Poof!

by M. Lee Prescott

  “If you’re drinking my tea from the fridge, it’s not heavily caffeinated,” I said, hugging her.

  “Surely you jest? I am serious about my caffeine, sweetheart. I always bring my own. You know this about me.”

  *****

  After a quick bout of unpacking, iced teas in hand, we settled on my deck, the river lazy and calm before us.

  Alice leaned back and sighed. “You are so lucky, Ricky. This is paradise.”

  “I hope we’ll catch a glimpse of Mr. Gorgeous next door,” Lolly said, taking a drag on her Benson and Hedges extra-long.

  I frowned. “I see you still have that nasty habit.”

  She tossed a cigarette to Katie. “My one vice. I only smoke when I travel. Ron, the health nut doesn’t approve,” she said, referring to her husband.

  “Bob, either,” Katie said, grabbing Lolly’s lighter. “Oh, I feel sixteen again!”

  “Me, too,” Alice said.

  “I’m thinking we’ll switch to wine after this round,” Lolly said, tipping her iced tea in my direction. “I brought a case of Chardonnay.”

  I smacked my forehead. “Oh, hell, I was going to stop at the fish market for our dinner and I forgot! I can run out while you guys relax.”

  “I vote for the Rainbow,” Lolly said, “and let’s invite Mr. Dreamboat.”

  “Mr. Dreamboat’s truck is not in his driveway, so I fear he’s busy.”

  “Let’s call him, then,” Alice said, sitting up, eyes sparkling. “I’ve never met him and I’ve heard so much from Loll.”

  Before I could reply that Mr. Dreamboat was elusive and hard to reach, Katie slammed down her drink and leaned forward. “Okay, Rick, enough about your neighbor. Let’s hear it. What gives with the case? No bullshitting.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Something’s up and I for one want to hear it!”

  “I’m just a little preoccupied with one of my cases, that’s all.”

  “So, preoccupied that you tried to warn us off?”

  “Oh, God,” Lolly said. “Not again!”

  “Yes!” Alice said, pumping both arms. “I’m in and Briarwood came armed to the teeth. Pepper spray, cuffs and who knows what else?”

  “Damn straight,” Katie said. “My purse is an arsenal.”

  What a comforting thought. “Now listen gals, I promise to fill you in, but let’s please decide on dinner before we morph into the Rambettes.”

  “I’ll get the wine,” Alice said, standing. “I vote the Rainbow.”

  “It’s unanimous,” Katie said, clapping her hands. “I’ve been dreaming of those chorizo rolls!”

  At the sliding door, Alice turned. “And don’t say a word until I get back!”

  Alice returned in record time and I filled them in on my activities over the last week, glossing over some of the gory details. Finally, after we’d polished off a bottle Pinot Grigio and most of an excellent Chardonnay, I suggested we head to dinner.

  Chapter 32

  Friday night, the Rainbow was packed. Not an empty table, booth or bar stool. Lolly threw up her hands. “What’dya think girls? Take out?”

  Hands on hips, Katie scanned the room. “No way. You girls order. Let’s get a pitcher of Coles Lager,” she said, referring to a local brew. “Order me a bowl of kale soup and two chorizo rolls even though I could eat ten. I’m starving.” She turned and forged her way into the crowd.

  “Where are you going?” Alice called after her.

  “Never mind,” she said, giving us a backward wave.

  As Alice and I stood slack jawed, Lolly said, “Leave her be. She’ll take care of thing. Just wait and see.”

  The three of us inched our way to the end of the bar and gave the owner, Jack, our order. As we waited, we caught glimpses of Katie stalking from one end of the room to the other, finally settling between two tables of young adults, who appeared to be nursing their beers in a semi coherent state. By the time, Jack set the pitcher and four glasses in front of us, we spied Katie waving from the other end of the room.

  “Go ahead, ladies. I’ll bring the food in a few,” Jack said.

  “How did you do that?” I asked when we reached her. Hands on hips, Katie stood to the side supervising Eddie, one of the kitchen staff as he wiped the now empty table.

  “No prob,” she said, nodding to Eddie as he headed off. “I just persuaded them that they should respect their elders.”

  “Remind me to take you along if I ever go on safari,” Alice said, laughing as we took our seats. She poured us each a glass of Coles.

  “Well, it’s cold,” Lolly said, “but I still prefer my Chardonnay.”

  “Doesn’t go with chorizo,” I said, tipping my glass. “So, good to have you here.”

  “So, what’s our next move?” Katie said.

  “Dinner?” I said, knowing full well what she meant.

  “Baloney. After the story you told us, you can’t afford to be off the case all weekend.”

  “This is our time,” I said.

  “Listen, girl,” Katie said. “After you tried to warn us off, I packed my stun gun, several cans of pepper spray and cuffs. I also brought a couple of the kids’ baseball bats I found in the garage.”

  “Oh, Lord,” Lolly said. “Kill me now.”

  “None of that will be necessary,” I said. “Frank is always with us. My bodyguard, black Tacoma.”

  “I saw him when I parked,” Alice said. “Built like a brick shithouse. It must be serious if you’ve hired him.”

  At that moment, Jack and Eddie appeared with our food. I wanted to jump up and hug both of them. “Let’s eat, “I said. “We can plot strategy later.”

  As we ate, we chatted about life, Alice’s travels and day-to-day, comfortable topics that did not include murdered people and premature burials. It was wonderful and relaxing. As I started in on my second chorizo rolls, feeling almost full, Vinnie strolled up. “Hey, ladies, lookin’ good.”

  As we all greeted him, I gazed over to see Lolly batting her eyelashes. Geez!

  “Join us,” Katie said, ignoring my glare. “We’re plotting strategy with Ricky’s case.”

  “Thanks, but no can do. Just getting’ take-out. Got a job tonight over at Ricky’s boyfriend’s house. Besides, none of you pretty ladies should be mixed up in that shit, including your friend the PI.”

  “Ha, ha,” I said, as a chorus of “boyfriend?” rang out. I would be killing Vinnie very soon. I glared at him, but he ignored me.

  He even had the audacity to wink! “She must not have gotten to that part in your catching up. Stop over on your way home. It’s gonna be a spectacular house. Doc’s got great taste.” With a nod and a wolfish grin, he turned and headed for the bar where Jack had a large bag waiting.

  Stop by, indeed. Over my dead body!

  “Okay, girl,” Lolly said. “Seems you left out something major in reciting your recent activities. Hmm?”

  Chapter 33

  Saturday morning I woke at nine with a headache, no surprise. Half asleep, I schlepped into the kitchen where I found Katie and Alice bustling about. They had been assigned breakfast so, of course, it was amazing—fruit, eggs, bacon, bagels, lox, five flavors of cream cheese, and every kind of muffin from Katie’s local bakery. Lolly sat at the table observing, head in hands. She wore sunglasses and a diaphanous robe of swirling colors that made my head spin.

  “Good morning!” Katie said, grinning as if she hadn’t consumed the same gallons of alcohol as the rest of us.”

  “Too loud!” Lolly said.

  “You gals are slippin’,” Katie said, as she set plates and cutlery on the table. “Make yourself useful, Pruit. Push those around.”

  Lolly pushed everything to the middle of the table as Alice set platters and baskets beside her. “Come on, eat, gals. Make us all feel much better.”

  I gazed out at the river. “Looks like a great day for a beach walk.”

  “A very slow, quiet one,” Lolly said, loading up her plate.


  Alice was right. The food perked us up. After stuffing ourselves, we dressed and headed out into the beautiful morning. We took a two-mile walk, returned to shower and planned our day. Katie and Lolly loved to shop so we spent the morning hitting all their “hot spots,” then ended up at Terry’s Tea Room for a late lunch. Attached to Terry’s was a gift shop full of trendy jewelry, handbags, and other useless stuff. After lunch, Katie and Lolly browsed while Alice and I sat on a bench in the shade chatting. When we arrived home at two, we all decided a nap was in order.

  Shortly after four, we arrived at the Bluffs, parking in the residents’ lot several blocks from Dad’s and Rita’s. The huge green and white striped tent was visible in their backyard and the smoky smell of the bake surrounded us.

  “This was a terrific idea,” Alice said. “I haven’t been to a clambake in years.”

  “I’ve been dreaming of this for three weeks,” Katie said. “Some of my fondest summer memories are being here at a clambake. Yum!”

  Lolly groaned. She didn’t like clams. Lobster, yes, clams no.

  One of the first people I spied as we skirted the house and came out on the lawn was Rita’s son, Matthew. He lived in Maine and I saw little of him. At fifteen, he had fathered a son with fourteen-year- old cousin Bella, Rita’s sister’s daughter. His son, Bobby now sixteen stood beside him.

  “Hey, Matthew, Bobby good to see you guys.” I them both a hug, then introduced the gang.

  “Hi, Ricky. You’re looking well.” Translation, you don’t look bad for an almost senior citizen.

  “You, too. How’s Maine?”

  As we talked, I glimpsed Dad and Rita on the terrace greeting guests like the king and queen. I recognized some of their neighbors from the rare summer cocktail parties I’ve attended in the Magic Kingdom. One of them, Lincoln Ramsay, rumored to be the wealthiest resident of the Bluffs, stood chatting with Lesley and Bill Kickham. Venture capitalists, Lesley and Bill were friendly with dad and Rita, but Ramsay was just a passing acquaintance as far as I knew. He and his wife, Catherine, lived at the Annex, home to the Buffs’ wealthiest residents.

  As Katie regaled Matthew and Bobby with tales of her latest travel adventures in Chile, I excused myself and headed across the lawn.

  “Ricky, hi, hello!” Lindsay Kickham called.

  I paused, surprised that she even remembered me. “Hi, Lindsay, great to see you.”

  She pulled me into the group, introducing me to Ramsay as well as Chip and Patsy Bolton, whom I’ve met before. Chip Bolton owns several mills in Spindle City where they are constantly inventing new variations on sewing machines. His mills also provide space for a number of designer clothing manufacturers.

  “Hi, Patsy, Chip. Good to see you again,” I said, shaking their hands.

  “You’re Ralston’s daughter, aren’t you?” he said.

  “Guilty as charged.”

  “Didn’t I hear you’d gone into some kind of interesting work?”

  “Ricky’s a private investigator,” Lindsay said. “Isn’t that cool?”

  “Intriguing line of work at your age,” Patsy Bolton said.

  “Tell us about your cases,” Lindsay said.

  The others looked bored and ready to be rid of this raggedy interloper. “Not much to tell,” I said. “Mostly insurance fraud, the odd missing person, that sort of thing.”

  “Where’s your office?” Chip asked.

  “Not far from one of your mills, actually. I’m off Quarry in the middle of outlet central.”

  Apparently the Ramsays found our conversation tedious. They wandered off toward another group.

  “Quarry, I know it well. You’re in the old Chase Mill, right?”

  “The very one. Just me, the outlets and a couple of other offices. Their original dreams of turning it into an upscale office building hasn’t panned out. So far, at least.”

  “The mills are a challenge, but no one builds anything that cool anymore.”

  “Couldn’t agree more. The woodwork in mine, or what remains of it, is exquisite.”

  He nodded, as Lolly approached. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Katie barreling across the lawn toward Rita and my dad, Alice in her wake. My father loved Katie and the feeling was mutual. I wasn’t sure Rita had ever met her, but that would be changing soon.

  As the Kickhams wandered off, I said, “Chip, since you’re in the business in Spindle City, do you know anything about a company called Meridian?”

  He gave me a sharp look, then gazed upward, doing a very poor imitation of someone thinking. “Doesn’t sound familiar. What do they do?”

  “Imports. Clothing and other designer knock-offs.”

  “Not my area, sorry.”

  “Just thought you might. The city’s business community is pretty small, right?”

  “I’m not really a part of that community,” he said. “My dealings are mostly in Providence, Boston and New York.”

  Another lie? I nodded, but stayed silent.

  “What’s your interest in them, anyway?” he said, not quite keeping the urgency out of his query.

  “Nothing special. Just heard the name the other day.”

  At that juncture, Lolly poked me. “The bar’s free, dearie. Let’s go.”

  We excused ourselves.

  “He knows someone,” Lolly whispered as we neared the bar.

  “Yup,” I said, looking up to see Rita waving furiously. My father had been waylaid by Katie and they were deep in conversation, preventing him from acting as host. Alice caught my eye and headed toward us.

  I put up my finger in a wait a sec gesture, eliciting a frown from my stepmother.

  “Thank, God, saved!” Alice said, coming to stand beside us. ‘Alcohol! Any kind! Now!”

  We all ordered gin and tonics and, drinks in hand, we reluctantly made our way toward the host and hostess.

  “Took you long enough,” Rita whispered. “Take her away, please. Your father is hopeless when it comes to extracting himself from uncomfortable social situations.”

  “He looks fine. It appears most people have arrived anyway.”

  Rita rolled her eyes. “Have you seen Matthew and Cassie.”

  “Him yes, haven’t seen Cassie yet.”

  “She’s a wreck, you know, thanks to your horrible client.”

  A change of subject was definitely in order. “You remember my friend, Lolly Pruit?”

  “Yes, hello,” Rita said, ignoring Lolly’s outstretched hand.

  “Nice to see you again,” Lolly said. “This is incredibly generous of you and Ralston to host this.”

  “Yes, it is,” Rita said, “and it won’t be happening next year. Let someone else’s lawn be destroyed! And those ghastly Porta-potties— yuck!”

  “This is another Whitley friend, Alice Bannister. I don’t believe you two have met.”

  “Hello, Ms. Steele,” Alice said, smiling.

  “Rita, please. Always lovely to meet one of Ricky’s chums.” She turned from Alice to me. “By the way, speaking of chums, I didn’t know you knew the Ramsays?”

  “I don’t, except for the times I’ve seen them at your parties.”

  “Horrible people. He’s a terrible snob and she’s a relentless do-gooder!”

  “Then why do you socialize with them?”

  “Wake up, dearie. This is the Bluffs and no one leaves Lincoln Ramsay off their guest list.”

  “Hey, Dad,” I said, deciding it was time for an extraction. “Can we steal Katie for a bit?”

  “Hello, darling. Lolly, so nice to see you again. And, Alice, isn’t it? It’s been a while, my dear.” He stepped forward and gave each of them a warm hug.

  “Katie, we’re needed over there,” I said, waving toward the beach. “Catch you later,” I said, waving to Dad and Rita.

  We made our way to the edge of the crowd pausing long enough for Katie to visit the bar. When she returned she had a small platter of appetizers in one hand, her gin and tonic in the other. Don’t know how
she does it, but it’s awe inspiring. We found an open table in the cocktail area, sat down and dove into the oysters, crab puffs and shrimp cocktail. Occasionally someone else would pass by and we graciously shared with them.

  As I gazed around, I spotted my stepsister Cassie on the arm of a tall, preppy guy in rugby jersey, faded red shorts and boat shoes. I decided to steer clear, if possible. Katie was going on and on about how handsome Dad was and how he never changed a bit when I heard a familiar voice nearby. I turned to find Charlie Bowen chatting with Sim and Betsy Khan, two of Rita and Dad’s best friends in the area. One of the city’s top orthopedic surgeons, he was originally from Iraq, but had come to the states for medical school, met Betsy at Harvard and they now lived in the city, while maintaining a second home two doors down from Dad’s in the Magic Kingdom.

  Charlie turned and caught my eye, then nodded to the Khans and excused himself, heading our way.

  “Hey, Ricky,” he said, coming to stand over me. His gorgeous smile was not lost on my companions, whose jaws had nearly hit the table. “Good to see you.”

  “Charlie,’ I said, giving in to the inevitable. “As you can see, the gang’s all here.” I introduced him to the girls, who were in full flirting mode with batting eyelashes, phony swoons and syrupy platitudes.

  We chatted for what seemed like hours, but in reality, was probably less than five minutes, when traitorous Katie said, “Sit down. Please, join us. We’ve heard sooo much about you, we want to hear more.” My glare was lost on her.

  Charlie laughed as he stole a glance at me. If my cheeks got any redder, I’d turn into a giant beet. “Love to, ladies, but I’ve got to get back to my group. I came with a bunch of people from the Clinic. Don’t want to be rude. Love to catch up later, though. Maybe I’ll see you around the neighborhood? How long are you staying?”

  “Just till tomorrow,” Lolly said, looking downcast and rueful. “But we’ll be around until later in the afternoon,” she added, batting her long eyelashes.