Reluctant Witness

by Barton, Sara M.

  “Poor Coop. I’ve left him in the crate long enough. Is it okay if I take him for a walk after I change out of my suit?”

  “I’ve got a great idea,” said Tom. “Why don’t you ladies take a long drive? Pretend that Marigold is very upset and needs to calm down. Let’s build the excitement a bit before staging the big farewell scene. If the creep downstairs wants to hack into her computer while she and her bodyguards are otherwise occupied, maybe we can watch him in action.”

  “I guess that means I should make a big show of leaving here to go make my calls,” Terry nodded. “I can sit down by the pool.”

  “Tom, what does your IT guy need to catch the hacker?” Rocky wanted to know.

  “I’ll find out.”

  Twenty minutes later, I grabbed the dog and slammed out of the penthouse, Jeff on my heels. The second I was out the door, I turned to him and said, “Just leave me alone!”

  “I asked you if you had plans to hook up with my brother! It’s as simple as yes or no!”

  “Why don’t you ask him?”

  “I’m asking you!” He took me roughly by the arm. “I won’t be made a fool of, Marigold.”

  “Too late. You did it to yourself, you big jerk,” I shot back. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a dog to walk!” I whirled away from him, feigning anger, and strode to the elevator. Pushing the button, I heard Nancy talking to Jeff.

  “Don’t worry, boss. I’ll talk to her. Let me see if I can find out what’s going on. I’ll talk to her, get her to calm down a bit.”

  “Do whatever you want with her,” he snarled. “She’s more trouble than she’s worth!”

  Chapter Forty

  I heard footsteps behind me as the elevator door slid open. My bodyguard hopped into the car and leaned past me, pushing the button for the ground floor. Once the door shut, she gave me a friendly elbow.

  “You’re doing great so far, kid. Keep it up. When the door opens, I want you to stomp off, like I’ve really irritated the crap out of you. I’ll offer to take you for a drive, so you can cool off. Give me some lip and make it look like you have no intention of joining me, but keep walking until you get to the car. Don’t stop acting until the car is out of the parking lot. Remember, this guy has a bird’s eye view from the second floor. He’ll be able to see us talking and we don’t want to alert him to the fact that we’re faking it. And just to be on the safe side, don’t let your guard down in the car, just in case he’s bugged that.”

  “Okay,” I promised.

  I followed Nancy’s script to the letter, putting some effort into my acting. By the time I was done, it looked like my bodyguard had fought hard to convince me of the wisdom of taking a drive.

  We drove down A1A to Flagler Beach, parked on the soft shoulder of the street, and crossed over to the wooden stairs down to the wide stretch of glorious beach. At this time of day, most of the people had packed up and gone home, save for the occasional straggler and beachcomber.

  Cooper, timid at first, poked his nose in the sand, checking out the unfamiliar scents as he examined pieces of debris washed ashore with the tide. He followed us to the water and waited patiently while Nancy and I took off our sandals and waded in.

  “I wonder if he’s a beach dog,” she said. Right on cue, the little Yorkie was paw-deep in a small wave. He didn’t flinch. “That’s a good sign.”

  We walked south for about twenty minutes, talking about anything but the situation we were in. My companion filled in the details of her career at the FBI and how she and Terry had met during a training exercise at Quantico. I knew why she was talking about her marriage, hoping to get some information out of me. I made her work hard for it.

  “So?” At last she gave me a nudge in the side. “What are the real prospects between you and Jeff? Is there anything promising on the horizon?”

  “I don’t know,” I shrugged, unwilling to speculate. “It’s not like I’ve got a crystal ball.”

  “Well, what did he say to you at the dining room table?”

  “Nothing much.”

  “Well, it must have been something,” she scoffed, her disbelief obvious, “the way your eyes lit up.”

  “They did?” I was surprised to hear that, having thought I contained my emotions fairly well.

  “Like high beams on a Boeing 747 hitting the runway for a red eye flight.”

  “Oh,” I smiled. “Hmm....”

  “Gee whiz, I feel like a dentist pulling teeth! Marigold, it’s me you’re talking to here,” she cajoled me. “I’ve had your back this whole time. What did the man say to make you so happy?”

  We walked on as I tried to figure out what to share with her and what to hold back. There was no harm in telling her the gist of our conversation. It wasn’t the words themselves that had made me blush, I realized. It was the touch of his hand on my skin and the sound of his voice in my ear that did that.

  “He said, ‘I promise you that I will do everything in my power to give you a great life, Marigold.’ End of story.”

  “That’s it? That’s all he said?” Nancy was surprised. “Wow, that’s not much to go on, is it? Did he mean that he wanted to have a relationship with you, or did he mean that he was just going to help you out?”

  “I guess we’ll have to wait and see,” I shrugged, smiling to myself. She glanced over at me and poked me again.

  “Come on, what else did he say to you? There must have been more.”

  “There really wasn’t.”

  “Swear to God?”

  “Swear to God.”

  “I’ve known the guy for five years, and in all that time, I’ve never seen him act like this way with any other woman. The trouble is I can’t tell where he’s going with this. One minute he’s blowing hot, then he’s cold, then he’s hot again. Jeff’s a really stubborn guy, Marigold, in case you haven’t figured that out yet. It’s like he’s on the verge of throwing in the towel and confessing that he loves you.”

  “Really?” I felt a surge of excitement course through my veins at the thought that Jeff really did feel as strongly about me as I did about him.

  “That would be a good thing, wouldn’t it? You two would make a great couple.”

  “Would we?”

  “Don’t be coy,” she admonished me. “If there’s one thing I know about Jefferson Cornwall, it’s that he hates anyone lying to him. Besides, one of your biggest strengths is that you have personal integrity.”

  “Is it?”

  “It is, kid.”

  “Rocky told me not to get hooked on Jeff. He’s got too many women chasing him and that’s spoiled him.”

  “Rocky told you that? Oh, that’s rich!”

  “I don’t understand,” I said sheepishly. “Are you telling me that Rocky told me that because he knew I’d fall for Jeff?”

  “No,” she laughed. “I’d bet he told you that because he was sure Jeff would fall hook, line, and sinker for you, and he wanted to make sure the hook caught in that big fish’s mouth. Jeff has women throwing themselves at him day and night. The only things those little starlets care about is landing a role on one of his shows and spending his money. You, on the other hand, are what I call the genuine thing. You’re just a good girl who tries to do right by the world. If you really want to understand Jeff, you have to understand his mother. Lisbeth is one smart cookie and she raised three great sons, but she did it by expecting them to be decent and trustworthy.”

  “I love her books,” I confessed. “The heroines seem to be people I’d want to have as friends.”

  “Lisbeth adores her daughter-in-law, Philomena. They get along really well. But Deirdre? Oh, that relationship was troubled from the start.”

  “I don’t really understand the power Deirdre wields over Lincoln, Nance. She’s obviously very manipulative, the way she plays him. How can he not see it?”

  “If you ask me, she’s going to put him through the wringer another time or two before he smartens up. He’s still not seeing her for what she is. I
mean, what kind of woman hires someone to steal the dog, just to get her ex-husband’s attention? And what kind of man is flattered by that?” Nancy shook her head sadly. “Lisbeth would be very upset if she knew. I can’t say I’d blame her. My son’s smarter than that -- at least I hope Keith is. But then, he grew up hanging out with Lindsay and her friends, so girls aren’t as much of a mystery to him. Those Cornwall boys never had the benefit of having sisters to set them straight.”

  “Oh,” I smiled. “And I never had the benefit of having brothers.”

  “It’s not just that, though,” she continued. “Lisbeth often had to protect sources when she was doing research on real crime. Maybe Lincoln just assumes the only secrets women keep are good ones.”

  We did an about-face and began the journey back to the car, changing the subject to Nancy’s children as we strolled. She was proud of her kids and the people they had become, but that didn’t stop her from sharing some of the funny stories from their childhood years. I could imagine her as a hands-on mother, wanting to know what was going on as they were growing up.

  Cooper scooted in and out of the gently lapping waves, chasing the occasional sandpiper up the sandy shore. He came close to catching one every now and then.

  “This is a good dog, Marigold. He’s enjoying himself.”

  “I agree. I think he’s going to be good company for me, no matter where I end up.”

  “You have doubts?”

  “Oh, I always have doubts. You forget, Nance. I grew up in the witness protection program. We were moved five times in the first three years we were in it. I’ve moved another five since then.”

  “Wow,” she sighed. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you. Maybe that’s what it is that Jeff finds so attractive about you. The Cornwalls are a very tight-knit clan. He’s probably figured out that family means a lot to you, so you’ll fit in. Take Philomena. She comes from one very large, noisy group of Greeks. They’re boisterous to say the least, but when push comes to shove, they stick together and help each other out. You know, Phil could have had quite a career in law enforcement, but she decided she’d rather stick close to family and raise some good kids. That couldn’t have been an easy decision.”

  “How did you do it?” I inquired, suddenly curious about the former FBI agent. “Did having kids interfere with your career?”

  “No, I just pushed back all the time, especially when the guys tried to grab up all the prime assignments. I was pretty ambitious, making my way up the ladder, until I had kids. For a few years, I had to pull back and focus on being a mother. And then my dad died when the kids were small. It really knocked me for a loop, but my mom was completely blown away by his unexpected death. I spent several months worried about her, until finally one day I came up with a plan. I convinced her to move in with us and help out, so I could get back to my career. She looked after the kids, drove them to their sports practices, their games, made sure they sat down to a hot meal every night, even on those nights Terry and I didn’t get home until late. Weekends were devoted to family. Sometimes my mom came with us on our adventures and sometimes she went off with her own friends. We paid her a decent salary and fixed up an in-law suite over the attached garage. It worked out well for everyone. When she was ready, she studied for the exam and got her real estate license. Do you believe she’s had the same beau now for five years? They go dancing once a week and travel together.”

  “That’s nice. I wish my dad could find someone. It’s been really tough on him since my mom died.”

  “Maybe he will, kid, in his own time. It’s not really something we can make happen for the people we love.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Of course I’m right. Trust me when I say this. I have a lot of experience under my belt. The heart’s a funny organ. It wants what it wants, even when our heads tell us something different. Just when we think we’ve got all our ducks lined up in a row, love comes along and makes blubbering idiots out of the toughest of us.”

  “That sounds like you’re speaking from personal experience,” I replied, scooping up the little terrier for the walk up the wooden steps. “Was it love at first sight for you and Terry?”

  “Me? Haven’t you figured out yet that I’m a closet romantic? I was a walking disaster every time I was around him.” She tossed her head back and let out a big guffaw. “I was so tongue-tied, I couldn’t say a word. He finally asked me one day why I was such a stuck-up, obnoxious broad, because as far as he could see, there was nothing special about me. I wanted to tear a chunk out of him, and the only way I could think to pay him back for making me so mad was to beat the pants off him. That was the first time I scored higher in a shooting competition.”

  “Did that make him fall madly in love with you?”

  “Hardly. He was too busy dilly-dallying with all the girls in the administrative pool, Mr. Hot Shot. No, it was a crazy incident that did the trick. I interrupted a bank robbery in progress one day when I was cashing a check. I nailed the son of a gun from behind and hog-tied him before he knew what hit him. The bank’s video cameras were rolling and I got my face on the news that night. Terry saw it and called to congratulate me. He wanted to know if he could take me out sometime and buy me a drink.”

  “So you went?” I wanted to know. She gave me a sly grin.

  “I told him that I wasn’t looking for another pal to hang out with, that if he wanted to buy me dinner to go along with that drink, it was a date.”

  “And?”

  “Terry’s really a funny guy when he gets going and he got going that night. I finally relaxed and forgot all about my jitters. I figured I might as well be myself, because he sure wasn’t putting on airs for me. It turned out we had a lot in common. We spent the next eight hours talking over dinner and dessert, and when he dropped me off at the door and kissed me, I knew he was the one.

  “That’s a nice story, Nancy.”

  “It is, isn’t it? Terry’s a good man. I was lucky. It’s not every man who can handle his wife being a successful law enforcement agent. I’ve seen a lot of marriages break up. All those temptations, when you’re stuck on an all-night surveillance in cramped quarters -- some people don’t know how to say no. Sometimes when you’re dealing with the scum of the earth all day long, it’s hard to keep that dirt from rubbing off on you. We made a pact to connect as a couple on our time off. Terry was a golf nut, and I figured if I was going to spend any time with him, I’d better learn the game. You have to have shared interests, Marigold. It’s important to genuinely enjoy each other’s company.”

  “True,” I nodded. “There’s nothing worse than trying to keep a relationship going when you only have sex in common.”

  “People just expect marriage to be easy. It’s actually a lot of work. Any relationship can become strained when life is challenging. But if you’re with the right person and you understand that love is worth fighting for, marriage can be a rewarding experience.”

  Chapter Forty One

  We took a detour on our way home. Nancy cuddled with Cooper while I ran into Baskin Robbins to buy coconut ice cream for dessert.

  “What are we doing tonight for dinner?” she asked me when I returned.

  “Mexican.”

  “Oh, one of my favorites.” She handed me the little dog. “He’s really quite comfortable with people, isn’t he?”

  “He’s a nice boy.”

  By the time we got back to the condo, it was empty. Rocky, Tom, Terry and Jeff had gone to the driving range to hit golf balls. I got busy in the kitchen, putting the meal together. Nancy wandered out onto the covered balcony with Jeff’s copy of Vanilla Orchid Magic.

  Cooper wandered into the living room, hopped up on the ottoman, crossed over to the sofa, and settled down for a long nap. Occasionally, he would glance around, making sure I was still in the kitchen and Nancy was still on her chaise. I realized that his perch on the sofa let him watch the comings and goings, and wondered if that was a
sign that Cooper would be a great watchdog.

  After I chopped ingredients for a spicy corn salad, I tossed them together in a lime-and-olive oil vinaigrette, letting the flavors blend while I marinated the chicken for fajitas. By the time the men walked through the door, I had caramelized the onions and peppers, shredded cheese and lettuce, and chopped some tomatoes. There was a pitcher of margaritas in the refrigerator, chilling, and I was in the process of heating the grill.

  “Mmm, something smells great,” Rocky announced.

  “Indeed,” said Tom, peering into the kitchen. “Need any help with anything?”

  “You can play bartender, my friend.” I led him to the pitcher and the glasses. “We’ve also got Corona, for those who prefer beer.”

  “Excellent,” he declared. “That will really hit the spot.”

  We sat down to dinner a short time later on the covered balcony, passing the platters and bowls of fajita fixings around as we swapped stories. I spent much of the meal laughing. There was a wonderful sense of camaraderie among the group; they made me feel like I belonged.

  Tom and Rocky carried the dirty dishes into the kitchen when we were done, followed by a hopeful little terrier, looking for fallen tidbits. I packed up the leftover food and put it in the fridge, scooped coconut ice cream into small bowls, and carried the tray outdoors.

  “Marigold, you are indeed a treasure,” Rocky told me. “That was delicious.”

  “Thanks.”

  “She’s a good cook,” Terry agreed. “But the best part is that she doesn’t spend all day doing it, so I don’t have to feel guilty.”

  “Tricks of the trade. I know a lot of shortcuts and quick meals from the caterers I worked with over the years,” I replied. “It’s the old adage that time is money and money is time. The best ones try to concoct impressive meals that are cost-effective and easy to prepare.”

  “Delicious.” Jeff tipped his beer in my direction. “You’re a girl after my own heart.”