by Aubree Lane
A moment later, he felt better equipped to deal with his anxious family and walked down the hall to Erika and Brittany’s room.
13
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Marissa exclaimed loudly.
David looked at his usually loving wife and didn’t know what to think. “I am not going to Oahu. I’m staying here with you and the kids, and that’s final.”
They were in her office at the law firm. The one Marissa was supposed to be vacating, but since her father’s death, his wife was once again wavering on her decision to leave the life-sucking job her dad set her up with. More than that, she wanted him to leave her at a time when she needed him most.
Marissa picked up a pillow off the sofa and threw it at him. “Thank you for the vote of confidence. I am a grown ass woman and I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Daddy is dead and my little sister needs your help. Are you seriously going to deny her your expertise?”
He caught the pillow and threw it back on the couch. Marissa had lost her mind. “Exactly! Your dad just died. I’m not leaving you.”
Tears welled in her beautiful blue eyes and her body crumpled to the floor.
Relieved that she finally broke down, David dropped beside her and held her tenderly in his arms. “You need me right now. Under any other circumstance, I would already be on a plane.” He brushed back her blonde hair and kissed her forehead. “Why are you pushing me away?”
Her voice shook. “Daddy would want you to go.”
David bit back a retort. Larry Wright was still pulling their strings. His death brought about a new power struggle at the law firm. Marissa had to decide quickly if she was going to keep her throne, or abdicate and live the life they dreamed.
He and the kids left their new home in Lake Tahoe for San Diego the moment they received word of Larry’s death. In his heart of hearts, David was positive Marissa was done with the Law Offices of Wright and Associates, but part of her was having a hard time letting go. He could no longer sit idly by and watch. “He’s gone, Marissa,” David said softly. “You were so close to being done with this place. You don’t have to stay. You’re free to leave.”
“I’m a coward. I’ve been dragging my feet and you know it.”
His chuckle was barely audible. “Have you met my wife? She’s a momma lion.”
Marissa pushed him away. “I can’t leave now. Daddy’s expecting me to shoulder the weight of all of this.” She pounded her chest. “I have to prove my strength. Then in a year or two, I can leave with my head held high.”
David’s eyes turn hard. “At what cost?”
Anger flashed fast and furious, and her voice bit with a scorching flame, “Don’t you dare. I understand exactly what this might cost me. The question is, are you with me or against me?”
The fight which had been brewing for months had arrived at the worst possible moment, but they needed to have it out. “The better question is, are we more important than your father’s expectations?” Frustrated that she couldn’t see the truth, he stopped and shook his head. “Scratch that. What’s more important, your health, your kids, your husband, or your dead father’s expectations? I’ve known Larry for a long time and you have totally missed the mark. Your father never wanted anything but the best for us. Have you looked in the mirror lately? You’re exhausted. I am worried about you, Marissa.” The urge to pick the framed photograph of Marissa’s father off her desk and smash it against the wall was almost irresistible, but David reined in his emotions. “If that shit ass remark was your way of asking me if I’m about to leave you, it shows exactly how out of touch with our family you are. I vowed to love, honor, and protect you,” he raged. “Stop being so damned strong and let me do what I promised.” David made his point and Marissa’s entire being softened. He reached out and pulled her close. “Let me protect you, babe.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “I think I’ve forgotten how.”
Marissa finally saw she didn’t have to do it all. It was a small step, but his wife wasn’t typically known for backtracking once her mind was made up. Only Larry could make her question herself down to the core. His death temporarily strengthened his grip, but David saw signs of it weakening. He was confident they would work the rest out in time.
Now all he had to do was figure out a way to help Erika and the rest of the Javier family.
• • •
“It has been an honor and a pleasure serving with each and every one of you.”
Marissa was being generous. A few of the partners she could have done without, but now was not the time to be petty. “In accordance with my father’s will, the new head of the firm has the option of buying out my interest. When you have settled on a new managing partner, feel free to make me a substantial offer. I advise you to make it a good one or you may be stuck with me for a very long time.” Marissa closed the folder lying on the long conference table. The sleek mahogany slab was a congratulatory gift from her mother when her dad first opened the practice.
It was silly, but Marissa wanted to take it with her. Her mom passed away when she was just a baby, and hardly any of her possessions had survived the test of time. Until this very moment, she hadn’t given the table a second thought. Marissa would rather see it destroyed, than let the men seated around it prosper from her mother’s generosity. She closed her eyes and let that thought go. Her plan was already in play and she didn’t want to tip her hand by being that vindictive. “If you’ll excuse me,” she went on, “there are a few memorial arrangements which still need to be made.”
Josh Howard grabbed her hand when she drew near.
The man had been eyeing the chair she just vacated for a long time. Marissa didn’t like him, nor did she trust him or his words of sympathy.
“You have several cases still on the books. Will you be wrapping them up before you leave, or would you like me to assign them to others in the firm?” Josh asked.
“Excuse me?” Marissa touched her ear. “I don’t believe I’ve heard an offer. Until a new leader has been decided on and an offer has been accepted, I am still running the show.” She patted Josh’s hand. “Rest assured, I have already delegated my cases out to the attorneys I deemed most capable.”
“Then I’m sure I’ll see the Whitney case on my desk upon my return.”
Marissa smiled sweetly and continued on her way. She was determined to let them fight it out amongst themselves and not be pulled into their drama.
She maintained her composure until the moment she closed the door on the vultures. She refused to get involved, but she didn’t mind stirring the pot. Marissa assigned the prized Whitney case to an associate, not one of the partners. She doubted Daisy McKinley would be able to hang onto it, but it would be a feather in her cap if she could.
As if on cue, Daisy came rushing towards her, waving a file in her hand. “Is this a mistake?”
Marissa took her arm and hustled her away from the boardroom. “No. You’re ready.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am. Come on, I have an hour before my next meeting. Let’s discuss some strategy.”
“So you don’t think I can handle it.”
“Not about the case,” Marissa laughed, “about how you’re going to keep it. My last gift to the firm will be to stick it to Josh Howard any way I can.”
“He’s the frontrunner for taking your spot,” the already defeated lawyer declared with a slight whimper. “All he has to do is call the client and ask them to request him. I won’t be able to fight that.”
Marissa pulled her further down the hall. “That’s why we need to get to them first.”
14
Agent Tam stood in front of her commanding officer and argued her case. “Good people do bad things all the time, sir. Let me investigate this my way.”
Barone rubbed his balding head and asked, “Why are you determined to walk down this path, Tam? All those kids had to do was rip up the plants and be done with it. Instead, they came in
and reported it, like good upstanding citizens. You don’t have a shred of proof those plants didn’t wind up in that boy’s yard exactly how he said. None of the suspects you’ve presented have a police record, and from what you’ve shown me so far, I’d say you’re heading in the wrong direction.”
Tam wasn’t through yet. She tapped the file. “The family across the street is odd. I suspect the girl, Erika, has been a victim of child abuse. Don’t you find it strange that two unrelated men share custody? And where the hell is the biological mom?”
Commander Barone slammed the file closed. “You are investigating a drug case, Tam. This is the DEA, not Child Protective Services. According to court documents, a judge ordered the arrangement. If you have doubts, call Judge Sanchez for an explanation. If you still aren’t satisfied, report it to the proper authorities. As of this moment, you are to focus the DEA resources on finding out who planted the marijuana and busting their sorry asses.” He held the file out to his subordinate. “Now get out of my office and do the job you were hired to do!”
Ayako snatched the file from her boss’s hand and stormed out. She stopped short of slamming the door. Barone wouldn’t say much if she pushed the rules a bit, but what he couldn’t abide was childish behavior out of one of his officers. Outwardly, she maintained her professional decorum. Mentally, she flipped him off.
Barone made a good point. If anyone had the inside scoop on the Javier and Wright family, it was Judge Theresa Sanchez. Tam pulled out her phone and made a call.
• • •
“Thanks, Judge. I appreciate you taking the time to call me back.”
Tam hung up the phone, deflated. The story Theresa Sanchez reported was as far away from a reportable case of child abuse as one could get. Larry Wright and Terence Javier worked out a deal for Erika’s benefit and participated in family counseling to make the arrangement work for everyone involved.
The family was so damned healthy, it was sickening. She hated the fact Barone was right.
It was time to follow the evidence and get back on track. Tam pulled the list of names she received from Grady Barlow out of the file. She chuckled when she saw the number of females she had to track down. At every turn, these people were appearing more and more typical.
The stable family across the street looked after their young neighbor after he lost his parents in a boating accident. Their teenage daughter develops a crush on the kid. The boy loves the girl like a sister, but does not return her affection. Instead of following the stable family’s example of problem solving, he brings home several girls, hoping to show the teen that he wasn’t the boy for her. A new relative shows up from the mainland and, of course, the boy finally finds his true love. It made for an interesting soap opera, but nothing indicated guilt of the propagation of the weed garden.
Brittany Sutherland was correct. The pot plants would not have thrived in that environment. Commander Barone would not want her to spend a ton of time tracking down the growers of a failed pot farm. Setting up a sting operation was out of the question. When the culprits returned to the scene of the crime to check on the dismal crop was anyone’s guess. The list she had before her was her best bet of finding a lead, so she tapped out the first name on the list and ran a background check.
• • •
Grady waited patiently for the pancakes Brittany was cooking.
“Have you heard anything from the DEA?” she asked, flipping one of the cakes on the hot grill.
Grady was sick of Agent Tam and the constant stream of questions which didn’t seem to pertain to the case. If he never heard from her again, it would still be too soon. “Luckily, no. Have you?”
“All quiet on the home front.” Britt piled a few cakes on a spatula and slid them onto Grady’s plate. “It makes me nervous. It feels like the calm before the storm.” She turned off the burners and took the remaining cakes for herself.
“I’m fine with letting the whole issue disappear.”
Brittany cut him a fierce look. She covered her ears with her hands, then covered her eyes, and finally covered her mouth.
“Funny. Hear no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil.” He forked a bite through his lips and mumbled incoherently, “Now you can’t understand evil either.”
A smirk creased one side of her face, but Brittany persisted. “All I’m saying is that it’s better to nip the problem in the bud before it becomes a major issue.”
Grady chuckled. “I’m pretty sure Agent Tam doesn’t want us nipping any of those buds.”
“Make all the jokes you want, but you know what I mean.” She flipped her hair and tilted her head smugly. Long amber strands landed on her plate and dredged through the syrup. A scowl replaced her superior smirk. “Crap, that totally distracts from all the profound insights I was about to make.”
Grady lifted her hair and dabbed her sticky locks with a damp napkin. “I’m not hiding my head in the sand,” he assured her. “I’m just not waiting around for the DEA to clear me. Mr. Javier and I are installing security cameras around my place. We want to catch the SOB who decided to make mi casa es su casa.”
Brittany sat back and considered their course of action.
Grady watched her wheels spin, trying to find fault with their plan. But Brittany couldn’t come up with anything.
A few minutes later, she relented. “I wish I’d thought of that. You need to sleep here until they’re caught. I don’t want to worry about you over there all by your lonesome.”
Grady slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap. “You could stay with me.”
“You big goof,” she rebuffed lightly. “I don’t want to worry about my safety either.”
He nuzzled his nose in her neck and inhaled her sweet scent. “I’d protect you.”
Terence walked in and glared. “Knock it off, you two.” He pointed a firm finger at Grady. “Brittany’s right. You are sleeping on our couch until this whole thing is settled. And there is absolutely no way she’s staying at your place. Those are my conditions for helping you install the cameras. Take it or leave it.”
Brittany scooted off his lap. Her face gleamed red with embarrassment. “It’s a good deal, Grady. Take it.”
The Javier household was ganging up on him. Considering he slept with one eye open the last few nights, the offer of their couch sounded pretty perfect. Still, he couldn’t resist needling the protective brother-in-law. “Aren’t you afraid Brittany and I will mix it up a little if we’re under the same roof, Mr. Javier?”
Terence took a sip from his coffee mug. One eyebrow shifted upward. “Don’t shit where you eat, kid.”
He exited with a mug filled for his wife and Brittany giggled. “Max fussed most of the night. Terence and Annie are extremely sleep deprived today. I wouldn’t mess with him if I were you.”
Grady jumped up. “Did he just take a cup of coffee in for Annie?”
“Yeah. Why?”
He downed his glass of juice and headed for the garage. “It was her day to take the Coffee Cart down to the pier, and she didn’t call me to cover her shift. We missed the early morning fishing tours. I have to get there before they come back in.”
“You want some help?” Brittany called out, but she found herself speaking to a closed door. “Alrighty then,” she said to the empty room. “I guess I’ll head over to Lena’s and do my own job.”
• • •
Mr. Caprice’s bird was squawking when Warden shuffled inside the toolshed. Turnabout was giving Brittany a headache. “Can I help you with something, Warden?” she snapped. The boy hung his head and she figured he broke one of their new tools. “You might as well spill it. Whatever you have to say isn’t going to get easier with time.”
Warden scratched his chin and mumbled something under his breath.
Brittany glared at the snow-white bird sitting on his perch inside the cage Mr. Caprice found for him. “Will you please be quiet? I can’t hear Warden over your constant complaining.”
; The bird traveled back and forth across a wooden dowel and closed his beak.
“Better make it fast,” Brittany encouraged the boy, “that bird won’t stay quiet for long.”
Warden stepped a few paces closer. “I’m giving you my notice.”
“You’re quitting?”
The kid took off his Harry Potter glasses and cleaned them with the edge of his shirt. “I’m sorry. Most of the heavy work is done and Mr. Wright isn’t around to pay me. I can’t afford to work for free any longer. I need to find a new job.”
His words confused her. “Are you telling me you haven’t been paid for the work you’ve done the past few weeks?”
Warden shook his head. “Mr. Wright sent me over here to help. He said he’d bring a check to my house every Friday, but that obviously isn’t possible.” When Brittany opened her mouth to protest, he grabbed her arm. “It’s okay. I learned a lot from you and that’s payment enough. I would like a letter of recommendation, though, if you think I deserve one.”
That was crazy. Warden showed up the same time as Mr. Caprice. He was one of the lucky strangers brought in by the dolphins. Had she and Lena been wrong? Was Mr. Caprice really a human named Mr. Kaplinger? Seeing her foolishness, Brittany began to chuckle. What was crazy was the myth about the dolphins and that a large part of her believed it.
Warden put his heart and soul into refurbishing the grounds of the B&B and he deserved to be paid. She walked over to her backpack and pulled out her wallet. It only held seventy dollars, but it was a start. “Here, take this,” she said, offering him the bills. “I’ll get Lena to write that letter. I’m unknown on the island, but she’s not.”
“I’m not taking your money. You earned it.” Warden shoved his hands in his pockets when she tried to press the bills into his palm. “I’m fine. All I want is a recommendation.”