by RP Dahlke
Astrid scrambled aboard and down the companionway so fast that Katy hardly had time to get out of the girl's way. At the sight of the settee and its missing cushions she visibly shuddered. "Oh. It's true, then! Someone slashed your cushions. I didn't do this!" she said, pointing at the flat wood peeking up between mismatched cushions. "That's… that's just not me, you know?"
"Why would anyone think you did it?"
The girl's green eyes widened. "Jeff thinks… Look, I'm crazy jealous when he talks to other girls, I can't help that. I love the big dope, an' now he's all mad at me and stuff. I just thought…"
"What?" These two girls were going to be in for a major surprise when they learned he was a pro at conning women.
"Well, if you could talk to him, tell him I didn't do it. He'll believe you."
"He'll believe me, but not you? Is that because you have a history of lying?"
"That's not true! It's just that I can get in and out of really small places like you wouldn't believe. I'm Fred's best assistant ever, just you ask him if you don't believe me."
"So, is this a part-time job or is there school or something else for you when you go home?"
"I… I haven't decided about college yet."
"You look like you work out."
"That's how I met Jeff," she gushed. "At a gym in Ventura. We're leaving for Puerto Vallarta soon as… soon as he gets some things settled. It's just about the most romantic place in the world to get hitched, you know?"
Of course, this left out Myne's plans for Jeff, but who was she to argue? "So, when're you leaving?"
Astrid looked down at her lap, her buoyant mood slipping. "That may have to be put off for a bit. He still has some… well, one little problem to fix."
"You mean like telling Myne he's going to leave with you instead of her?"
Astrid's chin quivered a bit in the delivery but she stubbornly plowed ahead. "Exactly. That conniving little bitch is finally going to get what she deserves."
"And what would that be?"
Astrid's lips tightened and she had the look of someone who now wished she hadn't been so forthcoming.
"Okay," Katy said, "so how many times have you two fought over some guy that probably doesn't love either of you?"
"Of course he loves me!"
"Why? Because he says so?"
Astrid's natural hazel eyes stared back at Katy, and for the first time, Katy noticed what she hadn't before. There was a familiarity about the girl, as if she'd seen her somewhere before. And then she had it.
"So, is Jeff the real problem between you two girls?"
"I told you, I missed out on my one and only big chance at American Idol, and it's all her fault!"
"So you're honor bound to take Jeff back, no matter what?"
"Well, he was mine to start with."
"People don't belong to us, Astrid, you know that better than anyone. Your sister is selfish, but I doubt she really understands why you're so angry with her."
"Sister! What makes you think…?"
"There is a resemblance, you know. You two have the same shaped face and you both have that little crooked pinky that some siblings have. I notice things like that. It's my job, and besides, I have a sister and we've been fighting and making up for as long as I can remember, so your behavior towards Myne makes sense."
Astrid looked down at her chest. "We were born on that dumb catamaran, but it was my mom who jumped ship in P.V." Astrid raised her head to meet Katy's eyes. Was it to gauge Katy's ability to swallow her story? "My dad kept us with him until they worked out the divorce and then they split us up. I went to LA with him 'cause I'm the oldest and Myne went with our mom to Texas."
"Uh-huh. I guess that explains the East Texas accent."
"Yeah, yeah, and tomorrow she'll have an Aussie accent. She thinks she's an actress. I hadn't seen her in nine years and she decides to come out to LA and live with us, made the round of Hollywood agents and totally bombed her screen test. If she'd stuck with the singing act we put together, she might've had another shot at Hollywood, but she left after we had a fight about it and I haven't seen her until we landed here. So, here we are again, living on the water, only the boats are whole lot cooler."
"So the fighting between you two is really the loss of your audition, not Jeff?"
"I didn't come preloaded with the double-D's but I'm a better singer than she'll ever be. She was just eye-candy, anyway. She got mom's figure, I got daddy's brains."
"You don't have to look like Dolly Parton to get an agent, Astrid."
"She still screwed up my big chance at American Idol."
"If it makes you feel any better, she's going to be out in the cold now that Spencer's been arrested."
She hooted, "Lost her meal ticket, has she? Sweet."
"Sisters don't always do it right," Katy said, thinking back to when she shot her sister's stalker. Maybe if she had tackled him instead of wrestling him for his gun she wouldn't be down here in Mexico now. But then she'd probably still be planning a wedding with a fiancé she no longer wanted, and she never would have met Raul Vignaroli.
"Tell you what—I'll talk to Jeff," she said, giving Astrid her most sincere smile. It wasn't a lie; she had every intention of questioning Jeff again. "If you'll tell me what you know about Fred."
"Fred?" Astrid was suddenly cagey. "I mean sure, what can I tell you?"
"For starters, how did you get the job with him?"
Astrid's easy posture went rigid and her hands quieted. "Newspaper ad."
But the staccato responses indicated otherwise. "Been with him long?"
"Two years. But I told you Jeff and I are leaving."
"Uh-huh. Astrid, you can tell me, do you suspect that Fred had something to do with the murder of that girl?"
Astrid jumped as if she'd been pinched. "Fred? No! I mean, you just said Spencer was arrested for the murder of that girl, right?"
Katy was now suspicious. "But you know something about it, don't you?"
Astrid, eyes wide, shook her head. "Not me. I wasn't even here that night. I was on my boat, asleep, alone."
"How about the night Booth was found in the water? You were there."
"I was there to see Fred. We were going over his next show. You should ask Wally and his wife about Booth. They're the ones who plied him with rum to get the dirty on Spencer, and that's all I'm going to say about that." Astrid mumbled a quick excuse and was gone in a flash.
Rum and narcotics? Raul ignored Booth's heroin use because the man had stomach cancer and kept the chief abreast of the Americans on the dock and yet Booth, dying of cancer, was a short-timer and knew it, and yet he gambled on blackmail as a way of getting some ready cash? Surely not for himself. Then was he helping someone else? Perhaps Myne, as a way out from under Spencer's thumb?
She was getting ready to take the trash out of her boat when she heard someone else calling her name. "Katy, Katy! I'm so glad I found you," she cried, throwing herself into Katy's unsuspecting arms. "Where you been? They arrested Spencer yesterday!"
Katy put an arm around the sobbing girl and pushed her into the boat. "Yes, I know, but I've been caught up with a problem of my own. Come on, we'll sort this out down below."
The little blond collapsed onto the settee with its odd assortment of temporary pillows. Noting her lack of interest in the missing cushions, Katy mentally deleted Myne from the list. She poured a cup of coffee for Myne and handed it to her.
"Will they let you see him?"
Myne ignored the question and knuckled her reddened eyes. "This wasn't supposed to happen. He told me he paid off a judge and the police. Now I gotta go talk to his lawyer, see if there's anybody left that can help."
"The police found his gun and…" She started to say more but decided against it, not if Myne was still willing to cover for Spencer. "Well, the law is different here, Myne. Their laws are based on the Napoleonic doctrines—guilty until proven innocent. There's no bail for a murder charge."
Myne sni
ffled then sat up straight. "Oh my God! They'll impound his boat, too."
"You should go stay with someone. Maybe one of Spencer's friends?"
Myne's next words stunned Katy. "He said anything should happen to him, I should come to you."
Katy stuttered. "M—m—me?" Then she did a mental head smack. That first night on Spencer's boat, the smoke signals between Spencer and Booth. If it all came apart, Spencer, already under suspicion, saw Katy as the perfect foil; but did he do it so that Myne would be safe or was he setting up his mistress/employee as a spy in the opposing camp?
"Dry your eyes and tell me what you know about that night. And don't tell me you didn't know he had a prostitute at the boat," she said, thinking of Myne's pink gingham dress coming off in a single swipe while she entertained Spencer's prospective clients.
"I never said I didn't know. I thought that passel of lawyers he thinks so highly of woulda been able to keep him out of jail."
"Myne, someone has been giving the police anonymous tips. First, when the girl was murdered and now someone told them where to find the gun. Would that be you?"
"Not me! The man still signs my checks. Why would I wanna bust that up?"
"How about Jeff?"
"I don't know. Maybe. Jeff said he was moving off the boat 'cause Spencer owed him wages, but I never took Jeff for a snitch, least ways, I didn't think he was."
"If Jeff is off Spencer's yacht, where'd he move to?"
"He moved onto Fred's boat, which I'm sure suits Astrid just fine and dandy."
So that was why Jeff might or might not work out. The war between Astrid and Myne was heating up again.
Myne picked at the crumbled tissue in her hand. "Are they sure it's Spencer's gun?"
"'Fraid so. Where were you when the police first came for Spencer?"
"My room's down the hall. I don't sleep good most nights, so I took a pill. I didn't hear nothin' till Booth woke me up and said I had to talk to the police. I told them I didn't know if he had a girl aboard or not. He had girls from Antonio's delivered several times a week so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary and I wouldn't have had anything to say about it if he had six of 'em every night, you know?"
No, she didn't know. It would have been ludicrous to try to imagine herself in Myne's platforms. Katy looked down at her aged Dockers and grimaced at the neglected shape of her own tanned legs.
Seeing Katy's frown, Myne stuck out a lower lip. "I din't take you for a sour puss, you being with the police an' all. But I guess I was wrong."
Katy held up a palm. "I'm not judging you, Myne."
"I owe Spencer a lot, you know."
"I understand. He got you out of that strip club. But now you and Jeff are together, you can leave, start a new life, right?"
"Maybe, maybe not. I'm still sore at him for leaving me all alone on that big ol' boat."
"Do you know if he had a favorite?"
"Jeff don't go for the girls at Antonio's… oh, you mean Spencer. He didn't have no favorites, only that they had to be young. Spence likes 'em young." There was a momentary wistfulness that passed across her face. "I was just a kid, fooling myself to think he would marry me if I was preggers. That little scare got him a vasectomy and me an abortion." She shrugged. "It was either that or he was going to kick me out. After that, it was all business between us."
"He's married, you know."
With a floppy wave of her hand she dismissed the idea. "They have an arrangement. She stays out of his hair and she gets to keep her high falutin' lifestyle in LA."
This was the typical married man's version as told to a gullible girl, but what was the real story?
"I'm fucked!" she said, wiping at the tears threatening to spill. "He gets convicted, I'm out of a job and a home."
"Myne, if the police were going to seize Spencer's yacht, they would've done it already. I think it's safe for you to go back."
Myne tilted her head, considering. "You think so? Gee. That might be okay, then. I'll be by myself, but I can do that. There's plenty of food in the fridge… and nobody to bother me. I can do that." She dimpled once then frowned. "I gotta go see the lawyer, then. Will you go with me?"
"Of course," she said, thinking of the fan she still needed to replace. "I have some chores to do in town anyway. Why don't you go get your purse and a hat," she said, nodding at the girl's sun-pinked skin. "I need to take a shower. So, I'll come by in say, half an hour?"
Myne was once again all smiles.
At the marina showers, Katy took out her soft bristle brush and with a dollop of her favorite hyacinth soap went to work on the grime under her toenails. Then taking a razor, she carefully lathered her legs and rid them of the last of the stubble and, deciding she had the time, washed and conditioned her hair, blew it dry and pulled it all into a thick shiny ponytail. Donning a clean, sleeveless khaki shirt over a pair of walking shorts, she turned around to admire herself in the mirror. She was going to the police station. Never knew who she might run into there.
Chapter Seventeen:
Slinging her kit bag into the cockpit for later, and making sure the kitten had food and water and that her lock was secure on the hatch boards, Katy walked the twenty or so feet of the dock to Spencer's yacht, took the steps up to the sun deck and tried the sliding glass doors to the living room. The only thing she saw was her own reflection in the mirror behind the bar. This time it was locked, and probably a good idea, since Myne was living here alone.
Over the hum of the AC she felt a faint, throbbing base beat against the glass doors. Taking the stairs down to the lower level she followed the sound. She tried the exterior doors that would lead to hallways but the handles wouldn't turn. Stopping at the porthole where the music appeared to be coming from, she went up on tiptoe and looked inside.
This was Myne's all pink room with its pillow shams edged in lace and plumped together over a matching satin comforter. But where was Myne? Then she saw movement on the floor next to the bed. Two short legs ending in bare feet with the gumdrop toes sporting the cyanic blue polish Myne favored. Katy banged on the porthole. Nothing could be heard over the loud music. All the doors were locked. Depressed at losing Jeff to Astrid and Spencer to a murder rap, had she decided to end it all with an overdose of her sleeping pills?
Just as Katy was about to go for help, she noticed a large pair of bare feet sliding down the girl's legs to sensuously cuddle the blue-tipped toes. The girl's feet returned the caress.
Sighing, Katy settled down onto her feet and left.
She gave it another half hour and went back. This time the slider was unlocked, the lights were on and Myne waved her in. "I'll be with you in a jiffy, soon's I get this dorado filleted and in the fridge." Myne adjusted the apron she wore, hefted the heavy carving knife and went at the fish with a vengeance.
"I came by earlier. Door was locked."
"Probably in the shower," she said, grimly whacking the fish.
Considering the knife and what was left of the fish, Katy asked, "Is that fresh dorado?"
Myne shrugged and turned away. "A friend brought it by," she said with a sigh, moving the fish onto some paper and then carrying the limp remains over to a lidded trash can and dumping it all into the can.
Wiping her hands on her apron, she smiled weakly at Katy. "I don't know why I thought I had to fillet that damn thing, I can't cook."
Removing her apron, she came around the counter in a man-shirt over a pair of black tights, gold bangles at her wrists and diamond studs big enough to feed a small country.
When Myne noticed Katy's interest in the earrings, she self-consciously lifted a finger and adjusted the heavy stones. "I never wear 'em."
Her bad mood brightened as she admired her reflection in the mirror behind the bar. "But maybe it'll cheer him up some, since he bought 'em."
Or maybe it was to remind Spencer that ten grand was hanging on his ex-mistress' ears and out of his reach.
"You think I'll get mugged?"
Katy sm
iled. "I think you'll do just fine."
Myne lowered her eyelashes and a sly smile curled at her lips. She shrugged a huge gold lamé purse onto her shoulder and a pair of dark sunglasses on top of her forehead. "Let's do this then."
"Hat?" suggested Katy.
Myne coyly moved a blond lock behind her shell pink ears to show off the diamond sparklers. "No thanks. I wouldn't want to ruin the effect."
This should be interesting.
In the taxi, Katy watched Myne's growing nervousness as she kept touching the stones as if to remind herself they were there. Then with a small sigh, she let her hand trail down her neck to drop quietly into her lap.
Yes, Myne had a plan and Katy would give a lot to be a fly on the wall when the girl went to visit Spencer. She'd also like to know if it was Jeff with her on the floor of her bedroom today. Knowing what she did about him, she had to wonder if he was the one who pushed Myne to wear the diamonds and why.
Spencer's lawyer was a vigorous man in his early forties, expensively attired in a handmade silk suit and tie. He greeted them with the hearty banter of a man about to make some serious money. "I am so very glad to meet someone who is clearly on Mr. Spencer's side," he said, avoiding the dangerous ground of what to call Myne. He didn't manage quite so well when Myne bent over her purse and gave him a breathtaking view of some very abundant décolletage.
To break the awkward moment, Katy commented on the polo awards on a nearby shelf.
"Yes," he said, looking over his shoulder at the collection. "We are very proud of our club here in Ensenada." He shot a glance at Myne, who was now rummaging fitfully through her bag, and continued, "Polo is a very popular Mexican sport. You should come to one… sometime," he added, smiling weakly.
Myne waved her checkbook at him. "Got it. Now, ah'm prepared to write you a check for his bail."
The lawyer, in an obvious attempt to set the time on this fool's errand, unstrapped his dive watch and laid it on the desk.
"I'm sorry, but that won't be possible. There is no bail for a murder charge here in Mexico."