by Roberts, Ann
“This place is a shell,” Molly said quietly. She knew Rasp was furious, and she didn’t care if she was thrown off the investigation. It would give her more time to look for Itchy. Her anxiety was over the top, now that she was sure he would never make a meeting at Cactus Airpark. “Go look in the windows.”
She pointed at the closest office and watched Rasp cross in front of her. Molly’s eyes naturally went to the woman’s fine figure, particularly her tight ass, which she displayed effectively in her black dress pants. She sighed and chastised herself. What are you doing noticing other women? You love Ari and you come unglued when she does the same thing. C’mon, Nelson.
“Damn it,” Rasp said when she returned. She went back to her car and barked at the other detail in her radio. “All units report back to headquarters.”
Andre and Molly watched Rasp’s car turn around and leave before climbing inside the Caprice.
“She could have at least said thank you,” Andre said.
“I don’t want a thank you. I want to know where the hell Itchy is.”
Chapter Four
Saturday, October 14th
10:03 AM
When Ari pulled up to Southwest Realty, Jane Frank was already sitting on the porch, her cell phone glued to her ear. Ari could see her long, pink nails gesturing with the conversation, which clearly wasn’t pleasant. Her perfectly painted face, coiffed brown hair and designer suit created the consummate image of a professional businesswoman. When she was dressed like a conservative Republican, no stranger would ever suspect that her closet harbored her true self—a wild dyke with enough sex toys to start her own adult store. There were, though, very few lesbians in Phoenix who were strangers to her bedroom.
Women adored Jane and gravitated to her physical beauty and extraordinary charm. Her fiery personality burned high most of the time, feeding primarily on anger or passion. Fear and vulnerability were foreign concepts, and if she ever felt anxious or nervous, she hid those emotions from Ari—until recently, until the appearance of the orchids.
Jane looked up and waved. Her eyes narrowed in protest to the phone conversation, and several times she tried to interrupt, only to close her mouth in futility. Ari smiled, amused. She was sure Jane was talking to Aspen Harper, her least favorite client and Phoenix’s new, premier chef. Aspen was intent on debating and arguing every point of the transaction with her. Ari imagined the commission must be quite hefty if Jane agreed to endure Aspen’s constant scrutiny and second-guessing, even late at night when she would call, anxious about her first home purchase. They had spent two months searching for the perfect house, one that didn’t seem to exist.
Ari unlocked the converted bungalow and Jane followed her through the quiet hallways to her office, prattling away with standard responses and soothing words of encouragement. Ari glanced into the spacious main office as they passed its door, surprised that her boss, Lorraine Gonzalez, had not arrived. Lorraine rarely skipped Saturdays, spending much of her weekends hosting open houses or previewing listings with clients. She had the strongest work ethic Ari had ever seen, and she admired the mother of four who believed that hard work was the key to success and a guarantee that her family would never return to their impoverished roots.
Jane dropped onto the divan, pushed the speakerphone button and set her cell phone on the coffee table. She flipped off her heels and hung her stockinged feet over the arm of the couch, withdrawing a nail buffer from her purse to work on her manicure. She no longer bothered to create responses for Aspen, who, like a car running out of gas, eventually exhausted her statements and questions.
“Jane, are you listening to me?”
“Of course, darling. I understand your position entirely. Now why don’t you let me worry about your new abode and you focus on those soufflé recipes you were telling me about. They sound marvelous.”
“They’re amazing,” Aspen agreed. “I’m putting them out as the specials tonight.”
Jane smiled at Ari. She knew she’d won this round. “I’ve got to go. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Will I see you later?” Aspen asked, almost in a childlike voice.
Jane closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “I’m sure I’ll catch up with you this afternoon. ’Bye.” She disconnected and stared at Ari. “Why are we in this business?”
“To make a ton of money, honey,” a voice answered. “At least when the market cooperates.”
They looked up to see Lorraine Gonzalez in the doorway. A perky woman in her forties, her beautiful smile masked the hard life she’d known before opening Southwest Realty. She was full of curves, as Jane described her, and the tailored suit she wore accented her buxom bosom. She tapped her fingers on the doorjamb and glanced between the two women. “What are you doing here?”
“I got another orchid,” Jane said.
Lorraine shook her head. “That’s really creepy. You’ve probably got a stalker.”
“Oh, please don’t use that word,” Jane whined.
“Whoever it is probably has a horrible crush on you and just wants your attention. You are irresistible.” Lorraine leaned over and kissed Jane on the head before going back to her own office.
“Why isn’t that woman gay?” Jane mused. “You know, I’ve been told that I do have the power to turn straight women gay. Why doesn’t she succumb to my charms?”
Ari laughed and joined her on the divan. “Because, honey, Lorraine loves men almost as much as you love women. The only difference between the two of you is that she’s much more discreet.”
“I’m discreet.”
“Janey, your name is plastered on bathroom stalls in all of the lesbian bars. Women have written testimonials about your prowess in the bedroom and put them on the Internet. It’s not discreet if I can Google you and know about your sex life.”
She shrugged, admitting her reputation. “Do you think the orchids are from one of my past conquests?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible. It would certainly make sense, sweetie. Most women think that going to bed leads to a relationship or a commitment. You’ve left a trail of women in the dust and some of them have been pretty angry. How many times have you changed your phone number?”
“I’m always honest with them. I’ve never promised any woman anything. And to answer your question, only three times in the last year. I don’t think that’s a big deal. Most of the women I see understand our relationship, or rather the fact that the word is not in my vocabulary.”
“That’s true but, honey, all it takes is one.”
Jane looked out the window, and Ari knew she was filing through the past few months of lovers. Ari could name at least six different women Jane had bedded recently, and she was sure there were many more. Jane loved women, met them frequently and didn’t hesitate to fornicate anywhere.
“I just don’t think it’s a woman,” she mused. “It’s too awful to think a woman would stalk another woman like that. In my nightmares it’s always a man.”
“How do you know?”
“His feet. I hear his shoes against the pavement and they aren’t stilettos. It sounds like I’m being chased by an elephant.”
“The question is what you should do about it. Molly told me this morning that there’s nothing the police can do since no crime has been committed. I’ll bring it up with her again if you really want me to, but she’s got a lot on her mind with this new assignment. It might get her a promotion.”
“And I can tell you’re absolutely thrilled by the possibility.” She nudged her shoulder. “C’mon, best friend. What’s going on between the two of you? I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“It’s just . . . it’s just . . .” Ari sighed. “I can’t explain. We’ve hit some sort of wall, and I don’t know what will happen next.”
Jane wrapped her arms around Ari and kissed her on the cheek. “It’ll all work out, honey. You both just need to suck it up, say that little L word, you know the one that I can’t bring myse
lf to think about, and then you’ll live happily ever after.”
Ari snorted and rolled her eyes. “I don’t picture that happening anytime soon.”
“The sooner the better, sweetie.” Jane looked around the room. “How do you do this?”
“Do what?”
“Keep your office this neat?”
Ari scanned her desk and credenza, which were uncluttered and free of random sticky notes or phone messages. Her folders were organized, alphabetically, of course, and her to-do list was displayed prominently next to her phone. She could only shrug, knowing Jane would never understand. They sometimes joked that one of Jane’s ex-lovers was buried underneath the piles of paper that were stacked around her office. She was fastidious about her manners and appearance, but that vanished at the entrance to her workspace.
Jane extended her legs and wiggled her free toes. “I’m bored with this topic for right now. We can talk about you for a little while. Let’s start with your birthday party at Hideaway, which is still somewhat about me since I’m planning it. I guarantee it will be a night of heavy drinking, general debauchery and extreme merriment.”
Ari winced at the description. “Please don’t forget that there are many straight people coming—granted, they are liberal straight people, but you do tend to blur the lines of decency. Sometimes I’m offended.”
She patted Ari’s knee and laughed. “Don’t you worry, honey. Lynne and Brian are helping me plan the party, and they’re keeping me on the appropriate side of decency, as you put it.”
“And you know my father may come, right? I don’t think Hideaway would be the best place for a reunion after nearly four years.” She tried to imagine Jack Adams at their favorite bar, witnessing a sea of lesbians in various states of dress, freely displaying their affection for one another.
Jane waved off her concern. “So if he decides to come, we’ll go to dinner and then dump him at Sol’s before we hit the bar.” Sol Gardener was the Phoenix Chief of Police, Jack’s best friend and Ari’s godfather.
“Hmm. I don’t know. I think I’ll ask him not to come. It just would be too difficult.”
Jane sat up and took her hand. “I understand what you’re saying, honey, and in this case you might be right, but you’ve avoided seeing your father for the last six months. I personally think it’s great that he’s trying to mend the fences from the past. Does he even know about Molly?”
“No, we’ve talked on the phone about general stuff and work. He hasn’t asked me about my love life and I haven’t volunteered.”
“He’ll find out eventually, sweetie. Molly’s too big to hide.”
Ari gripped Jane’s shoulders. “Promise me that you’ll exercise some control regarding this party.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Define control?”
“Uh, well, that would mean no strippers, no sex toys—”
“Wait! No sex toys? But sex is okay, right?”
“Jane!”
“Hey, I’m just looking for parameters.” She chuckled. “Honey, you don’t need to worry.” She clapped her hands once and sat up on the couch. “Now, back to me. What should I do about this flower business?”
Ari rose and grabbed a notepad from her desk. “Tell me the history again.”
“This makes number four in the past month. The first one was left on my desk at the office, the second one was on top of my car outside Hideaway, the third one appeared on the bench in front of my gym locker, and now this one.”
“It seems like each one gets a little more personal.”
“Damn right. Whoever it is knows where I live, where I work and how I spend my time. I’m totally creeped out.”
She tapped her pencil on the notepad. “You said four in the last month. Is that about one a week?”
Jane narrowed her eyes. “Well, that’s about right, but the last two were only four days apart.”
“Hmm. Well, that could be significant. She or he may be losing patience. Can you think of any women you’ve crushed lately?”
Jane scowled. “Don’t say that. You make me sound like a monster. I just like a good time.” She looked up at Ari, who stared without comment. She wasn’t going to argue with Jane about her reputation with Phoenix’s lesbian population. “And no, I have not had a screaming match with any woman in the past month, nor have I needed to duck because a date was throwing a shoe at me. The fall season has clearly been about meeting enlightened women.” She held up her chin with an air of dignity.
Ari sighed and sat down on the couch. “Well, then maybe it’s somebody who’s old-fashioned and is trying to court you.”
Jane smirked and shook her head. “I doubt it.”
“Maybe you should do what Molly suggested and hire a private investigator, someone who could check out the orchids? See if there’s some way to tell where they’re grown.”
Jane held up her hands. “Why do I need a PI? You’ve got it all figured out. We could do it together.”
“I don’t know, Jane. Molly made me promise that I would never again involve myself in anything dangerous. Not after last time.”
Jane was silent but her gaze went to Ari’s shoulder, the place where Ari had been shot. “I’m just talking about the orchid part,” she said. “The simple legwork. No chasing criminals. That’ll give me time to look for a real PI. What do you say? Please? I’m really desperate here.”
She hated it when Jane whined. She rarely put on a pathetic face, but when she did, it was priceless. She sighed. “Hand me the phone book, and let’s look up florists.”
Chapter Five
Saturday, October 14th
1:40 PM
The morning had really been about spending time with Jane. They had stopped at three floral shops with detours for her personal needs and her bottomless stomach. Jane seemed to relish their time together. It was like the old days when they both were single. Since she and Molly had become a couple, Jane was relegated to the outer circle of her life, and while she never uttered a complaint, Ari knew she felt a distance growing between them. So she was happy to spend the beautiful day cruising through Phoenix in Jane’s convertible Porsche Boxster while everyone stared or honked at the sleek machine.
By afternoon two facts were clear to Ari: Jane was highly connected, and the orchid-sender could be any female in the metropolitan Phoenix area. Despite Jane’s belief that someone wanted to harm her, Ari wasn’t sure the orchids were meant to be sinister. Jane had brought the last one along to show florists. Ari studied the delicate petals and the beautiful design. It was truly elegant, and as she held the slender stalk in her hand, she thought of Molly, imagining her lover naked on her bed while she stroked her tanned skin with the silky white flower. She quickly set the orchid back in her lap before her thoughts went wild. She couldn’t fathom how something so gorgeous could ever carry a dark purpose.
“Lunchtime,” Jane announced as she whipped the Porsche into a parking spot at the front door of McGurkee’s, their favorite sandwich shop. “You go grab a table and I’ll get our usual.”
The eatery was crowded, and Ari found the last open booth in a corner by a picture window. She gazed at the buildings across the street and reviewed the morning’s activities. They had accomplished little due to their intermittent detours. After stopping at Jane’s to retrieve the last orchid, they’d gone to AJ’s Fine Foods because Jane couldn’t live without her morning double mocha latté. Ari was astonished when Jane greeted the coffee barista with a kiss on the mouth. When they went to pay, she embraced the cashier and turned to Ari. “Lina, this is my best friend in the whole world, Ari Adams.”
Lina took her extended hand and brought it to her lips. “Ari, it is a pleasure. Jane has such good taste in friends.” The look in her eyes left Ari with a clear message of opportunity. She withdrew her hand and noticed the amused expression on Jane’s face.
Their first florist stop proved a dead end, since the only person working was a high school student. The thin young man dressed in gothic attire knew
nothing about orchids except that his shop didn’t carry them very often, but he thought Jane’s flower was quite beautiful. Next they had zipped into the dry cleaners to claim Jane’s suits, which also netted her a dinner date with the carhop.
At the second flower shop they learned more about the orchid. The owner, a pudgy older man with white hair, pulled out a thick book on flowers and found the section on orchids. His gaze shifted from the orchid Jane held in her hand to the array of pictures on the page. When he found what he wanted, his stubby finger smacked the book.
“That’s it,” he said. “The Angraecum elephantinum, also known as the Gigantic Angraecum. It’s very difficult to grow and must be nurtured carefully.”
“Do you sell it?” Ari asked.
The florist shook his head. “No, certainly not something that rare. You wouldn’t have much of a market for it. Whoever grew that flower did so out of love, not profit.”
“I’d say you have an admirer,” Ari told Jane as they left.
“An admirer? What kind of admirer tries to scare the crap out of their intended conquest?”
“Jane, the person may not know he or she is affecting you this way. You heard what the man said. Someone grew it out of love.”
“Love of flowers, not love for me. If I find out who’s doing this, I’m going to press charges.”
Ari chuckled. So far the entire situation seemed rather benign, and she was rather sure Jane was being overly dramatic. The third stop confirmed that Jane did possess a Gigantic Angraecum, but the salesperson did not carry them and had received no inquiries that she could remember.
Ari looked over at the sandwich line to observe Jane shooting a straw wrapper at the drink girl, who giggled. Jane, the naked straw still dangling between her lips, waved it up and down. The girl laughed nervously, clearly embarrassed. Ari shook her head. Jane never knew when to quit. Her phone chimed from the recesses of her purse and she grabbed it before it went to voice mail. She smiled when she saw Molly’s name on the caller ID.