Breaking Even

by Lily Bishop

  In her heart, she sensed Ric was a good man, but she couldn't reconcile that with the rumors. If his cousin was part of organized crime, how deep did it go? Had Ric done anything illegal to help his family?

  She called Sarah, wanting to talk. “Well, the shit hit the fan last night.”

  “What?”

  “Well, you saw all those cars here when I came home. Ben had ten people over here piled up smoking pot.”

  “Wow. I'm sure that didn't make you happy.”

  “Are you kidding me? The whole place smelled like pot. I was livid, and he wasn't too happy either. When he left a few hours ago, he said he would be back Wednesday with a friend’s truck to pick up his stuff.”

  “I'm surprised y’all lasted this long. Rumor has it that he's been selling pot on the side at the bar. It's only a matter of time before they’re arrested. They send in undercover cops all the time to those places.”

  “Why didn't you say something?”

  ‘I didn't want to be the one to burst your bubble. You seemed to like having him there. Yesterday’s the first day I've heard you say anything negative at all.”

  “You could have given me some warning.” Lindsey frowned into the phone. Did everyone know except her?

  “I didn't know he was having a party, and I asked if you wanted me to come in with you and you didn’t. You were ready for him to move anyway, so it sounds like that was a win-win.”

  “I guess.” Lindsey still felt like a coward for not trying harder to work out her issues with Ben. He was a good friend while they lived in Tallahassee, but the move had changed everything.

  Was Sarah right? Did it all come down to jealousy? She didn't think so. She had been clear with Ben from the beginning that she didn't want anything to do with drugs.

  #

  Javier moored the yacht on Santa Katerina in the middle of pouring rain. He hadn’t been caught in the wind, but the rain bands had slowed his return trip. He had taken twice as long to get back from Calliope. The crew had been sullen the whole trip back, knowing they were returning without their prize. Javier had watched Lindsey get on the plane to go home and he couldn’t stop it.

  The crew had wanted to grab a girl from one of the shops on Calliope, just to have something to bring the boss, but Javier wouldn’t risk it. The less Ricardo knew about the missing women, the better.

  He knew Miguel wouldn’t be happy. He had stood on the tarmac in Calliope and watched Ricardo and Lindsey get out of the SUV. The island informant had warned them that the girl was leaving early because of the hurricane. Javier had left as soon as he could, taking Miguel’s thirty-foot yacht, but it wasn’t soon enough. By the time he arrived, she was already boarding the plane. They couldn’t risk flying the plane in, since no new flights were coming into the island because of the hurricane.

  He could see his brother talking to airport security. That was an unexpected development. At least his yellow slicker covered him well enough to hide his identity. Running into his twin would end the whole operation.

  He might have still have had a chance to snatch her, but Ricardo didn’t let her out of his sight for even a minute. Javier turned away from watching the kiss in the rain, sneering his lips. Ricardo was weak, paying attention to a woman when chaos threatened from the hurricane.

  Javier waited until the plane took off before he skulked back to the ship. He would have to find a way to explain to Miguel that he had failed. It wasn’t his fault that the girl left early, but Miguel wouldn't see it that way.

  “I knew that you should have gone a day earlier,” Miguel told him, his face red. Vaughn sat to the side and smirked. Javier wanted to slap that smirk off the man’s face.

  “It wouldn’t have mattered. From what I was told, they were inseparable. You have to find a way to get them apart, or else take her from the United States.”

  Miguel grunted. “That presents its own problems. I don’t trust Vaughn Bruce enough to do the job without help, and the new passports for us aren’t ready yet. Maybe by Christmas. It’s getting more difficult.”

  “Why do you want that woman, anyway? She’s not even that beautiful. We’ll find you a different woman.”

  “Why do you want Giada, eh? Xavier had her first, no?”

  “We don’t speak of it,” Javier said, his jaw tight.

  Miguel slammed his hand down on the table. “Your job is not to ask me why. Your job is to get what I require, understand?”

  Javier lowered his eyes. “Yes, I understand.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Enough is Enough

  Calliope had survived the hurricane with minimal damage, but Ric still had work to do. A tornado had felled trees and shattered windows in the main resort building. The damage meant he couldn't visit Lindsey as soon as he wanted. By the time his crew finished their projects, Lindsey was in the middle of finals.

  Now that he had finished the repairs to the resort, he had time to spend with Lindsey. Fortunately, fall semester had also ended, so nothing stood in their way.

  He had been researching properties available in the Upstate South Carolina area. After a few calls, he learned that one of his acquaintances wanted to sell a large estate. His friend was out of town and invited him to stay there over the weekend and tour the estate. It would be a perfect weekend getaway. If he could buy that estate, he would have a base of operations in South Carolina. Near Lindsey. He told Lindsey he had a surprise trip for her, and that they would leave early Saturday morning.

  Ric boarded his jet for a weekend trip to visit Lindsey. It had been a tough couple of months, and neither one of them had found the time to get away.

  He couldn’t wait to see Lindsey, but first, he had plans to train with the young man from the fencing club. They had struck up a friendship via email. He had invited Lindsey to join them, but she declined. She claimed she wanted to finish cleaning her house before he arrived.

  Cayden met him at the gym where their club usually gathered, and Ric gave him a few pointers. He thought Cayden could increase his win ratio with just a few minor changes to his form. They were halfway through the session when Cayden’s boyfriend Troy showed up. He looked more jealous than a bride-to-be who had tracked her fiancé to a strip club.

  When he saw that a fencing lesson was in progress, the boyfriend stayed to watch, but tension poured off him. Cayden lost his concentration and wasn’t making any more progress. After a few easy hits from Ric that Cayden failed to parry, Cayden held up his hands.

  “My mind’s not in the game any longer.” He glared at his boyfriend sitting at the scoring table. “Thank you for helping me, and I will let you know how my next competition goes.”

  “It was a pleasure, and do keep me posted on your matches.” Ric shook the young man’s hand and left. He could call Lindsey and let her know he would be earlier than he thought. He stepped into the locker room and changed out of his fencing attire before he left.

  In his car, Ric checked his phone. He saw an email from the private investigator that he had hired to look into Ben Morton. He clicked open the attachment. He had waited for weeks, but her outrageous fee had been worth it. He read the report and studied the pictures.

  Apparently, Fox’s warnings that her roommate was doing drugs weren’t enough for Lindsey. That didn’t matter now. This woman had found the hard proof he needed. Ben was one of the biggest drug dealers in Clemson.

  He glanced at his watch. He still had time. Lindsey could wait a little longer. On Friday night, Ben should be at work at The Globe. He would go talk to him now.

  It was still early, and the bar was almost empty. Ric sat down at the bar and waited. When Ben saw him, he came over, his lips tight.

  “Salzana, is it?”

  “Yes—Ric, remember?” he said, suppressing his accent.

  “I remember. What can I get for you?”

  “Whiskey. Neat.”

  When he delivered the drink, Ric pushed his phone across the bar. “I’ve got something you need to see.”


  Ben glanced at the screen of the phone and then picked it up. His eyes widened. He passed the phone to Ric and leaned closer so they wouldn’t be overheard. “What the hell do you want?”

  “You know that I care a great deal for Lindsey.”

  “Good for you. What does that have to do with me?”

  Ric leaned back. “It’s simple. I don’t want you as her roommate.”

  Ben laughed. “Zorro, you’re late. I moved out a month ago. She was cramping my style. The bar is successful enough now, so I got my own place. Best decision I ever made.”

  Ric stared at Ben, surprised. Knowing how much it irritated him that she had a male roommate, why wouldn’t she have told him this already?

  “I told her about your cousin, and the rumors about him and organized crime in Atlanta. She didn’t believe me, but that doesn’t make it any less true. If anything happens to her, you’re the first suspect the police will call.”

  “I don’t sell drugs. Stay away from her.”

  Ric downed the whiskey, laid a twenty on the table, and left. Lindsey would be waiting, and they needed to talk.

  #

  After studying for finals and grading freshman tests, Lindsey couldn't wait for Christmas break. Since her plans were still up in the air, Ric offered to come up for a long weekend. He had a friend in the mountains who offered to let them stay at his house. Lindsey thought that was odd, but Ric seemed excited. He told her the house was near the tunnel they had visited.

  He had asked her to spend Christmas on Calliope with him. Lindsey couldn't decide. She felt torn in two different directions. She didn't want to hurt Laura's feelings. She had spent Christmas with her sister since their mother had died, but now Laura had Fox. Lindsey would have to give him an answer soon.

  Ric planned to help Cayden with his fencing technique on Friday afternoon. At first, she didn’t realize that he and Ric had been in contact, but then Ric explained that they had exchanged emails since his last visit. He said he would see her when they finished and to expect a late dinner.

  She liked that Ric was always willing to help others. He had no obligation to help that guy with his fencing, but he did it anyway. He had helped the islanders with their road, and rebuilding after the hurricane. That was her man.

  She straightened the house, putting away the last of the clutter. She planned to surprise Ric with the news that Ben had moved out. She should have already told him, but she had wanted to surprise him with the news. He had been so busy after the hurricane, they hadn’t talked much. The few times they managed to connect, she wasn’t thinking about Ben.

  He called to tell her that he finished earlier than expected and offered to pick up pizza for dinner.

  “You got here sooner than I thought,” she said. She took the pizza from him. He followed her into the kitchen.

  “I gave Cayden some pointers, and he seemed to be picking them up.” He smirked, as if remembering something. “Then his ... boyfriend showed up.”

  Lindsey laughed. “I told you he wasn't interested in me.”

  “I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong.”

  When she put down the pizza, he took her in his arms for a proper hug. Lindsey pressed herself into his arms, losing herself in his touch.

  “So you flew to Atlanta and drove up here?”

  “Yes, I had to pick up my car.”

  “What do you do about your house when you’re not there?” Lindsey asked.

  “I rent a room to a graduate student. He takes care of it for me.”

  “I hope he doesn’t throw wild parties,” she said, offhand.

  “No, he’s very responsible,” he said. She snorted at that, but didn’t say anything else. “Listen, I stopped by The Globe on the way over. I wanted to talk to Ben.”

  Lindsey froze. “Why would you do that?”

  “I had proof that he was dealing pot, and I wanted to force him to move out.”

  “You never gave him a chance.”

  He inclined his head. “You’re right. I didn’t trust him from the beginning. Why didn’t you tell me he moved out weeks ago?”

  Lindsey turned away to get her thoughts together. After a moment, she sat down on the couch. “Because you were right about him all along.”

  “But why not tell me? You know I hated having him here.”

  “Because I felt like you didn’t trust me to make my own decisions. I don’t need a father figure to tell me what I can and can’t do. I need to be able to make my own mistakes.”

  “So, I should just let you drive off a cliff?”

  “No, it wasn’t like that. I meant to tell you, but it happened right after I got back from Calliope, and you were busy. By the time things settled down there and we had time to talk, I wasn’t thinking about Ben.”

  “So what happened? He just said he moved out.”

  “Fox told me that he had found drug stuff in his room that weekend you were up here. I confronted Ben, and he said he didn’t have any drugs. He showed me his room, where Fox had said the drugs were, and I didn’t see anything. I believed Ben, but I agreed that he was acting weird.”

  Ric’s expression didn’t change, so Lindsey continued. “When I came back early from Calliope, I interrupted a party with his friends. He must have had ten or fifteen people over here smoking pot and doing tequila shots. I told him that night I wanted him to leave. He moved out by the following weekend.”

  “I know you thought it was a good idea to have him here, but I suspected something from the start.”

  Lindsey glared at him. “Since then, I learned that one of my friends needs somewhere else to stay in January, so she’s going to move in.”

  “Who's that?”

  “Remember Sarah? She and her roommate have done nothing but fight, so she's moving in here. It seems like a better fit. Anyway, once Ben moved out, I hired a cleaning company. They cleaned the carpets and the furniture, and I think most of the smell is gone.”

  “I’m impressed,” Ric said.

  “Can I get you something to drink? I have water, iced tea, or Diet Mountain Dew to drink.” Lindsey wanted to change the subject.

  “Always with the Diet Mountain Dew,” he said, laughing. “I’ll have water.”

  She fixed two glasses of iced water and sat down beside him at the table. She opened the pizza and gave them each a slice. She bit into hers. “Hmm, I was hungrier than I thought.”

  “Me, too. I should have eaten before the fencing lesson, but I didn’t have time. Then as soon as I saw the investigator’s report, I went to talk to Ben.”

  Lindsey froze, pizza still in her mouth. “What investigator?”

  “The one who confirmed that Ben was dealing pot.”

  Lindsey put down the pizza. “You hired an investigator? I don’t believe you did that! What dirt did he dig up on me?”

  “The investigator was a she, and she didn’t do any digging—as you say—on you. I only asked for information on Ben.”

  Lindsey sighed, still irritated that Ric had checked up on her. That he hadn’t trusted her. “Can you at least admit that the investigator was a bad idea?”

  He looked at her for a long minute before he answered. “Maybe. You should have told me he moved out. If you had, I wouldn’t have hired her. It only hired her a couple of weeks ago. You knew how frustrated I was with him living here.”

  Lindsey looked away, not meeting his eyes. “You’re right. I should have. I screwed up. I just hated that everyone else was right about him.”

  “How about this? I agree to consult you on major decisions going forward if you agree to do the same.”

  Lindsey mentally took a step back. That sounded too much like a merger of two lives. “I guess it depends on your definition of major.”

  “If we don’t start sharing decisions, we’ll never move forward.”

  “So the fact that Sarah will be my new roommate—”

  “Maybe I would have liked it if you talked to me about it.”

  “But she w
ill be my roommate! What does that have to do with you?”

  “Well, if she hated me, for example, that would make things awkward. And if I can visit more frequently, wouldn’t it be better to leave the other bedroom empty?”

  “Not if I don’t want to live by myself. I like having someone else around. I get lonely,” she admitted.

  “If you want her to move in, I don’t have any issues with it. I get lonely, too.”

  “You get lonely too?” Lindsey asked, surprised he would admit such a thing.

  “Of course I’m lonely. What, you think I’m just partying it out on the town at the resort with other women?”

  Lindsey shrugged. “No, but sometimes I wonder.”

  He took the water from her hand and sat it beside him, and then pulled her over his lap.

  “Look at me.”

  Lindsey still wouldn’t meet his eyes, so he cupped her chin and lifted until she would meet his eyes.

  “There has been no one else since I met you in Miami. Even before Calliope. I haven’t even looked at another woman. I’ve worked long hours, but I haven’t had a single date. Now I know why. I was waiting for you.”

  “You haven’t gone out on any dates in all this time?”

  “No, I haven’t. And I hope you haven’t. Can we at least agree that we’re exclusive with each other? Even if we don’t know where this is going?”

  “That I can do.”

  “How about this. If you are thinking about a big life-type decision, will you at least tell me what you are thinking? I promise I won’t weigh in unless you ask for my opinion.”

  “I can try.”

  Peace washed over her, the earlier angst gone. This was the hardest thing about their long distance relationship. They had separate lives, and when they came back together, she felt awkward for the first little bit.

  Her doubts about him faded. She snuggled closer, liking his arms around her.

  “You should dress casually more often,” she suggested. Ric looked good in the bright blue shirt with the long sleeves pushed up.