Deborah Brown - Madison Westin 06 - Revenge in Paradise

by Deborah Brown

  “Harder asked her why she squeezed so hard on a woman with no record or history of drug use. And that she better have a good reason to block the deal. She didn’t answer but looked embarrassed and signed off.”

  “We need to go to Miami,” I told Fab. “Rita will have to wait until later, Miss January doesn’t have anyone to pick her up.” I had received a message from Rita earlier that she had information for sale and to bring cash.

  “I knew you were headed to Dawg’s,” Creole said. “I called Mac and she went to the jail, taking Score along for the ride. She just called and they’re back.”

  “Your next day off, we’re going to spend it naked and I’ll show you my appreciation for you being the best boyfriend.” I let out a long sigh thinking about taking off his clothes.

  “I’m going to be sick,” Fab squealed.

  Creole laughed. “Lift up your skirt and reassure me that you have your Glock strapped on.”

  “Yes, it’s there.” I giggled, my cheeks warming.

  “Be careful. You have a tendency to close your eyes to danger. I want you to be careful and not ignore any signs.”

  “If plans change I’ll call you,” I said, disconnected, and smiled at the phone.

  “Can’t you control yourself until you’re in the bedroom with the door closed?” Fab shook her head in disgust.

  “Just for that, I think I’ll drive.” I smirked.

  She took the keys out of her pocket and grinned.

  Before I could chase her down, my phone rang again.

  “I want a raise,” Mac informed me. Judging by the sounds of traffic in the background, she must have had her windows down.

  “You think you deserve more money to drive drunks around?” I hit the speaker. Fab and I sat back down at the island. “At least one passenger’s sober.”

  “Lucky for me, Score had a hard day drinking and passed out, snoring all the way.” Mac chuckled. “Turned out Miss January doesn’t care for sobriety, asked me to stop at the liquor store for vodka and cigarettes.”

  Having known a drunk or two, the person had to have the desire to be sober and Miss January clearly wasn’t interested. I never expected her to stay sober. It wouldn’t prolong her life.

  “Would you have Shirl check in on her,” I asked.

  “I think she missed not having Miss January around,” she said. “I have more good news. The charges against Joseph were dismissed.”

  Fab and I shook our heads.

  “There’s one lucky man. How did that happen?” I asked.

  “The victim wouldn’t cooperate with the DA and didn’t show for a court hearing. Turns out, he had an outstanding warrant from Maryland and left town. He knew any cooperation on his part and his past would catch up to him,” Mac said.

  “What was he wanted for, do you know?”

  “He’d been convicted of grand theft and was serving time on a road crew when he walked away one day. They catch up to him and he’ll get extra time for escape and no cushy minimum security hospitality,” Mac said.

  “Lucky Joseph. I hope he realizes he needs to stay in the Cove and get drunk or, better yet, stay home with Svetlana.”

  “I told him I liked Svet better than him and he took it as a compliment,” she hooted.

  When we hung up, I realized a good bribe was in order to make sure she stayed.

  I called Dawg’s to confirm with Rita and found out she had gone home for the day.

  Chapter 33

  The front door slammed with such force I thought it would fly off the hinges. “What in the hell were you two doing over in Sunnyside?” Creole stomped into the living room.

  Fab and I had been arguing over what take-out to order. If I’d had advance warning, I would have slid to the floor and hid behind a piece of furniture until the storm cleared but it was too late, he towered in front of me.

  I looked up, almost flinching from the anger on his face. “Could you use your quiet voice?” Technically, I could say, “Where?” because I didn’t know the name of the area until now.

  “No,” he barked, rubbing the back of his neck. “Since you two have a death wish, how about I help you and strangle you both?”

  I stared at his legs sticking out from his knee-length shorts and smiled. Now probably wasn’t the right time to tell him how damned hot he looked, fresh out of the shower, hair damp around his shoulders. Maybe I could throw some beach towels at him and he’d get the hint and we could go roll in the sand.

  He cleared his throat, glaring down.

  “That would upset Mother.”

  “Don’t blame her.” Fab stepped in front of Creole, going nose to nose with him, voice controlled. “The GPS wasn’t working so I used my phone. We had no idea the neighborhood was in need of revitalization.”

  I peeked at Didier from the corner of my eye, watching the fireworks about to begin. Fab must have told him despite her demand that we keep quiet earlier.

  Creole sat back, calm, and gave me a hard look. I didn’t know exactly what he found out, but I didn’t want to add to the drama by lying, so I kept my mouth shut. He turned on Fab. “If the GPS isn’t working, I’ll bet it has your fingerprints on it. Are you so dumb that you ignored all the signs you were in a very bad neighborhood?”

  Didier’s eyes never left Fab. The corners of his mouth turned up, ready for the explosion, and Fab didn’t disappoint.

  She jumped into Creole’s face, unleashing a tirade in French. I noticed her liberal use of bad words, one in particular. Liam had been teaching me the colorful words on the sly. The professor would be proud if he knew.

  Creole yelled right back at her. Whatever he said, Didier laughed and they both turned on him.

  I’d had enough. Pretty soon they’d be saying stuff they couldn’t take back if that hadn’t happened already.

  “Stop it!” I squeezed in between them. “Sit back down,” I ordered Fab, “and you sit over there.” I pointed to the chair I just vacated.

  “Enough of this.” I put my hands on my hips. “You two don’t know each other very well and that’s about to change. You two sit down and talk this out.”

  “This isn’t about liking one another, it’s about her blatantly refusing to use common sense,” Creole raged.

  No one said a word. We sat and stared at one another.

  Creole sighed and stood up. “Get up,” he said, and motioned to Fab. “Do you mind if I borrow your girlfriend?” he asked Didier. “We need to get a few things straight.”

  “Just know you’re a dead man if you don’t bring her back alive,” Didier said. “I agree with Madison, you two definitely need to get along.” He folded his arms across his chest.

  “Does my opinion count?” I asked.

  “I’ll deal with you later.” Creole glared.

  I gave him a big smile. That worked in my favor. His anger lines softened, his mouth briefly turned up in the corners.

  Fab jumped up and smoothed out the non-existent wrinkle in her slinky dress that tied behind her neck. “I think it’s a great idea,” she said in a voice that said she clearly didn’t. “Come on, big ass, unless you’re afraid. Time to set some ground rules.”

  Creole fished his keys out of his pocket, saying something to her in French. Didier threw his head back and laughed.

  Fab turned and glared at him. “Don’t worry,” she said to me, “we’ll find you a new boyfriend.” The door slammed behind them.

  “This isn’t the worst idea, but close,” Didier said. “They need to be friends if we’re going to make our relationship work.”

  I watched from the kitchen window as Creole peeled out of the driveway. “Why couldn’t they stay here?” I picked up my phone. “Salad with your pizza?”

  “You could at least ask what I want for a topping,” Didier grouched.

  I ordered the large size, grilled vegetables on one side, shrimp on the other, stressing they were not to co-mingle in anyway. “I know everyone in this family’s favorite pizza topping and that includes yo
u.”

  He stood and hugged me. “What happened today?”

  “A simple car retrieval went a little wrong. Fab needs to be the one to give you the details, if she hasn’t already.”

  Didier listened, his face impassive.

  “She was truly amazing.” I smiled.

  Didier looked lost in thought. “I knew she had something on her mind; she started several times to say something and then changed the subject. Why couldn’t she just tell me she had a bad day?” he asked.

  “My guess is she never wants to disappoint you or worry you. Look back from when you first met her to now and see all the good changes. You can’t snap your fingers and demand trust. You, my dear, seem to have earned hers and I hope you appreciate how hard that was for her to give.”

  “I love her, all wild-eyed and beautiful spirit. She makes me laugh, she’s wicked smart, and so very naughty.” He smiled thinking about her.

  “Which one comes back with a bullet wound?” Didier asked.

  “Hopefully, neither one of them,” I said, and laughed. “But my guess is Fab would draw first. I wouldn’t want to be there for that. I hope they went some place public where it’s less likely to get out of control, forces them to use their good manners. A boyfriend once broke up with me in a pricey restaurant. I never got to tell him what I thought of him. I felt cheated.”

  “Bâtard,” Didier said.

  The doorbell rang. I opened the door to the pizza boy.

  I lifted the lids to the boxes and they smelled yummy. I grabbed plates and put two slices on each, handing them to Didier, who’d tossed the salad in a bowl and spooned a little on each plate.

  Didier pulled on a strand of my hair. “You and Creole are well-suited. He’s a good guy, for an American.”

  I got out wine glasses, setting us places at the island. Didier poured from a bottle of red wine he picked up.

  “I know some people think it’s all about sex but I think he and I have potential,” I confided. “He doesn’t try to change me. Today, Fab and I should have made better choices, we need to agree on how to handle these unsafe areas for the future, guaranteed it won’t be our last. I should’ve been more vocal.”

  “She says you’re like a sister to her.”

  “The best day was when I met her and we became friends. I was a bit lonely here by myself. In truth, I didn’t mind that she moved in. I had never entertained the idea of a roommate; I would have been more likely to fill the house up with cats. At one time, I thought about fixing her up with Brad and I’m glad I didn’t. I figured out he needs easy-going, not dramatic. Besides, I wouldn’t have met you.” I winked.

  “Are you really okay about my moving in? I didn’t want to ask in front of Fab and embarrass her. I’ll bet she never mentioned it, did she?”

  “You’re like the boyfriend who slept over a few nights and never went home.” I laughed. “You can’t go anywhere now. You’re family and your leaving would ruin our foursome. That’s why those two have to get along.”

  We stood side by side at the kitchen sink; he rinsed and I stacked the dishwasher. Jazz wandered in and meowed at his feet. Didier retrieved tuna from the refrigerator and bent down, talking to him, while he fed him. I watched from the corner of my eye, and saw that Jazz certainly had him trained. Real tuna! Pretty soon he’d turn up his nose at meat treats from Fab. I hoped I was there the day the cat showed her his tail and left the room.

  “How about a movie?” Didier sat with the remote flipping through the channels.

  I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d rather read. Maybe once the movie got started, I could sneak out a book and he wouldn’t notice.

  “You choose.” I curled up in my favorite chair, tablet in hand, already scanning my carousel of books. “Nothing scary,” I said, remembering Fab’s last choice for a movie.

  Fab and Creole walked in through the French doors and she threw herself down next to Didier.

  “Where did you go?” I asked, scanning them for injuries.

  “No wonder you two get along.” Fab looked at me in disgust. “A crappy hamburger stand.”

  “Roscoe’s?” I looked up at Creole, trying to gage the temperature.

  Roscoe’s, a drive-thru, served the best burgers anywhere. No outside seating to the general public, the back patio had seating by invitation only, which meant only friends of Roscoe’s.

  Creole nodded and brandished a bag from behind his back, dumping the contents on the counter.

  I reached out. “Can I have some fries?” I asked after snagging several.

  “Keep your mitts off our dinner. His idea sucked.” Fab shifted around, leaning back against Didier who’d moved in from the living room. “I’ll take my hamburger on a plate,” she said to Creole.

  Creole served Fab her food and sat down next to me at the island.

  “It wasn’t totally terrible, but close.” Creole looped his leg over mine and gave me a quick kiss.

  I tried to push his leg off, but he wasn’t letting that happen. “I just want to know one thing: Did you two kiss and come to an understanding?” I looked between them.

  “Not our fault, you can blame Madeline.” Fab took a bite of her burger. Didier watched in fascination as she licked her lips, then her fingers, and gave him one of her seductive smiles.

  “Where did you see Mother? Not at Roscoe’s.” I raised my eyebrows. I snatched a French fry, dragging it through ketchup, holding it out for Creole to take a bite, and then gobbled the rest.

  “You’re going to pay for teasing me while I’m hungry.” Creole cupped my chin. “I’m going to clean my plate because I’ll need my energy.”

  “Your mother and Spoonie,”—Fab stuck her finger in her mouth—“were there and when they saw the two of us, she insisted we sit with them. When she figured out you two weren’t showing up, the questions started.” She glared at Creole. “‘What did this guy do?’ she demanded. He answered the first one and then, you know your mother, she had one hundred more. She ignored me and zoomed in on lover boy here.”

  “You should have kicked me sooner,” Creole grumbled.

  I leaned over and ran my hand down his leg, then just to be sure, ran my fingers from his ankle to his mid-thigh, his shorts cutting me off. A low growl resonated from his throat, and he shook his finger. “You better not have left any marks,” I said to Fab.

  “Madeline asked if you knew that we were out together. I wanted to yell at her, ‘What do you mean?’ And stoop nut here said ‘Yes.’” Fab rolled her eyes. “She jumped to the conclusion we’d done something. Since he didn’t get the message the first time, I kicked him hard and pulled a trick out of your mother’s bag and started answering a question with a question.”

  “Bet that frustrated her. She’s the queen of that technique,” I said.

  “She got all huffy and told me she wanted straight answers. I thought, ‘None of your business,’ but I love her. We exchanged one of those girly one-up looks, both of us refusing to look away.”

  Creole chuckled. “It looked more to me like ‘let’s meet out back and fight this out.’ Roscoe stopped all conversation when he showed up with our food. Gutsy here told him we’d take a bag and I told him to put it on Spoon’s check.”

  “It’s Spoonie,” Fab reminded Creole. “Who never said a damn word, just made a few googly eyes at your mother. He needs to rein her in, starting with that hideous nickname.”

  “She’s working on it.” I laughed. “She agreed to only using it in their…uh…private time.”

  I rendered all three of them speechless at the same time. They loved her and clearly didn’t like the suggestion she may be doing something horizontal. I refused to think about it.

  “Thanks for getting us out of there. I’d never have been so rude, but I’m happy you did it for the both of us. I don’t have to feel bad.” Creole smiled at Fab. “No hard feelings. Just stay out of the slums.”

  Didier turned her to face him. “I’ll not be happy if I hear that you do tha
t again.” His voice remained neutral but his eyes were dark and stormy.

  Fab stood up, taking a step back. “Listen up, everyone. I made a few miscalculations today in my zest to make up to Brick for what he considers my slacker attitude. I promise we’ll work out a better system for problems,” she said to me. “If it ever comes up again that only one of us gets away, it will be you. And should anything happen, you will know that I wanted it that way. No arguing or hesitation.” She leaned down and hugged me. “You never cease to amaze me.”

  “You’re not so bad yourself.” I held on to her until she squirmed.

  “I’m certainly happy that I saw your potential.” She smirked.

  Creole pulled me off my stool and onto his lap, my head against his chest. “What about the Porsche?”

  “I gifted it to Esteban.” Fab flashed a big smile, extremely proud of her trade.

  “Just so you know, he could’ve had my ‘gas pig’ and anything else to let us go,” I said to her.

  “Stay away from Esteban Castro.” Creole shook his finger at her. “He has a prison cell with his name on it and I’d hate to see you arrested because of the company you keep.”

  Fab ignored Creole. I noticed she left out the part about his potential as a future client. “I told Esteban you were a crack shot,” she said to me. “And if I hadn’t rushed you out of the house without your Glock, he’d be laying in the street. Told him I was friends with Chief Harder and he laughed in my face. I amended my answer and told him you were the one with the friendship and it was in his best interest to make a deal.”

  “How did you find out what happened?” I asked Creole.

  “I know people everywhere. Just remember that. Thanks for the tips on how to handle a Madeline Westin interrogation in the future,” he said to Fab.

  Didier smiled up at her and pulled her down onto his lap, kissing her.

  Chapter 34

  I shoved my phone across the table to Fab. “I don’t recognize the number––you answer it.” I knew the chances of the call not ending well were high, but I wanted to finish my enchilada.