James Ross - A Character-Based Collection (Prairie Winds Golf Course)

by James Ross

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Raul was at Cosmo Lofts napping before seeing clients at his store.

  Shari was at home doing what her lawyer had suggested. It was her nature to check on Tyler Cy in the lower level and tell him how to properly perform the rehab exercises for his knee. “How do you expect to get any better if you don’t do the stretches right?” she asked as Tyler Cy used the cord around his ankle to bend his knee and extend it back so that the heel of his foot would reach the hamstring.

  “I’m doing the best I can, Woobie.” Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. A grimace indicated he was moving the leg in a foreign motion.

  “Your range of motion isn’t going to improve until you start exercising more. You need to be putting in at least six hours a day.”

  Tyler Cy winced. “I never want to go through this again.” He took a deep breath. “See what throwing a pillow caused?”

  “Hey, don’t blame it on me. You were the one that fell down the steps.” Shari grabbed the remote and changed the television channel.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Switching the channel to watch something else.” She flipped through twenty programs in thirty seconds settling on a ladies political gossip show. The topic being discussed was corruption in the government.

  “Do we have to listen to them?” Tyler Cy complained.

  Shari gave him a nasty look. “What do you think?’

  “About what they’re talking about?”

  “No! About these workout pants.” She turned so that her derriere was in his line of sight. “Do these make me look fat?”

  Tyler Cy was in a damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don’t position. The Spandex wasn’t necessarily flattering but he had always thought that his wife’s appearance was better than any other woman her age. “You wear it well.”

  “Damn you, Tyler Cy! You’re just saying that.” Shari looked over her right shoulder and admired her butt in the mirror. “I didn’t think it would make me look like I don’t have an ass, but it does.”

  “What’s that have to do with making you look fat?”

  “That’s what I was talking about. You didn’t notice. You just made a comment for my benefit. I wanted an honest opinion.”

  “For someone your age the pants look great on you.”

  “What do you mean for someone my age? Are you saying that I’m getting old?”

  “Come on, Woobie. You know what I mean. You’re a middle aged woman that has aged gracefully. How is that? The clothes look good on you.” Tyler Cy unwrapped the cord that was around his ankle. “Why is it such a concern of yours?”

  Shari did some toe lifts and watched her butt cheeks in the mirror. “We live in a health conscious world. I want to make sure that I look physically fit. It’s tough to maintain a nice figure.”

  “Why do you need that sort of look?” Tyler Cy felt a little feisty. “Are you getting ready to hit the singles’ circuit?”

  “Screw you, Tyler Cy.”

  “Richie’s gone.” Now he played dumb. “Are you going to find someone new to replace him?” Now that their divorce proceedings were moving along Tyler Cy felt as if he could take a jab at her for having a long-lasting affair.

  “Maybe I already have.”

  Tyler Cy climbed onto an exercise bike. He set the timer and the difficulty level and started pedaling. “Who is Raul?”

  Shari stopped admiring herself in the mirror. She turned to face him directly. “How do you know about Raul?”

  “I know you, Woobie. You’ve always had men in your life.”

  “How do you know about him?”

  “Is that why Richie had been calling so much?”

  “Let’s not go there. I told you what was going on.”

  “But you didn’t say a thing about this Raul character.”

  Shari got defensive. “It was none of your business. His feelings got hurt. He didn’t want to let it go. He threatened me. He said he was going to run to you and tell you about Raul.”

  Tyler pumped away on the stationary bike. “So he knew that you had another boyfriend and he couldn’t handle it.”

  “I guess! Do we have to talk about this right now?”

  Beads of sweat formed on Tyler Cy’s forehead. Their relationship was out of the ordinary; a product of what had developed over the years. “Look, I said my vows and I am still committed to them. I don’t want this silly divorce.” He threw another nugget her way. “How many men would allow you to have a boyfriend and run around all over town rubbing it in his face?”

  Shari absorbed what he said and didn’t back down. “You know that you can’t satisfy me! It was either that or you would have been gone a long time ago.”

  Tyler Cy took the slam and pedaled harder, his face reddening. “I’ve bent over backwards to please you and nothing seems to be enough.” He grabbed a towel, wiped his face, and in a demanding tone said, “Hand me the remote.”

  “Why?”

  “So I can turn down the volume on the TV. I’m tired of listening to those women babble incessantly about corruption in politics. We all know that every representative is on the take.”

  “Not the females.”

  “Oh, come on, Woobie. It doesn’t make any difference if the rep is a male or a female. Anybody in a position of authority has their hand out.”

  “Lisa doesn’t.”

  Tyler Cy wiped the sweat out of his eyes. “That’s BS. If we could get some cooperation out of her we could go forward with the golf course development.”

  “I’m sure she would help you.”

  “You would think, but so far that hasn’t been the case. She’s a tougher nut to crack than any guy I’ve ever had to deal with. We can’t get anywhere with the politicians. Our contracts are about to expire. We have to put up more hard money to extend the options and I can’t get a read on the situation.”

  “Do you need me to help?”

  “You do what the lawyers tell you to do. I don’t know what you can do over and above what we’ve already done at the office.” Tyler Cy slowed his pedaling and began his cool down.

  Shari turned her attention back to the mirror. “I still want to know how you know about Raul?”

  “You must play me for an absolute fool. I know people all over town.”

  Shari flexed her butt. “I think I’ll get cleaned up and see if Ashlyn wants to meet me at the mall. I seen where Saks had a sale on some outfits I want.” She looked at his worn out workout clothes. “Maybe I’ll get you a designer sweat suit. The one you have on looks like crap.” Tyler Cy looked out of the side of his eye as she bounded up the steps. It was getting close to four.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Detective Basnahan was trained to notice details. What was surprising was that he did not see Shari’s Jaguar inch through the sparsely filled parking lot in front of Raul’s Massage Therapy. But he had reason for that. A conversation had just begun with Raul Mendez. Shari was observant enough to see the detective through the window and kept the car rolling.

  Lester J and Bazz were good. They hurriedly prepared a search warrant and got a judge to sign off. Of course the item of chief concern was Raul’s cell phone. It wasn’t going to yield any clues into the murder of Richard W. Richards but they expected the phone would provide evidence that suggested some sort of relationship between Raul and Shari that endangered the life of Tindra.

  Bazz was a stranger to Raul. That alone caused Raul to fidget. Bazz noticed it too. The conversation started in a similar fashion. “Are you Mr. Mendez?” The proprietor nodded. “I’m Detective M.T. Basnahan. I’m here today conducting a criminal investigation.”

  “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “I never said you did.”

  Raul took a deep breath. “Good.” His eyes darted past and through the detective. He focused on the front desk. “Sorry. I have some clients coming in soon and I need to get the place ready.” He straightened up a stack of magazines on an end table and headed to
the front desk.

  “One wouldn’t be Shari Daniels-Donnelly, would it?”

  Raul stopped momentarily. He looked into space for a brief second before answering. “No.”

  The pleasant looking heartthrob effectively dodged the first bait that was thrown into the water. Bazz tried a more direct approach. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

  “Go ahead, but you’ll have to make it quick. My first appointment will be here soon.” Raul had moved to the front desk.

  Bazz got a little concerned when Raul stepped behind the counter. “You don’t have any weapons, do you?”

  Raul laughed. “Of course not.” His smile stretched across the front of his face. “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Bazz mumbled.

  “Who have you talked to?”

  “Tindra,” Bazz paused to gauge Raul’s reaction, “but I’ll ask the questions if it’s alright with you.”

  Raul relented but he wasn’t too pleased. “It’s my place of business, you know.”

  “Would you like for me to make it quick?”

  “Yeah. If you have a bunch of questions about Tindra I’d rather not answer them.”

  “What would you rather talk about?” Bazz did a good job of alienating himself.

  “Nothing.” Raul did not like the guy all of a sudden.

  Bazz fumbled around in his pocket. “We have reason to believe that an item that you have in your possession might be a critical piece of evidence in an investigation that we are conducting.”

  “What is that?”

  “I’ve got a search warrant for your cell phone.”

  “What do you want that for?”

  “I think you know.”

  Raul was unfazed. He had deleted all of the messages out of memory. “Is that all you want?” He reached into his pocket and handed over his mobile phone. “When can I get it back? A lot of my clients reach me through it.”

  “You may want to make arrangements for some sort of a backup. We may have it for a while.”

  “What do you want it for?”

  “Court documents and your wife…”

  “We’re not married.”

  “Sorry. Court documents and your live-in indicated that it was the source of the complaints that she has been filing.”

  “From Shari?”

  Bazz smiled. “You’re good. Maybe you should take up a career in law enforcement.”

  Raul wanted to smack the detective. “That’s what she gets for prying into my business.”

  “I’ve got to hand it to you.” Bazz placed the phone into a Ziploc bag. “You’ve got good taste in women.” He turned to leave. “I just hope that you’re not in over your head. They can be volatile, you know.”

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Bazz was barely out of the lot. Shari had pulled her car around back, placed a scarf over her hair and waited. She didn’t want to have anything to do with the detective. It was easier to avoid than confront. Within minutes she was face-to-face with Raul.

  “What did he want?”

  “My cell phone.”

  “Did you give it to him?”

  “I had to.”

  Shari paced back and forth across the reception area concerned that the depth of their affair would somehow get back to Tyler Cy. “Why did you do something stupid like that?”

  “I had to. He had a search warrant for it.”

  “I seen stupid…”

  “Don’t worry, Bombon. There wasn’t anything on it. All the messages have been deleted.” Raul wasn’t about to tell her that Tindra had found his phone, discovered a few messages, and had been monitoring the texts he had been receiving. If Shari found out that he knew Tindra had taken his phone and had gone to the cops, his weekday perks would dry up, and so would his sleeping arrangement. “Everything will be fine.”

  “What do you mean everything will be fine? I’ve already spent a night in jail. I don’t want to ever do that again.”

  “It’s over and done with. I don’t think that it will do them any good,” Raul said. “I just hope they don’t keep it very long. I want it back.”

  “How am I supposed to stay in touch with you?”

  “I’ll get a temporary one tomorrow.”

  “Are you staying at the apartment tonight?”

  Raul flashed the golden smile and shook his head from side to side. “Tindra promised not to slash me up.”

  “Do you believe her?” Shari said as she nuzzled up to his chest. She couldn’t keep her hands off of him. She wrapped her arms around his waist. “I mean when you fall asleep anything can happen, especially if you don’t trust her.”

  “We’re getting along better.”

  “Even after she found out about me?”

  “She made me promise not to see you anymore.”

  Shari pressed her torso against his. “And what did you tell her?”

  Raul chuckled. “I told her I wouldn’t.” He laughed some more. “And she believed me.”

  “What are you going to do if she finds out?”

  Raul laughed heartily. “I guess I’ll sleep over at the apartment more. I don’t want my you-know-what to go bye-bye.”

  “Me and you both.” Shari purred and rocked her pelvis. She whispered, “How will you know if she finds out?”

  The question was perplexing. “I never thought of that. I figured I’d be real careful.” Then an idea popped into his head. “Maybe we shouldn’t call each other or talk to each other.”

  “Then how will I know when you’ll be at the apartment?”

  “I can leave a note for you,” Raul suggested.

  “That means I’ll have to run over there every day to see when you’ll be there.”

  “Do you know of another way to do it?”

  “This place is closer to home. Maybe I can come over here to talk.”

  Raul thought for a second. “That’s not a good idea, but hey, maybe I can leave a green flag in the window with a number on it indicating when I’ll be there. Then you can drive by here and find out when I’ll be over there.”

  “You’re thinking clearly, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve got customers and now the cops know where they can reach me. They may be watching.”

  Shari sighed and looked up at him, saddened. A kiss followed. “When will you be there next?”

  “I can go by there the day after tomorrow.”

  “What time?”

  “After lunch. It will be mid-afternoon.”

  “I need to see you. I’ll be waiting.”

  Chapter Sixty

  As badly as Shari wanted to see Raul she was a no-show for their tryst. She had nearly forgotten that Kara and Del had been invited home to celebrate a self-proclaimed Father’s Day for Tyler Cy and Jayla was coming from boarding school.

  She had told Ashlyn earlier in the summer that Tyler Cy could mess up her social calendar even as she was trying to permanently exit his life. This was a perfect example of what she was referring to. You would think seeing her kids would trigger a different response.

  The cigarette was lit. The Chardonnay poured. The jewelry—especially the rings—and makeup was in place. Tyler Cy was in the lower level as Kara and Shari caught up on the latest happenings.

  “What’s for dinner?” Kara asked.

  “We’re having it catered,” Shari answered. “You know how I hate to cook.” She took a sip of wine and puffed on her cigarette. “You can choose from chicken cordon bleu, crab-stuffed flounder, or a six ounce filet. Your dad picked out the vegetables.”

  “What did he get?”

  “You know your father and his vegetables. He ordered Orecchiette with Rapini and goat cheese and roasted asparagus. You’d think that he could lose some weight eating that.”

  “I don’t know about the first one but I should like the asparagus. What did you get for dessert?”

  “Believe it or not we compromised.”

  “I didn’t think the two of you could agree
on anything.”

  “We decided to be civil since the family was all together again. The two of us agreed on something that we noticed in Cozumel. It’s an exotic fruit and spice cake. It’s something healthy but still in the spirit of a special occasion cake.”

  “Yummy. What’s in it?”

  “I don’t really know how they make it. I believe the crust is made of crushed almonds and then there is orange marmalade and icing. The caterer said that it had raisins, apricots, figs, dates, kiwis, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, cinnamon and nutmeg. I seen the picture and knew we should try it.” Shari fetched the photo off of the counter top and handed it to Kara.

  “How good does that look! Can I have that at the wedding?” Even though it was nine months away the time was ticking.

  “That’s what I was thinking. We’ll give it a test drive tonight.” Shari sipped some more Chardonnay. “We have to start planning.”

  “I found my dress and the ones for the bridesmaids.”

  “Good! We can scratch the bridesmaid dresses off the things-to-do list. I’ve already got one picked out for you.”

  “I like the one I picked out. I don’t know if dad will agree. It costs like six thousand dollars.”

  “You only get married once. The one I want for you will cost fifteen thousand dollars. We’re going to have a good party.” Shari laughed and drank more wine.

  “Did he put a ceiling on how much we can spend?”

  “He doesn’t have a choice. You’ll get what I want. You’re his oldest girl and he’ll have to pay for it.”

  “Why are you so sure?”

  “I have the best divorce lawyer in town. We’ll figure up the cost and have her put it in the divorce settlement.”

  Kara smiled at her mother but also knew that she would have to tone down all of the extravagant items to keep her father in an affable mood. It sounded good to have the biggest-and-best wedding ever, but she wanted to at least check with her dad before she started spending his money. It was more out of respect for his position in life than love. She was hopeful that he would agree to her requests.

  A new face appeared in the kitchen. “Whassup, Mom?” Del reached into the refrigerator and popped open a beer. Shari did a quick survey of the four crosses in his ear, shoulder-length hair, and tattoos on his neck and forearms. Del’s eyes suggested a lack of sleep and chronic drug use.