To Love and to Cherish

by Gina Robinson

  I went to the fridge, grabbed one, and popped the top. One of the great things about having money—buying crap from the mini fridge didn't make me wince quite so badly anymore. Dex's text came in. I sent Dex's info to my guy. "What have you got on our thief? We need to figure out her MO and her weaknesses."

  I laughed bitterly. "Oh, wait. We know her weakness, or at least her favorite marks—desperate, geeky rich guys who win cash at the tables. And carry it around for easy lifting."

  I knew the answer to the question I was about to ask, but I went ahead with it anyway. "How's your blackjack?"

  He shook his head. "I count cards better than you do. How much do you want me to win?"

  "Enough to attract our girl. Not enough to draw attention and get thrown out of the casinos. I'll front you the money. But first, we need to plan this out carefully." I studied him. "And pretty you up."

  Dex rolled his eyes, looking put out. "Ah, shit, Justin. Lala has rubbed off on you."

  Just then my phone buzzed. I had a text from Kay. It was a picture of her and Data. All dolled up and wearing matching rhinestone collars and pink bows. And the message—From our new Doggy and Me collection. You can try to take the dog from the girl. But you can't take the girl out of the dog.

  I cursed to myself.

  "What?" Dex asked.

  I handed him the phone. "How did she get my dog back? Ophie took her to a dog sitter. We have to hurry."

  Dex broke out laughing.

  Chapter Five

  Kayla

  On Monday, Magda and the part-time maid came in to do a thorough post-birthday party cleaning. Ophie's fake email supposedly from Britt had gone viral and was all over social media and the gossip news. Even Sunshine Sheri covered it in her typically sensational way—"New bride Kayla Green's marriage has been ill-conceived since the beginning, and so is her child! Our anonymous source, a close insider of Justin's inner circle—"

  Ophie, again. Wreaking havoc and in a tempest after I snatched my dog back from her. Oh, and threw up on her. She was probably peeved about that, too. Huh.

  "—says that the passion cooled quickly after the impromptu marriage. Realizing she was going to lose Justin, Kayla connived to get pregnant as soon as possible so she could hang on to his money. Sources say that although there was no prenup, the assets Justin came into the marriage with, i.e. the majority of them, are untouchable as long as he hasn't comingled them with Kayla's. Our source says he's been careful to not do exactly that, and, as her marriage has crumbled and she's developed an eye for Lazer Grayson, Kayla has been desperate to find a way to attach herself to Justin's fortune—"

  After feeling betrayed by her, Magda had given up watching Sunshine Sheri. But I was a glutton for punishment. Or in this case, a glutton for keeping my finger on the pulse of the gossip. Especially after I'd gotten no response from Jus from my text of Data and me reunited. Did he know what trouble Ophie was causing? Did he care? Or did he still believe the hype?

  I was engrossed in the show, my blood pressure going off the charts, I was sure, when Magda came tiptoeing into the room, uncharacteristically tentative.

  "Mrs. Justin?"

  Magda was old-fashioned. Since Jus had gone, she called me Mrs. Justin exclusively. To her, Mrs. Kayla would mean I was either a widow or a divorcee. And she was still somehow steadfastly refusing to put me into the divorcee category, even though it looked like that was the direction I was heading. At a frighteningly fast pace.

  "Yes?" I snapped the TV off out of respect for her.

  Magda hesitated, finally coming toward me with her palm outstretched. "Are you missing this? Is this one of your medications? Is it important?"

  When she reached me, I looked into her hand and came face to pill with one of my birth control pills. I paled. And went ice cold to the pit of my stomach. Since finding out I was pregnant, I hadn't taken any of my pills. Where had this one come from?

  I took it from her tentatively and studied it. "This is one of my birth control pills. Where did you find it?" I couldn't keep from sounding stunned. Surely she wouldn't have been rifling through my stuff.

  "It fell out of your little wicker toiletry basket, the one you keep on the bathroom counter by the sink. Veronica found it. When she moved the basket, it fell out." Magda's voice was neutral, but she was studying me intently.

  "So that's where it went," I whispered, sudden realization dawning. "Mystery solved!"

  On impulse, I jumped up and hugged her. "You found it! You did it! So that's why I got pregnant." I squeezed her until I realized I was being inappropriate and let her go.

  I punched the air in victory. "I wondered what had happened. Why I got pregnant when I took my pill faithfully."

  Her brow knitted.

  I laughed. "I was hung—I was taking some pain medication for a headache at the same time I took my pill. I was still half asleep when I popped them in my mouth. I thought I heard one drop. But when I looked around, I couldn't find it. So I shrugged it off and chalked it up to my imagination. It must have fallen and lodged in the basket!"

  She was still staring at me suspiciously.

  "Oh, come, Magda!" I said. "You don't believe the rumors, do you? You don't believe Sunshine Sheri and her ilk? Besides, according to them I flushed my pills!"

  I paused, biting my lip as I tried to explain. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not totally stupid. If I was going to get rid of my birth control pills, I certainly wouldn't be dumb enough to toss them in that wicker basket where anyone could find them! For one thing, it's full of holes. They could fall out and give me away." I held the pill up between my thumb and forefinger. "Like this one did."

  I shook my head. "I would smuggle the pills out of the penthouse and toss them in the garbage in the lobby, at the very least. Or simply either flush them or wash them down the sink like the gossips are claiming. The pills are tiny. It would be so easy!"

  I grabbed her hand. "If I'm the greedy, money-grubbing girl they say I am, and billions were at stake, why would I take any chances of being discovered? Even if I had been dumb enough, or desperate enough, to hide a pill in that basket, I've had plenty of time since to get rid of it. It's almost like it was planted."

  I shook my head, still amazed. One mystery solved. "I thought I'd been part of the one percent failure rate. Now I find out it was purely accidental." I cursed myself for being a stupid drunk.

  When I returned my gaze to Magda, she was beaming. "I never doubted you, Mrs. Justin. You have to tell Mr. Justin. He's very smart. If he's believing all these rumors, this will bring him to his senses."

  I smiled sadly at her, wanting to believe she was right. And thinking he was still too hurt to listen to reason. He hadn't even responded to the text I'd sent him of Data and me looking so adorable in our matching outfits.

  Just then my cell phone buzzed. I glanced at it and frowned. "Harry, Justin's lawyer, is downstairs. He wants to come up. I wonder what he wants."

  My heart pounded as I buzzed him up, fearing that I knew what he wanted. And it wasn't good. Not at all.

  Harry arrived in the penthouse, looking handsome and put together, like always. And smelling characteristically clean and good. But there was something a little off in his usual charming, yet professional demeanor. He seemed, and I hated to say it, nervous and ill at ease.

  He was carrying a large legal folder. He made little pretense at small talk, mostly commenting on the unusually hot, dry weather. Yes, yes, a drought, certainly. That was what the weather guys were saying. The hotter than normal weather could continue into next summer. Two years of record heat and dry. Seattle was turning brown. Was it really the Emerald City anymore?

  "Justin wanted you to have this," he said abruptly. And waved the folder.

  * * *

  Justin

  I was holed up in a hotel room I'd rented just for private investigating purposes. My PI, Richard Spize, who went by Dick, naturally, because Dick Spize was a hysterically appropriate name for a private investigator, s
at next to me. Sometimes I thought he made it up, like a pen name for an author. I really didn't care one way or the other as long as he got the job done.

  We were staring at an open laptop, watching by button camera as Dex trolled for my real little wifey, Macy. He set the bait by playing blackjack game after blackjack game. With my money. The good news was he was good. And winning more than losing. Any losing was done on purpose so the casino wouldn't be wise to him. After all this time, it was odd putting a name to Macy. For so long I'd thought about her as the ID thief, and any other number of expletives.

  Dick and I had a team of his go-to colleagues on the floor watching Dex. Dick wore an earpiece. His expression changed from blank to excited in an instant as one of his guys said something to him.

  Dick pointed to the edge of the screen. "There. There she is. We've caught her attention."

  I found myself oddly dispassionate as I stared into the laptop and watched the woman who'd stolen so much from me. And yet, in an odd way, had given me everything I'd desired. I was the one who'd blown it. I was perfectly willing to take that responsibility. But I wanted her disabled from ever getting the truth out. Though, in a weird way, part of me wanted to thank her for bringing things to a head with Kay. If not for the stranger, I would have always wondered whether Kay and I could have had something together. Now I knew.

  I turned to Dick. "What do you think?"

  Dick studied the laptop. He snapped a screenshot and grinned as he turned to me. "See that expression right there? That smug little look she's wearing. I've seen that expression hundreds of times before. That's what we call falling head, heart, and sinker for our little trap. She's noticed your friend now. She's identified him as her next mark. He's good. He's left just enough cash hanging out of his pockets to catch her eye." Dick laughed. "We'll get her. We've got her now."

  My gut clenched. I was ready to confront her. "When do you think she'll make her move?"

  Dick was studying the screen again. "Give her a little time to woo him. Thrill of the hunt is part of the game and the high for her. Like a cat playing with a mouse."

  I hated to think of myself as her mouse.

  "She's watching him to see what he likes before she moves in. She wants to be certain she can charm him. That she knows all she can about him. What he likes to drink. His particular tics. Is he nervous or steady? What kind of woman catches his eye? Our girl Sandra next to him. We already briefed him to play up to her. We want to see if our chameleon will make herself look like Sandra. I believe she will. It's part of her MO.

  "Here, let me just switch channels and cue Dex in."

  Dex was wearing a wire and a mic.

  "Dex, she's spotted you. Don't turn and look, but she's behind you to your left. Flirt with Sandra on your right. Let's force Macy to make a move."

  Dick turned back to me. "Don't worry. She has dollar signs in her eyes now. She isn't going to let him get away."

  * * *

  Kayla

  I stared at the folder in my hand and back to Harry, my heart in my stomach.

  In stark contrast to the first time I'd met Harry, he looked sympathetic. As if he was on my side this time.

  "Divorce papers? Again?" I blinked back tears, trying hard not to cry. "What happened to big, paper-serving guy and his black SUV? And shouldn't you say something stunning and erudite like 'You've been served'?" I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

  Harry looked embarrassed. "These aren't divorce papers. Not yet." He cleared his throat and looked around nervously. "Can we speak in private?"

  Which I took to mean not in front of Magda or Veronica, the part-time maid. I led Harry to one of the guest rooms that I'd appropriated for my office, and shut the door.

  The room was appointed with a desk, sofa in front of the windows, and chairs.

  "Have a seat," I said. "Can I get you something?"

  He shook his head. "I'm won't stay long. In fact, I'm not here at all, if you catch my drift. Justin could fire my ass for giving this to you." He waved that intriguing, almost beguiling folder again.

  "Now you not only have my attention, but my curiosity as well." I took a seat on the sofa in front of the windows, mostly because it felt like my legs had gone to jelly and were about to give out.

  Harry opened the folder and pulled out a familiar envelope.

  I gasped.

  Harry frowned. "What?"

  "I recognize that envelope!" It was the one Jus had caught me with in the closet right after our wedding. The one I'd been so tempted to read. The one that said, To My Wife Kayla, to be read the day before our divorce.

  So that was what he'd done with it! What was so secret inside it? All the old questions and curiosity surfaced.

  "You do?"

  I explained.

  Harry was still frowning. "I didn't realize you'd seen it before. Justin entrusted this to me with instructions that I was to give it to you the day before your divorce became final."

  My heart did a nosedive for my stomach. I went totally cold to the core.

  "Yes, I know. It says so on the envelope. Is our divorce that imminent, then?" I could barely get the words out. "Don't I have to sign something or something?"

  Harry smiled kindly. "Yes, you do. And no, it isn't that imminent. But it's coming. Justin has asked me to prepare the paperwork. He's prepared to pay you the agreed-upon sum, but he no longer requires your services for the duration of the contract."

  I nodded, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. "And the baby?"

  Harry sat next to me on the sofa, after all. "I recommend getting your own lawyer now that you have a child to consider in the dissolution."

  I nodded again.

  Harry took my hand and squeezed it. "But that's not why I've come. As Justin's good friend, I've seen how good you've been for him. I don't believe what I've seen and heard from the media. It doesn't ring true with what I know about you. From the beginning, you didn't want his money. And while having money can turn a person's head, I don't think that's what's going on with you."

  He pressed the letter into my hand. "As Justin's friend, not his lawyer, I'm giving you this letter." He smiled regretfully. "As his lawyer, he could can my ass and have me disbarred. Regardless, I think you need to read this."

  I stared at the letter in my hand. "Do you know what this says?"

  He shook his head. "I haven't read it, no. But I know it's important for you to have." He stood suddenly.

  I looked up at Harry. "Thank you." I bit my lip. I didn't know what to say. "I won't tell him if you won't."

  "I'll show myself out."

  Chapter Six

  Justin

  I was impatient. Eager to bring Macy in before she had a chance to get away. Dick and I watched as she hit on Dex. Just as Dick had predicted, she'd morphed into a Sandy clone, even adopting a similar style of dress.

  "I wonder whose credit card she used to buy that outfit," I said to Dick. I remembered she'd stolen Kay's and used it to buy the outfit she wore to seduce me. It was sick. She was sick.

  But I was impressed with Dex's flirting skills. He was becoming almost suave. And he was throwing my money around like it was nothing.

  Dick leaned forward, concentrating on the surveillance feed. "Watch your drink, buddy. We know she likes roofies."

  Dex had been warned. There was no antidote for roofies. Unaided by alcohol, it lasted in the system from eight to twelve hours. Taken with alcohol, it could last for as long as thirty-six. Dex was drinking moderately. From what we'd gleaned from her record, Macy was a skilled pickpocket. Which meant she was good at sleight of hand. It would have been easy for her to slip a roofie in Dex's drink without his knowledge. Like she'd done to me.

  On our feed, Dex was offering to buy Macy dinner.

  "Oh, crap! He's going to draw this out." I banged my fist on the table.

  Dick raised one eyebrow. "He's doing fine. He has to win her trust. She's not stupid and she's cautious. She's not going anywhere private with
him until she decides he's not a threat and she has the upper hand."

  * * *

  Kayla

  Long after Harry had gone, I sat in my office with the envelope trembling in my hand, staring at Justin's precise engineer's handwriting. Once again, my imagination flew with possibilities. Was Harry right to give me this letter? Was I right to read it? What if it said something incriminating? Or was it simply the instructions on how to extricate myself from Justin's life?

  There was only one way to find out. I slid my finger beneath the flap of the greeting card envelope and broke the top open. I was nervous. The edge tore raggedly. My fingers shook as I pulled the card out. It was one of those gushy, terribly romantic cards, all done in shades of pink that Jus couldn't see. Which was sweet and touching in itself. I'm forever and always yours was printed on the front. It was one of those cards that you could record a message on. When I opened it, it was Jus singing a line from a love song, followed by him saying, I love you.

  My eyes clouded with tears. It was so sweet and touching. So Jus. So like the old Jus, anyway. I brushed the tears out of my eyes and tried to read, stopping to wipe them away every few lines. Afraid I was going to drip on the card and blur the beautiful words. Justin's hand was clear and easy to read. His heart was on the page.

  Dear Kay,

  If you're reading this, it means I've tried to win your love over the past year and lost. I've failed at the one thing that was most important to me. And I'm not used to losing. But I've lost you. Which breaks my heart in ways you'll never understand.

  Do you believe in love at first sight? I didn't. Until you walked into that class in college. And stole my heart.

  The first time I saw you smile and laugh, I knew you were the girl that was meant for me. All this time since college, when it seemed like our paths would never cross again, I still believed. Still fantasized about you. Dreamed about you. I even started Flash with Riggins partly because I knew it was something you would love. I hoped, dreamed, wished it would somehow bring us together. I even fantasized about hiring you. And made plans to do it.