by Penny Henry
Temple opted for the laid-back approach, struggling to keep her emotions in check. "So where could I find this Trinity Ford if I needed to?"
"You are joking, aren't you?" asked Sam doubtfully.
Temple's new found optimism fell through the floor. She had a dreadful premonition that she had missed the latest gossip. Trinity Ford had skipped the country pursued by the irate wives of Orlando or at the very least been abducted by aliens. "No, why should I be?" asked Temple nervously.
Sam laughed brightly. "Temple, you are funny. Trinity has been coming here at least as long as I have. Look, there's her car." She pointed out a brand new black Porsche. "That wasn't earned on her feet," confided Sam. "She's probably in the sauna now sweating out the grime. I'll introduce you if you like."
"No. No. That's okay, Sam. Thanks for all you help. Just one more thing, can you tell Grace that I need to see her now? Tim can take the class. I'll wait in reception."
"Sure, no problem,” agreed Sam. "Remember me to Trinity if you see her." Then she skipped into the complex like a rabbit down a hole.
Temple's luck held for a little longer. They found Trinity in the sauna just as Sam had predicted. They had both stripped down to towels knotted above their breasts to avoid attracting attention. But what Temple saw through the thick glass porthole wasn’t quite what she expected. She stopped her hand from turning the handle and sucked in a breath.
“What’s up, honey?” asked Grace.
“You’re never gonna believe it, Gracie. It seems like the rumors are true.”
Grace pushed Temple’s head to one side with her cheek and fitted one eye to the porthole. “Mmm, mmmm. That is one horny woman.” She shook her head. “I’ve told the guys to keep an eye open for this kind of thing. Seems like this might be the place for a bit of sweaty groping.”
“I suppose it’s gonna happen when everyone gets pumped up in the exercise rooms. And it’s a quiet time of day. I don’t suppose they planned on being disturbed.”
“Who is she with?”
Temple rubbed at the glass and peered into the steamy room. “It’s Josie Green. You know, the tiny African-American girl who looks like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.”
“She ain’t hardly black at all.”
“Maybe not, but she’s hot.”
“Let me see.” Grace forced Temple’s head to one side. “Uh huh. Yep, she’s hot.”
Temple glanced at Grace. She had no idea about her best friend’s sexuality. Maybe she was into women. Or bi-sexual. She had never thought to ask. She wondered if Grace was turned-on as much as Temple was feeling as they battled to share the tiny porthole.
Josie was leaning forward with her hands against the wall and her bottom lifted to Trinity’s face. The brunette was crouched on her thighs holding Josie’s reddened cheeks apart and tonguing her from the rear with her head leant backwards.
“Looks like we missed the spanking,” whispered Grace. “Damn, we should’ve got here earlier.”
“Sssshh. We don’t want to frighten them. Let’s just give them a minute.” Temple felt herself growing wet. She was tempted to sneak a hand under the bottom of her towel and circle a finger on her clitoris but she didn’t think Grace would approve. What they were doing was wrong but the thrill of watching the two women was too much to disregard. A couple of minutes wouldn’t hurt and Grace seemed transfixed by the erotic spectacle. She was breathing heavily and oblivious to Temple occasional glances. Temple was secretly glad they hadn’t stormed in to confront Trinity head on. And she had a sense that Grace was feeling the same way.
The two women watched as Trinity sat back on her thighs and began to finger-fuck Josie. She folded her thumb beneath her fingers and slid her hand inside the spread-eagled woman. Josie dropped her head and jerked herself backwards onto Trinity’s hand. Then she shuddered as Trinity finished her off with fast firm pushes. Trinity rose to her feet and turned Josie round, kissing her on the mouth as she reached behind the petite woman to slap her hard on the buttocks. Josie jolted and pushed out her bottom to meet the hand that rose and fell a couple of times. Trinity stopped her hand from slapping and slid it up Josie’s spine to fold round the back of neck. She coaxed Josie’s mouth to her thickened nipples, letting the pretty woman suck on them for a while before turning away to sit on the bench and pull Josie with her. She twisted to raise one leg onto the wooden slats before leaning back and tugging Josie to kneel in front of her open legs. Josie leant forward and pushed her face into Trinity’s groin. She was fastened like a limpet, sucking on the soaking folds of flesh like a drowning woman sucking in air. Trinity was rolling her head and reached out to the back of Josie’s hair to knot her fingers and force the sucking mouth against her crotch. Josie’s hands were locked around Trinity’s thighs as the brunette pushed into Josie’s face and spent herself in a spasm of selfish pleasure. Then she turned her head to see they were being watched.
Trinity pushed Josie away and swung her bent leg from the bench. She spoke quickly to Josie who sprang to her feet to grab at a towel and hold it to her breasts. Temple and Grace pushed through the door. Josie didn’t stop to look at the two females that separated to allow her to squeeze through. Grace turned as Josie hurried past, tempted to add a sharp smack to her bare ass but making do with an admiring glance at her rounded bottom.
Trinity seemed unconcerned. She had lazily laid face-down on the wooden slats of the bench and ignored the two females that walked forward to stand over her glowing body. Temple had left a ‘Closed for Maintenance’ sign outside the door and Grace wandered away to let Temple do the talking. Temple stepped closer to the leggy beauty and coughed. Trinity lifted her head and her eyes flickered open to flash a warning that she was to be left undisturbed by the newcomers. She was exactly as Temple had imagined her to be. Her dark hair had spread across her shoulders with the turn of her head and her Latin eyes blazed hostility. Her wide mouth was compressed in a sultry pout and her all-over tan was to die for.
"Hi, Trinity." Temple’s hello was friendly enough. "You looked like you were having a good time with Josie. How was she?"
Trinity raised herself onto her forearms and surveyed the two interlopers. "Do I know you?" she asked sullenly. "You look familiar." She gave Grace a cursory sweep of her eyes before dropping her look to take in the smooth skin of Graces ebony legs.
"I doubt it," said Temple, looking down at the curves of the perfectly proportioned female. "Though I think we have an acquaintance in common."
"Really," yawned Trinity. "And who might that be?"
"Elliot Buchanan."
"Elliot? Trinity sat up making no attempt to conceal her body. "How interesting," she sniffed in pretence of boredom. She toweled under her full bosom and dabbed at the large crowning nipples before dropping the towel beside her and leaning back on her arms.
"Oh, and Ben," added Temple. Sam was right. Trinity was not shy in flaunting her too-perfect boobs. She had every reason to be proud of them.
Trinity straightened up and flashed a glance at Grace blocking the way to the door. "Ben?" she asked innocently.
"Ben Gilzean. You know him. You were with him on the night he died." Temple stated it as a fact.
"What do you want?" demanded Trinity. "I've done nothing wrong." She stood up to face Temple, dragging her towel round her body.
"I want to know why you were with Ben and Elliot that night," asked Temple calmly. "What did Elliot want from Ben?"
"I don't know what you’re talking about," blustered Trinity. "We had a drink and a meal, that's all it was." Her eyes failed to meet Temple’s and searched for another way out. "I'm leaving," she said.
"I don't think so," said Temple. She reached forward to snatch Trinity's towel from her body. The shocked female attempted to cover her breasts with her hands. "Not until you’ve told us the facts about Ben's death and everything you know about Elliot’s part in it."
Trinity's features took on a look of horror. "Elliot?" she snapped. "He wasn't there. It w
as just Ben and me. What do you think I am?"
Grace grinned from her position by the door. "We don't have the time to go into that right now, sweetie. Just tell us why you were there."
Trinity looked wildly around the claustrophobic room. She held her breasts together and glanced frantically towards the door. "Leave me alone," she pleaded. "It wasn't my fault. His heart gave out. How was I supposed to know he had a weak heart?"
Trinity was starting to panic. She lifted to her feet to make a lunge for her towel but Temple was quicker, jerking it away from her hand. Grace cracked her knuckles and took a pace forward. Trinity was suddenly conscious of her nudity. She made a feeble attempt to grab Temple’s own towel from her body before her hand was slapped away. Then she attempted to cross her legs before sitting down and holding her breast with her knees pressed tightly together.
"Now isn’t she the shy one," Temple said to Grace with a less than subtle wink.
Grace took the hint and eyed Trinity up and down. "Make yourself comfortable, sweetie. There’s gonna be plenty of time for us to play later."
Trinity hadn’t completely lost her nerve. "Are you gay?" she asked bravely. She stared at the two threatening women in front of her. "I’m okay with that if you are lesbians."
“We kinda worked that one out. You put on a pretty good show. I want to know how are you when you’re not the one in charge, sweetie,” said Grace wickedly. “How are you when it gets a little rough?”
"Why don’t you tell us what happened, Trinity," said Temple. She flicked the damp towel in the air and cracked it sharply. “Or maybe I’ll just let Grace have her way with you. The sauna is closed for maintenance. No one is gonna bother us.”
"Okay, okay, I’ll tell you what you want to know, said Trinity resignedly. “There’s just one thing. You have to promise not to mark me." She looked down at her breast and cupped them lovingly. “These things cost me a fortune. They wouldn’t look so good covered in red blotches.” She jumped at another crack from the spiteful end of the towel that Temple swung at her side. Trinity’s concern for her unblemished skin was shining through her self-pity.
Temple kept up the pressure. "All you need to do is tell us what we want to know. And we want the whole truth. Don’t leave anything out." The towel cracked wickedly in the air causing Trinity to twitch uncomfortably.
"Fine, I’ll tell you everything." Trinity relented and took a breath. “Where do you want me to start?”
“From the beginning.”
"Okay. The first I knew about it was when Elliot asked me to entertain Ben. I was supposed to get him in the right frame of mind to close a deal that Elliot had been working on." The words rushed out.
"You mean the one with Pegasus Hotels?" interrupted Temple.
Trinity flashed a look. "How do you know about that?"
"It doesn't matter now, go on."
"Well, Elliot wanted Ben to sign something before Andrew Denham changed his mind. He hoped I could persuade Ben that it was a good idea. As it happened I got on great with Ben. We were the same kind of people, you know, both… you know, physical. We went to a hotel. We were both adults. What's wrong with that? We were supposed to meet Elliot in the morning. He was hoping to close the deal then." She smiled cat-like. “Ben was never going to sign anything.”
Temple dropped her eyes to Trinity's sensational body. Ben would have died a happy man. Then a thought occurred to her. "Hold on, are you saying that Ben hadn't signed anything before you met him at the restaurant?"
"I’m not sure about that. Maybe there was something else. I don’t know. He could have. But whatever else Elliot wanted Ben to sign must have been important. I wouldn't have been there otherwise, would I? Weren’t you listening?”
“Don’t push it, sweetie,” said Grace. Trinity dropped her eyes as Grace walked forward to tower over her and almost hiss her words. “So if Ben hadn’t signed anything, how come his signature is on the contract?"
Trinity shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I've got it wrong… They could have been talking about something else. They were already there when I arrived. You're confusing me… Why don’t you ask Elliot?" She leant forward over her knees to protect her previously forgotten modesty.
Temple put her hand under Trinity's chin and tilted it up. "What happened at the hotel, Trinity?"
Trinity twisted her head away. "We drank champagne. We went to bed. We did the usual things. Ben was a very active love―”
"You can spare us the details," cut in Temple.
"Fine," said Trinity indifferently. "Afterwards, Ben began to complain about his chest. It was all of a sudden. One minute we were… The next he was just laying there not breathing." There was a shine to Trinity's eyes that belied her callous exterior.
"And then you called Elliot," said Temple in a flash of inspiration.
Trinity's head dropped forward. "Yes."
"And Elliot told you to get dressed and leave without informing anyone, am I right?" demanded Temple.
Trinity nodded her head. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"And what did Elliot promise you?" speculated Temple.
Trinity was beyond lying. "A bigger share." Her face crumpled and she sobbed into her hands.
"A bigger share of what?" asked Temple.
"The hotel of course," replied Trinity sniffing back her tears. She was puzzled that Temple didn't understand.
"But isn't that between Pegasus Hotels and Campbell Properties?" Temple wanted to know.
"The second hotel, of course," said Trinity exasperated. Then it hit her. "Oh, you don’t know, do you?" She gave Temple a superior smile and her tears dried as if by magic.
Trinity suddenly found herself holding all the cards. It was the way she preferred to do business. She stood up and plucked the towel from Temple's hand, slowly draping her curves in the damp folds. "Andrew Denham is building the second hotel on the Buchanan property in Buena Vista. He has the corporate muscle to construct the access roads and provide the services to develop a hotel right in the centre of all the major attractions. It will be massive. But it was part of a package. Elliot had to provide another prime site in Orlando to clinch the deal." Trinity had regained her poise. She oozed confidence as she stepped round Grace to reach the door. "Of course, you know where that one is, don't you, Ms Hart?" added Trinity as she pulled back the door. “Have a nice day.”
Temple glanced in her direction as Trinity stepped out from the sauna. "Your membership is cancelled," she said coldly.
The door slammed shut behind Trinity rocking the framework of the sauna. Temple looked at Grace. "At least now we know what’s behind Elliot's pressure to get us out," she said quietly. "Ask Tim to come and see me when you're done, will you, Gracie?" Trinity's confession had done nothing to lighten Temple's mood.
"Okay, honey," replied Grace. "But don't you feel bad about it, you hear? We're not planning on giving up just yet."
Temple managed a smile but her heart wasn't in it. Grace left to get changed and pick up her class while Temple slumped on the damp bench to gather her thoughts. Ben had died of natural causes. That wasn't a reason to feel bad. But Elliot had somehow taken advantage of the tragic event. She guessed he had been using Trinity to seal the deal with Andrew Denham, but so what? Elliot was out to line his own pockets and no one would blame him for that. He hadn’t done anything illegal. At least nothing that could be proved. The deal may have been about something else. It was possible that Ben had already signed the contract. There was no proof that Elliot was lying. But there was also nothing to prove when Ben’s signature had appeared on the contract. There was even less to verify when the document had been witnessed. It would be easy and entirely logical to assume that Ben and Elliot had completed the deal that day in the presence of Lance Chapman. It was also entirely plausible in Temple's mind that Elliot had forged Ben's signature and somehow persuaded Lance Chapman to falsely witness the agreement after Ben's death. Trinity would be able to confirm that the time of Ben's death made it all
feasible, but it wasn’t much to go on. She only had her gut feeling that Ben would have never let her down. It was that same intriguing theory that a changed and determined Temple presented to Detective Lieutenant Tim Crane of the Orlando police department later in the day.
Chapter Sixteen
They sat in Ben's old office and Tim listened patiently while Temple put her theory to him. He sat hunched forward and analyzed every word that Temple said. When she had finished Tim leant back.
"Great theory, Temple," he conceded. "But Trinity has done nothing illegal other than failing to report a death. And that’s if we could prove she was at the scene. I’m sure she’d deny all knowledge of your conversation. Then again, she might want to bring charges against you and Grace for false imprisonment."
"She wouldn't dare!" protested Temple.
"Let's not take that chance, Temple. I think we'll leave Trinity Ford well alone," said Tim. "What else have we got? We can't prove that Elliot was involved in concealing a death without Trinity incriminating herself. And that's just not gonna happen. Elliot doesn't appear to have done anything wrong. We know that Ben died of natural causes. Elliot has every right to negotiate a deal on the family property. It sounds like good business. Campbell Properties get the Leisure Complex, the Buchanans become millionaires and Pegasus Hotels obtain two prime sites. Where's the problem?" Tim asked with an exaggerated show of unconcern.
"And I lose Hart Leisure," Temple added to Tim's list of benefits.
"It's a lousy deal, Temple," agreed Tim. "But we need something more to go on before we can accuse Elliot of forgery and a respectable firm of lawyers of fraudulently witnessing a registered legal document. It would mean my badge on the evidence we have. Which is one big fat zero." He held up his hand with his thumb and forefinger joined in a circle to emphasize the point.