. The only mirror in the room was hung above a narrow chest of drawers that echoed the style of the dresser. As I got up to head out to the kitchen, I realized just how different Bosco’s style was from what we had chosen for our home over the years of our marriage. This was not a traditional place. Everything was clean, unfettered, uncomplicated, easy on the eye. And yet, there was also warmth, in the art prints – the woodsy scenes, the colors of the water. It was all spare and yet rich. It was comfortable, but strong. And for the life of me, I couldn’t understand how the man I had been married to all those years did it. I had expected to miss our house. I had thought moving in with Bosco was going to make me miserable. But when I looked around this bedroom, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to change. Oh, I might add things, including more color, but I wouldn’t have taken anything away. It was like I was seeing him with new, fresh eyes.

  “Morning, sunshine.” He patted me on the fanny as he passed by, turning to look at me. “Something wrong?”

  “I just realized there’s more to you than meets the eye.”

  “In what way?” He toweled off and pulled on a pair of blue boxers.

  “Did you do all this yourself?” I waved my hand around the room.

  “Yes. Why? Did you want to change it? I’m afraid there’s no money for new furniture, at least for a while.”

  “Actually,” I smiled, “I like it the way it is.”

  “You do?” Bosco had a look of utter surprise on his face.

  “I do. I approve. I just didn’t know you had it in you.”

  “Funny. Neither did I. It took me six months to pick everything out.” I heard pride in his voice as he surveyed the room. “It was a matter of figuring out what I wanted, and that took some time. Hey, you’d better get a move on if you don’t want to be late for work.”

  “I’m going to work today? I thought we were going to investigate Ralph,” I replied.

  “No, babe. I’m going to do that. You’re going to convince Ralph you have no idea what a bastard he really is by showing up for work. And while you’re there, you’re going to give a performance worthy of Meryl Streep, as the dedicated, hard-working assistant producer. Do you know why you’re going to do that?” He took my face in his hands and tilted my head back, so that I had to look him in the eye. “Because after we take care of
Ralph, you’re still going to be at Dynamic Productions. You will have a business to run and employees to manage, so don’t blow it. Think of the future.”

  “Right,” I nodded. It was true. We owned nearly half of that company, and I couldn’t afford to screw it up.

  “Don’t forget,” he pointed out as he kissed my forehead, “that Ralph and Gloria still think their relationship is a secret. That’s probably a real thrill for the pair of them.”

  As I headed for the shower, I stopped and looked back. Bosco pulled on his tee shirt, and as his head emerged, he met my gaze.

  “What?”

  “Dumb question, Bosco. Do a lot of guys have mistresses?” He threw his head back and laughed.

  “Babe, most embezzlers have some kind of vice or love interest that drives them to bad behavior. Whether it’s the bookkeeper with the penchant for betting on the horses or the family man who cleans out his company because he’s got a woman on the side, a lot of people do dumb things. Do they do it for the thrill of it, for the money, or for their own selfish needs? It all depends. And just for the record, I’ve seen female executives, lawyers, doctors, and even educators have their little flings. It’s not just guys who screw around on their loved ones.”

  “Hmm…I must sound like Pollyanna, thinking that everyone has goodness inside, and it’s only a matter of bringing out the best in people.” I shook my head, disappointed in myself.

  “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, Dori. There are still people worthy of believing in. You just have to learn to tell the difference.”

  “Maybe.” I shrugged, padding down the hall to the bathroom

  “Don’t stop believing in people,” he called after me. “It’s better than having no faith at all. The world still needs optimists. I’ll get the coffee started.”

  By twenty after eight, I was in my office at Dynamic Productions. Dom was working in his cubicle in the open production area. When the phone rang, I picked up, knowing Gloria would want me to take a message.

  “Dori, what’s the deal?” It was Thad Macklehenny, the advertising director for Platinum Health. “You’ve had our account for more than a decade. Why have you increased your fees by twenty percent?