Fugitive Millionaire Revenge (Fabian Cooper Book Two)

by Brooks, Jaclyn

  The pool area opens up in front of her and Claire is incredibly impressed by its design. Immediately to her left is a large hut that houses a tiki bar. A good-looking male bartender casually chats with two patrons sitting on stools. She sees that they serve a variety of tropical drink specials. Claire is not ready for a drink, she just had breakfast, but she is ready to relax and enjoy the warmth of the sun in one of those cozy poolside lounge chairs.

  The pool is designed to resemble a blue lagoon on some faraway island. She can tell that the resort went through a lot of effort to make it look natural. The surrounding landscape is filled with greenery and assorted rocks. Part of the lagoon is split into two sections—one end is shallow and the other deep.

  Claire finds a spot she likes right next to a couple of middle-aged ladies and sprawls out on the chair. “You ladies don’t mind if I sit here do you?”

  The lady in the orange floppy hat turns away from her book to answer. “We don’t mind a little company, do we Sandra?”

  “Not at all,” says the lady in the straw hat.

  Claire, who is wearing a halter top and shorts, notices both ladies are wearing elegant bathing suit cover ups over their one-piece swimsuits. They’re older and a little heavier than she is, but she thinks they look fabulous.

  “Are you ladies on vacation together?”

  “Yes, we’re from Wisconsin,” says orange hat lady. “We thought Cabo would be a nice change of pace from our boring, middle-class lives back home.”

  “It’s incredibly beautiful here. Good choice,” says Claire.

  “Oh, we didn’t just come here for the scenery, although, it’s quite striking,” chimes in straw hat lady. “We came here hoping to meet some hunky single guys.”

  Claire is a little surprise to here her say this. Singles coming to Cabo are usually half their age.

  “We’re both single with professional careers and are doing very well, except in the man department,” says orange hat lady. “Did you come here alone?”

  “Um, I’m here on business. But there’s so many people around I don’t ever really feel alone,” Claire says. She has to keep her cover and that means hiding the fact that she’s with Fabian.

  “Well, a pretty girl like you shouldn’t have any trouble meeting a guy,” says orange hat lady. “It’s much harder for us older girls to attract male attention among so many attractive younger women.”

  “I don’t know why that should be the case. You two ladies look great,” Claire says, being perfectly honest.

  “Thank you. We both needed that this morning,” says orange hat lady.

  “I have a suggestion,” Claire offers. “You should get real friendly with the cute bartenders that work here at the resort. Those guys know the local scene and can probably hook you up with dates, or show you where to find guys that enjoy the company of older women.”

  “That’s a great idea,” straw hat lady says enthusiastically. “We should do that, Julia.”

  Orange hat lady gives her friend a thumbs up. “Yeah, let’s do it.” She turns to Claire. “Thanks for the idea. We’ll get on that right away.”

  “Cool.” Claire’s attention is distracted by the sudden appearance of a slender, bleached blonde woman sporting a perfect copper tan. The woman in the two-piece flowered string bikini has the same facial features as…

  That’s her!

  Claire cannot believe her dumb luck. Sloane Cooper has just come into the pool area and is headed her way.

  Oh my god. I hope she doesn’t recognize me.

  Claire is panicking because she’s supposed to be keeping a low profile so she can get the drop on Sloane’s whereabouts. Well, it looks like that plan is being shot to pieces. As Sloane saunters past she looks directly at Claire and smiles. After taking several more steps, she stops in her tracks and does an about face.

  Uh oh. This can’t be good.

  Sloane walks directly up to Claire, lifts up her sunglasses and peers down at her intensely.

  “Hey, aren’t you Claire? Nathan’s assistant?”

  Two thoughts flash through Claire’s mind. The first thought is that Sloane has an awesome tan. Her second thought is maybe she can try lying about who she is. Claire turns red with embarrassment. Lying is something she’s not good at. She’s about to be a complete failure as a clandestine spy.

  “Uh, yeah. It’s me,” she says sheepishly.

  Maybe she shouldn’t be giving up so easily. Everyone has a double somewhere. Why couldn’t Jean Miller be Claire Decker’s mirror image? Mistaken identity happens all the time. She could kick herself for not thinking faster on her feet.

  “I thought I recognized you,” Sloane says while shoving her sunglasses back over her eyes. “What’re you doing here? Is Nathan with you?”

  “No. I’m uh…by myself. I decided I needed a break from the city and came here to get some R and R.”

  Sloane settles into the empty lounger next to Claire. “Really? You can afford a swanky retreat like this on your salary?” Sloane’s words drip with skepticism.

  Claire is a terrible liar and knows Sloane isn’t buying her reason for being here. But, she’s gotta stick with this story because she can’t think of anything else. “Well, I ah…saved up a lot of money. I have a habit of squirreling away money for a rainy day. And, things are pretty rainy right now.”

  Sloane slathers sunscreen all over her shapely legs. “Uh huh. Okay.” Sloane sticks earbuds into her ears, turns on a mini mp3 player and leans back in the lounger. She doesn’t speak another word to Claire.

  Sloane’s behavior is making Claire feel unsure about how to play her cards. Should she try to relax and act nonchalant to see what Sloane does next? Or, should she hurry back to the cabana and tell Fabian that Sloane is here?

  Before Claire can make a definitive decision the two ladies on the other side of her gather their things to leave.

  “Thanks again, honey,” says orange hat lady. “We’re going to take your advice and hit up the bartenders for some juicy info. Have a great day.”

  Claire watches as the ladies walk over to the poolside tiki bar and seat themselves close to the bartender. Claire is now alone with Sloane.

  Sloane pulls her earbuds out. “Okay, Claire. Tell me the truth. Why the hell are you really here?”

  Claire wishes Fabian were with her right now. He’d know exactly how to handle this situation. She’s afraid she’s going to blow it for them by saying something that will make Sloane suspicious. But, it’s not like she can clam up and ignore this cunning woman sitting next to her. Silence would make her even more suspicious.

  “Okay, Sloane. I’ll fess up,” Claire is thinking fast. “The real reason I’m here is because…Nathan wanted me to check out this resort. I’m kind of like a mystery customer. I’m doing a report on how well the resort runs.”

  Sloane laughs. “You’re a terrible liar, Claire. That’s okay, because it means you’re a good person.”

  “I am?”

  “Yeah. Cooper Enterprises always sends management on those kinds of undercover evaluation trips. Office staff is never sent on those assignments. I do know a little something about how my husband’s business operates. Just admit that Nathan sent you here to check up on me. He’s worried, right?”

  Claire plays along with Sloane’s assumption. “Uh, yeah. You figured it out. Nathan is worried about you.”

  “What a guy. That man truly loves me,” Sloane says contentedly.

  “He does?”

  “Yeah. Why do you think you’re here? When you caught us making out you didn’t think that was the first time, did you?”

  “I didn’t know what to think.”

  “Let me tell you something, sweetie. When you got a guy like Nathan you’ve got it made. I really lucked out with him.”

  “Yeah, I guess you did.”

  “Nathan’s a real man. He’s nothing like that jerk, Fabian. Trust me. I did you a real favor with that guy.”

  “What do you mean?”

/>   Sloane makes a dismissive sweeping gesture with her hand. “I can’t talk about it here. Why don’t we meet for dinner tonight at the Beach Cove restaurant on the other side of the resort? We’ll discuss how the plan is going.”

  “Plan?”

  “Nathan told you about it, right?”

  “Oh yeah. The plan. He told me some things, but not everything.”

  “That’s okay,” Sloane assures her. “He trusted you enough to send you here to check up on me. I’m sure he won’t mind us girls chatting a bit.” Sloane stuffs her mp3 player inside her beach bag and gets up. “I’ve got a spa appointment to go to. See you later at dinner. Eight o’clock sharp. Don’t be late.”

  “I’ll be there. Looking forward to it.”

  Sloane strolls through the lagoon, passing the tiki bar, seemingly without a care in the world.

  *****

  Fabian is sitting on the balcony reading a magazine when Claire rushes in.

  “Fabian! You won’t believe what happened,” she says excitedly.

  Fabian puts the magazine down and readies himself for whatever news she’s bringing him.

  “What’s up?”

  “She’s here! Sloane is here at the resort.”

  Fabian gets excited too. “Did you see her?”

  Claire sits next to him on the bench. “Yeah. I was sitting by the pool and she just showed up. I couldn’t believe it at first, but it was her.”

  “What happened?”

  “She recognized me right away.”

  “Shoot. So much for the cover we planned.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t have time to hide anywhere. She sat down next to me and started telling me about Nathan and some plan.”

  “Nathan? What’s he got to do this? What plan?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’m meeting her for dinner tonight.”

  Fabian finds this incredulous. “Dinner? You’re meeting Sloane for dinner?”

  “Yes. Eight o’clock at the Beach Cove Restaurant here at the resort. Oh my god. I don’t know what I’m going to say.”

  “Settle down, babe. We’ll figure everything out. Why did she invite you to dinner?”

  “She thinks I’m in on this plan with her and Nathan. I just went along and pretended I knew what she was talking about. I did the right thing, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, sweetheart. You did good.”

  Fabian does not like what he’s hearing. Nathan is somehow involved in scheming with Sloane? How? Why?

  “Fabian, what do you think is going on?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t like that Nathan’s involved. What did she say exactly about Nathan?”

  “She asked me if Nathan sent me here. At first I tried to convince her I was here on vacation, but she didn’t buy it. Then she let me know, in no uncertain terms, that she and Nathan are a hot item.”

  “Hot item?”

  “Oh right. You don’t know about them. I should have told you sooner.”

  “What are you talking about, Claire?”

  “I caught Nathan and Sloane making out in Nathan’s office. They were going at it pretty hot and heavy. He made me promise not to tell you or anyone else. I was afraid I’d lose my job if I told. Sorry.”

  A painful reality is coming into focus clearer now. Fabian doesn’t want to believe it. Nathan and he have been tight like brothers for years, ever since they were kids. No, he doesn’t want to believe his best friend in the whole world would turn on him.

  “Nathan and Sloane are sleeping together?”

  “They’ve been having an affair for a while from the looks of things.”

  Fabian wishes he could scrub his mind clean of the image of those two having sex.

  “Well, the good news in all of this is that I can really do something about clearing my name. Finding Sloane here is going to make that warrant worthless.”

  “Do you think Nathan is somehow involved in trying to make you look guilty?”

  The mere thought of that being true is a kick in the gut. “It hurts like hell to say it, but from what Sloane told you it appears that he might be involved in some way. Before I toss away a great friendship, I need to know more about this so called plan.”

  “I agree. They obviously underestimated you. They thought you’d be arrested. As long as Sloane stays missing, the police will assume you either kidnapped or killed her. To them it probably looks like a crime of passion.”

  “Yeah, except they don’t have all the clues either. I bet they’re still trying to figure out how she disappeared and if there’s a body. Until they have more facts, they can’t prosecute me.”

  “Meanwhile, your name is being dragged through the mud.”

  “Totally. I just hope Nathan is some kind of patsy in all this. I know him too well, Claire. This kind of thing doesn’t fit his personality at all.”

  “He’s sleeping with your dad’s wife. Is that out of character?”

  “Yeah, it is, actually.” Fabian feels anger rising inside of him. He’s angry at Sloane for doing whatever she did to manipulate Nathan into an illicit affair. “I’m telling you, Claire. Nathan wouldn’t scheme to hurt me or Gray on purpose. It’s all her.”

  Claire rubs Fabian’s arm. “I hope so, honey. But, the truth may be uglier than you wanna hear.”

  “I know. Claire, I need you to snap a photo of Sloane tonight so we have proof that she’s alive.”

  “I’ll bring along the cheap cell phone I picked up at Target. I don’t think it will be easy to get a picture, but I’ll try.”

  “I just thought of another thing you need.”

  “What?”

  “A digital recorder. We need to record the whole conversation.”

  “Good thinking. I’m sure the Target here has one. We’re gonna get some hardcore evidence to prove your innocence.”

  Fabian is still worried that this may be too much pressure on Claire. He knows he’s asking a lot of her, but there’s really no other choice. Sloane would bolt as soon as she laid eyes on him. Using Claire’s nice girl image is their best hope of getting valuable information from Sloane.

  “Are you sure you’re okay with having dinner alone with Sloane tonight?”

  “Yeah. Well, maybe I’m a tad worried about keeping up the charade that Nathan sent me to check up on her. But, there’s too much at stake for me to back out. So, I’m going to sit my butt there and get Sloane to tell me everything.”

  ‘Good. The one thing I do know for sure is that Nathan has broken the trust Gray has placed in him. You think it’s bad that Gray thinks I slept with Sloane? Gray is going to be beyond upset when he finds out it’s really Nathan screwing around with his precious wife.”

  Claire shakes her head. “This whole thing is so dirty.”

  “It’s very ugly, Claire. I can’t wrap my brain around Nathan blatantly hurting Gray like this. I wanna believe that he’s a gullible dupe, you know? A sucker being seduced by an aggressive, manipulating woman.”

  Nathan is the last person in the world that he or Gray would suspect of stabbing them in the back. As a friend, Nathan has always been very supportive of him. They have shared many of life’s ups and downs together. Fabian remembers when Nathan and his mother came to live with them many years ago.

  His mother, Iris, was a single mom in need of a steady job and Gray gave her one as a live-in maid. Iris couldn’t afford childcare, so Gray allowed Nathan, an impressionable eleven year old, to live at Cooper Manor. He, his mom, sister and father had all taken an instant liking to Nathan. The kid was smart and had a winning personality. As time went on, Gray took Nathan under his wing and started spending more time with him. More than he did with his own son. But, Fabian never held that against Nathan. It wasn’t his fault that Gray withheld his affections from Fabian.

  Nathan proved to be too good of a friend to allow jealousy to come between them. Plus, Fabian actually liked that Nathan took the pressure off of his shoulders on having to be Gray’s successor in the family business. Nathan seemed more
than willing to be groomed by the elder Cooper. Father and son were very happy with this arrangement.

  Iris eventually got a secretarial job at Cooper Enterprises. She retired to Florida with a full pension. Gray invested heavily in Nathan’s education, ensuring he got a good scholarship, paying his expenses through college. Upon graduation, Nathan got a job at Cooper Enterprises working as a junior executive. He was a star at the company from the very beginning.

  The two of them had maintained their strong friendship all these years. Nathan is as much a part of the Cooper family as any blood relative. If Nathan is deeply involved in this attempt to frame him for a crime, Fabian will never be able to think of him as a brother again, or any kind of real friend.

  “Claire, I’m hoping there is some way I can clear my name without publicly exposing Nathan’s affair with Sloane. I wanna keep the scandalous details of our family’s implosion as private as possible.”

  “That really depends on what we find out from Sloane.”

  Fabian finds his cell phone. He stands in the middle of the room, staring at the glossy screen. “I’m going to call Nathan and ask him to explain this plan that Sloane is talking about. I wanna find out what he knows.”

  “No!” Claire snatches the phone away from Fabian.

  “What are you doing? Don’t you think I deserve to hear my best friend tell me why he’s sleeping with the woman that’s framing me?”

  “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Why the hell not, Claire?”

  “Because, as soon as Nathan hangs up, he’ll know we’re on to Sloane. That will blow our opportunity to get to the bottom of this. Besides, all you’ll get from Nathan is stonewalling. He’s not going to come clean about his involvement until he’s forced to.”

  Fabian is exasperated. He’s dying to have Nathan tell him that it’s all a big mistake. He wants to hear Nathan admit to fooling around with Sloane, but that he knows nothing about why Sloane wrote about having sex with her stepson in her diary, or how Gray got a hold of it. Or, why the cops think they have enough evidence to book him on suspicion of kidnapping, hoping to keep him under heavy surveillance until they figure out if there’s been a murder.