Key West

by Stella Cameron

  He closed and locked the window and joined Sonnie, who was on her knees with her face pressed to the floor. She moved aside and pointed.

  The hole the carpet should have hidden gave a view of the bed below. Chris pulled the carpet farther back and found more holes that offered a variety of views on Sonnie’s borrowed bedroom. “Did you notice any sawdust down there?” Chris asked. “These were drilled very recently.”

  Sonnie said, “No sawdust. D’ you think Ena knew?”

  “That someone’s been in her attic again? What do you think?”

  “Could she be unaware?”

  He studied the room. “No. But I guess there could be reasons why she ignores whoever it is. She wasn’t expecting your call, so there was nothing planned about this—not long-term. Could be someone overheard her talking to you on the phone, then drilled holes. Or she told someone you were coming and they drilled the holes.”

  “And cleaned up before we got here? That sounds…Wow, it sounds far-fetched.”

  “You don’t know how far-fetched things can get, kiddo. Desperate people can accomplish a lot in a short time. I’m going downstairs to find Ena now.”

  “Νο,” Sonnie said. “If she really does have another weird boarder, she’s weird, too. We’d better just get out of here.”

  “Unless we feel like following whoever went that way”—he inclined his head toward the dormer—“we stand a good chance of running into Ena anyway. Better we bumble in on her all puzzled and wondering if she knows there’s been someone hanging out in her attic, and making holes in the floor to watch people.”

  “She isn’t going to admit it.”

  “She surely isn’t. But the way she reacts—” He shook a hand for silence. The sound of footsteps, soft but sure, came from the hallway below. He wished he could get Sonnie safely out of here.

  He listened intently. Sonnie turned an ear toward the door. She looked at him sharply and he nodded—and made a decision that could prove a killer. “Only one thing to do,” he said loudly.

  “Tell Ena?” Sonnie responded. She must also have picked up that the footsteps had paused at the bottom of the stairs to the attic.

  “You don’t think we should, do you?” he told her. “She’s been through a lot. But she’s got to know about this.”

  The owner of the feet started up the stairs, and Chris didn’t know whether to be relieved or suspicious because there was no attempt to muffle the noise.

  “Sonnie? Chris?”

  He met Sonnie’s eyes and they both mouthed, Ena.

  “Up here,” he called out, then said, “It’s Ena.”

  She arrived on the threshold with a blue scarf over her hair, her face shiny with cream, and wearing a white, quilted cotton robe that reached her feet.

  “Εna,” Sonnie said, going to meet her. “We don’t know what to think about this, but—”

  “Why are you up here?” Ena asked. She appeared honestly puzzled. “l’m not a narrow-minded woman, but there are things that don’t seem right. I mean, if the two of you are…well, if you are, it’s not my place to judge, but you should have respect for being in someone else’s home. Were you afraid I’d…well, afraid I’d hear you? You shouldn’t just go looking around for privacy like this. Not in my house.”

  Chris hadn’t anticipated her reaction. “Who lives in this room?”

  She frowned. “Lives? That’s cruel. No one lives here anymore. It’s a spare room now. You ought to get to your beds, or bed, if that’s what you want. This is all upsetting enough without you walking around almost naked.” She indicated Chris in his shorts, but was quick to shift her attention to Sonnie. “And you. Well. It might be better if you didn’t have anything on at all. That pretty nightie looks like a rag and it doesn’t cover you decently. I suppose it’s my fault, but I didn’t know you intended to carry on like this.”

  The twitch at the corners of Sonnie’s mouth didn’t help Chris control his own urge to laugh. “I think we’d better explain ourselves,” he said. “Come and see this, please, Ena. Holes drilled in the floor. If you get down and look, you’ll see what got Sonnie scared enough to want me to come up here with her.” He did smile while he avoided catching Sonnie’s eye. He could feel her indignation at his interpretation of what had really happened.

  Ena went to the biggest of the holes. She didn’t kneel to examine it, but stood staring down, utter disbelief making her eyes round.

  Sonnie took a step toward the woman and said, “Εna?”

  “Who would do something like that?” Ena said without raising her face. “Vandalism. And how did they get in here, that’s what I’d like to know?”

  “He was watching Sonnie,” Chris said.

  Sonnie set her chin in a way that gave him pause. “Chris and I were both being watched,” she said. “That looks straight down on the bed where I’m sleeping.”

  “Supposed to be sleeping,” Ena said.

  “That’s right,” Sonnie said with the kind of vaguely aggressive chutzpa Chris would never have expected from her. “I’m pretty edgy. Chris is one of the only human beings I know I can trust. I wanted him with me—in my bed where I can feel him. I still do want him there, and anywhere else I happen to

  be. I’ve learned about trust the hard way. If you get the chance, you’d better grab it.”

  Ena appeared disconcerted. “There’s a lot of truth in that. But you’ve got a husband, Sonnie.”

  Still basking in her accolades, Chris waited with interest for her response to Ena’s latest salvo.

  “No,” Sonnie said. “According to news my brother-in-law has, I am not married. Frank is dead. And he probably has been since shortly after he disappeared. I’m sad to know that. Really sad. But we weren’t going to stay together, Ena.”

  Ena’s brow knitted. She placed one hand over her mouth and the other over her heart, and stumbled to sit on the bed.

  “I’m sorry to shock you,” Sonnie said, “but these things happen. People change and they can’t always hold a marriage together.”

  “Ι don’t believe in that,” Ena said brokenly. “I believe that when you say, ‘until death do us part,’ that’s what it means.”

  Chris went to the vinyl wardrobe and unzipped the front opening. He wasn’t surprised to find it empty.

  “Death has parted Frank and me,” Sonnie said. “But you don’t know what went before, why I had to make a decision to do what I don’t believe in and divorce him.”

  She doesn’t believe in divorce. Neither, Chris thought, did he in many cases, but sometimes those decisions were taken out of your hands. The surge of satisfaction at hearing Sonnie give her opinion on the topic might be way out of line, but he’d chose to enjoy the sensation.

  “You’re a nice girl,” Ena said, catching Chris off guard. “You could have mentioned how my husband and I are divorced, but you didn’t.”

  “That wasn’t something you chose,” Sonnie said.

  Chris checked the trunks and the chest of drawers and scored nothing but a set of keys, a heavy box of businesslike tools, a flashlight, and a short list of women’s names, none of which meant anything to him. Careful not to be seen, he pocketed the piece of paper. There was also a card with an address in Miami, but with no name attached to it. All these items were in the same trunk and covered with a gray blanket. Chris made no comment about his find. Since the women were deep into their discussion of what did or did not constitute an acceptable reason for dumping a spouse, and were moving to a place where they commiserated with each other, he was free to concentrate on making certain he didn’t miss anything.

  “Can you imagine someone getting in here and using this place without my knowing anything about it?”

  No, Chris thought.

  “I sleep on the ground floor, you know. Edward preferred being able to go up and down to the bathroom in privacy. I suppose I should move upstairs now that he’s gone.” She sighed and looked at her hands. “I miss him, you know. I’m sure you think he was very strange,
but he wasn’t really. Just different. But he was so kind to me. He looked after me always.”

  “I’m here now,’’ Chris said, intending to make no such offer. But what the hell, he’d promised himself years ago that he’d never be the selfish, misogynistic bastard his old man had been. “At least for a while. You can count on me, Ena. Just get a message to me. I’ll give you my cell phone number so you can reach me if you need to. Sonnie and I will look after you until you’re more sure of yourself, won’t we?”

  Sonnie’s long, speculative stare suggested she thought he might be going overboard, but she recovered quickly enough to smile at Ena.

  “The point is that we do have to look into who’s been up here. And why. You do agree, Ena?”

  The last thing he expected was to see moisture in her eyes. “Can’t we just make sure he doesn’t have a way to get back in and let it go? Ι don’t want to deal with the police anymore. They aren’t nice to me.”

  Chris thought about that. “I’m not sure. Although we could probably let it go for a day or two while I make some inquiries. But if I can’t turn up anything conclusive, the police must be brought in.” He was well aware that they should be called at once.

  Ena sniffed and made a valiant and visible effort to collect herself. “I understand, but you will try first, won’t you?”

  “I promise I will. Now, I want you to go to bed and get some rest. I’ll make sure everything’s locked up tight.”

  “Thank you, Christopher,” Ena said with great formality. “I feel I can trust you, too.”

  “It’s Christian,” he told her. “Which is your bedroom?”

  “The room behind the parlor. But I want you to get to bed, too.” She gave Chris and Sonnie a benevolent smile. “You make such a nice couple. I hope you’ll be blessed with happiness. You deserve it. And children. I think you need children.”

  She turned and trod rapidly from the attic, holding her robe up to display shapely ankles.

  Sonnie smiled at him, a smile he wasn’t sure he liked. “What?” he said.

  “Nothing,” she told him. “I never thought to ask if you actually wanted children.”

  “Why would you?” he said gruffly. “It’s not the kind of topic you bring up over lunch.”

  “But do you?”

  How typical of a woman not to miss an opportunity to ask uncomfortable questions. “Maybe. Circumstances have to be right for those things. We can go back to bed now.”

  “You’re joking,” Sonnie said. She stood in the middle of the room with her fists on her hips, and the raw light from above turned her prim nightie into a provocative effort resembling a clever use of randomly shaded plastic wrap.

  Chris straightened the carpet. “Our nosy friend won’t be back tonight.”

  “But we do have to find out who he is and why he was here.”

  “Do you believe Ena’s story?”

  She considered. “I guess so. Do you?”

  “I don’t know yet.” He thought of what he’d found and wondered where the items fit in. “We might as well try to get some sleep, though. There isn’t much I can do tonight.” In fact there was probably nothing he could do, but he’d discovered some interesting facts this evening, and as soon as the sun was up, he intended to follow lip a few leads.

  He offered her a hand and she held it. Chris took it to his lips and kissed the backs of her fingers, all the while grinning at her.

  Sonnie turned red..

  “Am I missing something?” he said. “You get embarrassed when Ι kiss your hand.”

  “What I think about every time you touch me is embarrassing. It’s got to be your fault, because I’m not like that.”

  “Like that?” He liked it when she blushed. “Like what? A woman who has sexy thoughts because she enjoys sex?”

  She cast her eyes downward.

  “Hey, so you enjoy sex. I enjoy it, too, with you. I suggest we go to my room, make sure there aren’t any inconvenient peepholes in the ceiling, and see what we can come up with to really embarrass you.”

  Her face looked as if it might throb with heat. Chris ringed her neck loosely with his hands. He waited until she looked him fully in the face, then kissed her until she fought for breath.

  “Come on,” he said. “I’ve got one or two ideas. Y’know, I really like you on top. It’s a great view.”

  She turned away and headed for the stairs.

  Grinning, and feeling his body already primed for what it expected, he followed her.

  Moving slowly, Sonnie got out of bed. She stretched, very aware of how sore she was, and in how many places. Christian Talon continued to sleep, one arm thrown over his head and the sheets bundled low on his hips. Just looking at him started sensations she had to ignore. The time for business had arrived.

  She showered quickly, but when she pushed back the curtain, Chris was seated—naked—on the toilet lid, arms crossed, obviously waiting for her to appear. Α towel was draped across his knees. He beckoned her to him and began drying her skin. This required that he feel every inch of her—after rubbing it down—to make sure she wasn’t still damp. And Chris missed not one inch, no matter where it was.

  “You must spend a lot of time planning ways to torture women,” she told him.

  “Just one woman,” he said, and slid to his knees in front of her. “Have I told you I think you have the most delectable belly? Well, you do.” He licked swirls around her navel, poked his tongue inside until the sensation caused her to cling to his shoulders.

  “Good, huh? Mmm, and you taste so good.” Gripping one of her thighs in each hand, he parted her legs enough to allow him to flip his tongue into the hair at her pubic area and find something that he obviously knew wouldn’t easily rebuff him.

  “Stop it, Chris,” she said, but without conviction. The tension already mounted. She managed to surround his penis and start a little torture of her own.

  She climaxed and fell against him, holding handfuls of his hair and pressing his face to her midriff. “Give me a few seconds,” she said. “You’re a wicked man. But I like it. Your turn next.”

  “Too late,” he said. “It isn’t going to be easy, but I’ll have to wait.”

  “Yes. I need to focus. I won’t if I get sidetracked—much as I would love to get sidetracked with you for a long, long time. Sonnie, you do know we’re coming to the end of all this, don’t you? You do feel that we can’t go on for much longer without finding out exactly what’s happening to you, and why?”

  His words turned her clammy. “I guess. Although it’s almost like it’s going to go on forever.”

  He shook his head. “We’re too close. They’re going to start to make more and more rash moves until they give us some very obvious leads. And we’ll be ready. I’d like to get over to your house. I looked around last night, but I’d like to do it again in daylight. I also need to take another look at the yard.” “Why?”

  “Probably no reason. I’m just following up what could be a clue.”

  Ena had left their clean, dry clothes outside their bedroom doors. Chris retrieved them.

  “What do we say to her?” Sonnie asked.

  “Nothing. Not at once. If she wakes up when we’re on our way out, I’ll think of something. Otherwise I’m sure she’ll follow us next door as soon as she’s up and dressed. Leave her to me.”

  Sonnie wasn’t in the mood to argue. She still felt Chris’s hands on her, and the way he felt in her hands. Who knew for sure how wrong she was to be falling in love with him at such a time, but she was and there didn’t seem a thing she could do about it.

  Chris unbolted the front door and let them out into yet another morning overcast with a heavy cloud layer. Heat assaulted them already, and the wind had dropped, leaving another uneasy calm behind. “I almost wish the darn hurricane would come and get it over with,” she told him. “It’s like it keeps on terrorizing us.”

  “This is about number five to play peekaboo,” he said. “I don’t like ‘em any more
than you do.”

  They used the gap in the shrubs favored by Ena and didn’t notice Aiden until they’d climbed the veranda steps. He’d stretched out on the porch swing a couple of pillows from chairs propped his head.

  “About time,” he said without opening his eyes. “I’ve been here for hours.”

  “Hours?” Chris said.

  “At least half an hour. Did you two have a nice night?”

  “That sounds personal,” Chris said. “I suppose my flapping-lipped brother said you’d find me somewhere over here.”

  “I suppose he did. I’ve got more on the moped. The one Romano rented the night of Sonnie’s accident.”

  “Yeah? Let’s have it.”

  “Coffee first. That means inside. So are you two really compatible?”

  Sonnie hoped he was talking about their opinions on politics, or religion, or maybe the state of health care in the country. “Chris, are you?” Aiden said.

  The look on Chris’s face suggested he was also uncertain what Aiden had in mind. “Sonnie and I agree on a number of things.”

  “Good. Sounds great. I always believe in being able to discuss sex with a partner. It gets a lot of the awkwardness out of the way up front. And later on it makes it easier to deal with any disappointed expectations.”

  “Thanks, Flynn,” Chris said, sounding anything but grateful. “I didn’t know you were such an expert on relationships.”

  “I read a lot,” Aiden said. “Open this door. I’ll make the coffee. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

  “And I’ve got a lot of things to check out,” Chris said. “So do you.”

  Once inside her house, the men went directly to the kitchen. Sonnie looked toward the upper floor. She climbed slowly, aware of how little true rest she’d gotten the previous night. Starting with the spare room, she checked to see the condition of the place. The workmen had done a good job, and everything seemed back to normal. The spare room was now completely empty and freshly painted. She went from room to room, not stopping for more than a few minutes until she got to Jacqueline’s nursery. Such a pretty room. All it needed was a baby to make it complete.

  Sonnie thought of the conversation with Chris, but quickly dismissed it. Clearly he wasn’t interested in discussing children, not children with whom he had any personal connection. Two narrow windows, each closed off with white wooden shutters, allowed filtered light through the slats. The day was too gray to brighten the room much.